title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Although best known for her role in the "Alien" franchise, Weaver has fostered a prolific filmography, appearing in more than 60 films. She's also known for her extensive voiceover work including the animated films, "The Tale of Despereaux" (2008) and Pixar films "WALL-E" (2008) and "Finding Dory" (2016) as well as several documentaries, such as the BBC series "Planet Earth" (2006) and "" (2016).


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Susan Alexandra Weaver was born in New York City on October 8, 1949. Her mother, Elizabeth Inglis (born Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins), was an English actress and a native of Colchester, England. Weaver's father, Sylvester "Pat" Weaver Jr., was an American television executive born in Los Angeles, who served as president of NBC between 1953 and 1955 and created NBC's "Today Show" in 1952. Pat's brother, Winstead "Doodles" Weaver, was a comedian and contributor to "Mad". Her father's American family was of Dutch, English, Scots-Irish, and Scottish ancestry.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: At the age of 14, Weaver began using the name "Sigourney", taking it from a minor character in "The Great Gatsby". She briefly attended the Brearley School and Chapin School in New York before arriving at the Ethel Walker School (Walker's) in Simsbury, Connecticut, where she developed an early interest in performance art. One of her early roles was in a school adaptation of the poem "The Highwayman", and on another occasion she played a Rudolph Valentino character in an adaptation of "The Sheik". She was also involved in theatrical productions of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "You Can't Take It with You" during one summer at Southbury, Connecticut. Weaver reportedly reached the height of by the age of 11, which had a negative impact on her self-esteem. She recalled feeling like "a giant spider" and never having "the confidence to ever think I could act."


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: In 1967, shortly before turning 18, Weaver visited Israel and volunteered on a kibbutz for several months. On her return to the United States, she attended Sarah Lawrence College. After her freshman year, she transferred to Stanford University as an English major. At Stanford, Weaver was extensively involved in theater. She performed in a group named the "Palo Alto Company", doing Shakespeare plays and "commedia dell'arte in a covered wagon" around the Bay Area, the nature of which she considered "outrageous". She avoided Stanford's drama department, as she believed their productions were too "stuffy" and "safe". Weaver had planned to enter Stanford's Ph.D. English program and eventually pursue a career as a writer or a journalist, but changed her mind after getting frustrated by the "deadly dry" honors courses. She eventually graduated in 1972 with a B.A. in English. Weaver subsequently applied to Yale University's School of Drama, performing Bertolt Brecht's "Saint Joan of the Stockyards" at her audition, and was accepted.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver admitted that she had a difficult time at Yale. She was not fond of the shows at Yale Repertory Theatre, and had little luck getting lead roles in school productions. Some acting teachers referred to her as "talentless" and advised her to stick to comedy. Weaver credited her friends such as Christopher Durang, who kept hiring her for his plays, as well as her time at the Yale Cabaret, as crucial in helping her pull through. She graduated from Yale with a Master of Fine Arts in 1974.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver performed in the first production of the Stephen Sondheim musical "The Frogs" while at Yale, alongside Larry Blyden and fellow students Meryl Streep and Durang. She was briefly an understudy in a John Gielgud production of "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" thereafter. She also acted in original plays by Durang. She appeared in an off-Broadway production of Durang's comedy "Beyond Therapy" in 1981, which was directed by then-fledgling director Jerry Zaks. Before her on-screen breakthrough, she had appeared only in commercials, a few television roles (including an appearance in the soap opera "Somerset"), and had a small part in the 1977 Woody Allen comedy "Annie Hall". Her originally more substantial "Annie Hall" role was scaled back due to her commitment to the Durang play "Titanic". Weaver appeared two years later as Warrant Officer / Lieutenant Ripley in Ridley Scott's blockbuster film "Alien" (1979), in a role initially designated to co-star British-born actress Veronica Cartwright until a late change in casting. Cartwright stated to World Entertainment News Network (WENN) that she was in England ready to start work on "Alien" when she discovered that she would be playing the navigator Lambert in the project, and Weaver had been given the lead role of Ellen Ripley. Weaver reprised the role seven years later in the sequel to "Alien", similarly titled "Aliens". Directed by James Cameron, critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Weaver, who is onscreen almost all the time, comes through with a very strong, sympathetic performance: She's the thread that holds everything together." For "Aliens", she won the Saturn Award for Best Actress and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: She next appeared opposite Mel Gibson in "The Year of Living Dangerously" released to critical acclaim and as Dana Barrett in "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II". In 1988, Weaver starred as primatologist Dian Fossey in "Gorillas in the Mist". The same year, she appeared opposite Harrison Ford in a supporting role as Katharine Parker in the film "Working Girl". Weaver won Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her two roles that year. Weaver received two Academy Award nominations in 1988, for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Working Girl" and Best Actress for "Gorillas in the Mist".


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver returned to the big screen with "Alien 3" (1992) and Ridley Scott's "" (1992) in which she played the role of Queen Isabella. In the early 1990s, Weaver appeared in several films including "Dave" opposite Kevin Kline and Frank Langella. In 1994, she starred in Roman Polanski's drama "Death and the Maiden" as Paulina Escobar. She played the role of agoraphobic criminal psychologist Helen Hudson in the movie "Copycat" (1995). Weaver also concentrated on smaller and supporting roles such as "Jeffrey" (1994) with Nathan Lane and Patrick Stewart. In 1997, she appeared in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm". Her role in "The Ice Storm" as Janey Carver, earned her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress (1997), and won her a BAFTA Award for Actress in a Supporting Role. In 1999, she co-starred in the science fiction comedy "Galaxy Quest" and the drama "A Map of the World", earning her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, for the latter film.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: In 2001, Weaver appeared in the comedy "Heartbreakers" playing the lead role of a con-artist alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta, Gene Hackman and Anne Bancroft. She appeared in several films throughout the decade including "Holes" (2003), the M. Night Shyamalan horror film "The Village" (2004), "Vantage Point" (2008), and "Baby Mama" (2008). In 2007, Weaver returned to Rwanda for the BBC special "Gorillas Revisited", in which Weaver reunites with the Rwandan apes from the film "Gorillas in the Mist", some 20 years later. She has done voice work in various television series and in animated feature films. In February 2002, she featured as a guest role in the "Futurama" episode "Love and Rocket", playing the female Planet Express Ship.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: In 2006, she was the narrator for the American version of the BBC Emmy Award-winning nature documentary series "Planet Earth"; the original British series version was narrated by David Attenborough. In 2008, Weaver was featured as the voice of the ship's computer in the Pixar and Disney release, "WALL•E". In 2008, she voiced a narrating role in the computer-animated film, "The Tale of Despereaux" (2008), based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo. The film opens with Weaver as narrator recounting the story of the pastel-hued Kingdom of Dor. She also made a rare guest appearance on television playing herself in season 2 episode of the television series "Eli Stone" in the fall of 2008.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: In 2009, Weaver starred as Mary Griffith in her first made-for-TV movie, "Prayers for Bobby", for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. Weaver reunited with "Aliens" director James Cameron for his film "Avatar" (2009), with Weaver playing a major role as Dr. Grace Augustine, leader of the AVTR (avatar) program on the film's fictional moon Pandora. In September 2011, it was confirmed that Weaver would be returning to "", with James Cameron stating that "no one ever dies in science fiction."In 2014, he revealed that she would be featured in all three sequels. Principal photography for "Avatar: The Way of Water" and "Avatar 3" started simultaneously on September 25, 2017; "for Avatar 3", Weaver stated that she would portray a different, currently unknown character.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver has hosted two episodes of the long-running NBC sketch show "Saturday Night Live": once on the 12th-season premiere in 1986, and again, on a season 35 episode in January 2010. In March 2010, she was cast for the lead role as Queen of the Vampires in Amy Heckerling's "Vamps". She was honored at the 2010 Scream Awards earning The Heroine Award which honored her work in science fiction, horror and fantasy films. In 2014, Weaver reprised the role of Ripley for the first time in 17 years by voicing the character in the video game "". Her character has a voice cameo in the main story, and has a central role in the two DLCs set during the events of "Alien", with most of the original cast voicing their respective characters.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver appeared in the film "" (2014) playing Tuya, directed by Ridley Scott, alongside Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton and Ben Kingsley. In 2015, she co-starred in Neill Blomkamp's science-fiction film "Chappie", and stated that she would agree to appear in an "Alien" sequel, provided that Blomkamp directs. On February 18, 2015, it was officially announced that an "Alien" sequel would be made, with Blomkamp slated to direct. On February 25, 2015, Weaver confirmed that she would reprise her role as Ellen Ripley in the new "Alien" film. In 2016, Weaver voiced herself in a cameo in the Pixar film "Finding Dory". On January 21, 2017, in response to a fan question on Twitter asking what the chances were of his "Alien" project actually happening, Blomkamp responded "slim".


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: On June 7, 2019, Weaver confirmed that she would reprise her role as Dana Barrett in "", which was released on November 19, 2021. On September 23, 2019, Variety reported that Weaver and Kevin Kline are set to reunite again (after "Dave" and "The Ice Storm") for "The Good House", a drama from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners and Universal Pictures.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Her voice has been used for audiobooks, film soundtracks, and video games including "" (2009) and "" (2014). She's also voiced roles for "Futurama", "", and "SpongeBob SquarePants", among others.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver has been married to stage director Jim Simpson since October 1, 1984. They live in Manhattan and have one child born in 1990 who is non-binary.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver is a friend of Jamie Lee Curtis, with whom she starred in the romantic comedy "You Again" (2010). In a 2015 interview together, Curtis admitted to Weaver that she never saw "Alien" in its entirety because she was too scared. In 2017, Weaver made a cameo on the UK television series "Doc Martin". She revealed that the reason behind her appearance was her 40-year friendship with "Doc Martin" star Selina Cadell.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: After making "Gorillas in the Mist", Weaver became a supporter of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and is now its honorary chairwoman. She was honored by the Explorers Club for this work, and is considered to be an environmentalist. In October 2006, she drew international attention through a news conference at the start of a United Nations General Assembly policy deliberation. She outlined the widespread threat to ocean habitats posed by deep-sea trawling, an industrial method for catching fish. On April 8, 2008, in the Rainbow Room, she hosted the annual gala of the Trickle Up Program, a non-profit organization focusing on those in extreme poverty, mainly women and disabled people.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: In 2009, Weaver signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski, who had been detained while traveling to a film festival in relation to his 1977 sexual abuse charges, which the petition argued would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver has appeared in numerous works across her career; among these, her highest-acclaimed film roles include "Alien" (1979), "The Year of Living Dangerously" (1982), "Ghostbusters" (1984), "Aliens" (1986), "Gorillas in the Mist" (1988), "Working Girl" (1988), "The Ice Storm" (1997), "Dav"e (1993), "Death and the Maiden" (1994), "Copycat" (1995), "Galaxy Quest" (1999), "Holes" (2003), "WALL-E" (2008), "Avatar" (2009), "The Cabin in the Woods" (2011) and "A Monster Calls" (2016).


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles and the Saturn Award for Best Actress for her performance in the first installment of the "Alien" franchise. For the second installment of "Alien", similarly titled "Aliens", Weaver won the Saturn Award for Best Actress, and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver earned two Academy Award nominations for "Gorillas in the Mist" and "Working Girl" simultaneously, for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively; these roles also won her two Golden Globe Awards. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the play "Hurlyburly", which was her 1985 stage debut.


title: Sigourney Weaver

text: Weaver won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for appearing in "The Ice Storm". She has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, three for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and one for Outstanding Narrator. Her role in "Political Animals" earned her a nomination for a Critics' Choice Award.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker. In August 2011, Rocky's single "Peso" was leaked online and within weeks began receiving radio airplay. Rocky released his debut mixtape "Live. Love. A$AP", later that year to widespread critical acclaim. The success of what is considered his breakout project led to a joint venture record deal with Polo Grounds Music and Sony Music's RCA Records.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: His debut studio album "Long. Live. A$AP" (2013) debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 and was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was preceded by Rocky's breakout single, "Fuckin' Problems" (featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar), which was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 2014 Grammy Awards. In 2015, Rocky released his second album, titled "At. Long. Last. A$AP". The album was Rocky's second consecutive album to debut at number one on the "Billboard" 200 and received mostly positive reviews from music critics. The album's single, "L$D", was nominated for Best Music Video at the 2016 Grammy Awards. In 2018, Rocky released his third album, "Testing", which peaked in the top five of several countries, including the "Billboard" 200.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rocky has won a BET Award, two BET Hip Hop Awards, an MTV Video Music Award Japan and an MTVU Woodie Award, as well as being nominated for two Grammy Awards, six World Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and two MTV Europe Music Awards. Rocky has also directed music videos for himself, Danny Brown, and other A$AP Mob members. Furthermore, he produces records under the pseudonym Lord Flacko.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rakim Athelaston Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, a borough of New York City. His father is from Barbados. He has an older brother (deceased) and an older sister, Erika. Both Rakim and Erica's names are taken from the Eric B. & Rakim duo. His cousin is fellow ASAP Mob member ASAP Nast.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Mayers started rapping at age nine, when he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He learned how to rap from his older brother, who also wore the Cornrows hairdo that A$AP Rocky later adopted. When Mayers was 12 years old, his father went to jail in connection with selling drugs, and later died in 2012. When Mayers was 13, his brother was killed in Harlem. The death inspired Rocky to take rapping more seriously. Mayers grew up admiring Harlem-based rap group The Diplomats. He was also influenced by Mobb Deep, Three 6 Mafia, UGK, Run DMC, Wu-Tang Clan, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: A$AP Rocky spent his teenage years moving around homeless shelters with his mother and sister. After living for a period in a shelter with his mother in New York City, he moved to Midtown Manhattan.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In 2007, A$AP Rocky joined the A$AP Mob crew, a Harlem-based collective of rappers, producers, music video directors, fashion designers, and bikers who shared similar interests in music, fashion, style, and art. It had been formed by A$AP Yams, A$AP Bari and A$AP Illz. In July 2011, Rocky released his single "Purple Swag" which quickly became a street anthem in New York City.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In August 2011, Rocky's single "Peso", was leaked online and within weeks received airplay on the high-profile Hot 97 New York radio station. After he released a music video for his song "Purple Swag", he received attention from several record labels. In October, he released the mixtape "Live. Love. A$AP" to critical acclaim. Earlier that month, he signed a two-year, $3 million record deal with Bryan Leach's Polo Grounds Music, which at the time was distributed by Clive Davis' Sony Music division of J Records. Upon his record deal, Rocky started a label, A$AP Worldwide, with A$AP Yams. However, Rocky's deal with J Records would be short-lived, when on October 7, RCA Music Group announced that it was merging J alongside Arista and Jive Records into RCA Records. With the shutdown, Rocky (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release future material under the RCA brand. On December 5, he was nominated for BBC's Sound of 2012 poll.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In February 2012, Rocky joined Kendrick Lamar as the opening act for Drake's Club Paradise Tour. In June, SpaceGhostPurrp, founder of Miami-based collective Raider Klan and Rocky's past collaborator, accused A$AP Twelvyy of jumping Raider Klan's Matt Stoops and subsequently disassociated himself from A$AP Mob and Rocky in a YouTube video. He and Raider Klan also accused ASAP Mob of copying their style, and Rocky of using lyrics from SpaceGhostPurrp's song "My Enemy" on "Goldie". Rocky responded in a July interview for MTV, saying that SpaceGhostPurrp is "try[ing] to build hype" and told him to "stick to makin' beats".


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In July 2012, Rocky performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival. He was scheduled to make his network television debut on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on July 20, but he was then arrested the night before, after an alleged involvement in a brawl, with 21-year-old artist iRome. The scuffle took place in downtown Manhattan and the performance was canceled. After it was rescheduled for August 21, Rocky performed "Goldie" on the show. On September 6, he also performed a guest rap on Rihanna's "Cockiness (Love It)" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rocky recorded his debut studio album "Long. Live. A$AP", along with several producers, such as Clams Casino, Hit-Boy, Friendzone, A$AP Ty Beats, Soufein3000 and Joey Fat Beats. "Goldie" was released as the album's first single on April 27. On August 27, his crew A$AP Mob released the mixtape "Lords Never Worry" as a free download. During September through November, Rocky promoted the album with the 40-date national concert tour, the Long Live ASAP Tour, with opening acts ScHoolboy Q, Danny Brown, and A$AP Mob. "Long. Live. A$AP" was released on January 15, 2013, to mostly positive reviews from critics. The album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, with first-week sales of 139,000 copies in the United States. , it has sold 284,000 copies. On March 16, 2015, "Long. Live. A$AP" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the shipment of 500,000 copies in the United States.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On April 12, 2013, in an interview at Wild 94.9 radio station, Rocky revealed that he was working on an instrumental album, which he plans on releasing without notice. He even discussed his favorite music videos and talked about his desire to collaborate with veteran rapper André 3000. On June 21, Rocky told MTV News that he had completed his debut instrumental album, which mostly consists of ambient oriented instrumental tracks, titled "Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1)" and was originally set to be released during the summer for free download. However, that album was delayed with no release date announced. Rocky previewed two snippets that would have made the "Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1)" compilation, titled "Riot Rave" and "Unicorn". The project has not been released as of 2022.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On March 16, 2014, Rocky announced that he was working on his second studio album, entitled "A.L.L.A." (an acronym for "At. Long. Last. A$AP") which was a follow-up to his debut album, "Long. Live. A$AP". Upon the wake of a delay of the ASAP Mob album, "L.O.R.D.", Rocky subsequently collaborated with cohorts A$AP Ferg, Nast and Twelvyy on the album's third single, "Hella Hoes", which was released on June 6, 2014. Nonetheless, A$AP Mob leader A$AP Yams announced on his Tumblr account that the album had been shelved.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On October 3, 2014, his 26th birthday, Rocky launched a short-lived music giveaway called Flacko Jodye Season, which first premiered with "Multiply", which featured additional vocals from Juicy J; later released on iTunes one week after its premiere.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On New Year's Day 2015, Rocky released his second album's lead single, "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)", a sequel to "Pretty Flacko". Then, on January 18, seventeen days after the single's release, Rocky's mentor and partner, Steven "A$AP Yams" Rodriguez, died at the age of 26. However, some reports later stated that Yams' cause was ruled acute mixed drug intoxication while Rocky and several A$AP Mob members and affiliates said that the late leader of the collective died due to his sleep apnea, which caused asphyxiation and pulmonary aspiration. Weeks after Yams' death, Rocky revealed that "At. Long. Last. A$AP" was executive-produced by rapper Juicy J, producer Danger Mouse, Rocky and Yams themselves.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In 2015, Rocky appeared in a cameo role in the indie comedy-drama, "Dope". The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2015. It opened in all movie theaters on June 12. There at the event, Rocky explained his expressions and grief over the death of his own friend and partner; performed "Multiply" on-stage as a dedication to his loving memory, minutes before running backstage to calm down.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In March 2015, Rocky said in an interview with MTV News that he made songs such as "Wild For The Night" and "Fuckin' Problems" for mainstream commercial success, and that he now hated those songs.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On April 8, 2015, the rapper released a song, titled "M'$", debuted during an interview with the Red Bull Music Academy, and was released on the iTunes Store two days later, however, it was announced that the song was not an official single from the album. The album, however, did include a remixed version of the track that replaced Rocky's second verse with a guest verse from Lil Wayne. On May 9, Rocky unveiled the album's cover art on his official Instagram page, with the caption "AT LONG LAST..." On the same day, he then released the album's alternative artwork and released the album's second single, titled "Everyday" featuring Rod Stewart, Miguel and Mark Ronson (the latter of which also produced the track alongside Emile Haynie). Rocky also announced that the release date for "A.L.L.A." was updated to June 2, 2015; however, on May 25, 2015, around 6:00 PM EDT, the album leaked online, approximately one week before its expected release. Subsequently, Rocky tweeted to announce that the album will be released at midnight (May 26), changing the date a week early.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Upon its release, "At. Long. Last. A$AP" received generally positive to mixed reviews from music critics. Overall, the album was supported by the release of three singles: "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)", "Everyday" and "L$D". "At. Long. Last. A$AP" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, selling 116,000 copies in the United States. In conclusion to this, it also gave Rocky his second consecutive number one album on the charts to date. In Canada, the album debuted at number one, with 11,000 copies sold. The album has spent two more weeks beyond the top ten of the "Billboard" 200. , the album has sold 215,000 copies in the United States. It has sold 60,662 copies in the United Kingdom, . However, despite being his second consecutive number-one album, "At. Long. Last. ASAP" began to decline in album-equivalent sales, becoming Rocky's lowest-selling album in his career.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On June 11, 2015, Rocky was featured on "The Tonight Show", where he performed the song "L$D" with The Roots. In June, it was confirmed that he was featured on the single "Good for You" by Selena Gomez. In June 2015, he appeared on the "Carpool Karaoke" segment of "The Late Late Show", riding with Rod Stewart and host James Corden.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rocky is featured on "Blended Family (What You Do for Love)", a track written with Alicia Keys for her sixth studio album "Here" in 2016. He is also featured on two tracks from the 2017 album "Lust for Life" by Lana Del Rey. The tracks are called "Summer Bummer", which also features Playboi Carti, and "Groupie Love". He also featured in "Pick It Up" by Famous Dex, released in October 2017.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On January 23, 2018, ASAP Rocky released "☆☆☆☆☆ 5ive $tar$" on SoundCloud, produced by Metro Boomin, Frans Mernick, Jordan Blackmon and Daniel Lynas and featuring uncredited vocals by DRAM. Over the following two days he shared "Above", produced by Mernick and "Money Bags Freestyle (Dean Blunt Meditation)", produced by Blunt and featuring uncredited vocals by Lil Yachty. The songs were captioned "TESTING COMING SOON" and "THIS IS JUST A TEST", leading to speculation that they were in promotion of an upcoming studio album entitled "Testing". On February 16, Rocky collaborated with Gucci Mane and 21 Savage for "Cocky", in promotion of the film "Uncle Drew". He released the single "Bad Company" on March 27. It features rapper BlocBoy JB, as well as further allusions to "Testing" in its marketing. On April 5, he released a second single: "ASAP Forever". The song samples record producer Moby's 2000 single "Porcelain", crediting him as a featured artist. It was premiered on "The Tonight Show" alongside new track "Distorted Records", and a music video was released the following day. A day later he was featured on the song "One Track Mind", from rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars' fifth studio album "America".


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On May 25, 2018, Rocky released "Testing" to generally positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number four on the US "Billboard" 200, becoming ASAP Rocky's third consecutive top-five album on the chart, but another low-seller. In its second week, the album dropped to number 15, with 26,000 album-equivalent units (1,000 copies). The following week, "Testing" dropped to number 22 on the chart. On July 23, 2018, Rocky and Tyler, The Creator announced a collaborative project, "WANGSAP", by releasing a music video of a remix of Monica's "Knock Knock" named "Potato Salad" on AWGE's "AWGE DVD (Vol. 3)". However, on January 23, 2019, Tyler, the Creator announced this album never existed.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On August 28, 2019, ASAP Rocky released the music video for "Babushka Boi". It was directed by Nadia Lee Cohen.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In May 2019, Juicy J announced Rocky began working on his upcoming album, formerly titled "All Smiles".


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In October 2021, ASAP Rocky released his 2011 mixtape "Live. Love. ASAP" to all streaming platforms in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rocky appeared on two tracks from Nigo's album, "I Know Nigo!", released March 25, 2022, the opening track "Lost and Found Freestyle 2019" with Tyler, the Creator, and the single, "Arya". Rocky supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 2022 international stadium tour. After he arrived late for a performance at Old Trafford, Manchester, he performed a shortened 20-minute set after the Chili Peppers.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In October 2011, Rocky signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment worth $3 million ($1.7 million of which was earmarked for his solo work; $1.3 million earmarked to fund his company). Rocky said that he sought a "bigger platform" for him and his collective with the deal. His first studio album planned to be under the deal, but it allowed him to continue releasing mixtapes through Sony/RED. Fellow rapper and A$AP Mob member A$AP Ferg also signed a joint venture deal with RCA-distributed Polo Grounds Music, who released his single "Work", for retail on iTunes, and later announced an official remix featuring Rocky, French Montana, ScHoolboy Q and Trinidad James.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In 2013, he released his A$AP merchandise brand, and went to collaborate with high-profile fashion designer and close friend Raf Simons. On October 2, 2014, A$AP Rocky announced he had officially signed a contract for worldwide representation with William Morris Endeavor.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In February 2016, Guess released a collaboration with Rocky called GUE$$, which was inspired by Rocky's admiration for the brand's vintage '90s clothing that he wore while growing up.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: From 2011 to 2012, Rocky dated Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. He began dating model Chanel Iman in early 2013, and in April 2014, they were reported to be engaged, but broke up in June 2014.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On May 19, 2021, Rocky revealed during an interview with "GQ" that he is currently in a relationship with Barbadian singer Rihanna, describing her as "the love of my life". The two were first linked in 2013, after Rocky opened up for Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour. On January 31, 2022, "People" reported that the couple is expecting their first child. On May 19, 2022, it was confirmed that Rihanna had given birth to a boy, yet to be publicly named.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rocky was a pescetarian. In 2012, he transitioned to a vegetarian diet with the help of his vegan manager after learning the horrors of the poultry industry. On his 2019 single "Babushka Boi", Rocky stated he is now a vegan.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: Rocky has said that while he was raised in a Christian household, he does not like going to an organized church, and instead has "[his] own relationship with God... I pray every day before I go to sleep." He addresses these views in the song "Holy Ghost" on his 2015 album "At. Long. Last. ASAP". During Rocky's 2019 incarceration in Sweden, he prayed to keep himself occupied.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In 2006, A$AP Rocky served two weeks in Rikers Island for drug dealing, where he shared a cell with future rapper Casanova.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On July 19, 2012, he was arrested after his alleged participation in a brawl that took place in downtown Manhattan involved a 21-year-old artist named iRome.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In July 2012, he was sued for allegedly violently attacking an innocent man after being spotted doing illegal drugs in a clothing store in New York. He was later arrested for assaulting two amateur photographers who took photos of the incident. That incident ended with a plea bargain where he pled guilty to grand larceny for trying to take their cameras.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On August 31, 2013, A$AP Rocky allegedly slapped a woman during the Budweiser Made in America Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was charged "with misdemeanor simple assault, a class two misdemeanor". The case was dismissed after a witness failed to appear in court. The woman later filed a lawsuit in July 2014, asserting that she still suffered certain conditions as a consequence of the alleged assault. A$AP Rocky stated that he never touched the woman in question and that she "should have known that there could be trouble in place with so many people". The lawsuit was settled between the two in April 2015.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In late-September 2015, Rocky was sued by his former manager, Geno Sims, for an alleged breach of agreement, prompting him to countersue. The lawsuit sought $300,000 in damages. Four years later, in 2019, Rocky and Sims reached a legal agreement, dropping both suits against one another.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: In July 2019, A$AP Rocky was arrested initially for aggravated, then for simple assault in Stockholm, Sweden, after an altercation in the street against a man named Mustafa Jafari and another person that involved A$AP Rocky and three of his entourage on June 30. Jafari was beaten, kicked, and cut with broken bottles when down on the ground. He suffered several cuts, requiring stitches, and a fractured rib. A$AP Rocky uploaded two videos of the incident to Instagram. In the first, he and his entourage repeatedly ask two young men, including Jafari, to stop following them as the latter complains about his headphones. In the other, created from footage of assorted events, Jafari's headphones break during a scuffle, and he is seen hitting A$AP Rocky's bodyguard with them. A woman is also seen in the video, accusing the two men of groping. Henrik Olsson Lilja, the defense attorney for A$AP Rocky, maintained that his client acted in self-defense after being attacked by Jafari.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: A$AP Rocky's bodyguard filed a counter-complaint against Jafari, and Jafari was initially suspected of harassment and minor assault or possibly attempted assault. The investigation against Jafari was dropped as prosecutors said he acted in self-defense, after being grabbed by the neck and pushed by the bodyguard. A$AP Rocky was arrested after being allowed to finish his gig at Stadion. As it was judged there was a risk that he may flee or tamper with evidence, he was kept in custody at Kronoberg Remand Prison until the trial, with two members of his entourage also under arrest. A$AP Rocky's ongoing tour was then put on hiatus due to the trial.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: He was visited by personnel from the US embassy shortly after his arrest. Several US artists called for a boycott of Sweden due to the incident. A petition to release him was started. The family asked Al Sharpton for help. US President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Rocky, and it was later revealed by justice minister Morgan Johansson that Trump had threatened trade restrictions against Sweden if Rocky was not released. Former US ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski suggested that the government should intervene and speculated that racism may have been the cause of the brawl. Foreign minister Margot Wallström said the government is not allowed to interfere citing Chapter 11 §3 of the Swedish constitutional Instrument of Government which explicitly forbids the interference of politicians, or unrelated government offices, in the work of the courts of law.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: A$AP Rocky was convicted of assault, given a suspended prison sentence and asked to pay 12,500 kr ($1,270) in damages to the victim. The court could not decide who used the bottle, but said it was not a case of self-defense. As A$AP Rocky had already served over a month in jail for the incident before the sentence was handed out, it was determined that he did not need to serve any additional time. The conviction does not bar him from returning to Sweden.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: On April 20, 2022, A$AP Rocky was arrested by LAPD officers upon arriving to the Los Angeles International Airport after a vacation with partner, Rihanna. He was arrested for a potential assault with a deadly weapon in a Hollywood shooting on November 6, 2021. Bail was set at $550,000 and he was released shortly after.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: After his arrest, detectives received a warrant to search his home for potential evidence. LAPD investigators broke into his home using a pry bar to force the gate open. Detectives took several boxes from his home to use as evidence. On August 15, 2022, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office filed charges against Rocky.


title: ASAP Rocky

text: His accomplishments include three BET Awards, two MTV awards, and nominations for two Grammy Awards and six World Music Awards, for a total of five wins and 37 nominations overall.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of .


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.


title: Antarctica

text: The ice shelves of Antarctica were probably first seen in 1820, during a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The decades that followed saw further exploration in French, American, and British expeditions. The first confirmed landing was by a Norwegian team in 1895. In the early 20th century, there were a few expeditions into the interior of the continent. British explorers were the first to reach the magnetic South Pole in 1909, and the geographic South Pole was first reached in 1911 by Norwegian explorers.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica is governed by about 30 countries, all of which are parties of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System. According to the terms of the treaty, military activity, mining, nuclear explosions, and nuclear waste disposal are all prohibited in Antarctica. Tourism, fishing and research are the main human activities in and around Antarctica. During the summer months, about 5,000 people reside at research stations, a figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Despite its remoteness, human activity has a significant impact on the continent via pollution, ozone depletion, and climate change.


title: Antarctica

text: The name given to the continent originates from the word "antarctic", which comes from Middle French ' or ' ('opposite to the Arctic') and, in turn, the Latin ' ('opposite to the north'). ' is derived from the Greek ('anti-') and ('of the Bear', 'northern'). The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in "Meteorology" about an "Antarctic region" in . The Greek geographer Marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his world map from the second century CE, now lost. The Roman authors Gaius Julius Hyginus and Apuleius used for the South Pole the romanised Greek name , from which derived the Old French (modern ) attested in 1270, and from there the Middle English , found first in a treatise written by the English author Geoffrey Chaucer.


title: Antarctica

text: Until the discovery, belief by Europeans in the existence of a ""—a vast continent in the far south of the globe to balance the northern lands of Europe, Asia, and North Africa—had existed as an intellectual concept since classical antiquity. The belief of such a land lasted until the discovery of Australia.


title: Antarctica

text: During the early 19th century, explorer Matthew Flinders doubted the existence of a detached continent south of Australia (then called New Holland) and thus advocated for the "Terra Australis" name to be used for Australia instead. In 1824, the colonial authorities in Sydney officially renamed the continent of New Holland to Australia, leaving the term "Terra Australis" unavailable as a reference to Antarctica. Over the following decades, geographers used phrases such as "the Antarctic Continent". They searched for a more poetic replacement, suggesting names such as "Ultima" and "Antipodea". "Antarctica" was adopted in the 1890s, with the first use of the name being attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew.


title: Antarctica

text: Positioned asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle (one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the world), Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Rivers exist in Antarctica, the longest being the Onyx. Antarctica covers more than , making it the fifth-largest continent, slightly less than 1.5 times the area of the United States. Its coastline is almost long: , of the four coastal types, 44% of the coast is floating ice in the form of an ice shelf, 38% consists of ice walls that rest on rock, 13% is ice streams or the edge of glaciers, and the remaining 5% is exposed rock.


title: Antarctica

text: The lakes that lie at the base of the continental ice sheet occur mainly in the McMurdo Dry Valleys or various oases. Lake Vostok, discovered beneath Russia's Vostok Station, is the largest sub-glacial lake globally and one of the largest lakes in the world. It was once believed that the lake had been sealed off for millions of years, but scientists now estimate its water is replaced by the slow melting and freezing of ice caps every 13,000 years. During the summer, the ice at the edges of the lakes can melt, and liquid moats temporarily form. Antarctica has both saline and freshwater lakes.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica is divided into West Antarctica and East Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains, which stretch from Victoria Land to the Ross Sea. The vast majority of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, which averages in thickness. The ice sheet extends to all but a few oases, which, with the exception of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, are located in coastal areas. Several Antarctic ice streams flow to one of the many Antarctic ice shelves, a process described by ice-sheet dynamics.


title: Antarctica

text: East Antarctica comprises Coats Land, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Mac. Robertson Land, Wilkes Land, and Victoria Land. All but a small portion of the region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere. East Antarctica is largely covered by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. There are numerous islands surrounding Antarctica, most of which are volcanic and very young by geological standards. The most prominent exceptions to this are the islands of the Kerguelen Plateau, the earliest of which formed around 40 Ma.


title: Antarctica

text: Vinson Massif, in the Ellsworth Mountains, is the highest peak in Antarctica at . Mount Erebus on Ross Island is the world's southernmost active volcano and erupts around 10 times each day. Ash from eruptions has been found from the volcanic crater. There is evidence of a large number of volcanoes under the ice, which could pose a risk to the ice sheet if activity levels were to rise. The ice dome known as Dome Argus in East Antarctica is the highest Antarctic ice feature, at . It is one of the world's coldest and driest places—temperatures there may reach as low as , and the annual precipitation is .


title: Antarctica

text: From the end of the Neoproterozoic era to the Cretaceous, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Modern Antarctica was formed as Gondwana gradually broke apart beginning around 183 Ma. For a large proportion of the Phanerozoic, Antarctica had a tropical or temperate climate, and it was covered in forests.


title: Antarctica

text: During the Cambrian period, Gondwana had a mild climate. West Antarctica was partially in the Northern Hemisphere, and during the time, large amounts of sandstones, limestones, and shales were deposited. East Antarctica was at the equator, where seafloor invertebrates and trilobites flourished in the tropical seas. By the start of the Devonian period (416 Ma), Gondwana was in more southern latitudes, and the climate was cooler, though fossils of land plants are known from then. Sand and silts were laid down in what is now the Ellsworth, Horlick and Pensacola Mountains.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica became glaciated during the Late Paleozoic icehouse beginning at the end of the Devonian period (360 Ma), though glaciation would substantially increase during the late Carboniferous. It drifted closer to the South Pole, and the climate cooled, though flora remained. After deglaciation during the latter half of the Early Permian, the land became dominated by glossopterids (an extinct group of seed plants with no close living relatives), most prominently "Glossopteris," a tree interpreted as growing in waterlogged soils, which formed extensive coal deposits. Other plants found in Antarctica during the Permian include Cordaitales, sphenopsids, ferns, and lycophytes. At the end of the Permian, the climate became drier and hotter over much of Gondwana, and the glossopterid forest ecosystems collapsed, as part of the End-Permian mass extinction. There is no evidence of any tetrapods having lived in Antarctica during the Paleozoic.


title: Antarctica

text: The continued warming dried out much of Gondwana. During the Triassic, Antarctica was dominated by seed ferns (pteridosperms) belonging to the genus "Dicroidium," which grew as trees. Other associated Triassic flora included ginkgophytes, cycadophytes, conifers, and sphenopsids. Tetrapods first appeared in Antarctica during the early Triassic, with the earliest known fossils found in the Fremouw Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains. Synapsids (also known as "mammal-like reptiles") included species such as "Lystrosaurus", and were common during the Early Triassic.


title: Antarctica

text: The Antarctic Peninsula began to form during the Jurassic period (206–146 Ma). "Ginkgo" trees, conifers, Bennettitales, horsetails, ferns and cycads were plentiful during the time. In West Antarctica, coniferous forests dominated throughout the Cretaceous period (146–66 Ma), though southern beech trees ("Nothofagus") became prominent towards the end of the Cretaceous. Ammonites were common in the seas around Antarctica, and dinosaurs were also present, though only a few Antarctic dinosaur genera ("Cryolophosaurus" and "Glacialisaurus", from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains, and "Antarctopelta", "Trinisaura," "Morrosaurus" and "Imperobator" from Late Cretaceous of the Antarctic Peninsula) have been described.


title: Antarctica

text: Africa separated from Antarctica in the Jurassic around 160 Ma, followed by the Indian subcontinent in the early Cretaceous (about 125 Ma). During the early Paleogene, Antarctica remained connected to South America via the Isthmus of Scotia as well as to southeastern Australia. Fauna from the La Meseta Formation in the Antarctic Peninsula, dating to the Eocene, is very similar to equivalent South American faunas; with marsupials, xenarthrans, litoptern, and astrapotherian ungulates, as well as gondwanatheres and meridiolestidans. Marsupials are thought to have dispersed into Australia via Antarctica by the early Eocene.


title: Antarctica

text: Around 53 Ma, Australia-New Guinea separated from Antarctica, opening the Tasmanian Passage. The Drake Passage opened between Antarctica and South America around 30 Ma, resulting in the creation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that completely isolated the continent. Models of Antarctic geography suggest that this current, as well as a feedback loop caused by lowering CO levels, caused the creation of small yet permanent polar ice caps. As CO levels declined further the ice began to spread rapidly, replacing the forests that until then had covered Antarctica. Since about 15 Ma, the continent has been mostly covered with ice.


title: Antarctica

text: The geology of Antarctica, largely obscured by the continental ice sheet, is being revealed by techniques such as remote sensing, ground-penetrating radar, and satellite imagery. Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the South American Andes. The Antarctic Peninsula was formed by geologic uplift and the transformation of sea bed sediments into metamorphic rocks.


title: Antarctica

text: West Antarctica was formed by the merging of several continental plates, which created a number of mountain ranges in the region, the most prominent being the Ellsworth Mountains. The presence of the West Antarctic Rift System has resulted in volcanism along the border between West and East Antarctica, as well as the creation of the Transantarctic Mountains.


title: Antarctica

text: East Antarctica is geologically varied. Its formation began during the Archean Eon (4,000 Ma2,500 Ma), and stopped during the Cambrian Period. It is built on a craton of rock, which is the basis of the Precambrian Shield. On top of the base are coal and sandstones, limestones, and shales that were laid down during the Devonian and Jurassic periods to form the Transantarctic Mountains. In coastal areas such as the Shackleton Range and Victoria Land, some faulting has occurred.


title: Antarctica

text: Coal was first recorded in Antarctica near the Beardmore Glacier by Frank Wild on the "Nimrod" Expedition in 1907, and low-grade coal is known to exist across many parts of the Transantarctic Mountains. The Prince Charles Mountains contain deposits of iron ore. There are oil and natural gas fields in the Ross Sea.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest of Earth's continents. The lowest natural air temperature ever recorded on Earth was at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. A lower air temperature of was recorded in 2010 by satellite—however, it may have been influenced by ground temperatures and was not recorded at a height of above the surface as required for official air temperature records. Average temperatures can reach a minimum of between in the interior of the continent during winter and a maximum of over near the coast in summer.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica is a polar desert with little precipitation; the continent receives an average equivalent to about of water per year, mostly in the form of snow. The interior is dryer and receives less than per year, whereas the coastal regions typically receive more than . In a few blue-ice areas, the wind and sublimation remove more snow than is accumulated by precipitation. In the dry valleys, the same effect occurs over a rock base, leading to a barren and desiccated landscape. Antarctica is colder than the Arctic region, as much of Antarctica is over above sea level, where air temperatures are colder. The relative warmth of the Arctic Ocean is transferred through the Arctic sea ice and moderates temperatures in the Arctic region.


title: Antarctica

text: East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the centre cold and dry, with moderate wind speeds. Heavy snowfalls are common on the coastal portion of Antarctica, where snowfalls of up to in 48 hours have been recorded. At the continent's edge, strong katabatic winds off of the polar plateau often blow at storm force. During the summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than at the equator because of the 24 hours of sunlight received there each day.


title: Antarctica

text: Over the second half of the 20th century, the Antarctic Peninsula was the fastest-warming place on Earth, closely followed by West Antarctica, but temperatures rose less rapidly during the early 21st century. Conversely, the South Pole, located in East Antarctica, barely warmed during much of the 20th century, but temperatures rose three times the global average between 1990 and 2020. In February 2020, the continent recorded its highest temperature of , which was higher than the previous record attained in March 2015.


title: Antarctica

text: There is some evidence that surface warming in Antarctica is due to human greenhouse gas emissions, but it is difficult to determine due to internal variability. A main component of climate variability in Antarctica is the Southern Annular Mode (a low-frequency mode of atmospheric variability of the Southern Hemisphere), which showed strengthened winds around Antarctica in the summer of the later decades of the 20th century, associated with cooler temperatures over the continent. The trend was at a scale unprecedented over the last 600 years; the most dominant driver of the mode of variability is likely the depletion of ozone above the continent.


title: Antarctica

text: Precipitation in Antarctica occurs in the form of snow, which accumulates and forms the giant ice sheet that covers the continent. Under the force of gravity, the ice flows towards the coast. The ice then moves into the ocean, often forming vast floating ice shelves. These shelves can melt or form icebergs that eventually disintegrate when they reach warmer ocean waters.


title: Antarctica

text: Sea ice extent expands annually during the Antarctic winter, but most of it melts in the summer. The ice is formed from the ocean, and does not contribute to changes in sea level. The average extent of sea ice around Antarctica has changed little since satellites began to observe the Earth's surface in 1978; which is in contrast with the Arctic, where there has been rapid sea ice loss. A possible explanation is that thermohaline circulation transports warmed water to deeper layers in the Southern Ocean so that the surface remains relatively cool.


title: Antarctica

text: The melting of the ice shelves does not contribute much to sea level rise, as the floating ice displaces its own mass of water, but the ice shelves act to stabilize the land ice. They are vulnerable to warming water, which has caused large ice shelves to collapse into the ocean. The loss of ice shelf "buttressing" has been identified as the major cause of ice loss on the West Antarctic ice sheet, but has also been observed around the East Antarctic ice sheet.


title: Antarctica

text: In 2002 the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen-B ice shelf collapsed. In early 2008, about of ice from the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the southwest part of the peninsula collapsed, putting the remaining of the ice shelf at risk. The ice was being held back by a "thread" of ice about wide, prior to its collapse in 2009. , the two most rapidly thinning ice shelves are those in front of the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers. Both ice shelves act to stabilise the glaciers that feed into them.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica contains about 90% of the world's ice. If all of this ice were melted, global sea levels would rise about . In addition, Antarctica stores around 70% of global freshwater as ice. The continent is losing mass due to the increased flow of its glaciers toward the ocean. The loss of mass from Antarctica's ice sheets is partially offset by additional snow falling back onto it. A 2018 systematic review study estimated that ice loss across the entire continent was 43 gigatonnes (Gt) per year on average during the period from 1992 to 2002, but accelerated to an average of 220 Gt per year during the five years from 2012 to 2017. Antarctica's total contribution to sea level rise has been estimated to be .


title: Antarctica

text: Most of the ice loss has taken place on the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica. Estimates of the mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet as a whole range from slightly positive to slightly negative. Increased ice outflow has been observed in some regions of East Antarctica, particularly at Wilkes Land.


title: Antarctica

text: Future projections of ice loss depend on the speed of climate change mitigation and are uncertain. Tipping points have been identified in some regions; when a certain threshold warming is reached, these regions may start melting at a significantly faster rate. If average temperatures were to begin to fall, the ice would not immediately be restored. A tipping point for the West Antarctic ice sheet is estimated to be between of global warming. A full collapse would likely not take place unless warming reaches between , and may occur within centuries under pessimistic assumptions. This full collapse would lead to of sea level rise. At , parts of the East Antarctic ice sheet are also projected to be fully lost, and total ice loss would lead to around or more of sea level rise.


title: Antarctica

text: Scientists have studied the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica since the 1970s. In 1985, British scientists, working on data they had gathered at Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf, discovered a large area of low ozone concentration over Antarctica. The 'ozone hole' covers almost the whole continent and was at its largest in September 2006; the longest-lasting event occurred in 2020. The depletion is caused by the emission of chlorofluorocarbons and halons into the atmosphere, which causes ozone to break down into other gases. The extreme cold conditions of Antarctica allow polar stratospheric clouds to form. The clouds act as catalysts for chemical reactions, which eventually lead to the destruction of ozone. The 1987 Montreal Protocol has restricted the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. The ozone hole above Antarctica is predicted to slowly disappear; by the 2060s, levels of ozone are expected to have returned to values last recorded in the 1980s.


title: Antarctica

text: The ozone depletion can cause a cooling of around in the stratosphere. The cooling strengthens the polar vortex and so prevents the outflow of the cold air near the South Pole, which in turn cools the continental mass of the East Antarctic ice sheet. The peripheral areas of Antarctica, especially the Antarctic Peninsula, are then subjected to higher temperatures, which accelerate the melting of the ice. Models suggest that ozone depletion and the enhanced polar vortex effect may also account for the period of increasing sea ice extent, lasting from when observation started in the late 1970s until 2014. Since then, the coverage of Antarctic sea ice has decreased rapidly.


title: Antarctica

text: Most species in Antarctica seem to be the descendants of species that lived there millions of years ago. As such, they must have survived multiple glacial cycles. The species survived the periods of extremely cold climate in isolated warmer areas, such as those with geothermal heat or areas that remained ice-free throughout the colder climate.


title: Antarctica

text: Invertebrate life of Antarctica includes species of microscopic mites such as "Alaskozetes antarcticus", lice, nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, krill and springtails. The few terrestrial vertebrates are limited to the sub-Antarctic islands. The flightless midge "Belgica antarctica", the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctica, reaches in size.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctic krill, which congregates in large schools, is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, being an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals, fur seals, squid, icefish, and many bird species, such as penguins and albatrosses. Some species of marine animals exist and rely, directly or indirectly, on phytoplankton. Antarctic sea life includes penguins, blue whales, orcas, colossal squids and fur seals. The Antarctic fur seal was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by seal hunters from the United States and the United Kingdom. Leopard seals are apex predators in the Antarctic ecosystem and migrate across the Southern Ocean in search of food.


title: Antarctica

text: There are approximately 40 bird species that breed on or close to Antarctica, including species of petrels, penguins, cormorants, and gulls. Various other bird species visit the ocean around Antarctica, including some that normally reside in the Arctic. The emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctica; it and the Adélie penguin breed farther south than any other penguin.


title: Antarctica

text: A Census of Marine Life by some 500 researchers during the International Polar Year was released in 2010. The research found that more than 235 marine organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged the gap of . Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. Smaller forms of life, such as sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails also found in both polar oceans. Factors that may aid in their distribution include temperature differences between the deep ocean at the poles and the equator of no more than and the major current systems or marine conveyor belts which are able to transport eggs and larva.


title: Antarctica

text: About 1,150 species of fungi have been recorded in the Antarctic region, of which about 750 are non-lichen-forming. Some of the species, having evolved under extreme conditions, have colonized structural cavities within porous rocks and have contributed to shaping the rock formations of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and surrounding mountain ridges.


title: Antarctica

text: The simplified morphology of such fungi, along with their similar biological structures, metabolism systems capable of remaining active at very low temperatures, and reduced life cycles, make them well suited to such environments. Their thick-walled and strongly melanised cells make them resistant to UV radiation.


title: Antarctica

text: The same features can be observed in algae and cyanobacteria, suggesting that they are adaptations to the conditions prevailing in Antarctica. This has led to speculation that life on Mars might have been similar to Antarctic fungi, such as "Cryomyces antarcticus" and "Cryomyces minteri". Some of the species of fungi, which are apparently endemic to Antarctica, live in bird dung, and have evolved so they can grow inside extremely cold dung, but can also pass through the intestines of warm-blooded animals.


title: Antarctica

text: Throughout its history, Antarctica has seen a wide variety of plant life. In the Cretaceous, it was dominated by a fern-conifer ecosystem, which changed into a temperate rainforest by the end of that period. During the colder Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), a tundra ecosystem replaced the rainforests. The climate of present-day Antarctica does not allow extensive vegetation to form. A combination of freezing temperatures, poor soil quality, and a lack of moisture and sunlight inhibit plant growth, causing low species diversity and limited distribution. The flora largely consists of bryophytes (25 species of liverworts and 100 species of mosses). There are three species of flowering plants, all of which are found in the Antarctic Peninsula: "Deschampsia antarctica" (Antarctic hair grass), "Colobanthus quitensis" (Antarctic pearlwort) and the non-native "Poa annua" (annual bluegrass).


title: Antarctica

text: Of the 700 species of algae in Antarctica, around half are marine phytoplankton. Multicoloured snow algae are especially abundant in the coastal regions during the summer. Bacteria have been found as deep as under the ice. It is thought to be likely that there exists a native bacterial community within the subterranean water body of Lake Vostok. The existence of life there is thought to strengthen the argument for the possibility of life on Jupiter's moon Europa, which may have water beneath its water-ice crust. There exists a community of extremophile bacteria in the highly alkaline waters of Lake Untersee. The prevalence of highly resilient creatures in such inhospitable areas could further bolster the argument for extraterrestrial life in cold, methane-rich environments.


title: Antarctica

text: The first international agreement to protect Antarctica's biodiversity was adopted in 1964. The overfishing of krill (an animal that plays a large role in the Antarctic ecosystem) led officials to enact regulations on fishing. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, an international treaty that came into force in 1980, regulates fisheries, aiming to preserve ecological relationships. Despite these regulations, illegal fishing—particularly of the highly prized Patagonian toothfish which is marketed as Chilean sea bass in the U.S.—remains a problem.


title: Antarctica

text: In analogy to the 1980 treaty on sustainable fishing, countries led by New Zealand and the United States negotiated a treaty on mining. This Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities was adopted in 1988. After a strong campaign from environmental organisations, first Australia and then France decided not to ratify the treaty. Instead, countries adopted the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol), which entered into force in 1998. The Madrid Protocol bans all mining, designating the continent as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science".


title: Antarctica

text: The pressure group Greenpeace established a base on Ross Island from 1987 to 1992 as part of its attempt to establish the continent as a World Park. The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was established in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission. It covers and completely surrounds the Antarctic continent. All commercial whaling is banned in the zone, though Japan has continued to hunt whales in the area, ostensibly for research purposes.


title: Antarctica

text: Despite these protections, the biodiversity in Antarctica is still at risk from human activities. Specially protected areas cover less than 2% of the area and provide better protection for animals with popular appeal than for less visible animals. There are more terrestrial protected areas than marine protected areas. Ecosystems are impacted by local and global threats, notably pollution, the invasion of non-native species, and the various effects of climate change.


title: Antarctica

text: Captain James Cook's ships, and , crossed the Antarctic Circle on 17 January 1773, in December 1773, and again in January 1774. Cook came within about of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of field ice in January 1773. In 1775, he called the existence of a polar continent "probable," and in another copy of his journal he wrote: "[I] firmly believe it and it's more than probable that we have seen a part of it".


title: Antarctica

text: Sealers were among the earliest to go closer to the Antarctic landmass, perhaps in the earlier part of the 19th century. The oldest known human remains in the Antarctic region was a skull, dated from 1819 to 1825, that belonged to a young woman on Yamana Beach at the South Shetland Islands. The woman, who was likely to have been part of a sealing expedition, was found in 1985.


title: Antarctica

text: The first person to see Antarctica or its ice shelf was long thought to have been the British sailor Edward Bransfield, a captain in the Royal Navy, who discovered the tip of the Antarctic peninsula on 30 January 1820. However, a captain in the Imperial Russian Navy, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, recorded seeing an ice shelf on 27 January. The American sealer Nathaniel Palmer, whose sealing ship was in the region at this time, may have been the first to sight the Antarctic Peninsula.


title: Antarctica

text: The First Russian Antarctic Expedition, led by Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on the 985-ton sloop-of-war "Vostok" and the 530-ton support vessel "Mirny", reached a point within of Queen Maud Land and recorded sighting an ice shelf at . on 27 January 1820, The sighting happened three days before Bransfield sighted the land of the Trinity Peninsula of Antarctica, as opposed to the ice of an ice shelf, and 10 months before Palmer did so in November 1820. The first documented landing on Antarctica was by the American sealer John Davis, apparently at Hughes Bay on 7 February 1821, although some historians dispute this claim, as there is no evidence Davis landed on the Antarctic continent rather than an offshore island.


title: Antarctica

text: On 22 January 1840, two days after the discovery of the coast west of the Balleny Islands, some members of the crew of the 18371840 expedition of the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville disembarked on the Dumoulin Islands, off the coast of Adélie Land, where they took some mineral, algae, and animal samples erected the French flag and claimed French sovereignty over the territory. The American captain Charles Wilkes led an expedition in 1838–1839 and was the first to claim he had discovered the continent. The British naval officer James Clark Ross failed to realise that what he referred to as "the various patches of land recently discovered by the American, French and English navigators on the verge of the Antarctic Circle" were connected to form a single continent. The American explorer Mercator Cooper landed on East Antarctica on 26 January 1853.


title: Antarctica

text: The first confirmed landing on the continental mass of Antarctica occurred in 1895 when the Norwegian-Swedish whaling ship "Antarctic" reached Cape Adare.


title: Antarctica

text: During the "Nimrod" Expedition led by the British explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1907, parties led by Edgeworth David became the first to climb Mount Erebus and to reach the south magnetic pole. Douglas Mawson, who assumed the leadership of the Magnetic Pole party on their perilous return, retired in 1931. Between December 1908 and February 1909: Shackleton and three members of his expedition became the first humans to traverse the Ross Ice Shelf, the first to cross the Transantarctic Mountains (via the Beardmore Glacier), and the first to set foot on the south Polar Plateau. On 14 December 1911, an expedition led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen from the ship "Fram" became the first to reach the geographic South Pole, using a route from the Bay of Whales and up the Axel Heiberg Glacier. One month later, the doomed "Terra Nova" Expedition reached the pole.


title: Antarctica

text: The American explorer Richard E. Byrd led four expeditions to Antarctica during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, using the first mechanised tractors. His expeditions conducted extensive geographical and scientific research, and he is credited with surveying a larger region of the continent than any other explorer. In 1937, Ingrid Christensen became the first woman to step onto the Antarctic mainland. Caroline Mikkelsen had landed on an island of Antarctica, earlier in 1935.


title: Antarctica

text: The South Pole was next reached on 31 October 1956, when a U.S. Navy group led by Rear Admiral George J. Dufek successfully landed an aircraft there. Six women were flown to the South Pole as a publicity stunt in 1969. In the summer of 19961997, Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland became the first person to cross Antarctica alone from coast to coast, helped by a kite on parts of the journey. Ousland holds the record for the fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole, taking 34 days.


title: Antarctica

text: The first semi-permanent inhabitants of regions near Antarctica (areas situated south of the Antarctic Convergence) were British and American sealers who used to spend a year or more on South Georgia, from 1786 onward. During the whaling era, which lasted until 1966, the population of the island varied from over 1,000 in the summer (over 2,000 in some years) to some 200 in the winter. Most of the whalers were Norwegian, with an increasing proportion from Britain.


title: Antarctica

text: The continent of Antarctica has never had a permanent resident population, although staffed research stations are continuously maintained. The number of people conducting and supporting scientific research and other work on the continent and its nearby islands varies from about 1,000 in winter to about 5,000 in the summer. Some of the research stations are staffed year-round, the winter-over personnel typically arriving from their home countries for a one-year assignment. The Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Church at the Bellingshausen Station on King George Island opened in 2004; it is manned year-round by one or two priests, who are similarly rotated every year.


title: Antarctica

text: The first child born in the southern polar region was a Norwegian girl, Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen, born in Grytviken on 8 October 1913. Emilio Marcos Palma was the first person born south of the 60th parallel south and the first to be born on the Antarctic mainland.


title: Antarctica

text: The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any military activity in Antarctica, including the establishment of military bases and fortifications, military manoeuvres, and weapons testing. Military personnel or equipment are permitted only for scientific research or other peaceful purposes. The only documented military land manoeuvre on the continent has been the small Operation NINETY by the Argentine military in 1965.


title: Antarctica

text: In 1539, the King of Spain, Charles V, created the Governorate of Terra Australis, which encompassed lands south of the Strait of Magellan and thus theoretically Antarctica, granting this Govenorate to Pedro Sancho de la Hoz, who in 1540 transferred the title to the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. Spain claimed all the territories to the south of the Strait of Magellan until the South Pole, with eastern and western borders to these claims specified in the Treaty of Tordesillas and Zaragoza respectively. In 1555 the claim was incorporated to Chile.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica's status is regulated by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and other related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System. Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60° S for the purposes of the Treaty System. The treaty was signed by twelve countries, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and the United States. Since 1959, a further 42 countries have acceeded to the treaty. Countries can participate in decision-making if they can demonstrate that they do significant research on Antarctica; , 29 countries have this 'consultative status'. Decisions are based on consensus, instead of a vote. The treaty set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and established freedom of scientific investigation and environmental protection.


title: Antarctica

text: Sovereignty over regions of Antarctica is claimed by seven countries. While a few of these countries have mutually recognised each other's claims, the validity of the claims is not recognised universally. New claims on Antarctica have been suspended since 1959, although in 2015, Norway formally defined Queen Maud Land as including the unclaimed area between it and the South Pole.


title: Antarctica

text: The Argentine, British, and Chilean claims overlap and have caused friction. In 2012, after the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office designated a previously unnamed area Queen Elizabeth Land in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, the Argentinean government formally protested against the claim. The UK passed some of the areas it claimed to Australia and New Zealand after they achieved independence. The claims by Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Norway do not overlap and are recognised by each other. Other member nations of the Antarctic Treaty do not recognize any claim, yet have shown some form of territorial interest in the past.


title: Antarctica

text: Deposits of coal, hydrocarbons, iron ore, platinum, copper, chromium, nickel, gold, and other minerals have been found in Antarctica, but not in large enough quantities to extract. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect in 1998 and is due to be reviewed in 2048, restricts the exploitation of Antarctic resources, including minerals.


title: Antarctica

text: Tourists have been visiting Antarctica since 1957. Tourism is subject to the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty and Environmental Protocol; the self-regulatory body for the industry is the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. Tourists arrive by small or medium ship at specific scenic locations with accessible concentrations of iconic wildlife. Over 74,000 tourists visited the region during the 2019/2020 season, of which 18,500 travelled on cruise ships but did not leave them to explore on land. The numbers of tourists fell rapidly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some nature conservation groups have expressed concern over the potential adverse effects caused by the influx of visitors and have called for limits on the size of visiting cruise ships and a tourism quota. The primary response by Antarctic Treaty parties has been to develop guidelines that set landing limits and closed or restricted zones on the more frequently visited sites.


title: Antarctica

text: Overland sightseeing flights operated out of Australia and New Zealand until the Mount Erebus disaster in 1979, when an Air New Zealand plane crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all of the 257 people onboard. Qantas resumed commercial overflights to Antarctica from Australia in the mid-1990s.


title: Antarctica

text: In 2017, there were more than 4,400 scientists undertaking research in Antarctica, a number that fell to just over 1,100 in the winter. There are over 70 permanent and seasonal research stations on the continent; the largest, United States McMurdo Station, is capable of housing more than 1,000 people. The British Antarctic Survey has five major research stations on Antarctica, one of which is completely portable. The Belgian Princess Elisabeth station is one of the most modern stations and the first to be carbon-neutral. Argentina, Australia, Chile, and Russia also have a large scientific presence on Antarctica.


title: Antarctica

text: Geologists primarily study plate tectonics, meteorites, and the breakup of Gondwana. Glaciologists study the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets. Biologists, in addition to researching wildlife, are interested in how low temperatures and the presence of humans affect adaptation and survival strategies in organisms. Biomedical scientists have made discoveries concerning the spreading of viruses and the body's response to extreme seasonal temperatures.


title: Antarctica

text: The high elevation of the interior, the low temperatures, and the length of polar nights during the winter months all allow for better astronomical observations at Antarctica than anywhere else on Earth. The view of space from Earth is improved by a thinner atmosphere at higher elevations and a lack of water vapour in the atmosphere caused by freezing temperatures. Astrophysicists at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station study cosmic microwave background radiation and neutrinos from space. The largest neutrino detector in the world, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, is at the Amundsen-Scott Station. It consists of around 5,500 digital optical modules, some of which reach a depth of , that are held in of ice.


title: Antarctica

text: Antarctica provides a unique environment for the study of meteorites: the dry polar desert preserves them well, and meteorites older than a million years have been found. They are relatively easy to find, as the dark stone meteorites stand out in a landscape of ice and snow, and the flow of ice accumulates them in certain areas. The Adelie Land meteorite, discovered in 1912, was the first to be found. Meteorites contain clues about the composition of the Solar System and its early development. Most meteorites come from asteroids, but a few meteorites found in Antarctica came from the Moon and Mars.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. They have also achieved seven platinum or multi-platinum certifications, nine Top 10 albums on the "Billboard" 200 chart (including 1989's "Dr. Feelgood", which is Mötley Crüe's only album to reach number one), twenty-two Top 40 mainstream rock hits, and six Top 20 pop singles. The band experienced several short-term lineup changes in the 1990s and 2000s; these included the introduction of vocalist John Corabi (who was Neil's replacement from 1992 to 1996) and drummers Randy Castillo and Samantha Maloney, both of whom filled in for Lee following his departure from Mötley Crüe in 1999; he returned to the band in 2004. More recently in 2022 guitarist Mick Mars announced his retirement from touring with the band, with former Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 taking his place on live duties.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The members of Mötley Crüe have often been noted for their hedonistic lifestyles and the androgynous personae they maintained. Following the hard rock and heavy metal origins on the band's first two albums, "Too Fast for Love" (1981) and "Shout at the Devil" (1983), the release of its third album "Theatre of Pain" (1985) saw Mötley Crüe joining the first wave of glam metal. The band has also been known for their elaborate live performances, which feature flame thrower guitars, roller coaster drum kits, and heavy use of pyrotechnics (fireworks) (including lighting Sixx on fire). Mötley Crüe's last studio album, "Saints of Los Angeles", was released on June 24, 2008. What was planned to be the band's final show took place on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2015. The concert was filmed for a theatrical and Blu-ray release in 2016.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: After two-and-a-half years of inactivity, Neil announced in September 2018 that Mötley Crüe had reunited and was working on new material. On March 22, 2019, the band released four new songs on the soundtrack for its Netflix biopic "The Dirt", based on the band's "New York Times" best-selling autobiography of the same name. The soundtrack went to number one on the iTunes All Genres Album Chart, number 3 on the "Billboard" Top Album and Digital Album sales charts, number 10 on the "Billboard" 200, and Top 10 worldwide. The autobiography returned to "New York Times" Best Seller list at number 6 on Nonfiction Print and number 8 on Nonfiction Combined Print & E-Book. Mötley Crüe embarked on its first major tour in seven years in the summer and fall of 2022, co-headlining a North American tour with Def Leppard.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: Mötley Crüe was formed on January 17, 1981, when bassist Nikki Sixx left the band London and began rehearsing with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon. Lee had previously worked with Leon in a band called Suite 19 and the trio practiced together for some time; Leon eventually decided not to continue with them. Sixx and Lee then began a search for new members and soon met guitarists Robin Moore (Jeff Gill) and Bob Deal, better known as Mick Mars, after answering an advertisement that he placed in "The Recycler" that read: "Loud, rude and aggressive guitar player available". Mars auditioned for Sixx, Moore and Lee, and was subsequently hired while Moore was fired at the same session according to the band's biography "The Dirt". Although a lead vocalist named O'Dean was auditioned, Lee had known Vince Neil from their high school days at Charter Oak High School in Covina, California, and the two had performed in different bands on the garage band circuit. Upon seeing him perform with the band Rock Candy at the Starwood in Hollywood, California, Mars suggested they have Neil join the band. At first Neil refused the offer, but as the other members of Rock Candy became involved in outside projects, Neil grew anxious to try something else. Lee asked again; Neil was hired on April 1, 1981, and the band played its first gig at the Starwood nightclub on April 24.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The newly formed band did not yet have a name. Sixx has said that he told his bandmates that he was "thinking about calling the band "Christmas". The other members were not very receptive to that idea. Then, while trying to find a suitable name, Mars remembered an incident that occurred when he was playing with a band called White Horse, when one of the other band members called the group "a motley looking crew". He had remembered the phrase and later copied it down as 'Mottley Cru'. After modifying the spelling slightly, "Mötley Crüe" was eventually selected as the band's name, with the stylistic decision suggested by Neil to add the two sets of metal umlauts, supposedly inspired by the German beer Löwenbräu, which the members were drinking at the time. Other than the periods of February 1992 to September 1996 and of March 1999 to September 2004, the lineup of Neil, Sixx, Lee, and Mars remained the same.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The band soon met its first manager, Allan Coffman, the thirty-eight-year-old brother-in-law of a friend of Mars's driver. The band's first release was the single "Stick to Your Guns/Toast of the Town", which was released on its own record label, Leathür Records, which had a pressing and distribution deal with Greenworld Distribution in Torrance, California. In November 1981, its debut album "Too Fast for Love" was self-produced and released on Leathür, selling 20,000 copies. Coffman's assistant Eric Greif set up a tour of Canada, while Coffman and Greif used Mötley Crüe's success in the Los Angeles club scene to negotiate with several record labels, eventually signing a recording contract with Elektra Records in early 1982. The debut album was then re-mixed by producer Roy Thomas Baker and re-released on August 20, 1982—two months after its Canadian Warner Music Group release using the original Leathür mixes—to coincide with the tour.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: During the "Crüesing Through Canada Tour '82", there were several widely publicized incidents. First, the band was arrested and then released at Edmonton International Airport for wearing their spiked stage wardrobe (considered "dangerous weapons") through customs, and for Neil arriving with a small carry-on filled with porn magazines (considered "indecent material"); both were staged PR stunts. Customs eventually had the confiscated items destroyed. Second, while playing Scandals Disco in Edmonton, a spurious "bomb threat" against the band made the front page of the "Edmonton Journal" on June 9, 1982; Lee and assistant band manager Greif were interviewed by police as a result. This too ended up being a staged PR stunt perpetrated by Greif. Lastly, Lee threw a television set from an upper story window of the Sheraton Caravan Hotel. Canadian rock magazine "Music Express" noted that the band was "banned for life" from the city. Despite the tour ending prematurely in financial disaster, it was the basis for the band's first international press.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: In 1983, the band changed management from Coffman to Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee. McGhee is best known for managing Bon Jovi and later Kiss, starting with their reunion tour in 1996. Greif subsequently sued all parties in a Los Angeles Superior Court action that dragged on for several years, and coincidentally later re-surfaced as manager of Sixx's former band, London. Coffman himself was sued by several investors to whom he had sold "stock in the band", including Michigan-based Bill Larson. Coffman eventually declared bankruptcy, as he had mortgaged his home at least three times to cover band expenses.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: "Too Fast For Love", the title track from the band's debut album, was reportedly recorded over a span of three days while the band members were under the influence of alcohol. Their antics included, according to the website "Page Six" urinating in public or on the floors of their bedrooms, and throwing beds and furniture such as futons out of hotel windows in Hamburg, Germany. Nikki Sixx had been arrested for the first time while selling "chocolate" mescaline at a Rolling Stones concert in 1973. The band became rapidly successful in the United States after playing at the US Festival in May 1983, and also with the aid of the new medium of MTV. Their second album, "Shout at the Devil", was released in September 1983. The album represented the band's mainstream breakthrough and would eventually be certified 4× platinum. The album generated controversy for its title track and album imagery, both of which invoked Satanism. They then gained the attention of heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne and found themselves as the opening act for Osbourne on his 1984 tour for "Bark at the Moon". The band members were well known for their backstage antics, outrageous clothing, extreme high-heeled boots, heavily applied make-up, and seemingly endless abuse of alcohol and drugs as well.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The band members also had their share of run ins with the law. On December 8, 1984, Neil was driving home from a liquor run in his De Tomaso Pantera which ended in a head-on collision; his passenger, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, was killed. Neil, charged with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter, was sentenced to 30 days in jail (although he served only 18 days) and subsequently sued for $2,500,000. The short jail term was negotiated by his lawyers, enabling Neil to tour and pay the civil suit.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The band's third album "Theatre of Pain" was released in June 1985 and dedicated in Dingley's honor, and it started a new glam metal phase in the band's style. "Theatre of Pain" was commercially successful, reaching number 6 on the Billboard album charts and eventually being certified quadruple platinum. However, the recording of the album was fraught with tension in the wake of Neil's accident and Sixx's growing addiction, and members of the band have said that they consider it a creative disappointment.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: Mötley Crüe spent most of the next year on a world tour in support of "Theatre of Pain". In February 1986 in London, England Sixx suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose, and the person who sold him the drugs dumped his unconscious body in a dumpster. The incident inspired Sixx to write the song "Dancing on Glass" for their next album.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The band's fourth album, "Girls, Girls, Girls", was released in May 1987 and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200. Sixx has said in interviews that he believes the album would have debuted at number 1 if not for behind the scenes maneuvering by Whitney Houston's record label. The band again changed their look for the album and subsequent tour, trading the glam elements of the previous album for a biker aesthetic. The band faced many of the same personal issues that plagued the recording of "Theatre of Pain" and Sixx has complained that those issues compromised the album's quality, although he has spoken more positively about the record in subsequent years.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: On December 23, 1987, Sixx suffered a heroin overdose. He was declared clinically dead on the way to the hospital, but the paramedic, who was a Crüe fan, revived Sixx with two shots of adrenaline. His two minutes in death were the inspiration for the song "Kickstart My Heart", which peaked at No. 16 on the Mainstream U.S. chart, and which was featured on the 1989 U.S. number one (their first) album "Dr. Feelgood". From 1986 to 1987, Sixx kept a daily diary of his heroin addiction and eventually entered rehab in January 1988.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: In 1988, controversy again hit the band in the form of a lawsuit by Matthew Trippe. Trippe claimed that Sixx was hospitalized in 1983 after a car crash involving drugs and that he had been hired as Sixx's doppelgänger. The suit was regarding the loss of royalties from his time in Mötley Crüe and the case was not closed until 1993 when Trippe dropped his charges and disappeared from public view.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: Their decadent lifestyles almost shattered the band until managers Thaler and McGhee pulled an intervention and refused to allow the band to tour in Europe, fearing that "some [of them] would come back in bodybags". Shortly after, all the band members jointly entered drug rehabilitation in an effort to move forward as a band.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: After finding sobriety, Mötley Crüe reached its peak popularity with the release of their fifth album, the Bob Rock-produced "Dr. Feelgood", on September 1, 1989. Rock and the band recorded the album in Vancouver, with the band members recording their parts separately for the first time to reduce infighting and to focus on individual performance. Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, who was recording the album "Pump" at the same studio, provided backing vocals. On October 14 of that year, it became a No. 1 album and stayed on the charts for 114 weeks after its release. The band members each stated in interviews that, due in no small part to their collective push for sobriety, "Dr. Feelgood" was their most solid album musically to that point. The title track and "Kickstart My Heart" were both nominated for Grammys in the Best Hard Rock Category in 1990 and 1991, respectively, but lost both years to songs by Living Colour. The band did find some success at the American Music Awards, as "Dr. Feelgood" was nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Award, losing once to Guns N' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction", but winning the following year, beating out Aerosmith's "Pump" and Poison's "Flesh & Blood". Mötley Crüe was also nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Artist.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: In 1989, McGhee was fired after the band alleged he had broken several promises that he made in relation to the Moscow Music Peace Festival, including giving his other band, Bon Jovi, advantages in terms of slot placement. Thaler then assumed the role of sole band manager.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: The band spent the fall of 1989 and most of 1990 on a massive world tour, the band's biggest to that point. It was a major financial success but left the band feeling burnt out. In April 1990, Lee suffered a concussion during a mishap involving a rappelling drum kit stunt during a live concert in New Haven, Connecticut.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: On October 1, 1991, the band's first compilation album, "Decade of Decadence 81-91", was released. It peaked at No. 2 on the "Billboard" 200 album chart. It was reportedly designed as "just something for the fans" while the band worked on the next "all new" album.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: Vince Neil left the band in February 1992 following the release of "Decade of Decadence", during a period in which most other prominent glam metal bands of the 1980s were breaking up or otherwise seeing their popularity decline significantly amid the advent of grunge and alternative music. It remains unclear whether Neil was fired or quit the band. Sixx has long maintained that Neil quit, while Neil insists that he was fired. "Any band has its little spats," Neil observed in 2000, "and this one basically just stemmed from a bunch of 'fuck yous' in a rehearsal studio. It went from 'I quit' to 'You're fired' ... It was handled idiotically. The management just let one of the biggest bands in the world break up."


title: Mötley Crüe

text: In the running for the vacant frontman position was Kik Tracee vocalist Stephen Shareaux. Ultimately Neil was replaced by John Corabi (formerly of Angora and the Scream). Although Mötley's self-titled March 1994 release made the "Billboard" top ten (#7), the album was a commercial failure. It also prompted negative reactions from many fans due to Neil's absence and its sound. Corabi suggested the band bring back Neil, believing the latter would always be seen as the voice of the band. This eventually resulted in his own firing in 1996. Corabi spoke about his time with the band and his thoughts on the first record with Mötley Crüe. Corabi said: "my record was the first record that they had done that didn't go platinum, didn't make some sort of crazy noise, and everybody panicked". During his time away from the band, Neil released a moderately successful solo album, "Exposed" in 1993, and a less commercially successful follow-up, "Carved in Stone" in 1995.


title: Mötley Crüe

text: After Rolling Stone magazine broke out the news in their november 26 1996 issue, the band reunited with Neil in 1997, after their current manager, Allen Kovac, and Neil's manager, Bert Stein, set up a meeting between Neil, Lee, and Sixx. Agreeing to "leave their egos at the door", the band released "Generation Swine". Although it debuted at No. 4, and in spite of a live performance at the American Music Awards, the album was a commercial failure, due in part to lack of support from their label.