title: Babylon

text: A team from the German Oriental Society led by Robert Koldewey conducted the first scientific archaeological excavations at Babylon. The work was conducted daily from 1899 until 1917. The primary efforts of the dig involved the temple of Marduk and the processional way leading up to it, as well as the city wall. Artifacts, including pieces of the Ishtar Gate and hundreds of recovered tablets, were sent back to Germany, where Koldewey's colleague Walter Andrae reconstructed them into displays at the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin. The German archaeologists fled before oncoming British troops in 1917, and again, many objects went missing in the following years.


title: Babylon

text: Further work by the German Archaeological Institute was conducted by Heinrich J. Lenzen in 1956 and Hansjörg Schmid in 1962. Lenzen's work dealt primarily with the Hellenistic theatre, and Schmid focused on the temple ziggurat Etemenanki.


title: Babylon

text: The site was excavated in 1974 on behalf of the Turin Centre for Archaeological Research and Excavations in the Middle East and Asia and the Iraqi-Italian Institute of Archaeological Sciences. The focus was on clearing up issues raised by re-examination of the old German data. Additional work in 1987–1989 concentrated on the area surrounding the Ishara and Ninurta temples in the Shu-Anna city-quarter of Babylon.


title: Babylon

text: During the restoration efforts in Babylon, the Iraqi State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage conducted extensive research, excavation and clearing, but wider publication of these archaeological activities has been limited. Indeed, most of the known tablets from all modern excavations remain unpublished.


title: Babylon

text: The site of Babylon has been a cultural asset to Iraq since the creation of the modern Iraqi state in 1921. The site was officially protected and excavated by the Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration, which later became the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, and its successors: the Arab Federation, the Iraqi Republic, Ba'athist Iraq (also officially called the Iraqi Republic), and the Republic of Iraq. Babylonian images periodically appear on Iraqi postcards and stamps. In the 1960s, a replica of the Ishtar Gate and a reconstruction of Ninmakh Temple were built on site.


title: Babylon

text: On 14 February 1978, the Ba'athist government of Iraq under Saddam Hussein began the "Archaeological Restoration of Babylon Project": reconstructing features of the ancient city atop its ruins. These features included the Southern Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, with 250 rooms, five courtyards, and a 30-meter entrance arch. The project also reinforced the Processional Way, the Lion of Babylon, and an amphitheater constructed in the city's Hellenistic era. In 1982, the government minted a set of seven coins displaying iconic features of Babylon. A Babylon International Festival was held in September 1987, and annually thereafter until 2002 (excepting 1990 and 1991), to showcase this work. The proposed reconstruction of the Hanging Gardens and the great ziggurat never took place.


title: Babylon

text: Hussein installed a portrait of himself and Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance to the ruins and inscribed his name on many of the bricks, in imitation of Nebuchadnezzar. One frequent inscription reads: "This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq". These bricks became sought after as collectors' items after Hussein's downfall. Similar projects were conducted at Nineveh, Nimrud, Assur and Hatra, to demonstrate the magnificence of Arab achievement.


title: Babylon

text: In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein completely removed the village of Qwaresh, displacing its residents. He later constructed a modern palace in that area called Saddam Hill over some of the old ruins, in the pyramidal style of a ziggurat. In 2003, he intended to have a cable car line constructed over Babylon, but plans were halted by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.


title: Babylon

text: Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the area around Babylon came under the control of US troops, before being handed over to Polish forces in September 2003. US forces under the command of General James T. Conway of the I Marine Expeditionary Force were criticized for building the military base "Camp Alpha", with a helipad and other facilities on ancient Babylonian ruins during the Iraq War. US forces have occupied the site for some time and have caused irreparable damage to the archaeological record. In a report of the British Museum's Near East department, Dr. John Curtis described how parts of the archaeological site were levelled to create a landing area for helicopters, and parking lots for heavy vehicles. Curtis wrote of the occupation forces:


title: Babylon

text: A US military spokesman claimed that engineering operations were discussed with the "head of the Babylon museum". The head of the Iraqi State Board for Heritage and Antiquities, Donny George, said that the "mess will take decades to sort out" and criticised Polish troops for causing "terrible damage" to the site. Poland resolved in 2004 to place the city under Iraq control, and commissioned a report titled "Report Concerning the Condition of the Preservation of the Babylon Archaeological Site", which it presented at a meeting on 11–13 December 2004. In 2005, the site was handed over to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture.


title: Babylon

text: In April 2006, Colonel John Coleman, former Chief of Staff for the I Marine Expeditionary Force, offered to issue an apology for the damage done by military personnel under his command. However, he also claimed that the US presence had deterred far greater damage by other looters. An article published in April 2006 stated that UN officials and Iraqi leaders have plans to restore Babylon, making it into a cultural center.


title: Babylon

text: Two museums and a library, containing replicas of artifacts and local maps and reports, were raided and destroyed.


title: Babylon

text: In May 2009, the provincial government of Babil reopened the site to tourists and over 35,000 people visited in 2017. An oil pipeline runs through an outer wall of the city. On 5 July 2019, the site of Babylon was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Babylon

text: Thousands of people reside in Babylon within the perimeter of the ancient outer city walls, and communities in and around them are "rapidly developing from compact, dense settlements to sprawling suburbia despite laws restricting constructions". Modern villages include Zwair West, Sinjar Village, Qwaresh, and Al-Jimjmah among which the first two are better off economically. Most residents primarily depend on daily wage earning or have government jobs in Al-Hillah, while few cultivate dates, citrus fruits, figs, fodder for livestock and limited cash crops, although income from the land alone is not enough to sustain a family. Both Shi'a and Sunni Muslims live in Sinjar village with mosques for both groups.


title: Babylon

text: The State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) is the main authority responsible for the conservation of the archeological site. They are assisted by Antiquity and Heritage Police and maintain a permanent presence there. The World Monuments Fund is also involved in research and conservation. The SBAH Provincial Inspectorate Headquarters is located within the boundaries of the ancient inner city walls on the east side and several staff members and their families reside in subsidized housing in this area.


title: Babylon

text: Before modern archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia, the appearance of Babylon was largely a mystery, and typically envisioned by Western artists as a hybrid between ancient Egyptian, classical Greek, and contemporary Ottoman culture.


title: Babylon

text: Due to Babylon's historical significance as well as references to it in the Bible, the word "Babylon" in various languages has acquired a generic meaning of a large, bustling diverse city. Examples include:


title: Babylon

text: In the Book of Genesis, Babel (Babylon) is described as founded by Nimrod along with Uruk, Akkad and perhaps Calneh—all of them in Shinar ("Calneh" is now sometimes translated not as a proper name but as the phrase "all of them"). Another story is given in Genesis 11, which describes a united human race, speaking one language, migrating to Shinar to establish a city and tower—the Tower of Babel. God halts construction of the tower by scattering humanity across the earth and confusing their communication so they are unable to understand each other in the same language.


title: Babylon

text: After Hezekiah, the king of Judah, became ill, Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and gifts to him. Hezekiah showed all of his treasures to the delegation, and the prophet Isaiah later said to him: "Behold, the days are coming when everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left." Some 200 years later, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded Judah, laid siege to Jerusalem and deported the Jews to Babylon.


title: Babylon

text: The prophet Daniel lived in Babylon for most of his life. Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel ruler over the entire province of Babylon for having interpreted his dream. Years later, Belshazzar held a banquet, at which fingers of a hand appeared and wrote on a wall. Daniel was called to provide an interpretation of the writings, upon which he explained that God had put an end to Belshazzar's kingdom. Belshazzar was killed that very night, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom.


title: Babylon

text: The Book of Isaiah says the following regarding Babylon: "It will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there." The Book of Jeremiah says that Babylon will "never again be inhabited" and that "no one will live there, nor will anyone of mankind reside in it" and that it will be a land in which "no one of mankind passes". The territories of Babylon, Edom, Bozrah, Moab, Tyre, Hazor, and the sons of Ammon are all predicted in the Bible to become like Sodom and Gomorrah, or uninhabited forever.


title: Babylon

text: Several Biblical prophecy scholars, most notably Chuck Missler, maintain that the "Doom of Babylon" as described in detail in Isaiah 13–14, Jeremiah 50–51, and possibly Revelation 17–18 must refer to a literal, future destruction of an actual city. Missler has written that Babylon has yet to be completely destroyed as prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah. The Persians were able to take Babylon without a fight in 539 BC.


title: Babylon

text: In Jewish tradition, Babylon symbolizes an oppressor against which righteous believers must struggle. In Christianity, Babylon symbolizes worldliness and evil. Prophecies sometimes symbolically link the kings of Babylon with Lucifer. Nebuchadnezzar II, sometimes conflated with Nabonidus, appears as the foremost ruler in this narrative.


title: Babylon

text: The Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible refers to Babylon many centuries after it ceased to be a major political center. The city is personified by the "Whore of Babylon", riding on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns, and drunk on the blood of the righteous. Some scholars of apocalyptic literature believe this New Testament "Babylon" to be a dysphemism for the Roman Empire. Other scholars suggest that Babylon in the book of Revelation has a symbolic significance that extends beyond mere identification with the first century Roman empire.


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: Daisy Jessica Edgar-Jones (born 24 May 1998) is a British actress. She began her career with the television series "Cold Feet" (2016–2020) and "War of the Worlds" (2019–2021).


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: Edgar-Jones gained wider recognition for her starring role in the miniseries "Normal People" (2020), which earned her nominations for a British Academy Television Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2022, she starred in the comedy-thriller film "Fresh", the commercially successful mystery film "Where the Crawdads Sing", and the crime miniseries "Under the Banner of Heaven". She received another Golden Globe nomination for the lattermost.


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: Daisy Edgar-Jones was born in the borough of Islington, London, the daughter of Wendy Edgar-Jones, a Northern Irish film editor (including on "Sharpe" and the 1999 drama serial version of "Oliver Twist") and Philip Edgar-Jones, who is Scottish, and served as director of Sky Arts and head of entertainment at Sky. She grew up in Muswell Hill, London, and first acted in a school play in Year 5. She attended The Mount School for Girls and Woodhouse College before being admitted to the National Youth Theatre. She studied with the Open University.


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: After appearing in the 2016 "Outnumbered" Christmas Special on BBC One, at 17, Edgar-Jones was cast as Olivia Marsden in ITV's comedy drama "Cold Feet" alongside James Nesbitt. In 2018, she appeared as Jessica Thompson in "Silent Witness", and in independent coming-of-age feature film "Pond Life" directed by Bill Buckhurst. She was in the National Youth Theatre production of "The Reluctant Fundamentalist".


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: Edgar-Jones played Emily Gresham for the first two seasons of "War of the Worlds" opposite Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern. In May 2019, it was announced that Edgar-Jones had been cast in the main role of Marianne alongside Paul Mescal as Connell in the Hulu and BBC Three series "Normal People", an adaptation of the novel by Sally Rooney.


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: Edgar-Jones starred in the February 2020 revival of "Albion" at the Almeida Theatre, which was recorded and later broadcast by the BBC that August. She appeared on British "Vogue"'s 2020 list of influential women.


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: Her first post-"Normal People" project, the thriller film "Fresh", premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.


title: Daisy Edgar-Jones

text: In 2022, Edgar-Jones had the starring role in the film adaptation of "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens and also starred in Dustin Lance Black's true crime miniseries "Under the Banner of Heaven", an adaptation of Jon Krakauer's book of the same name. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in its early years, the band settled on nine members for more than a decade: Crahan, Jordison, Gray, Craig Jones, Mick Thomson, Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, Chris Fehn, and Jim Root. Gray died on May 24, 2010, and was replaced during 2011–2014 by guitarist Donnie Steele. Jordison was dismissed from the band on December 12, 2013. Steele left during the recording sessions for "". The band found replacements in Alessandro Venturella on bass and Jay Weinberg on drums. After the departure of Jordison, the only founding member in the current lineup is percussionist Crahan. Fehn was also dismissed from the band in March 2019 prior to the writing of "We Are Not Your Kind" and was replaced by Michael Pfaff.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot is well known for its attention-grabbing image, aggressive style of music, and energetic and chaotic live shows. The band rapidly rose to fame following the release of their eponymous debut album in 1999. The 2001 follow-up album, "Iowa", although darker in tone, made the band more popular. After a brief hiatus, Slipknot returned in 2004 with "", before going on another hiatus and returning in 2008 with its fourth album, "All Hope Is Gone", which debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 chart. After another long hiatus, Slipknot released its fifth studio album, "", in 2014. Their sixth studio album, "We Are Not Your Kind", was released on August 9, 2019. Their seventh studio album, "The End, So Far", was released on September 30, 2022. The band has released two live albums titled "" and "", a compilation album titled "Antennas to Hell", and five live DVDs. The band has sold 30 million records worldwide.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In the years before Slipknot formed, a state of shifting band membership existed throughout the heavy metal scene in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1991, the biggest heavy metal band in Des Moines was Atomic Opera, with Jim Root on guitar. Drummer Joey Jordison founded a thrash metal band called Modifidious, playing at a club called Runway. Modifidious opened for Atomic Opera on December 1, 1991, at the Runway, after which their guitarist left for the more successful Atomic Opera. Jordison replaced him with local guitarist Craig Jones. Drummer Shawn Crahan formed another Des Moines band called Heads on the Wall, playing funk metal cover songs at clubs and releasing a demo tape in July 1992. A fourth Des Moines band called Vexx played death metal with Anders Colsefni on drums, Paul Gray on bass, and Josh Brainard on guitar and vocals. Colsefni later took over vocal duties, but Vexx never recorded. During this time, Crahan often went to the Runway on Sundays when the club opened to all ages, where he met other young musicians with whom he could jam. By March 1993, Crahan was jamming with vocalist Colsefni, bassist Gray and guitarist Patrick Neuwirth, writing and playing songs in Gray's basement, discussing possible band names such as Pull My Finger, but never making a final decision. One of the songs they recorded was titled "Slipknot". The word on the second recording’s spine was "Painface", which Colsefni later used to name his band Painface.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In 1993, a new band called Inveigh Catharsis formed in Des Moines, with Gray on bass, Brainard on guitar and Colsefni on drums. Jordison jammed occasionally with this group. Brainard eventually left to join Jordison and Jones in Modifidious, participating in demo recordings at the end of '93 and early in '94. During 1994, Modifidious sometimes played the same shows as Crahan's Heads on the Wall band. Gray formed a death metal band called Body Pit, soon becoming popular in the local scene. Modifidious stopped playing in the wake of death metal's increasing pull. Gray failed to get Jordison to join Body Pit, but soon after he recruited local guitar teacher Mick Thomson, the band broke up.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In September 1995, Crahan and Gray started a band named the Pale Ones. The lineup was made up of friends who met through the local music scene, including vocalist Colsefni and guitarist Donnie Steele. Not long after their inception, Gray invited Jordison to a rehearsal because the band was interested in experimenting with additional drum elements. Jordison subsequently joined the band as their drummer, moving Crahan to percussion. Furthermore, Colsefni also took up percussion while remaining the band's vocalist. The band then decided to invite Brainard as their second guitarist, bringing their lineup to six members. After playing a private Halloween show on October 31, the band made their public debut on November 5 at a benefit show, using the name Meld.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Much of the band's early development was retrospectively attributed to late-night planning sessions between Gray, Crahan and Jordison at a Sinclair gas station where Jordison worked nights. It was there, in late 1995, that Jordison suggested changing the band name to Slipknot after their song of the same name. In December, Slipknot began recording material at "SR Audio", a studio in the band's hometown. As they didn't have a recording contract, the band self-financed the project, the costs of which came to an estimated $40,000. In February 1996, guitarist Donnie Steele, a Christian, left Slipknot after discussions regarding the band's lyrics with the producer, Sean McMahon. Jordison said of Steele's departure: "(he) was having these God talks, when we were supposed to be working... We were prepared to keep him on, but he didn't want to stay." Steele himself has said: "I left for a few reasons...I had a lot on my mind spiritually." During the mixing stages of their project at "SR Audio", Craig Jones was recruited as Steele's replacement on guitar. However, throughout their time in the studio, the band were adding samples to their recordings but could not produce these sounds live. Subsequently, Jones became the band's sampler and Mick Thomson was brought in as the replacement guitarist. After a complicated time with mixing and mastering, the band self-released "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." on Halloween, October 31, 1996.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Distribution for the demo was initially left to the band and their producer Sean McMahon, before it was handed over to the distribution company -ismist Recordings in early 1997. Slipknot received a small amount of airplay on local radio stations off the back of the demo. However, it did not lead to any kind of interest from record labels, so the band returned to the studio to develop new material. It was at this time that the band sought more melodic vocals for their music. As a result, Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow Des Moines band Stone Sour; this moved Colsefni to backing vocals and percussion. While working in the studio, Slipknot continued to do local shows, during one of which in September 1997, Colsefni announced on stage that he was leaving the band. The gap on percussion was filled by Greg Welts, who was affectionately known as "Cuddles". In early 1998, Slipknot produced a second demo featuring five tracks exclusively for record labels. The band began to receive a lot of attention from record labels, and in February 1998, producer Ross Robinson offered to produce their debut album after attending rehearsals in Des Moines. Soon after, DJ Sid Wilson was recruited as the band's ninth member after showing great interest and impressing band members. In late June, Slipknot received a $500,000, seven-album deal, from Roadrunner Records; the band signed the deal publicly on July 8, 1998. Two days prior to this, Welts was fired from the band, something which Slipknot refuse to comment on. Welts was replaced by Brandon Darner, who departed from the band shortly after joining.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Chris Fehn was brought in to replace Darner on percussion before Slipknot traveled to Malibu, California, to work on their debut album in September 1998. Partway through the recording process of the album, Slipknot returned to Des Moines for the Christmas period. During that period, guitarist Brainard decided to leave the band. Brainard said, "some decisions were made that I wasn't particularly happy with". Slipknot later recruited Jim Root to complete their lineup and the band returned to Malibu to continue work on the album. Work on the album concluded in early 1999, allowing the band to go on their first tour as part of the Ozzfest lineup in 1999. Ozzfest greatly increased Slipknot's audience, furthering the band's success with their self-titled album that was released on June 29, 1999. Slipknot released its first home video "Welcome to Our Neighborhood", which was directed by Thomas Mignone, and the singles "Wait and Bleed" and "Spit It Out", which were also directed by Mignone. The singles received some airplay, but Slipknot quickly developed a large following, mainly from touring and word of mouth. The band toured several countries throughout 1999 and 2000 in support of the album. In early 2000, "Slipknot" was certified platinum; a first for an album released by Roadrunner Records.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Anticipation for Slipknot's second album was intense. In early 2001, the band began recording the second album at Sound City and Sound Image studios in Los Angeles. Around this time, conflicts arose between band members due to extensive touring and recording schedules. Recording of their second album ended in February 2001 and the band embarked on their Iowa World Tour. Entitled "Iowa", Slipknot's second album—released on August 28, 2001—peaked at number three on the "Billboard" charts and at number one in the UK. The album produced three singles; "The Heretic Anthem" (promotional single), "Left Behind" and "My Plague", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film "Resident Evil". In 2002, Slipknot appeared in "Rollerball" (2002), performing "I Am Hated". The release and intense promotion of the album resulted in sold-out shows in large arenas in several countries.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In mid-2002, Slipknot went on hiatus because of internal conflicts, and band members focused on side projects. Vocalist Taylor and guitarist Root revived their band Stone Sour, drummer Jordison created Murderdolls with vocalist Wednesday 13, percussionist Crahan founded To My Surprise and DJ Wilson went solo as DJ Starscream. Both Taylor and Jordison appeared on MTV unmasked for the first time in public promoting their respective bands. For a while, the future of Slipknot was uncertain and there was much speculation about whether there would be a third album, or if the split would become permanent. An official update appeared on their official website on January 24, 2003 denying those claims. "I don't have a problem with anyone in Slipknot," Jordison protested. "I've seen comments from Corey saying there are things to be resolved, but I have no fucking idea what he's talking about."


title: Slipknot (band)

text: After several delays, Slipknot moved into The Mansion in Los Angeles, California, in mid-2003 to work on their third album alongside producer Rick Rubin. By early 2004, work on the album had finished and the band began The Subliminal Verses World Tour with their appearance on the Jägermeister Music Tour in March 2004. "" was released on May 24, 2004; it peaked at number two on the "Billboard" album charts. The album produced six singles; "Duality", "Vermilion", "Vermilion, Pt. 2", "Before I Forget", "The Nameless", and The Blister Exists. Slipknot recorded its first live album, "", while touring in support of the band's third album. Released on November 1, 2005 "9.0: Live" peaked at number 17 on the "Billboard" album charts. Touring in support of "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" continued through 2004 and up to the end of 2005 before Slipknot went on hiatus for the second time.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In 2005, several members of Slipknot were involved in "Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions", a collaborative album recorded by artists signed to Roadrunner Records for the label's 25th anniversary. 2006 saw Slipknot win their first Grammy Award, picking up the Best Metal Performance award for the single "Before I Forget". The single went on to be featured on the set list of "". On December 5, 2006, Slipknot released its third DVD "". While Slipknot was on hiatus, several band members again focused their attentions on side projects; vocalist Taylor and guitarist Root returned to Stone Sour, drummer Jordison toured with several bands and produced 3 Inches of Blood's third album "Fire Up the Blades", Crahan founded Dirty Little Rabbits and Wilson returned as DJ Starscream once again.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Preparation for Slipknot's fourth album began towards the end of 2007; work began at Sound Farm Studio in Jamaica, Iowa, with producer Dave Fortman in February 2008. The album was finished in June, and the band went on the All Hope Is Gone World Tour on July 9, 2008. Slipknot's fourth album, "All Hope Is Gone", was released on August 20, 2008, debuting at number one on the "Billboard" albums chart. The album produced five singles; "All Hope Is Gone", "Psychosocial", "Dead Memories", "Sulfur" and "Snuff". 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of Slipknot's debut album; to commemorate the event, the band released a special-edition version of "Slipknot" on September 9, 2009. The band toured in support of the album throughout 2008 and continued until October 31, 2009, resulting in Slipknot's third hiatus.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: During the hiatus, several band members focused on respective side projects; Taylor founded Junk Beer Kidnap Band and returned to Stone Sour with guitarist Root; Crahan continued working with his band Dirty Little Rabbits; and drummer Jordison returned with his band Murderdolls and became the new permanent drummer of Rob Zombie. Meanwhile, percussionist Fehn became a full-time bassist with metalcore band Will Haven and Sid Wilson founded the eponymous band Sid.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In 2010, Gray was planning to tour with the supergroup, Hail!, but on May 24, 2010, he was found dead in an Urbandale, Iowa, hotel room. Circumstances surrounding his death at the time were not immediately known; an autopsy suspected his death was not intentional but did not reveal the cause. The day after his death, the remaining eight members of the band held a live, unmasked, press conference alongside Gray's widow and brother. On June 21, the cause of death was confirmed as an accidental overdose of morphine and synthetic morphine substitute fentanyl.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The band was hesitant to comment on the future of Slipknot. The members made conflicting statements in interviews; drummer Jordison told "The Pulse of Radio" "there is another Slipknot record already kinda in the making". Vocalist Taylor told "FMQB" Productions he was "very conflicted about whether or not [he wants] to do anything with Slipknot". The band released their fourth video album "(sic)nesses" on September 28, 2010; it debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Music Video Charts. The DVD features Slipknot's entire live performance at the 2009 Download Festival and a 45-minute film documenting their tour in support of "All Hope Is Gone", and served as a tribute to Paul Gray.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Regarding the continuation of Slipknot, Taylor told "NME" Gray would want them to continue and he felt they should but he was ambivalent about returning to the band. Slipknot returned to touring in 2011, performing a small number of shows in Europe. They headlined the Sonisphere Festival and Rock in Rio alongside Iron Maiden and Metallica, and performed at Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting. Donnie Steele substituted for Gray in the concerts; he was positioned behind Jordison and obscured from the audience's view.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot also said the band would complete and release the band's fifth studio album, and that there were no plans to replace Gray. Jordison said the writing process for the album had already begun and that he had written 17 songs.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On May 29, 2012, Roadrunner Records posted a teaser video titled "Antennas to Hell" on its website. Later that day, on Twitter, Corey Taylor said Slipknot will release a greatest hits album on June 17, 2012. He also said the band was not yet recording new material but was putting together demos for a new album.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot's first annual music festival, called "Knotfest", was held on August 17, 2012, at Mid-America Motorplex near Pacific Junction, Iowa, and on August 18, 2012, in Somerset, Wisconsin. Deftones, Lamb of God, and Serj Tankian also performed at the festival. The festival shows also debuted a Slipknot museum. On 14, June 2013, Slipknot headlined the Download Festival for a second time. The band performed to roughly 90,000 people and was twice forced to stop the set—once in the middle of a song—to allow the front barricade, which had split open under crowd pressure, to be repaired.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Production of the band's fifth album began in late 2013. Taylor described the album as "very dark" and a cross between "Iowa" and "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)". Guitarist Jim Root did not participate in Stone Sour's January tour so he could write material for Slipknot.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On December 12, 2013, the band announced through its official website that Joey Jordison had left the band after 18 years, citing personal reasons. On his official Facebook page, Jordison later said he "did not quit Slipknot" and that he was "shocked" and "blindsided" by the news. Both Jordison and Slipknot independently promised to release further details about the split. Taylor said Jordison would not be appearing on the new album because he did not participate in any songwriting sessions before his departure. After years of both sides being silent and evasive as to the reasons for his leaving the band, Jordison revealed in June 2016 that he suffered from Transverse myelitis, a neurological disease that cost him the ability to play the drums toward the end of his time with Slipknot. However, Jordison played drums in the blackened death metal act Sinsaenum, which he joined in 2016.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In July 2014, Slipknot began releasing teasers for the new album on the band's website and social media using cryptic messages and gory imagery. "The Negative One", the band's first song in six years, was released on August 1; it was accompanied by a music video directed by Crahan that was released four days later. The video did not feature any band members. On August 24, Slipknot released an official radio single titled "The Devil In I", and the name of the upcoming album was announced as "" on iTunes, with an expected release date of October 28. The release was later preponed to October 17 for the Netherlands and Australia, October 20 for the UK and October 21 worldwide. "The Negative One" was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot began touring North America in support of the album on October 25 at the second iteration of Knotfest. The tour dubbed the "Prepare for Hell" was co-headlined by Korn with King 810 as support. The band also performed at 2015's Soundwave festival in Australia. A bassist and drummer were brought in to replace Gray and Jordison respectively; Crahan designing a mask that would differentiate them from the band. The official video for "The Devil In I", featuring musicians wearing modified versions of the band's old masks—with the exception of Taylor, Wilson and Crahan who all wore new masks — was released on September 12. Fans speculated upon the identities of the drummer and bassist shown in the video but the band did not officially name them.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Taylor later said he was "upset" at the leak of the identity of the bassist, alleged to be Alessandro Venturella because of a unique tattoo on his hand, though he'd later clarify that he meant that in jest. Root told "Guitar World" the drummer's identity would not be released, and that the bassist and the drummer were not permanent members of the band. On December 3, a former Slipknot road crew member posted a photograph of a touring band personnel list that confirmed bassist Alessandro Venturella and drummer Jay Weinberg were members of the tour.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On March 11, 2015, while the band was not touring, guitarist Mick Thomson was hospitalized after a drunken knife fight with his brother at Thomson's home in Iowa. The pair sustained serious, but non life-threatening, injuries. On August 2, 2015, during a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, the band was forced to stop performing after Venturella was suddenly rushed to hospital, after undergoing a medical emergency. After 20 minutes, singer Taylor told the audience the band would continue the concert, performing without Venturella. It was later discovered that Venturella had collapsed because of extreme dehydration.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On September 25, 2016, the band performed at their annual festival Knotfest, which was altered to include Ozzfest this year. They performed the "Iowa" album in its entirety. In the meanwhile, Crahan made his directorial debut with the feature film "Officer Downe", based on a graphic novel of the same name and starring actor Kim Coates. In November 2016, Slipknot percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan revealed during an interview with Rolling Stone that he and fellow guitarist Jim Root would be teaming up in February 2017 to begin writing new material for a new Slipknot album because "we want to write."


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot singer Corey Taylor regrouped with his other band Stone Sour in 2017, and they released their album "Hydrograd" on June 30. Talking about his first work in cinema and the other Slipknot members' plans, in an interview with WRIF's Meltdown, Crahan revealed that "we're beginning to write some music for Slipknot for the new record. We have songs that we've written that are amazing." In December 2017, Crahan appeared on "The Jasta Show" podcast, where he stated that the next Slipknot album could be his last with the band.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Corey Taylor revealed in October 2018 that the band would enter the studio in early 2019, with a targeted release for their sixth album that same year, followed by a world tour. On October 31, the single "All Out Life" was released, as was an accompanying music video. On March 4, 2019, the band announced that the release date for the next album would be August 9, 2019, and that they would be embarking on the Knotfest Roadshow along with support by Gojira, Volbeat, and Behemoth to support the album. On March 7, Slipknot were revealed to be the opening act for Metallica's six WorldWired Tour dates in Australia and New Zealand from October 17 through October 31.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On March 14, 2019, Chris Fehn filed a lawsuit against the band citing withheld payments. Fehn specifically accused Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan of setting up several band-related business entities, in different states, that collect money from the band. Fehn called for full forensic accounting to be done on all of the band's companies and assets in order to collect any profits and damages he may be owed. On that same day, Taylor responded via Twitter with a tweet stating, "You're gonna read a lot of bullshit today. This is all I'll say. JUST YOU WAIT TIL THE TRUTH COMES OUT. Long Live The Knot". On March 18, 2019, the band officially announced via their website that Fehn was no longer a member of the band, stating, "Slipknot's focus is on making album #6, and our upcoming shows around the world, our best ever. Chris knows why he is no longer a part of Slipknot. We are disappointed that he chose to point fingers and manufacture claims, rather than doing what was necessary to continue to be a part of Slipknot. We would have preferred he not take the path that he has, but evolution in all things is a necessary part of this life. Long Live The Knot". However, a few days later, the message was removed from the website and according to Fehn's lawyer, the percussionist's employment status with the band had not changed since his initial filing. By May 2019, Fehn's employment status with the band had apparently changed, as evident by his missing name on the band's Instagram posts for their new masks. He was replaced by a percussionist, whose identity was concealed, who the fans have dubbed "Tortilla Man". "Loudwire" has reported that fans have linked his identity as Michael Pfaff, a former member of Crahan's side project Dirty Little Rabbits. The band officially confirmed Pfaff's identity on March 16, 2022, almost two years later.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On May 13, 2019, the band teased something was coming on May 16, ahead of their performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", as well as screenshots of their new masks. On that day, the album's title was revealed to be "We Are Not Your Kind", along with its tracklist and a music video for "Unsainted", where the new masks and outfits for the nine band members were shown for the first time, including an as-yet-unknown new percussionist. On July 22, they released the second single from their upcoming album, titled "Solway Firth". This was accompanied by a music video which featured live footage from their 2019 shows as well as clips and audio from "The Boys". On August 5, "Birth of the Cruel" was released as the album's third single, accompanied by a music video. On August 9, four days after they had released "Birth of the Cruel", they released their sixth album "We Are Not Your Kind".


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In August 2019, Crahan announced the band will release an experimental album of outtakes from the 2008 "All Hope Is Gone" sessions, titled "Look Outside Your Window". The album was recorded with just 4 members (Crahan, Taylor, Root, and Wilson), in a different studio away from the other members, is expected to have 11 tracks that Taylor described as having a "Radiohead vibe", and Crahan saying in 2018 "it is not a Slipknot album". The band also released a twenty-minute experimental short film directed by Crahan and titled "Pollution". One of the segments of the film is the music video for the song, "Nero Forte", which was released as the album's fourth and final single on December 16, 2019.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On May 19, 2021, Shawn Crahan revealed that the band had been currently making "god music". In an article published by "Loudwire" on June 9, 2021, Shawn Crahan revealed that a new Slipknot album would 'hopefully' be released in 2021. He also added that the band would be parting ways with Roadrunner Records following the release of the album.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In November 2021, the band started teasing new material on a new domain "thechapeltownrag.com". Several snippets of a song were shown on the website leading to speculation of a new single that the band would later confirm on November 4, with the single titled "The Chapeltown Rag" slated for release the following day alongside its live debut at the Knotfest Roadshow in Los Angeles, California on November 5, 2021. In December 2021, Taylor revealed that the band were planning on mixing their seventh studio album in January, and hoped to release it by April 2022. He also stated that he preferred the material on their forthcoming seventh studio album to that on "We Are Not Your Kind".


title: Slipknot (band)

text: On July 19, 2022, the band announced their seventh album, titled "The End, So Far", along with the album's second single "The Dying Song (Time to Sing)". On August 5, 2022, the third single from the album, "Yen", was released. The album was released on September 30, 2022.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot is considered a nu metal band. The band's members prefer to distance themselves musically from other nu metal bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit. Slipknot describes its sound as "metal metal" and regards the link to nu metal as coincidental and a result of nu metal's emergence being concurrent with that of Slipknot. The band's sound typically features a heavily down-tuned guitar setup, a large percussive section, sampling, keyboards and DJing/turntablism. Using a variety of vocal styles, the music typically features growled vocals, screaming, backing vocals, as well as melodic singing. The band has continually experimented with its sound, most notably developing tracks led by acoustic guitars and melodic singing that first appeared on "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)".


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The album "All Hope Is Gone" is considered a groove metal album with elements of death metal and thrash metal. The band has also been described as heavy metal, alternative metal groove metal, death metal, hard rock, grindcore, thrash metal, and rap metal.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot's lyrics are generally very aggressive; they sometimes include profanity while exploring themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, misanthropy, and psychosis. They often draw upon topics including the music industry, politics, personal strife, and reflection, among others. Rick Anderson of Allmusic said, "those lyrics that are discernible are not generally quotable on a family website". On "Vol. 3", Taylor deliberately avoided using profanity in response to claims he relied on it.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot cited both Korn's self-titled album of 1994 and Limp Bizkit's album "Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$" of 1997 as major influences. However, the band's biggest influence, both on their image and music, has been singer Mike Patton and his bands Mr. Bungle, Fantômas and Faith No More. Corey Taylor even stated that watching Faith No More perform on the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards saved his life. In an interview in 2000 Patton called the Slipknot members "really nice guys".


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The band Kiss has been a big influence for Slipknot, both musically and image-wise. Several band members have in numerous interviews stated the impact Kiss had on them when growing up. In an interview with Revolver magazine, Joey Jordison said that "I saw Kiss on The Dick Clark Show in like, 1980 or something, and "Kiss Alive!" was the first record of theirs I had. This was back when you bought cassettes or records, and I still have my original cassette copy of it. And I tell you what, it just blew my mind! The cover tells you everything you need to know; it just makes you want to listen to the whole fucking record. And these guys look like fucking demons — you don't know when you're a kid and you're watching them on TV that it's just guys in makeup. So yeah, it was inspiring back then. They were a huge influence on me when I was a kid. And that record came out in 1975, so I was always like, "That's fucking badass — one of my favorite records of all time came out the year I was born!". In another interview with Loudwire, he also added that after listening to "Kiss Alive!" for the first, he was "changed forever, and then [he] just became completely engulfed in metal." Guitarist Mick Thomson revealed in Metal Hammer that Kiss' "Destroyer" was the first album he ever bought, and when talking about Kiss' "Alive II"; he stated that "...the artwork on Alive II with Gene's sweat running, the blood coming from his face and the make-up running had a profound influence on me. You only have to look at my own band to see how much so." Vocalist Corey Taylor has stated that Kiss were a huge influence on both him and the rest of the band and he has also covered multiple Kiss songs over the years; both as a solo artist as well as with Stone Sour, in which Slipknot guitarist Jim Root also played at the time.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Many authors single out the massive influence that experimental band Mr. Bungle has had on Slipknot; in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the members of Mr. Bungle donned strange masks (often clown and gimp ones), costumes (including jumpsuits) and hid their identities behind obscure pseudonyms. All of these were major features on their 1991 self-titled album cycle. Their creepy music videos from that record, such as "Travolta" which was banned on MTV, also pointed out at what would be the future image of Slipknot. In the same way, the musical influence of Mr. Bungle is evident in the eclecticism and adventurousness throughout "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.", Slipknot's first release of 1996, although the band added more metallic elements. A few songs on that album also hint at the eccentric catchiness of Faith No More and other funk metal bands.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: While Slipknot was making its debut studio release, the entire band attended one of the first shows by avant-garde grindcore supergroup Fantômas-composed of Patton, Slayer's Dave Lombardo, Melvins' Buzz Osborne and Mr. Bungle's Trevor Dunn-which greatly influenced them at the time. From that


title: Slipknot (band)

text: album on, Slipknot has displayed a much more straightforward, extreme metal sound, largely because of producer Ross Robinson, and some writers have identified the influence of Faith No More on some tracks'


title: Slipknot (band)

text: structures and alternating melodies from "Iowa" and "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)". On the other hand, the experimental imprint of Bungle has become rare, but it made a sudden reappearance on 2019's "We Are Not Your Kind".


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The members of Slipknot are also influenced by Kiss, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Jimi Hendrix, Deicide, Pantera, Anthrax, Metal Church, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Sepultura, White Zombie, Alice in Chains, Malevolent Creation, Danny Heifetz, Nine Inch Nails, Neurosis, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Melvins, N.W.A, Skinny Puppy, Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, Iron Maiden, Emperor, Beastie Boys, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Misfits, Gorefest, Run-DMC, Acid Bath, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Metallica. Taylor has spoken of his admiration for vocalists Freddie Mercury, Bruce Dickinson, David Lee Roth, Bruce Springsteen and James Hetfield. In 1999, Chris Fehn said Sid Wilson is influenced by jungle music and rave music.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot is known for its chaotic, energetic live shows that contributed to the band's success. During performances, most of the band's members headbang heavily. The band's early performances included extreme acts such as stage dives from high balconies and band members setting each other on fire. Clown was known to go into the crowd and tie people up with the microphone cord. In later years, they tended to refrain from acts this extreme. Former bassist Paul Gray said this was due to receiving lawsuits and to avoid harming other people, and that it was a "better move" for the longevity of the band. Along with the energetic and unpredictable performances, Slipknot often use elaborate stage setups that use pyrotechnics, elevated stage areas, hydraulic drum risers, and computer screens. Reviewing a Slipknot performance, Alistair Lawrence of "Kerrang!" said, "the choreographed chaos is too multi-faceted to fully describe". and "NME" described one Slipknot show as "a scene of chaos". At their inaugural 2022 show, the band paid tribute to fellow metal band Jinjer and mentioned the 2022 Russian invasion of the Ukraine as cause for their absence.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The band is known for its attention-grabbing image; the members perform wearing unique, individual facemasks and matching uniforms—typically jumpsuits—while each member is typically assigned and referred to by number based on their role in the band (#0 through #8), although the latter practice has diminished following the death of Paul Gray.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The band has said the idea of wearing masks stemmed from a clown mask that Crahan took to rehearsals when the band first started. Crahan later became known for his clown masks, adopting the pseudonym "Clown". The concept developed; by late 1997, the band decided every band member would wear a unique mask and matching jumpsuit. Taylor said in 2002, "it's our way of becoming more intimate with the music. It's a way for us to become unconscious of who we are and what we do outside of music. It's a way for us to kind of crawl inside it and be able to use it." The concept of wearing matching jumpsuits has been described as a response to commercialism in the music industry and led to the idea of assigning the band members numerical aliases. According to Taylor, "Originally, we were just going to wear the jumpsuits ... we figured we might as well take that further and number ourselves ... We were basically saying, 'Hey, we're a product!'".


title: Slipknot (band)

text: During their careers, the members of Slipknot have developed their images, updating their uniforms and each member's mask upon the release of each album. The appearance and style of the masks do not usually differ significantly between albums; members typically maintain the established theme of their mask while adding new elements. Jordison, in an interview in 2004, said the masks are updated to show growth within each individual. Slipknot's members have worn special masks for specific occasions, most notably for the music video and live performances of "Vermilion" in 2004 and 2005 when they wore life masks made from casts of their own faces. In 2008, the band wore a set of large masks titled "purgatory masks" during photograph shoots before the release of "All Hope Is Gone"; in the music video for "Psychosocial" they are seen burning them. Shortly after its inception, Slipknot's masks were homemade, but since 2000 they have been custom-made by special effect artist and musician Screaming Mad George.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The band's image has been the subject of much criticism and controversy, with critics generally accusing it of being a sales gimmick. The band's members object to these claims; according to them the masks are used to divert attention from themselves and put it on the music. Several band members have said wearing the masks helps to maintain privacy in their personal lives. During an interview in 2005, percussionist Fehn said the masks were a "blessing" because they meant the members are not recognized in public.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In 2012, Slipknot released an app for iOS and Android called "Slipknot: Wear the Mask", which invites fans to construct their own masks, defining the kind of Slipknot fans they are.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: An essential element for the band's image is the Slipknot logo. The nonagram was created by the band's members around the same time the band was founded. The nonagram is arguably the best-known sigil of Slipknot and it represents a 9-point star—a symbol of unity, loyalty, friendship and remembrance. The logo is composed of three equilateral triangles each rotated at 0, 40, and 80 degrees. Each star point was meant to stand for each of the nine members of the original band, with at least one member, Chris Fehn, possessing a nonagram tattoo. Despite popular belief, the nonagram is not a Satanist symbol and instead represents Slipknot's "battle with the fake world."


title: Slipknot (band)

text: The pre-release of the 2014 album ".5: The Gray Chapter" also witnessed a major change in the band's logo and branding strategy. A new nonagram drew the public's attention towards the band, announcing the beginning of a new era. The black and red color scheme and the minimalist, elegant design received public appreciation and it is still used today.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In 2008, Slipknot launched their clothing line "Tattered and Torn". Named after a song on their 1999 self-titled debut, the line runs as an imprint of Bravado, a company that runs the band's merchandising. While the band recognize that their merchandise is their biggest revenue income, they insist Tattered and Torn is more than just band merchandising. Vocalist Corey Taylor said, "It's a way for [the fans] to get cool clothing at affordable prices." The first items from the clothing line went on sale in late July 2008 through Hot Topic stores across North America and the Hot Topic website. Currently, the line is limited to shirts and hoodies but was expected to develop into a full-range clothing line.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot's music and image have been the subject of many controversies throughout its career. The lyrical content of some of Slipknot's songs has been linked to several violent and criminal incidents. In 2003, two young killers blamed the lyrics of "Disasterpiece" for their crime. In 2006, the lyrics of "Surfacing" were found at the site of a grave robbery.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: In 2008, Corey Taylor commented on a slashing incident at a South African school to which Slipknot was linked; he said: ... obviously, I'm disturbed by the fact that people were hurt and someone died, as far as my responsibility for that goes, it stops there, because I know our message is actually very positive ... there are always going to be mental disorders and people who cause violence for no other reason than the fact that they're fucked up and lost.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot had a longstanding feud with the band Mushroomhead which—along with their fans—said Slipknot "stole their image". While Slipknot acknowledged their images had similarities, its members were not actively involved in the feud, saying the similarities were coincidental. Taylor said, "we both started at the same time—neither one of us knowing anything about each other". Taylor also said that at a live show in Cleveland, Ohio, several Mushroomhead fans threw objects including a fist-sized padlock at Slipknot and that when Slipknot's set was finished, Machine Head and Amen went into the crowd and "handled it right there". In 2009, former Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Reavis said his band's members were no longer interested in feuding with Slipknot, saying, "they're not the first masked band, we're not, no one was". During an interview with Rock Rage Radio, Reavis praised Slipknot as he criticized his former bandmates after a dispute with the band's founding members which led to his dismissal. He stated that Slipknot was better and he admitted that his thoughts were personal, since he was not involved with Mushroomhead when the feud started.


title: Slipknot (band)

text: Slipknot's 2005 lawsuit against Burger King said the company created the advertising-based band Coq Roq to capitalize on Slipknot's image. Burger King responded with a countersuit, saying many other bands, such as Mr. Bungle, Mushroomhead, Mudvayne, Kiss, Insane Clown Posse, and Gwar have used masks as part of their images. After negotiations, the advertising campaign and lawsuit were withdrawn.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Taron Egerton ( ; born 10 November 1989) is a Welsh actor. He is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, and has received nominations for a Grammy Award and two British Academy Film Awards.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Born in Birkenhead, England, Egerton began acting at age 15 and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2012. He gained recognition for his starring role as spy recruit Gary "Eggsy" Unwin in the action comedy film "" (2014) and its sequel "" (2017). He has also starred in several biographical films, portraying military officer Edward Brittain in the drama "Testament of Youth" (2014), the titular ski-jumper in the sports film "Eddie the Eagle" (2016), and singer Elton John in the musical "Rocketman" (2019), the lattermost of which earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2022, Egerton starred in the miniseries "Black Bird".


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton was born on 10 November 1989 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. His mother worked in social services, while his father ran a bed-and-breakfast near Liverpool; both of them are Liverpool natives. Although born in England, Egerton considers himself to be Welsh "through and through" and is fluent in both Welsh and English. His first name means "thunder" in Welsh. He has two younger half-sisters.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton's parents divorced when he was two, and he subsequently moved with his mother to the Welsh island of Anglesey, where he went to primary school. The family then relocated to Aberystwyth when he was 12 years old. The move brought him loneliness due to losing childhood friends. He began acting at age 15, which he explained was "as much about trying to be social and make friends as it was an interest in acting". He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2012.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton performed in a stage production of the play "The Last of the Haussmans" at the National Theatre in London in 2012. After appearing in the crime drama series "Lewis", he was cast as the lead in Matthew Vaughn's "", an action comedy film adaptation of the comic book "The Secret Service" by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, in 2013. He portrayed British Army officer Edward Brittain in the 2014 biographical drama film "Testament of Youth", earning a nomination for Best British Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival. "Kingsman: The Secret Service" was released in 2015, garnering highly favorable reviews that described it as "fun, stylish and subversive" as well as grossing over $400 million. Writing for "TheWrap", James Rocchi deemed Egerton to be "a naturally charismatic presence with smarts behind his smile" as Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a recruit for an espionage organisation. Egerton rose to fame with the role. He starred in the crime film "Legend" that same year.


title: Taron Egerton

text: At the 69th British Academy Film Awards in 2016, Egerton received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. In the same year, he played ski-jumper Eddie the Eagle in the eponymous biographical sports film and voiced Johnny, a passionate gorilla, in the animated musical film "Sing". Egerton reprised the role of Eggsy in the film "", a sequel to "Kingsman: The Secret Service", released the following year. It drew a mixed response from critics. In 2018, he starred in the crime drama film "Billionaire Boys Club" and played the title character in the action-adventure film "Robin Hood". Both films were failures commercially and with critics. Egerton later specified that "Robin Hood" was not the film he had signed up to create and that it had "lost its vision." He attributed his involvement in "Billionaire Boys Club" and "Robin Hood" to monetary reasons.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton starred as singer Elton John in the biographical musical film "Rocketman". He learned to play the piano for the part and sang live in each take during filming. The film was released in May 2019, receiving positive reviews, and the actor's portrayal of John earned praise. "The Washington Post"s Ann Hornaday opined that Egerton "exerts a steadying, singularly charismatic force" in the role, while Richard Lawson of "Vanity Fair" described his portrayal as "nuanced and emotionally intelligent while still loose, carried with verve and agility". Egerton won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance. He also garnered a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for his work on the . That same year, Egerton narrated the audiobook version of John's autobiography, "Me", and the two performed on stage together several times.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Also in 2019, Egerton voiced Moomintroll in the animated series "Moominvalley" and Rian in the fantasy series "". He reprised the role of Johnny in "Sing 2", which released December 2021. Egerton starred in the play "Cock" by Mike Bartlett. Directed by Marianne Elliott and held at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End, the production marked his West End debut. After missing performances due to fainting on stage during the first night of performances in March 2022 and testing positive for COVID-19 later that month, Egerton exited for "personal reasons" the following month. The production of "Cock" garnered mixed critical reception, with Egerton's performance gaining praise. "The Guardian"s Arifa Akbar wrote he "is especially affecting in his romantic desperation".


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton executive produced and portrayed American drug dealer Jimmy Keene in the miniseries "Black Bird", an adaptation of Keene's memoir "In with the Devil". It premiered on Apple TV+ in July 2022. Reviewing the series, Saloni Gajjar of "The A.V. Club" found that Egerton "aces Jimmy's duality while switching from being overtly confident to silently breaking down". Egerton is set to play entrepreneur Henk Rogers in the biographical film "Tetris" and return as Eggsy in the fourth installment in the "Kingsman" film franchise. He is attached to star in the thriller film "Carry-On".


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton lives in West London. He describes himself as having come from a working-class background. Having lost a grandmother to motor neurone disease, he is an ambassador for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. He supports gay rights.


title: Taron Egerton

text: Egerton has won a Golden Globe Award for his role in "Rocketman". He has also garnered a Grammy Award nomination for his work on its soundtrack. He has been nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.


title: A

text: A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is "a" (pronounced ), plural "aes". It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms: the double-storey a and single-storey ɑ. The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type.


title: A

text: The earliest certain ancestor of "A" is aleph (also written 'aleph), the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, which consisted entirely of consonants (for that reason, it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from a true alphabet). In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in proto-Sinaitic script influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two horns extended.


title: A

text: When the ancient Greeks adopted the alphabet, they had no use for a letter to represent the glottal stop—the consonant sound that the letter denoted in Phoenician and other Semitic languages, and that was the first phoneme of the Phoenician pronunciation of the letter—so they used their version of the sign to represent the vowel , and called it by the similar name of alpha. In the earliest Greek inscriptions after the Greek Dark Ages, dating to the eighth century BC, the letter rests upon its side, but in the Greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles the modern capital letter, although many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg, or by the angle at which the cross line is set.


title: A

text: The Etruscans brought the Greek alphabet to their civilization in the Italian Peninsula and left the letter unchanged. The Romans later adopted the Etruscan alphabet to write the Latin language, and the resulting letter was preserved in the Latin alphabet that would come to be used to write many languages, including English.


title: A

text: During Roman times, there were many variant forms of the letter "A". First was the monumental or lapidary style, which was used when inscribing on stone or other "permanent" media. There was also a cursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing, which was done on more perishable surfaces. Due to the "perishable" nature of these surfaces, there are not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental, but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive, such as majuscule cursive, minuscule cursive, and semicursive minuscule. Variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles. The known variants include the early semi-uncial, the uncial, and the later semi-uncial.


title: A

text: At the end of the Roman Empire (5th century AD), several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through Western Europe. Among these were the semicursive minuscule of Italy, the Merovingian script in France, the Visigothic script in Spain, and the Insular or Anglo-Irish semi-uncial or Anglo-Saxon majuscule of Great Britain. By the ninth century, the Caroline script, which was very similar to the present-day form, was the principal form used in book-making, before the advent of the printing press. This form was derived through a combining of prior forms.


title: A

text: 15th-century Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants, the "Italic" and "Roman" forms, were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form, also called "script a," is used in most current handwriting; it consists of a circle and vertical stroke on the right ("ɑ"). This slowly developed from the fifth-century form resembling the Greek letter tau in the hands of medieval Irish and English writers. The Roman form is used in most printed material; it consists of a small loop with an arc over it ("a"). Both derive from the majuscule (capital) form. In Greek handwriting, it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop, as demonstrated by the uncial version shown. Many fonts then made the right leg vertical. In some of these, the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc, resulting in the printed form, while in others it was dropped, resulting in the modern handwritten form. Graphic designers refer to the "Italic" and "Roman" forms as "single decker a" and "double decker a" respectively.


title: A

text: Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest (set in Roman type). There are some other cases aside from italic type where "script a" ("ɑ"), also called Latin alpha, is used in contrast with Latin "a" (such as in the International Phonetic Alphabet).


title: A

text: The double sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as "Aaron" and "aardvark". However, occurs in many common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly , , , , and .


title: A

text: In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, denotes an open unrounded vowel, such as , , or . An exception is Saanich, in which (and the glyph Á) stands for a close-mid front unrounded vowel .


title: A

text: In algebra, the letter "a" along with various other letters of the alphabet is often used to denote a variable, with various conventional meanings in different areas of mathematics. Moreover, in 1637, René Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c", and this convention is still often followed, especially in elementary algebra.


title: A

text: In geometry, capital A, B, C etc. are used to denote segments, lines, rays, etc. A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A.


title: A

text: "A" is often used to denote something or someone of a better or more prestigious quality or status: A−, A or A+, the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students' schoolwork; "A grade" for clean restaurants; A-list celebrities, etc. Such associations can have a motivating effect, as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance, when compared with other letters.


title: A

text: In English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", is an indefinite article, used to introduce noun phrases.


title: A

text: Finally, the letter A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe, or a small cup size in a brassiere.


title: A

text: In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, A is a number that corresponds to the number 10 in decimal (base 10) counting.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997), commonly known as Colonel Parker, was a Dutch-born musical entrepreneur, best known for being Elvis Presley's manager.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Born in the Netherlands, Parker emigrated illegally to the United States at the age of 20. He changed his name and claimed to have been born in the United States. His Dutch birthplace and immigrant status were not revealed for many years. A carnival worker by background, Parker moved into music promotion in 1938, working with one of the first popular crooners, Gene Austin, and then country music singers Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, and Tommy Sands in his early career. He also assisted Jimmie Davis's campaign to become Governor of Louisiana. As a reward, Davis gave him the honorary rank of "colonel" in the Louisiana State Militia.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker encountered Presley in 1955, and by 1956 had become his sole representative. Within months, he had won him a recording contract with RCA Victor. This contract led to Presley having a commercial breakthrough in 1956 with his first single "Heartbreak Hotel" and rising to become one of the most popular and commercially successful entertainers in the world. Parker was able to receive more than half of the income from the enterprise, an unprecedented figure for a music manager. He negotiated Presley's lucrative merchandising deals, TV appearances, and acting roles in films. He influenced Presley's personal life, including Presley's decisions to accept military service in 1958 and to marry Priscilla Beaulieu in 1967. Parker encouraged Presley to make film musicals which became the focus of his career during his commercial decline in the 1960s until his 1968 comeback and return to touring. Parker rarely saw him after that but continued in his management role until Presley's death in 1977.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: For the rest of his life, Parker managed the Presley estate, but having sold the rights to Presley's early recordings to RCA Records, he struggled to secure a steady income, while also suffering significant gambling losses. In 1980, a judge ordered an investigation into Parker's management practices and found that Parker's management had been unethical. Parker's final years were spent living in Las Vegas, in increasingly poor health before his death in 1997.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker was born as Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk on June 26, 1909, in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands, and was the seventh of eleven children. He was the son of Maria Elisabeth (Ponsie) and Adam van Kuijk. As a boy, he worked as a barker at carnivals in his hometown, learning many of the skills that he would require later while working in the entertainment industry.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: At age 15, Van Kuijk moved to Rotterdam, gaining employment on boats in the port town. At age 17, he first displayed signs of wanting to run away to the United States to "make his fortune". A year later, with enough money to sustain him for a short period, he entered America illegally by jumping ship from his employer's vessel. During his first visit there, he traveled with a Chautauqua educational tent show, before returning briefly to the Netherlands.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In "The Colonel", her biography of Parker, Alanna Nash wrote that there were questions about a murder in Breda in which Parker may have been a suspect or at least a person of interest. In the spring of 1929, a 23-year-old newlywed woman, named Anna van den Enden, was found beaten to death in the living quarters behind a greengrocer store. The premises had been ransacked in search of money. There were no witnesses to the murder and almost no clues or evidence were found, except that the killer spread pepper on and around the body before fleeing the scene of the crime in hopes that police dogs would not pick up his scent. The murder has never been solved. The killing happened only a few streets away from where the Van Kuijk family lived, and Parker had been hired to make deliveries from this and other grocery stores in the area. This may have motivated Parker to avoid seeking a passport, as the Netherlands has an active extradition treaty with the United States, and he may have wanted to avoid criminal arrest by Dutch authorities in that case.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In May 1929, Van Kuijk returned to the United States at age 19, finding work with carnivals due to his previous experience in the Netherlands. He enlisted in the United States Army a few months later, taking the name "Tom Parker" from the same name of the officer who interviewed him, to disguise the fact he was an illegal immigrant. He completed basic training at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: He served two years in the 64th Coast Artillery (United States), at Fort Shafter, in Hawaii, and shortly afterwards re-enlisted at Fort Barrancas, Florida. Although Parker had served honorably before, he went AWOL this time and was charged with desertion. He was punished with solitary confinement, from which he emerged with a psychosis that led to him spending two months in a mental hospital, and he was discharged from the Army because of his mental condition.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Following his discharge, Parker worked at a number of jobs, including food concessions and gaming carnivals. From about 1931 until 1938, he worked as a "carny" with Royal American Shows. He began to build up a list of contacts that would prove valuable in later years.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In 1935, Parker married 27-year-old Marie Francis Mott. They struggled to survive during the Great Depression, working short cons and traveling across the country in search of work. Parker would later claim that at times they had had to live on as little as $1 a week (US$ in dollars).


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker first became involved in the music industry as a music promoter in 1938, working with popular singer Gene Austin. Despite having sold over 86 million records since 1924 and earning over $17 million, Austin's career was somewhat at a low point. He had spent much of his fortune on partying, cars, mansions, and women, and his popularity had been eclipsed by new singers, such as Bing Crosby. Parker, charged with the task of promoting the star, found the career transition to be a smooth one, using much of his "carny" experience to sell tickets and pack in the crowds. He was a successful promoter, but he had his sights set on management.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Austin offered Parker the opportunity to move to Nashville, Tennessee, where music was becoming a big business, but for reasons unknown Parker turned him down. Instead, Parker decided to stay in Temple Terrace, Florida, with his family, perhaps to avoid having to fill in paperwork that could expose his illegal status. Within a year, he had the opportunity to become a legal citizen of the United States – a new law allowed illegal aliens the chance to become citizens in return for their promise to fight for the country during World War II, if required. He served in the peacetime army as a precondition for taking advantage of that, but he never subsequently applied to become a citizen. Parker decided against registering, possibly to prevent his previous Army record from becoming public.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Instead, he found employment as a field agent with a local animal shelter, the Hillsborough County Humane Society. The job not only offered him a secure wage, it also offered a rent-free apartment above the Humane Society in a remote part of West Tampa for him and his family. With the Society in need of funds, Parker set about using his promotional experience to raise money and awareness for the shelter.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Through the fundraising, Parker found himself heading to Tennessee to find acts to perform at his charity events, among them stars such as Minnie Pearl and Eddy Arnold. Eventually, Parker began getting more involved in music promotion again, this time for himself rather than the Society.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In 1945, Parker became Arnold's full-time manager, signing a contract for 25% of the star's earnings. Over the next few years he would help Arnold secure hit songs, television appearances, and live tours.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In 1948, Parker received the honorary rank of colonel in the Louisiana State Militia from Jimmie Davis, the governor of Louisiana and a former country singer, in return for work Parker did on Davis's election campaign. The rank was honorary, since Louisiana had no organized militia, but Parker used the title throughout his life, becoming known simply as "the Colonel" to many acquaintances.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: A young singer, Tommy Sands, caught Parker's eye in 1952, and Parker immediately set about promoting him. He arranged live appearances and became something of a father figure to the then-15-year-old Sands. Parker had intended to mold Sands into the next Roy Rogers, but Sands had no interest in such a plan. Instead, Parker sent demonstration recordings to record producer Steve Sholes at RCA Victor. Sholes showed little interest in Sands, but promised that he would attempt to find songs he might be able to record.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Eddy Arnold fired Parker in 1953 over Parker's growing involvement with the singer Hank Snow. However, Parker remained involved in many of Arnold's live tours and demanded a buyout of $50,000 (US$ in dollars) to settle their contract. Parker and Snow eventually formed Hank Snow Enterprises and Jamboree Attractions, a successful promotional outfit for up-and-coming country singers.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In early 1955, Parker became aware of a young singer named Elvis Presley. Presley had a singing style different from the current trend, and Parker was immediately interested in the future of this musical style. At that time Parker believed Elvis to be black. Presley's first manager was Scotty Moore, the guitarist in his band, who was encouraged by Sun Records owner Sam Phillips to become his manager to protect Elvis from unscrupulous music promoters. In the beginning, Presley, Moore, and the bassist Bill Black were a trio, the Blue Moon Boys. However, when Presley signed a recording contract with Phillips, Moore and Black were excluded from the contract. Phillips told them to make a separate deal with Elvis. According to Moore, Presley agreed to take 50 percent, and Moore and Black would split the other 50 percent. Moore's one-year management contract with Presley provided him with a 10-percent commission, which Moore said he never took. The contract, dated July 12, 1954, eight days after their first recording session, was signed by Presley and his parents. When the contract expired, the Memphis radio personality Bob Neal stepped in and made a deal with Phillips to become Presley's manager. At that point, Moore and Black had no contractual ties to either Phillips or Presley. Neal was struggling at the time to accommodate his new client's success, and in February 1955, following a meeting with Parker, Presley agreed to let Parker take some control of future bookings and promotions.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker and Neal worked together to promote Presley, using their own "Hank Snow Tour" to book him and tour him. Although Neal remained Presley's official manager, Parker was becoming increasingly involved in the running of his career, and by the summer of 1955 he had become Presley's "special advisor". As Presley was still a minor, his parents had to sign the contract with Parker on his behalf. Part of Parker's role was to secure a new recording contract with a bigger label. Presley had been at Sun Records since the beginning of his career, but Sam Phillips, the owner of Presley's current label, was aware that for Presley to have any kind of a successful future in the business he would need the backing of a much larger label. Despite this, Phillips was not keen to let him go easily, advising Parker that he would require $40,000 (US$ in dollars) to secure the release of Presley's contract, a completely unheard-of sum at the time.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker immediately went to work to find a new label for Presley. Both Mercury Records and Columbia Records showed interest, although their initial offers were nowhere near the $40,000 requirement. RCA Victor, Hank Snow's current label, was also showing an interest, but they were also put off by the cost of the contract. However, RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes was convinced that Presley's style of music would be a huge hit with the right label, and he began talks with Parker. RCA made it very clear they were unwilling to go above $25,000 for a practically unknown singer, but Parker persuaded them that Presley was no ordinary unknown singer. Around the same time, realizing the deal for Presley might fall through due to the cost of the contract, Parker attempted once again to sell Tommy Sands to RCA. He suggested to Sholes that Sands could record material similar to Presley's style. Sholes, remembering his previous experience with Sands, dismissed him as a viable replacement for Presley.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In November, Parker and Snow persuaded RCA to buy Presley out from Sun for $40,000, and on November 21, Presley's contract was officially transferred from Sun Records to RCA Victor. Snow attended the signing, thinking that Elvis had signed a management contract with Jamboree Attractions, which he owned with Parker. However, that was not the case since Elvis was still under contract to Bob Neal. The only document that was signed on November 21 pertained to the record label transfer. In return for a larger financial part of the deal, Neal agreed not to renew his management contract with Presley after it expired in March 1956, allowing Parker the opportunity to claim the job for himself.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: On March 26, 1956, after Presley's management contract with Neal had expired, the singer signed a contract with Parker that made him his exclusive representative. Later, when Hank Snow asked Parker about the status of their contract with Presley, Parker told him: "You don't have any contract with Elvis Presley. Elvis is signed exclusively to the Colonel."


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: With his first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", in 1956, Presley became a recording star. Parker began 1956 with intentions of bringing his new star to the national stage. He arranged for Presley to appear on popular television shows, such as "The Milton Berle Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show," securing fees that made him the highest-paid star on television. By the summer Presley had become one of the most famous new faces of the year, causing excitement among the new teenage audience and outrage among some older audiences and religious groups. Presley said of Parker: "I don't think I'd have ever been very big if it wasn't for him. He's a very smart man."


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker signed a merchandising deal with Beverly Hills film merchandiser Hank Saperstein for nearly $40,000 to turn Presley into a brand name. With over 78 different ranges, from charm bracelets to record players, Presley merchandise had brought in $22 million by the end of 1956. Parker, with his 25% share of profits, was finding many new ways to make money from his artist that other managers before him never thought of. He had even come up with the idea to market "I Hate Elvis" badges.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In April 1956, Parker made his first mistake with Presley's career. He had booked him into a four-week Las Vegas engagement, misjudging the reaction of the slightly older, more reserved audiences that Las Vegas attracted. While Presley was a hit among the youth of America, the middle-aged audiences found him an oddity. Some viewed him as a clown-like figure, wiggling his hips for screams, while others found him vulgar and more suitable for late-night gentleman's clubs. After a cold reception during his first few shows, Parker cut Presley's appearance to two weeks. Presley remembered the event as one of the worst moments of his career.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Despite this setback, Presley was still going from strength to strength. He had expressed interest in making films when he first met Parker, and now Parker was working to make that happen. He arranged for a screen test with Paramount Pictures, and after impressing them with his acting ability, Presley was signed to a seven-picture contract. Parker made sure that the contract allowed Presley the freedom to make at least one film a year with another studio, and also managed to set up an office, with staff, at Paramount. Presley's acting career was originally intended to be a serious one, but after seeing a chance to cross-promote singles and albums with the films, Parker persuaded him to sing in his films. This proved very lucrative, especially when the single for Presley's first film, "Love Me Tender," sold over one million copies in advance sales. With 1956 coming to a close, Parker had made Presley one of the most well-known, well-paid entertainers in the world.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: In 1957, Parker finally managed to give Tommy Sands his big break by arranging for him to audition for and star in "The Singin' Idol", a drama for NBC that was loosely based on the life and career of Presley. NBC had originally wanted Presley for the role, but Parker had turned them down. In the drama the role of Sands was portrayed as a "twisted psychopath". Critics were very positive in their reviews of both the drama and Sands, leading to Capitol Records signing Sands within a week. Soon after, Sands' song "Teen-Age Crush" reached number 2 on the pop charts, eventually selling 800,000 copies.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Regardless of the success that Parker and Presley had achieved, Parker was still struggling to believe that Presley's career would last longer than a year or two. He had seen many acts come and go during his earlier years in management, and felt that it would be foolish to think that Presley, despite being Parker's most successful act to date, would be any different. In January 1958 Presley received his draft notice from the United States Army. He was upset about the possibility of it affecting his career, but Parker was secretly overjoyed.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Presley had been showing signs of rebellion against him recently, and Parker believed that a stint in the Army would cure him of this.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker was looking ahead to the future when he persuaded Presley to sign up as a regular soldier. Presley had wanted to join Special Services, allowing him the opportunity to continue to perform while at the same time getting an easier ride than other soldiers. Parker, on the other hand, was fully aware that any special treatment given to Presley would instantly be used against him in the media and by those who disliked his style of music. If Presley could show the world that he was just the same as any other young man, Parker told him, then more people would be likely to accept him and his music. Parker was also afraid that any attempt to block Presley from being drafted would result in a more detailed look into his own service record. He also realized that it would be a great opportunity to promote Presley by having the media witness his induction day, including the Army haircut that would see the most famous hair style in the world destroyed.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: While Presley was serving in West Germany, Parker was hard at work keeping his name known to the public. He realized that by keeping RCA Victor, and more importantly the public, hungry for more Presley material, he would be able to negotiate a better contract for him when he returned from active service. He had arranged for Presley to record five singles before his induction, guaranteeing RCA Victor enough material to release over a two-year period. RCA was eager for Presley to record in West Germany, but Parker insisted that it would ruin his reputation as a regular soldier if he was able to go into a recording studio and sing. Stories appeared in the press regularly about Presley, including that he would do a live CCTV broadcast when he returned and that he had signed a deal for a series of annual television spectaculars to be broadcast across the country. All of these stories were fabrications, but it kept his name in view of the public.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker appeared to be in complete control during Presley's time away, but he was worried about the outside influence that Presley might come across in West Germany. Parker had declined to travel to Europe, denying that he spoke any language other than English. He sent Presley's friends to keep him company, arranged for business associates to watch over him while they were working in Europe, and kept in regular contact with him via telephone and letter. He was reportedly afraid that Presley would realize that there were other managers available prepared to sign contracts that did not require as much as 25% of his earnings. Parker was still worried that Presley would return to nothing, that the public would have found a new star to fawn over by then, and that his golden goose would be reduced to nothing more than a "has-been".


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: For Presley's return in March 1960, Parker had arranged for a train to take him from Washington, D.C., to Memphis, with stops along the way for fans to see their idol in person. If Parker had had any doubts about his return, they were soon gone when he witnessed the turnout along the route.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Frank Sinatra, who had declared Presley a rock and roll disgrace in the 1950s, was keen to have him appear on his show. Parker, not one to forget harsh criticism, stated that the fee would be for two songs, a total of eight minutes on screen; Sinatra himself was receiving a lower sum for the whole show, but he agreed. The show, titled "Welcome Home, Elvis", was Presley's first national television appearance since "The Ed Sullivan Show" in January 1957.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: After the Sinatra special, Parker decided that Presley's future lay in Hollywood. He envisioned him as an entertainment machine, pumping out three films and soundtracks a year, until the end of the decade. He allowed him to perform three live shows in 1961, all charity events, two in Memphis and one in Hawaii. After that, until 1968, Presley gave no live performances, and had very little contact with his fans. Parker signed long-term contracts with the film studios, possibly to guarantee work and income for both him and Presley. This was, with hindsight, a mistake on his part; if he had negotiated each deal separately based on the profits of the previous film, he could have received more money. Throughout the 1960s Parker would continually renegotiate Presley's film contracts, often paying little attention to the scripts or the concerns of his client. These deals were sometimes so harsh on the studios that it led producer Hal Wallis to state: "I'd rather try and close a deal with the Devil."


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Presley had to do no more than provide RCA Victor with three albums a year, and his film soundtracks did that for him. With no touring or public appearances to be made, Parker was able to keep costs to a minimum. For the first few years Presley's films were somewhat successful, his albums topped the charts, and any singles that were released were mostly hits. But as time went on, as the Beatles began their dominance of the music charts and the worldwide phenomenon known as Beatlemania began, Presley became less significant. His films still made money and his albums still sold well, but the profits were falling. This led Parker to insist that films be made cheaply, on a strict schedule, and with as little hassle as possible.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: For the remainder of the 1960s, Presley made films that relied heavily on exotic locations and mundane songs, and he was tied into contracts that he could not escape. Parker did not appear to care if the films were good or bad but only about the profits. When Presley complained to him that he wanted better scripts, Parker reminded him of his lavish lifestyle and that risking $1 million a year for doing practically no work was dangerous. Presley's career stagnated while artists like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys dominated the charts. Later, in 1983, Parker admitted during an interview that after 1966, the income from Presley films and soundtracks was dramatically reduced.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: To make up for lack of earnings, Parker arranged for Presley's gold Cadillac to go on tour. Selling it to RCA for $24,000 (US$ in dollars), it was used to promote Presley's latest film, "Frankie & Johnny." The Cadillac tour proved to be somewhat more successful than the film itself. In Houston alone in one afternoon, 40,000 people paid to see it, with one woman offering to have sex with the tour manager if he would allow her to sit in it.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: On January 2, 1967, Parker re-negotiated his managerial/agent contract with Presley, persuading him to increase Parker's share from 25% to 50% on certain transactions. When critics questioned this arrangement and that Parker was exploiting Presley for more money because of greed, Presley quipped "I could have signed with East Coast Entertainment where they take 70 percent!" Parker used the argument that Presley was his only client and he was thus earning only one fee.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: After Presley showed signs of rebellion again in 1966 and because of his flagging career, Parker decided that it was time for a new approach: marriage. Frank Sinatra had married Mia Farrow in 1966, and it had produced enough publicity for Parker to sit up and take notice. Presley had been living with Priscilla Beaulieu, ten years his junior, for the past four years, but it had not been public knowledge.


title: Colonel Tom Parker

text: Parker hoped that marriage would not only boost Presley's career but also possibly tame him. With Priscilla's father dropping heavy hints, and fear that their relationship might become public beforehand, Parker persuaded Presley that he should make an "honest woman" of her in the very near future. However, it would be a quiet wedding. Parker decided that Las Vegas was the perfect place to do it, and on May 1, 1967, the couple were married in a ceremony that lasted only eight minutes and had a handful of guests. A breakfast reception was arranged, taking place after the media got their photographs of the couple.