title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson moved to Austin, Texas, where the burgeoning hippie music scene (see Armadillo World Headquarters) rejuvenated the singer. His popularity in Austin soared as he played his own brand of country music marked by country, folk and jazz influences. In March, he performed on the final day of the "Dripping Springs Reunion", a three-day country music festival aimed by its producers to be an annual event. Despite the failure to reach the expected attendance, the concept of the festival inspired Nelson to create the "Fourth of July Picnic", his own annual event, starting the following year.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson decided to return to the recording business, he signed Neil Reshen as his manager to negotiate with RCA, who got the label to agree to end his contract upon repayment of $14,000. Reshen eventually signed Nelson to Atlantic Records for $25,000 per year, where he became the label's first country artist. He formed his backing band, "The Family", and by February 1973, he was recording his acclaimed "Shotgun Willie" at Atlantic Studios in New York City.


title: Willie Nelson

text: "Shotgun Willie", released in May 1973, earned excellent reviews but did not sell well. The album led Nelson to a new style, later stating that "Shotgun Willie" had "cleared his throat". His next release, "Phases and Stages", released in 1974, was a concept album about a couple's divorce, inspired by his own experience. Side one of the record is from the viewpoint of the woman, and side two is from the viewpoint of the man. The album included the hit single "Bloody Mary Morning". The same year, he produced and starred in the pilot episode of PBS' "Austin City Limits".


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson then moved to Columbia Records, where he signed a contract that gave him complete creative control, made possible by the critical and commercial success of his previous albums. The result was the critically acclaimed and massively popular 1975 concept album "Red Headed Stranger". Although Columbia was reluctant to release an album with primarily a guitar and piano for accompaniment, Nelson and Waylon Jennings insisted. The album included a cover of Fred Rose's 1945 song "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", that had been released as a single previous to the album, and became Nelson's first number one hit as a singer. Throughout his 1975 tour, Nelson raised funds for PBS-affiliated stations across the south promoting "Austin City Limits". The pilot was aired first on those stations, later being released nationwide. The positive reception of the show prompted PBS to order ten episodes for 1976, formally launching the show.


title: Willie Nelson

text: As Jennings was also achieving success in country music in the early 1970s, the pair were combined into a genre called outlaw country, since it did not conform to Nashville standards. The album "Wanted! The Outlaws" in 1976 with Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser cemented the pair's outlaw image and became country music's first platinum album. Later that year Nelson released "The Sound in Your Mind" (certified gold in 1978 and platinum in 2001) and his first gospel album "Troublemaker" (certified gold in 1986).


title: Willie Nelson

text: In the summer of 1977, Nelson discovered that Reshen had been filing tax extensions and not paying the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) since he took over as his manager. In June, a package containing cocaine was sent from Reshen's office in New York to Jennings in Nashville. The package was followed by the DEA, and Jennings was arrested. The charges were later dropped, since Reshen's assistant, Mark Rothbaum stepped in and took the charges. Rothbaum was sentenced to serve time in jail. Impressed by his attitude, Nelson fired Reshen and hired Rothbaum as his manager. In 1978, Nelson released two more platinum albums. One, "Waylon & Willie", was a collaboration with Jennings that included "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys", a hit single written and performed by Ed Bruce. Though observers predicted that "Stardust" would ruin his career, it went platinum the same year. Nelson continued to top the charts with hit songs during the late 1970s, including "Good Hearted Woman", "Remember Me", "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time", and "Uncloudy Day".


title: Willie Nelson

text: During the 1980s, Nelson recorded a series of hit singles including "Midnight Rider", a 1980 cover of the Allman Brothers song which Nelson recorded for "The Electric Horseman", the soundtrack "On the Road Again" from the movie "Honeysuckle Rose", and a duet with Julio Iglesias titled "To All the Girls I've Loved Before".


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 1982, "Pancho & Lefty", a duet album with Merle Haggard produced by Chips Moman was released. During the recording sessions of "Pancho and Lefty", session guitarist Johnny Christopher and co-writer of "Always on My Mind", tried to pitch the song to an uninterested Haggard. Nelson, who was unaware of Elvis Presley's version of the song asked him to record it. Produced by Moman, the single of the song was released, as well as the album of the same name. The single topped "Billboard"s Hot Country Singles, while it reached number five on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The release won three awards during the 25th Annual Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance. The single was certified platinum; while the album was certified quadruple-platinum, and later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Meanwhile, two collaborations with Waylon Jennings were released;"WWII" in 1982, and "Take it to the Limit", another collaboration with Waylon Jennings was released in 1983. In the mid-1980s, Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash formed The Highwaymen, a supergroup, who achieved platinum record sales and toured the world. Meanwhile, Nelson became more involved with charity work, such as singing on "We are the World" in 1984. In 1985, Nelson had another success with "Half Nelson", a compilation album of duets with a range of artists such as Ray Charles and Neil Young. In 1980, Nelson performed on the south lawn of the White House. The concert of September 13 featured First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Nelson in a duet of Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother". Nelson frequently visited the White House, where according to the biography by Joe Nick Patoski, "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life", he smoked marijuana on the White House roof.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 1996, Nelson re-recorded the tracks "Hello Walls" with the band The Reverend Horton Heat, and "Bloody Mary Morning" with the Supersuckers for


title: Willie Nelson

text: "Twisted Willie", a tribute album featuring rock versions of Nelson's songs performed by artists such as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Cantrell, Mark Lanegan, L7, The Presidents of the United States of America, and Jello Biafra, among others. Proceeds from the sale of the record benefit Nelson's Farm Aid.


title: Willie Nelson

text: During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson toured continuously, recording several albums including 1998's critically acclaimed "Teatro", and performed and recorded with other acts including Phish, Johnny Cash, and Toby Keith. His duet with Keith, "Beer for My Horses", was released as a single and topped the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts for six consecutive weeks in 2003, while the accompanying video won an award for "Best Video" at the 2004 Academy of Country Music Awards. A USA Network television special celebrated Nelson's 70th birthday, and Nelson released "The Essential Willie Nelson" as part of the celebration. Nelson also appeared on Ringo Starr's 2003 album, "Ringo Rama", as a guest vocal on "Write One for Me".


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson was featured on the album "True Love" by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Trey Anastasio, Gwen Stefani, and Keith Richards. In the following year of 2005, Nelson released a reggae album entitled "Countryman" which featured Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals on the song "I'm a Worried Man".


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson headlined the 2005 Tsunami Relief Austin to Asia concert to benefit the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which raised an estimated $75,000 for UNICEF. Also in 2005, a live performance of the Johnny Cash song "Busted" with Ray Charles was released on Charles' duets album "Genius & Friends". Nelson's 2007 performance with jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis at the Lincoln Center, was released as the live album "Two Men with the Blues" in 2008; reaching number one in "Billboard"s Top Jazz Albums and number twenty on the "Billboard" 200. The same year, Nelson recorded his first album with Buddy Cannon as the producer, "Moment of Forever". Cannon acquainted Nelson earlier, during the production of his collaboration with Kenny Chesney on the duet "That Lucky Old Sun", for Chesney's album of the same name. In 2009 Nelson and Marsalis joined with Norah Jones in a tribute concert to Ray Charles, which resulted in the "" album, released in 2011.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2010, Nelson released "Country Music", a compilation of standards produced by T-Bone Burnett. The album peaked number four in "Billboard"s Top Country Albums, and twenty on the "Billboard" 200. It was nominated for Best Americana Album at the 2011 Grammy Awards. In 2011 Nelson participated in the concert "Kokua For Japan", a fund raising event for the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan which raised $1.6 million.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In February 2012, Legacy Recordings signed a deal with Nelson that included the release of new material, as well as past releases that would be selected and complemented with outtakes and other material selected by him. With the new deal, Buddy Cannon returned to produce the recordings of Nelson. After selecting the material and the sound of the tunes with the singer, Cannon's work method consisted in the recording of the tracks with studio musicians, with the takes later completed on a separate session by Nelson with his guitar. Cannon's association to Nelson also extended to songwriting, with singer and producer composing the lyrics by exchanging text messages.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson's first release for the Legacy Recordings was "Heroes", that included guest appearances by his sons Lukas and Micah of the band Insects vs Robots, Ray Price, Merle Haggard, Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, Billy Joe Shaver and Sheryl Crow. The album reached number four on "Billboard"s Top Country Albums. His 2013 release "To All the Girls...", a collection of duets with all female partners, featured among others Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert. The album entered "Billboard"s Top Country Albums at number two, marking his highest position on the chart since the release of his 1989 "A Horse Called Music", and extending his record to a total of forty-six top ten albums on the country charts. Nelson scored as well his second top ten album on the "Billboard" 200, with the release entering at number nine.


title: Willie Nelson

text: His following release was "Band of Brothers", in 2014, the first Nelson album to feature the most newly self-penned songs since 1996's "Spirit". Upon its release, it topped "Billboard"s Top Country albums chart, the first time since 1986's "The Promiseland", the last Nelson album to top it. The release reached number five on the "Billboard" 200, Nelson's highest position on the chart since 1982's "Always on My Mind". In December 2014, a duet with Rhonda Vincent, "Only Me", topped "Bluegrass Unlimited's" National Airplay chart. In June 2015, his collaboration with Haggard "Django and Jimmie" topped "Billboard"s Top Country albums chart and reached number seven on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2017, Nelson released "God's Problem Child". The release, consisting mostly of Nelson originals co-written with Cannon, entered the Top country albums at number one, while it reached number ten on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2018, Nelson sang a song written by Daniel Lanois called "Cruel World" for the soundtrack of Rockstar Games's action-adventure video game "Red Dead Redemption 2". Lanois wrote the song especially for Nelson. When a hurricane prevented Nelson from recording the song, the production team sent the track to Josh Homme in the hopes that he could record it in time for the game's release. Nelson was ultimately able to record the song in time in Los Angeles; the team considered combining the two versions into a duet, but ultimately included both versions in the game. Also in 2018, Nelson was one of several artists on "Restoration", a cover album containing various country renditions of songs originally by Elton John, on which he performed "Border Song". His 2019 release "Ride Me Back Home" charted at number two on the "Billboard" Top Country Albums chart. For the title-track, Nelson received the Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Following the U.S. coronavirus pandemic lockdowns that began in March 2020, Nelson livestreamed a series of benefit concerts. The first two raised $700,000 for people who had suffered financial loss due to effects on the U.S. economy. The third, which was held on April 20, 2020, was a variety show titled "Come and Toke It". Some of the content was cannabis-themed, and some of the proceeds will be used to support The Last Prisoner Project, a restorative justice program relating to persons convicted of cannabis related crimes. The same year, Nelson was approached by Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs to collaborate. They chose to do a cover of David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson has released four studio albums so far in the 2020s. His latest, "A Beautiful Time," released on his 89th birthday (April 29, 2022). The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Album at the 65th Annual Grammys.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson's acting debut was in the 1979 film "The Electric Horseman", followed by appearances in "Honeysuckle Rose", "Thief", and "Barbarosa". He played the role of Red Loon in "Coming Out of the Ice" in 1982 and starred in "Songwriter" two years later. He portrayed the lead role in the 1986 film version of his album "Red Headed Stranger". Other movies that Nelson acted in include "Wag the Dog", "Gone Fishin'" (as Billy 'Catch' Pooler), the 1986 television movie "Stagecoach" (with Johnny Cash), "Half Baked", "Beerfest", "The Dukes of Hazzard", "Surfer, Dude" and "Swing Vote". He has also made guest appearances on "Miami Vice" (1986's "El Viejo" episode); "Delta"; "Nash Bridges"; "The Simpsons"; "Monk"; "Adventures in Wonderland"; "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"; "King of the Hill"; "The Colbert Report"; "Swing Vote"; and "Space Ghost Coast to Coast".


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 1988 his first book, "", was published. "", a personal recollection of tour and musical stories from his career, combined with song lyrics, followed in 2002. In 2005 he co-authored "Farm Aid: A Song for America", a commemorative book about the twentieth anniversary of the foundation of Farm Aid. His third book, co-authored with long-time friend Turk Pipkin, "The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart", was published in 2006. In 2007 a book advocating the use of bio-diesel and the reduction of gas emissions, "On The Clean Road Again: Biodiesel and The Future of the Family Farm", was published. His next book, "A Tale Out of Luck", published in 2008 and co-authored by Mike Blakely, was Nelson's first fictional book. In 2012, it was announced the release of a new autobiography by Nelson, "". Released on November 13, it was named after the song from his album "Heroes". The book contained further biographical details, as well as family pictures and stories about Nelson's political views, as well as his advocation for marijuana. The artwork of the book was designed by Nelson's son, Micah, and the foreword written by Kinky Friedman. In 2015, the publication of a second Nelson autobiography entitled "" co-authored with David Ritz, the book was published on May 5, 2015. "Pretty Paper", another collaboration with Ritz was published the following year.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2002, Nelson became the official spokesman of the Texas Roadhouse, a chain of steakhouses. Nelson heavily promoted the chain and appeared on a special on Food Network. The chain installed "Willie's Corner", a section dedicated to him and decked out with Willie memorabilia, at several locations. In 2004, Nelson and his wife Annie became partners with Bob and Kelly King in the building of two Pacific Bio-diesel plants, one in Salem, Oregon, and the other at Carl's Corner, Texas (the Texas plant was founded by Carl Cornelius, a longtime Nelson friend and the eponym for Carl's Corner). In 2005, Nelson and several other business partners formed Willie Nelson Biodiesel ("Bio-Willie"), a company that was marketing bio-diesel bio-fuel to truck stops. The fuel was made from vegetable oil (mainly soybean oil), and can be burned without modification in diesel engines. Nelson registered his company with Earth Biofuels and he became a board member. In 2007, Nelson forfeited six million shares of the company as he left the board. By 2008, he reopened Willie's Place, a truck stop in Carl's Corner, Texas. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court allowed Nelson to invest in it. The establishment had about 80 employees, and was used as a concert hall with a bar and a dance floor. Willie's Place also featured BioWillie pumps. At the time, the government of the United States offered a one dollar tax credit to producers of biodiesel. As the competition grew, the tax credit was discontinued while the prices of fossil fuels continued to drop. Nelson and his partners defaulted the $4,75 million loan they took for the construction of Willie's Place. Nelson then paid $35,000 dollars back, while a judge later rejected the request of his creditors to receive more money from him. TravelCenters of America bought Willie's Place during its foreclosure in 2011. The BioWillie plant was then put on the market for sale. Nelson kept the trademark for BioWiliie, which is sold in the islands of Maui and Hawaii. Meanwhile, Nelson owns shares of Big Island Biodiesel in Hawaii and SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel in Oregon.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2010, Nelson founded with the collaboration of producers and filmmakers Luck Films, a company dedicated to produce feature films, documentaries and concerts. The next year, he created the Willie's Roadhouse show which aired on channel 56 of SiriusXM radio. The channel was a result of the merger of his two other channels "The Roadhouse" and "Willie's Place". In November 2014, it was announced that Nelson would be the host of the television series "Inside Arlyn", shot at Arlyn Studio in Austin, Texas. The thirteen-episode first season would feature artists being interviewed by Nelson and Dan Rather, followed by a performance. The series concept received attention from cable channels that requested to see the pilot episode. Following the legalization of marijuana in different states, Nelson announced in 2015 through spokesman Michael Bowman the establishment of his own marijuana brand, Willie's Reserve. Plans to open chain stores in the states where marijuana was legalized were announced, to be expanded state-to-state if marijuana legalization is further expanded. Bowman called the brand "a culmination of (Nelson's) vision, and his whole life".


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2017, Nelson appeared as himself in Woody Harrelson's live film, "Lost in London". In June 2017, he appeared alongside Merle Haggard in the documentary "The American Epic Sessions" directed by Bernard MacMahon. They performed a song Haggard had composed for the film, "The Only Man Wilder Than Me", and Bob Wills's classic "Old Fashioned Love", which they recorded live direct to disc on the first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. It was the last filmed performance of the pair. "Rolling Stone" commented that "in the final performance of Sessions, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard perform the duet 'The Only Man Wilder Than Me.' Haggard has a look of complete joy on his face throughout the session in the old-timey recording setup once used by his musical heroes."


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson uses a variety of music styles to create his own distinctive blend of country music, a hybrid of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk. His "unique sound", which uses a "relaxed, behind-the-beat singing style and gut-string guitar" and his "nasal voice and jazzy, off-center phrasing", has been responsible for his wide appeal, and has made him a "vital icon in country music", influencing the "new country, new traditionalist, and alternative country movements of the 1980s and 1990s".


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 1969, the Baldwin company gave Nelson an amplifier and guitar with their "Prismatone" pickup. During a show in Helotes, Texas, Nelson left the guitar on the floor of the stage, and it was later stepped on by a drunk man.


title: Willie Nelson

text: He sent it to be repaired in Nashville by Shot Jackson, who told Nelson that the damage was too great. Jackson offered him a Martin N-20 Classical guitar, and, at Nelson's request, moved the pickup to the Martin. Nelson purchased the guitar unseen for $750 and named it after Roy Rogers' horse "Trigger". The next year Nelson rescued the guitar from his burning ranch.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Constant strumming with a guitar pick over the decades has worn a large sweeping hole into the guitar's body near the sound hole—the N-20 has no pick-guard since classical guitars are meant to be played fingerstyle instead of with picks. Its soundboard has been signed by over a hundred of Nelson's friends and associates, ranging from fellow musicians to lawyers and football coaches. The first signature on the guitar was Leon Russell's, who asked Nelson initially to sign his guitar. When Nelson was about to sign it with a marker, Russell requested him to scratch it instead, explaining that the guitar would be more valuable in the future. Interested in the concept, Nelson requested Russell to also sign his guitar. In 1991, during his process with the IRS, Nelson was worried that Trigger could be auctioned off, stating: "When Trigger goes, I'll quit". He asked his daughter, Lana, to take the guitar from the studio before any IRS agent arrived there, and then deliver it to him in Maui. Nelson then concealed the guitar in his manager's house until his debt was paid off in 1993.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson is active in a number of issues. Along with Neil Young and John Mellencamp, he set up Farm Aid in 1985 to assist and increase awareness of the importance of family farms, after Bob Dylan's comments during the Live Aid concert that he hoped some of the money would help American farmers in danger of losing their farms through mortgage debt. The first concert included Dylan, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Roy Orbison, and Neil Young among many others, and raised over $9 million for America's family farmers. Besides organizing and performing in the annual concerts, Nelson is the president of the board of Farm Aid.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson is a co-chair of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) advisory board. He has worked with NORML for years, promoting marijuana legalization. In 2005 Nelson and his family hosted the first annual "Willie Nelson & NORML Benefit Golf Tournament", leading to a cover appearance and inside interview in the January 2008 issue of "High Times" magazine. After his arrest for possession of marijuana in 2010, Nelson created the TeaPot party under the motto "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it!"


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Nelson participated in the benefit telethon "", leading the rest of the celebrities singing the song "America the Beautiful". In 2010, during an interview with Larry King, Nelson expressed his doubts with regards to the attacks and the official story. Nelson explained that he could not believe that the buildings could collapse due to the planes, attributing instead the result to an implosion.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson supported Dennis Kucinich's campaign in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries. He raised money, appeared at events, and composed the song "Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth?", criticizing the war in Iraq. He recorded a radio advertisement asking for support to put musician/author Kinky Friedman on the ballot as an independent candidate for the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election. Friedman promised Nelson a job in Austin as the head of a new Texas Energy Commission due to his support of bio-fuels. In January 2008, Nelson filed a suit against the Texas Democratic Party, alleging that the party violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution by refusing to allow co-plaintiff Kucinich to appear on the primary ballot because he had scratched out part of the loyalty oath on his application.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson is an advocate for better treatment for horses and has been campaigning for the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311) alongside the Animal Welfare Institute. He is on its board of directors and has adopted a number of horses from "Habitat for Horses". In 2008, Nelson signed on to warn consumers about the cruel and illegal living conditions for calves raised to produce milk for dairy products. He wrote letters to Land O'Lakes and Challenge Dairy, two of the major corporations that use milk from calves raised at California's Mendes Calf Ranch, which employs an intensive confinement practice that was the subject of a lawsuit and campaign brought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Nelson is seen in the film "The Garden" supporting the impoverished community South Central Farm in Southern Los Angeles.


title: Willie Nelson

text: A supporter of the LGBT movement, Nelson published in 2006 through iTunes a version of Ned Sublette's "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other", that met instant success. During an interview with "Texas Monthly" in 2013, regarding the Defense of Marriage Act and Same-sex marriage in the United States, Nelson responded to a comparison the interviewer made with the Civil Rights Movement, stating: "We'll look back and say it was crazy that we ever even argued about this". He also presented two logos with the pink equal sign, symbol of the LGBT movement. The first one, featured the sign represented with two long braids; while the second one, featured the sign represented with two marijuana cigarettes. The use of the logos became popular quickly in social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In June 2018, Nelson deplored the Trump administration family separation policy. During his Fourth of July Picnic, he performed a song with Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate for the Senate election in Texas. Nelson endorsed O'Rourke, and received negative reactions from the conservative part of his followers. On September 29, 2018, Nelson offered a free concert in Austin supporting the candidate's run. The last number he performed was "Vote 'Em Out", a new track that was subsequently released as a single.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In March 2021, "I’ll Be Seeing You", a new original by Nelson, was used on a public service announcement by the Ad Council to encourage COVID-19 vaccination in the United States. Earlier in January 2021, Nelson and his sister received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson has been married four times and has seven children. His first marriage was to Martha Matthews from 1952 to 1962. The couple had three children: Lana, Susie, and Willie "Billy" Hugh Jr. The latter killed himself in 1991. The marriage was marked by violence, with Matthews assaulting Nelson several times, including one incident when she sewed him up in bedsheets and beat him with a broomstick. Nelson's next marriage was to Shirley Collie in 1963. The couple divorced in 1971, after Collie found a bill from the maternity ward of a Houston hospital charged to Nelson and Connie Koepke for the birth of Paula Carlene Nelson. Nelson married Koepke the same year, and they had another daughter, Amy Lee Nelson. Following a divorce in 1988, he married his current wife, Annie D'Angelo, in 1991. They have two sons, Lukas Autry and Jacob Micah.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson owns "Luck, Texas", a ranch in Spicewood, and also lives in Maui, Hawaii with several celebrity neighbors. While swimming in Hawaii in 1981, Nelson's lung collapsed. He was taken to the Maui Memorial Hospital and his scheduled concerts were canceled. Nelson temporarily stopped smoking cigarettes each time his lungs became congested, and resumed when the congestion ended. He was then smoking between two and three packs per day. After suffering from pneumonia several times, he decided to quit either marijuana or tobacco. He chose to quit tobacco. In 2008, he started to smoke marijuana with a carbon-free system to avoid the effects of smoke. In 2004, Nelson underwent surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, as he had damaged his wrists by continuously playing the guitar. On the recommendation of his doctor, he canceled his scheduled concerts and only wrote songs during his recovery. In 2012, he canceled a fund-raising appearance in the Denver area. He suffered from breathing problems due to high altitude and emphysema and was taken to a local hospital. His publicist Elaine Schock confirmed soon after that Nelson's health was good and that he was heading to his next scheduled concert in Dallas, Texas. After repeated instances of pneumonia and emphysema through the years, Nelson underwent stem-cell therapy in 2015 to improve the state of his lungs.


title: Willie Nelson

text: During his childhood, Nelson grew interested in martial arts. He ordered self-defense manuals on jujitsu and judo that he saw advertised in "Batman" and "Superman" comic books. Nelson started to formally practice kung fu after he moved to Nashville, in the 1960s. During the 1980s, Nelson began training in taekwondo and now holds a second-degree black belt in that discipline. During the 1990s, Nelson started to practice the Korean martial art GongKwon Yusul. In 2014, after 20 years in the discipline, his Grand Master Sam Um presented him with a fifth-degree black belt in a ceremony held in Austin, Texas. A 2014 "Tae Kwon Do Times" magazine interview revealed that Nelson had developed an unorthodox manner of training during the lengthy periods of time he was on tour. Nelson would conduct his martial arts training on his tour bus "The Honeysuckle Rose" and send videos to his supervising Master for review and critique.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson has been arrested several times for marijuana possession. The first occasion was in 1974 in Dallas, Texas. In 1977, after a tour with Hank Cochran, Nelson traveled to The Bahamas. Nelson and Cochran arrived late to the airport and boarded the flight without luggage. The bags were later sent to them. As Nelson and Cochran claimed their luggage in the Bahamas, a customs officer questioned Nelson after marijuana was found in a pair of his jeans. Nelson was arrested and jailed. As Cochran made arrangements to pay the bail, he took Nelson a six-pack of beer to his cell. Nelson was released a few hours later. Inebriated, he fell after he jumped celebrating and was taken to the emergency room. He then appeared before the judge, who dropped the charges but ordered Nelson to never return to the country.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 1994, highway patrolmen found marijuana in his car near Waco, Texas. His requirement to appear in court prevented his attending the Grammy awards that year. While traveling to Ann W. Richards' funeral in 2006, Nelson, along with his manager and his sister, Bobbie, were arrested in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, and charged with possession of marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Nelson received six months probation.


title: Willie Nelson

text: On November 26, 2010, Nelson was arrested in Sierra Blanca, Texas, for possession of six ounces of marijuana found in his tour bus while traveling from Los Angeles back to Texas. He was released after paying bail of $2,500. Prosecutor Kit Bramblett supported not sentencing Nelson to jail due to the small amount of marijuana involved, but suggested instead a $100 fine and told Nelson that he would have him sing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" for the court. Judge Becky Dean-Walker said that Nelson would have to pay the fine but not to perform the song, explaining that the prosecutor was joking. Nelson's lawyer Joe Turner reached an agreement with the prosecutor. Nelson was set to pay a $500 fine to avoid a two-year jail sentence with a 30-day review period, which in case of another incident would end the agreement. The judge later rejected the agreement, claiming that Nelson was receiving preferential treatment for his celebrity status; the offense normally carried a one-year jail sentence. Bramblett declared that the case would remain open until it was either dismissed or the judge changed her opinion.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 1990, the IRS seized most of Nelson's assets, claiming that he owed $32 million. In addition to the unpaid taxes, Nelson's situation was worsened by the weak investments he had made during the early 1980s. In 1978, after he fired his manager Neil Reshen, Nelson was introduced by Dallas lawyer Terry Bray to the accounting firm Price Waterhouse. To repay the debt Reshen had created with the IRS, Nelson was recommended to invest in tax shelters that ultimately flopped. While the IRS disallowed his deductions for 1980, 1981 and 1982 (at a time that Nelson's income multiplied), due to penalties and interests, the debt increased by the end of the decade.


title: Willie Nelson

text: His lawyer, Jay Goldberg, negotiated the sum to be lowered to $16 million. Later, Nelson's attorney renegotiated a settlement with the IRS in which he paid $6 million, although Nelson did not comply with the agreement. Nelson released "" as a double album, with all profits destined for the IRS. Many of his assets were auctioned and purchased by friends, who donated or rented his possessions to him for a nominal fee. He sued Price Waterhouse, contending that they put his money in illegal tax shelters. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount and Nelson cleared his debts by 1993.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson is widely recognized as an American icon. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. In 2011, Nelson was inducted to the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, for his labor in Farm Aid and other fund raisers to benefit farmers. In 2015 Nelson won the Gershwin Prize, the lifetime award of the Library of Congress. In 2018 The Texas Institute of Letters inducted him among its members for his songwriting. He was included by "Rolling Stone" on its "100 Greatest Singers" and "100 Greatest Guitarists" lists.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2003, Texas Governor Perry signed bill No. 2582, introduced by State Representative Elizabeth Ames Jones and Senator Jeff Wentworth, which funded the "Texas Music Project", the state's official music charity. Nelson was named honorary chairman of the advisory board of the project. In 2005, Democratic Texas Senator Gonzalo Barrientos introduced a bill to name of the Travis County section of State Highway 130 after Nelson, and at one point 23 of the 31 state senators were co-sponsors of the bill. The legislation was dropped after two Republican senators, Florence Shapiro and Wentworth, objected, citing Nelson's lack of connection to the highway, his fund raisers for Democrats, his drinking, and his marijuana advocacy.


title: Willie Nelson

text: An important collection of Willie Nelson materials (1975–1994) became part of the Wittliff collections of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas. The collection contains lyrics, screenplays, letters, concert programs, tour itineraries, posters, articles, clippings, personal effects, promotional items, souvenirs, and documents. It documents Nelson's IRS troubles and how Farm Aid contributions were used. Most of the material was collected by Nelson's friend Bill Wittliff, who wrote or co-wrote "Honeysuckle Rose", "Barbarosa" and "Red Headed Stranger". In 2014, Nelson donated his personal collection to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. The items include photographs, correspondence, song manuscripts, posters, certificate records, awards, signed books, screenplays, personal items and gifts and tributes from Nelson's fans.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In April 2010, Nelson received the "Feed the Peace" award from The Nobelity Project for his extensive work with Farm Aid and overall contributions to world peace. On June 23, 2010, he was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. Nelson is an honorary trustee of the Dayton International Peace Museum.


title: Willie Nelson

text: In 2010, Austin, Texas renamed Second Street to Willie Nelson Boulevard. The city also unveiled a life-size statue to honor him, placed at the entrance of "Austin City Limits"' new studio. The non-profit organization Capital Area Statues commissioned sculptor Clete Shields to execute the project. The statue was unveiled on April 20, 2012. The date selected by the city of Austin unintentionally coincided with the number 4/20, associated with cannabis culture. In spite of the coincidence and Nelson's advocacy for the legalization of marijuana, the ceremony was scheduled also for 4:20 pm. During the ceremony, Nelson performed the song "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die". The same year, Nelson was honored during the 46th Annual Country Music Association Awards as the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was also named after him. In 2013, he received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music. The following year, he was part of the inaugural class inducted into the "Austin City Limits" Hall of Fame. Also included among the first inductees was his friend Darrell Royal, whose jamming parties that Nelson participated in were the source of inspiration for the show.


title: Willie Nelson

text: For many years, Nelson's image was marked by his red hair, often divided into two long braids partially concealed under a bandanna. In the April 2007 issue of Stuff Magazine Nelson was interviewed about his long locks. "I started braiding my hair when it started getting too long, and that was, I don't know, probably in the 70's." On May 26, 2010, the Associated Press reported that Nelson had cut his hair, and Nashville music journalist Jimmy Carter published a photograph of the pigtail-free Nelson on his website. Nelson wanted a more maintainable hairstyle, as well helping him stay cool more easily at his Maui home. In October 2014, the braids of Nelson were sold for $37,000 at an auction of the Waylon Jennings estate. In 1983, Nelson cut his braids and gave them to Jennings as a gift during a party celebrating Jennings' sobriety.


title: Willie Nelson

text: Nelson's touring and recording group, the Family, is full of longstanding members. The original lineup included his sister Bobbie Nelson, drummer Paul English, harmonicist Mickey Raphael, bassist Bee Spears, Billy English (Paul's younger brother), and Jody Payne. The current lineup includes all the members but Jody Payne, who retired, Bee Spears, who died in 2011, and Willie's sister Bobbie Nelson, who died in 2022. "Willie & Family" tours North America in the bio-diesel bus "Honeysuckle Rose", which is fueled by Bio-Willie. Nelson's tour buses were customized by Florida Coach since 1979. The company built the "Honeysuckle Rose I" in 1983, which was replaced after a collision in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1990. The interior was salvaged and reused for the second version of the bus the same year. Nelson changed his tour bus in 1996, 2005 and 2013, currently touring on the "Honeysuckle Rose V".


title: Sing 2

text: Sing 2 is a 2021 American computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to "Sing" (2016) and the second film in the franchise, it was again written and directed by Garth Jennings, co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy.


title: Sing 2

text: The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Jennings, Peter Serafinowicz, Jennifer Saunders, and Nick Offerman, reprising their roles from the first film. It also features new characters voiced by Bobby Cannavale, Bono, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Chelsea Peretti, Letitia Wright, and Eric André. Like the first film, "Sing 2" features songs from many artists, most of which are performed diegetically. The story is set after the events of the previous film with Buster Moon and his group putting on a show in Redshore City while working to impress an entertainment mogul and enlist a reclusive rock star to perform with the group.


title: Sing 2

text: "Sing 2" made its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 14, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22, 2021, by Universal Pictures. The film has grossed over $409 million worldwide against a production budget of $85 million, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of 2021 and the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2021.


title: Sing 2

text: Sometime after the events of the first film, Buster Moon is thriving with his newly rebuilt theater, with Johnny, Meena, Rosita, Gunter, and Miss Crawly working as his cast and crew while Ash performs as a soloist. They fail to impress Suki Lane, a talent scout dog working at Crystal Entertainment, who tells Buster he would not make it in nearby Redshore City. Encouraged by Nana Noodleman, Buster reunites his crew, and they head off to the city to make an impression.


title: Sing 2

text: They are denied entry into Crystal Entertainment but manage to sneak in for an audition with entertainment mogul wolf Jimmy Crystal. As Jimmy is uninterested in Buster's original show pitch, Gunter suggests a space-themed sci-fi musical that features songs from Clay Calloway, a legendary rock star lion who has not been seen in 15 years after his wife Ruby died. Intrigued and assuming Clay will be a part of the show, Jimmy greenlights it and lets Buster and the troupe stay at his hotel during production.


title: Sing 2

text: Miss Crawly finds where Clay lives and goes to visit him, but he scares her away with a series of booby traps. During rehearsal, Rosita develops a fear of heights and is unable to keep her role, which Buster begrudgingly gives to Jimmy's daughter, Porsha, on his insistence while Rosita is relegated to a minor role. Meanwhile, Johnny has been assigned to work with top choreographer proboscis monkey Klaus Kickenklober, but his harsh teaching methods leave Johnny unable to learn effectively and leads Johnny to believe that Klaus dislikes him. Johnny later comes across a street dancer lynx named Nooshy, who agrees to help him out. Meena has been cast in a romantic scene with Darius, a self-absorbed actor yak. Having never been in love before, Meena is unable to get the feelings across during their scene. She later meets and falls in love with an ice cream vendor elephant named Alfonso. Jimmy eventually finds out that Buster never contacted Clay about the show and threatens to harm Buster if he does not deliver.


title: Sing 2

text: Ash and Buster visit Clay instead to convince him to be in the show. He refuses at first, but Ash changes his mind. Back at the theater, Buster asks Porsha to switch roles with Rosita, as Porsha's acting skills are poor. Porsha misinterprets this as Buster firing her and runs off. News of the incident is soon broadcast on television. Outraged upon learning this, Jimmy then nearly drops Buster off his penthouse roof before locking him in a closet. Suki later frees Buster and warns him to leave Redshore City before Jimmy can kill him. Ash arrives at the hotel room with the crew and Clay, who advises Buster not to run and hide as he did. Buster decides to have the cast and crew put on the show that night behind Jimmy's back after he witnesses Jimmy insulting him and his friends on television. Porsha rejoins the show, while Johnny calls his dad and his gang to come over and help keep Jimmy and his bodyguards at bay.


title: Sing 2

text: During the show, a jealous Klaus takes the place of Johnny's performance partner in an attempt to undermine his number, but Johnny defeats Klaus with encouragement from Nooshy and the other dancers, finally earning Klaus' respect. Porsha performs a high energy song and dance number, standing up to Jimmy, angering him. Meena visualizes Darius as Alfonso, and successfully performs a romantic duet with him. In a last attempt to stop the show, Jimmy drops Buster off a high catwalk, which forces Rosita to overcome her fear of heights to save Buster. When the time comes for Clay to take the stage, he claims that he is not ready yet. Ash leads the crowd in a rendition of one of Clay's songs, giving him the courage to perform. After the curtain call, Jimmy tries to take credit for the show but is arrested by the police for attempting to kill Buster.


title: Sing 2

text: Just as Buster and his friends prepare to return home the following morning, Suki stops them and tells them that a major theater wants to put on their show. As the cast puts on its first official performance, Buster watches from the VIP section, proud to have succeeded in Redshore City.


title: Sing 2

text: Asher Blinkoff, Julianna Gamiz, Asa Jennings, Caspar Jennings, Remy Edgerly, Leo Jennings, Oscar Jennings, Ayden Soria, Adeline Krupinski and Jack Stanton voice Rosita and Norman's piglets, while Matthew McConaughey's daughter Vida Alves McConaughey voices a piglet that goes splashing in chocolate. Garth's wife, Louise Jennings, voices a dog worker making Meena's costume for the show. Garth's friend, George Griffis, voices a dog worker at the lobby trying to get the stick back from Nooshy. One of the assistant editors, Thomas Walters, voices Barry, one of Big Daddy's gorilla friends who spotted Crystal entering the theatre during the final act.


title: Sing 2

text: As with the first film, Wes Anderson, Chris Renaud, and Edgar Wright all have cameos in the film, with Anderson as a tarsier night cleaner, Renaud as Linda Le Bon's show announcer, and Wright voicing a dog cop and a pig chauffeur. Scott Mosier, director of "The Grinch" and director of the short film "Eddie's Life Coach", voices Mason, a walrus worker on making the sets for the show.


title: Sing 2

text: On January 25, 2017, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced a sequel to its 2016 animated film "Sing" was in development. Writer/director Garth Jennings and producers Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy return along with voiceover stars Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly.


title: Sing 2

text: In December 2020, Bobby Cannavale, Letitia Wright, Eric André, Chelsea Peretti, longtime Illumination collaborator Pharrell Williams, Bono and Halsey were added to the voice cast. Work on the film shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was done remotely following the temporary closure of Illumination Mac Guff (now renamed as Illumination Studios Paris).


title: Sing 2

text: The scope of the theatre in the finale was a major stepping stone to take over 10,000 animals for the crowd department, old and new ones designed by longtime Illumination artist Eric Guillon who not only worked on "Sing" but have designed the new characters in the sequel like choreographer Klaus and the tarsiers. Fashion brand Rodarte designed some of the costumes used in the film.


title: Sing 2

text: In December 2020, Joby Talbot returned to compose the score. U2 performed the film's original song "Your Song Saved My Life". The song was released on November 3, 2021. Additional music includes songs by Kiana Ledé, Sam i, Billie Eilish, Elton John and more. The film's soundtrack was released on December 17, 2021.


title: Sing 2

text: "Sing 2" had its world premiere, opening the AFI Fest Celebration on November 14, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22, 2021, in RealD 3D, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after previously being scheduled to be released in the United States on December 25, 2020, and July 2, 2021. Early access screenings occurred in the United States on November 27, 2021. The film was released to video on January 7, 2022, on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, Xfinity, and YouTube. It was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 29, 2022, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.


title: Sing 2

text: Tomy made a deal with Illumination and Universal to develop the "Sing 2" toy line, featuring plush toys, collectible figures, and a role-playing game. Roblox released an "Adopt Me!" live event in partnership with Illumination to promote this film. The film also has many promotional partners including Xfinity, McDonald's, and Mercari. By its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film had made 393.1 million impressions across all social media platforms, a statistic 24% above those of a film released before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the film had a better social media reach than 2021's "Encanto", "The Addams Family 2", "Tom & Jerry", "Spirit Untamed", and "".


title: Sing 2

text: "Sing 2" grossed $162.9million in the United States and Canada, and $246.1million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $409 million.


title: Sing 2

text: In the United States and Canada, the film earned $1.6 million from sneak previews held on November 27, 2021. The film had its wide release the following month on Wednesday, December 22, alongside "The King's Man" and "The Matrix Resurrections", and was projected to gross $40–50 million from 3,892 theaters over its first five days of release. The film ended up grossing $22.3 million in its opening weekend (and a total of $41 million over the five-day frame) from an estimated 4.1 million theater admissions, placing second at the box office behind "". Women made up 58% of the audience during its opening, with those below the age of 25 comprising 56% of ticket sales and those below 17 comprising 44%. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 39% were Hispanic and Latino Americans, 35% European Americans, 15% African American, and 7% Asian or other. In its second weekend, the film remained in second place with $20.2 million. "Sing 2" once again retained second place at the box office in its third weekend with $11.6 million. On January 8, 2022, "Sing 2" became the first animated film of the COVID-19 pandemic to cross $100 million at the U.S. and Canadian box office as well as the first film since "Frozen II" (2019) to reach this milestone. It remained atop the box office top ten until its fifteenth weekend.


title: Sing 2

text: Outside the United States and Canada, "Sing 2" opened in several international markets on December 3, 2021. The film made $1.12 million in its first weekend, $1.5 million in its second, and another $1.5 million from 16 markets in its third. After screening in an additional 22 markets, "Sing 2" earned $19.2 million in its fourth weekend and had the biggest opening for an animated film during the COVID-19 pandemic in both France ($6 million) and Mexico ($3.6 million). The film made $17.2 million in its fifth weekend, which included a $1.2 million opening in Ukraine, $17.1 million in its sixth weekend, and $8.4 million in its seventh weekend. In its eighth weekend, the film had strong openings in Germany ($3 million), Poland ($2.4 million), and Austria ($500,000). In its ninth weekend, the film earned $17.4 million from 62 markets, which included a $9.3 million opening in the U.K. In its tenth weekend, the film earned $14 million from 63 markets, which included a $1.1 million debut in the country of Denmark where pandemic restrictions had recently been lifted. The film crossed the $300 million mark worldwide in its eleventh weekend after adding $11 million to its total, which included a $2.2 million debut in the Netherlands. The film's gross remained consistent in its twelfth weekend with $10.3 million that included a 1% drop in the U.K. "Sing 2" crossed the $200 million mark outside the U.S. and Canada in its thirteenth weekend. By March 6, the film had surpassed the original film's gross in the U.K. with $40.5 million. In its fifteenth weekend, the film added $3 million to its total gross and the "Sing" franchise as a whole passed the $1 billion mark. The film made $6.1 million in its sixteenth weekend, which included a $4.3 million opening in Japan. It added $3.6 million in its seventeenth weekend. The film crossed the $400 million mark worldwide with the addition of $1.9 million in its nineteenth weekend. It is the first film since "Frozen II", the first animated film during the pandemic, and the ninth Illumination title to reach the milestone. It made $1.2 million the following weekend.


title: Sing 2

text: Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale (the first Illumination film to receive this grade), while PostTrak reported 91% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 78% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Sing 2

text: Justin Lowe, writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", praised the musical set of the film, calling the "ragtag cast that Buster had brought for an amateur cast, had blossomed into a full-fledged company of professional performers". Peter Debruge, of "Variety", also gave a positive review, saying the film is "an elaborate machinery of joy, and it's easier to appreciate how every choice seems designed to put a smile on people's faces".


title: Sing 2

text: However, a few reviewers were disappointed by the film. Emily Clark of "Plugged In" praised the film's inspiring and emotional elements, but took issue with the fact that Meena "clearly tells Buster she’s not OK kissing someone on stage, and he sort of dismisses her...The whole affair made me a bit queasy thinking about how many a young starlet has received her first smooch from a total stranger at the behest of adult directors and producers." Mark Kermode, who had given the first film a positive review, stated that "Sing 2" overused its flashier technical effects and lacked the "homemade charm" that characterized the first film.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Europa Conference League. The UEFA Cup was the third-tier competition from 1971 to 1999 before the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued, and it is still often referred to as the “C3” in reference of this. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup and discontinued as a separate competition. From the 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition has been known as the Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and, since the 2014–15 season, qualifies for the following season's UEFA Champions League, entering at the group stage.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (13 wins), followed by teams from England and Italy (9 wins each). The title has been won by 29 clubs, 14 of which have won it more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Sevilla, with six titles. Eintracht Frankfurt are the reigning champions, having beaten Rangers 5–4 on penalties in the 2022 final.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition grew from 11 teams during the first edition (1955–58) to 64 teams by the last edition which was played in 1970–71. It was replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal confederation competition which has a different regulation, format and disciplinary committee.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, and ended with an all-English final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The competition has since gained greater prestige and interest from the mass media than the Fairs Cup. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool, in 1973, who defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Gladbach won the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reached the final in 1980. Feyenoord won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 in London, 2–0 in Rotterdam). Liverpool won the competition for the second time in 1976 after defeating Club Brugge in the final.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg (1982 and 1987) and Real Madrid (1985 and 1986) won the competition twice each, with Anderlecht reaching two consecutive finals, winning in 1983 and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in 1984. 1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs' domination, when Diego Maradona's Napoli defeated VfB Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two all-Italian finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule. Juventus won the competition for a third time in 1993. Internazionale kept the cup in Italy in 1994.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: 1995 saw a third all-Italian final, with Parma proving their consistency, after two consecutive Cup Winners' Cup finals. The only final with no Italians in the 1990s was in 1996. Internazionale reached the final the following two years, losing in 1997 to Schalke 04 on penalties, and winning another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home the cup for the third time in only eight years. Parma won the cup in 1999, the last win of the Italian-domination era. It was the last UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance for any Italian club until Internazionale reached the 2020 final.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The era of the 2000s began with victory for Galatasaray, the first Turkish team to win the trophy. Liverpool won the competition for the third time in 2001. In 2002, Feyenoord became winners for the second time, defeating Borussia Dortmund. Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments, with the latter victory against fellow Portuguese side Braga.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious. CSKA Moscow won in 2005. Sevilla succeeded on two consecutive occasions in 2006 and 2007, the latter in a final against fellow Spaniards Espanyol. Zenit Saint Petersburg won in 2008. Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009, the first Ukrainian side to do so.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Atlético Madrid won twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final between them and Athletic Bilbao. In 2013, Chelsea became the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year. In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeating Benfica on penalties. In 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title a third year in a row beating Liverpool in the 2016 final, making them the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles. They added a sixth victory in 2020, after defeating Inter Milan. The 2019 all London final between Chelsea and Arsenal was the first UEFA Cup/Europa League final between two teams from the same city.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Since the 2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League. At the same time, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA's third-tier competition, was discontinued and merged into the new Europa League.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The UEFA Cup, also known as the "Coupe UEFA", is the trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Europa League. Before the 2009–10 season, both the competition and the trophy were known as the 'UEFA Cup'.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Before the competition was renamed the UEFA Europa League in the 2009–10 season, the UEFA regulations stated that a club could keep the original trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its return, the club could keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. Upon their third consecutive win or fifth win overall, a club could retain the trophy permanently.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Under the new regulations, the trophy remains in UEFA's keeping at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. A club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive a multiple-winner badge. As of 2016–17, only Sevilla has earned the honour to wear the multiple-winner badge, having achieved both prerequired feats in 2016.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The trophy was designed and crafted by Silvio Gazzaniga, who also designed the FIFA World Cup Trophy, working for Bertoni, for the 1972 UEFA Cup Final. It weighs and is silver on a yellow marble plinth. tall, the cup is formed by a base with two onyx discs in which a band with the flags of the UEFA member nations is inserted. The lower part of the sculpture symbolises the stylised footballers and is surmounted by a hand-embossed slab.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: A musical theme for the competition, the Anthem, is played before every Europa League game at a stadium hosting such an event and before every television broadcast of a Europa League game as a musical element of the competition's opening sequence.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The competition's first anthem was composed by Yohann Zveig and recorded by the Paris Opera in early 2009. The theme for the re-branded UEFA Cup competition was first officially unveiled at the Grimaldi Forum on 28 August 2009 before the 2009–10 season group stage draw. A new anthem was composed by Michael Kadelbach and recorded in Berlin and was launched as part of the competition's rebranding at the start of the 2015–16 season.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: A new anthem created by MassiveMusic was composed for the start of the 2018–19 season. It also can be heard at the start of UEFA Europa Conference League matches.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Qualification for the competition is based on UEFA coefficients, with better entrance rounds being offered to the more successful nations. In practice, each association has a standard number of three berths, except:


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Usually, each country's places are awarded to teams who finish in various runners-up places in and the winner of the . Typically the teams qualifying via the league are those in the highest places not eligible for the UEFA Champions League; however, the Belgian league awards one place via a playoff between First A and First B teams. Before its discontinuation in 2020–21, France offered a place to the winners of the Coupe de la Ligue.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: A team may qualify for European competitions through more than one route. In all cases, if a club is eligible to enter the UEFA Champions League then the Champions League place takes precedence and the club does not enter the UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Europa League place is then granted to another club or vacated if the maximum limit of teams qualifying for European competitions is exceeded. If a team qualifies for European competition through both winning a cup and league placing, the "spare" UEFA Europa League place will go to the highest placed league team which has not already qualified for European competition, depending on the rules of the national association, or vacated, if the described limit is reached.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The top three ranked associations may qualify for the fourth berth if both the Champions League and Europa League champions are from that association and do not qualify for European competition through their domestic performance. In that case, the fourth-placed team in that association will join the Europa League instead of the Champions League, in addition to their other qualifying teams.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: More recently, clubs that are knocked out of the qualifying round and the group stage of the Champions League can also join the UEFA Europa League, at different stages (see below). Formerly, the reigning champions qualified to defend their title, but since 2015 they qualify for the Champions League. From 1995 to 2015, three leagues gained one extra place via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: UEFA coefficients were introduced in 1980 and, until 1999, they gave a greater number of berths in UEFA Cup to the more successful nations. Three nations had four places, five nations had three places, thirteen nations had two places, and eleven nations only one place. Since 1998, a similar system has been used for the UEFA Champions League. Before 1980, the entrance criteria of the last Fairs Cup was used.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The competition was traditionally a pure knockout tournament. All ties were two-legged, including the final. Starting with the 1997–98 season, the final became a one-off match, but all other ties remained two-legged.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Before the 2004–05 season, the tournament consisted of one qualifying round, followed by a series of knockout rounds. The sixteen non-qualifiers from the final qualifying round of the Champions League entered at the first round proper; later in the tournament, the survivors were joined by third-place finishers from the (first) group phase of the Champions League.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: From the 2004–05 season, the competition started with two knockout qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower entered the first qualifying round with those from associations ranked 9–18 joining them in the second qualifying round. In addition, three places in the first qualifying round were reserved for the UEFA Fair Play ranking winners (until 2015–16), and eleven places in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Winners of the qualifying rounds then joined teams from the associations ranked 1–13 in the first round proper. In addition, non-qualifiers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League also joined the competition at this point along with the current title-holders (unless they had qualified for the Champions League via their national league), for a total of 80 teams in the first round.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: After the first knockout round, the 40 survivors entered a group phase, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group phase, the UEFA Cup group phase was played in a single round-robin format, with each club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each of the eight groups qualified for the main knockout round along with the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group phase. From then on a series of two-legged knockout ties were played before a single-legged final, traditionally held on a Wednesday in May, exactly one week before the Champions League final.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: In the 2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League to raise its profile. Eight more teams qualified for the group stage, which consisted of 12 groups with four teams each (in a double round-robin); the top two teams in each group advanced. The competition was then similar to the previous format, with four rounds of two-legged knockout rounds and a one-off final held at a neutral ground which met UEFA's Category Four stadium criteria. The final was played in May, on the Wednesday ten days before the Champions League final.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Qualification changed significantly. Associations ranked 7–9 in the UEFA coefficients sent the cup winners and three (two since the 2015–16 season) other teams to the UEFA Europa League qualification; all other nations sent a cup winner and two other teams, except for Andorra and San Marino (who sent a cup winner and a runner-up) and Liechtenstein (who sent only a cup winner). Since Gibraltar was accepted as a full UEFA member at the 24 May 2013 UEFA Congress in London, their cup winner also qualified for the Europa League.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Although the other teams will be the next-highest-ranked clubs in each domestic league (after those qualifying for the UEFA Champions League), France and England will continue to use one spot for their league-cup winners. With the abolition of the Intertoto Cup, all participants in the Europa League are qualified through domestic routes. The higher an association is ranked in the UEFA coefficients, the later its clubs generally begin the qualification. However, every team except for the title-holder (until the 2014–15 season) and the highest-ranked teams (usually the cup winner or the best Europa League-qualified team) from the top (six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since the 2015–16 season) associations had to play at least one qualification round.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Except for the teams mentioned, all teams eliminated in the Champions League preliminary round, qualifying rounds and play-off round are transferred to the Europa League. The 12 winners and the 12 runners-up in the group stage advance to the knockout round with eight third-place teams from the Champions League group stage.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The distribution was changed in 2014 to broaden the competition's appeal, giving the Europa League champions a Champions League qualification berth; more teams automatically qualify for the group stage. If cup winners had already qualified for European competition through league performance, their place in the league is vacated and goes to the best-ranked teams not qualified for European competition; the cup runner-up is no longer qualified through the cup berth. These rules became effective for the 2015–16 season.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Beginning with the 2018–19 tournament, all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League will transfer to the Europa League, rather than just teams that are eliminated in the third-qualifying and play-off rounds. Europa League qualifying will also provide a separate champions route for these teams, allowing more opportunities for domestic league champions to compete against each other.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The announcement of the UEFA Europa Conference League, a tertiary competition which would serve to split off the lower-ranked teams in the Europa League to give them a greater chance to compete, included a document from UEFA listing their intentions for qualification to the Europa League from 2021 onwards. With a majority of the former entrants into the Europa League now participating solely in the UECL, the Europa League itself would have a greatly reduced format which will focus primarily around its group stage. There would also be an additional knockout round before the knockout phase proper, allowing for third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage to fall into the Europa League while still keeping the knockout stage itself at only 16 teams total.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Similar to the UEFA Champions League, the prize money received by the clubs is divided into fixed payments based on participation and results, and variable amounts that depend of the value of their TV market.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: For the 2021–22 season, group stage participation in the Europa League awarded a base fee of €3,630,000. A victory in the group pays €630,000 and a draw €210,000. Each group winner earns €1,100,000 and each runner-up €550,000. Reaching the knock-out stage triggers additional bonuses: €500,000 for the round of 32, €1,200,000 for the round of 16, €1,800,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,800,000 for the semi-finals. The losing finalists receive €4,600,000 and the champions receive €8,600,000.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The UEFA Europa League is sponsored by seven multinational corporations, which share the same partners with the UEFA Europa Conference League.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Molten is a secondary sponsor and supplies the official match ball. Since the inception of Europa League brand, the tournament has used its own hoardings (in that year it debuted in the round of 32) like UEFA Champions League. LED hoardings made their debut in the 2012–13 final and appeared in the 2015–16 season from the round of 16. In the same season, from the group stage, teams are not allowed to show their sponsors. It appeared in the 2018–19 season for selected matches in the group stages and the round of 32.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Europa League. Two sponsorships are permitted per jersey (plus that of the manufacturer), at the chest and the left sleeve. Exceptions are made for non-profit organisations, which can feature on the front of the shirt, incorporated with the main sponsor, or on the back, either below the squad number or between the player name and the collar.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The UEFA Cup finals were played over two legs until 1997. The first final, between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, was played on 3 May 1972 in Wolverhampton and 17 May 1972 in London. The first leg was won 2–1 by Tottenham Hotspur. The second leg ended in a 1–1 draw, meaning that Tottenham Hotspur became the first UEFA Cup winners.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The one-match finals in pre-selected venues were introduced in 1998. A venue must meet or exceed UEFA Category three standards to host UEFA Cup finals. On two occasions, the final was played at a finalist's home ground: Feyenoord defeated Borussia Dortmund at De Kuip, Rotterdam, in 2002, and Sporting CP lost to CSKA Moscow at their own Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, in 2005.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The last UEFA Cup final before it was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League was held at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul on 20 May 2009, when Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine beat Werder Bremen of Germany 2–1 after extra time.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The first final of the rebranded Europa League was played in 2010, when Atlético Madrid of Spain beat Fulham of England 2–1 after extra time.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Starting from the 2016–17 edition of the competition, UEFA introduced the UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: The jury is composed of the coaches of the clubs which participate in the group stage of the competition, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each UEFA member association.


title: UEFA Europa League

text: Starting from the 2021–22 edition of the competition, UEFA introduced the UEFA Europa League Young Player of the Season award, chosen by UEFA's Technical Observer Panel.


title: Vince McMahon

text: Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling company, of which he is still majority owner and wields the majority of voting power. He is also the founder and owner of Alpha Entertainment.


title: Vince McMahon

text: Born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in business in 1968 and began his tenure in professional wrestling as a commentator for the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) for most of the 1970s; McMahon bought the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, in 1982 and almost monopolized the industry, which previously operated as separate entities across the United States. This led to the development of the annual WrestleMania, which became one of the most successful professional wrestling events. WWE faced industry competition from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the 1990s, before purchasing the competing company in 2001. WWE also purchased the assets of the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon has embarked on a number of WWE-related ventures. In 2014, he launched the WWE Network, a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. McMahon also owns other WWE multimedia subsidiaries and a professional wrestling training facility. Outside of wrestling, McMahon joint-owned and operated the XFL, a football league, twice; both iterations folded after a single season, with the second due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also headed the short-lived World Bodybuilding Federation and co-owns the clothing brand Tapout.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon has appeared on-screen for WWE since 1969, initially as a personable, play-by-play commentator. From 1997, McMahon adopted the gimmick of Mr. McMahon, playing an irascible, villainous, swaggering tyrant who obsessed over maintaining control of his company, growling the catch phrase "You'rrre firrred!!!" Under the Mr. McMahon gimmick, he occasionally competed in professional wrestling matches and became a one time WWE Champion, a one time ECW Champion, a Royal Rumble match winner, and a multi-time pay-per-view headliner.


title: Vince McMahon

text: Following claims of hush-money agreements McMahon paid over alleged affairs with former WWE employees, McMahon stepped down as CEO and chairman of WWE on June 17, 2022, pending the conclusion of an internal investigation and was replaced by his daughter, Stephanie McMahon. On July 22, 2022, McMahon announced his retirement from WWE.


title: Vince McMahon

text: Vincent Kennedy McMahon was born on August 24, 1945, in Pinehurst, North Carolina, the younger son of Victoria (née Hanner, later Askew) and Vincent James McMahon. McMahon's father left the family when he was still a baby, and took his elder son, Rod, with him, so he did not meet his father until he was aged 12. McMahon's paternal grandfather was fellow promoter Roderick James "Jess" McMahon, whose parents were immigrants of Irish descent, from County Galway. His paternal grandmother, Rose Davis, was also of Irish descent.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon was raised as Vinnie Lupton and spent the majority of his childhood living with his mother and stepfathers. McMahon claimed that one of his stepfathers, Leo Lupton, beat his mother and attacked him when he tried to protect her. He later said "It is unfortunate that he died before I could kill him. I would have enjoyed that." He attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, graduating in 1964. He is reported to have dyslexia.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon first met the promoter for Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), his father, Vincent J. McMahon, when 12. At that point, McMahon became interested in following his father's professional wrestling footsteps and often accompanied him on trips to Madison Square Garden. McMahon wanted to be a wrestler, but his father did not allow him, explaining that promoters did not appear on the show and should stay apart from their wrestlers.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In 1968, McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a business degree and after a nondescript career as a traveling salesman, he was eager to assume a managerial role in his father's World Wide Wrestling Federation promotion. In 1969, McMahon made his debut as a ring announcer for the WWWF's "All-Star Wrestling". In 1971, he was assigned to a small territory in Maine, where he promoted his first card. He later became the play-by-play commentator for television matches after replacing Ray Morgan in 1971, a role he regularly maintained until November 1997.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In the 1970s, McMahon became prominent force in his father's company and, over the next decade, assisted his father in tripling TV syndication. The younger McMahon was also behind the Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki match of 1976. He pushed for the renaming of the company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979.


title: Vince McMahon

text: On February 21, 1980, McMahon officially founded Titan Sports and the company's headquarters were established in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, using the now-defunct Cape Cod Coliseum as a home base for the company. McMahon then became chairman of the company and his wife, Linda, became the "co-chief executive". In 1982, Titan acquired control of the CWC from McMahon's ailing father (who died in May 1984).


title: Vince McMahon

text: When he purchased the WWF in 1982, professional wrestling was a business run by regional promotions. Various promoters understood that they would not invade each other's territories, as this practice had gone on undeterred for decades; McMahon had a different vision of what the industry could become. In 1983, the WWF split from the National Wrestling Alliance a second time, after initially splitting from them in 1963 before rejoining them in 1971. The NWA became the governing body for all the regional territories across the country and as far away as Japan.


title: Vince McMahon

text: He began expanding the company nationally by promoting in areas outside of the company's Northeast U.S. stomping grounds and by signing talent from other companies, such as the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In 1984, he recruited Hulk Hogan to be the WWF's charismatic new megastar, and the two quickly drew the ire of industry peers as the promotion began traveling and broadcasting into rival territories. Nevertheless, McMahon (who still also fronted as the WWF's squeaky clean babyface announcer) created "The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" by incorporating pop music stars into wrestling storylines. As a result, the WWF was able to expand its fanbase into a national mainstream audience as the promotion was featured heavily on MTV programming. On March 31, 1985, he ran the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden, available on closed circuit television in various markets throughout the United States. McMahon's success of birthing WrestleMania in the 1980s had a significant impact on the 1980s professional wrestling boom during the Golden Age Era.


title: Vince McMahon

text: During the late 1980s, McMahon shaped the WWF into a unique sports entertainment brand that reached out to family audiences while attracting fans who hadn't paid attention to pro wrestling before. By directing his storylines toward highly publicized supercards, McMahon capitalized on a fledgling revenue stream by promoting these events live on pay-per-view television. In 1987, the WWF reportedly drew 93,173 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome (which was called the "biggest crowd in sports-entertainment history") for WrestleMania III, which featured the main event of Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In 1993, the company entered the New Generation Era, one of McMahon's toughest times since taking over the company as business went up and down with various projects in the company.


title: Vince McMahon

text: After struggling against Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW), McMahon cemented the WWF as the preeminent wrestling promotion in the late 1990s when initiating a new brand strategy that eventually returned the WWF to prominence. Sensing a public shift toward a more hardened and cynical fan base, McMahon redirected storylines towards a more adult-oriented model. The concept became known as "WWF Attitude" and McMahon commenced the new era when manipulating the WWF Championship away from Bret Hart at Survivor Series (now known as the "Montreal Screwjob"). McMahon, who, for years, had downplayed his ownership of the company and was mostly known as a commentator, became involved in WWF storylines as the evil Mr. McMahon, who began a legendary feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who challenged his authority. As a result, the WWF suddenly found itself back in national pop-culture, drawing millions of viewers for its weekly "Monday Night Raw" broadcasts, which ranked among the highest-rated shows on cable television. In October 1999, McMahon led the WWF in an initial public offering of company stock. Also, during the Attitude Era, the company embraced this period by incorporating foul language, graphic violence, and controversial stipulations such as Bra and Panties matches.


title: Vince McMahon

text: On June 24, 1999, McMahon appeared on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show and said he viewed Ted Turner as his rival, stating "All I'll say about Ted is he's a son-of-a-bitch, other than that, he's probably not a bad guy, but I don't like him at all".


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon later came out victorious against Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the TV ratings in the Monday Night Wars after an initial 84 week TV rating loss to WCW and afterward acquired the fading World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Turner Broadcasting System on March 23, 2001, with an end to the Monday Night Wars. On April 1, 2001, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) filed for bankruptcy leaving WWF as the last major wrestling promotion at that time. McMahon later acquired the assets of ECW on January 28, 2003.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In September 2020, professional wrestling promoter, WWE Hall of Famer, and former WCW president Eric Bischoff revealed that during this period of the Monday Night Wars in TV rating battles between WWE and WCW "Vince was petitioning a lot for Ted. He was trying to embarrass Ted, trying to create some anxiety with the shareholders of Turner Broadcasting. Vince was trying to create some unrest and anxiety by being very, very critical about WCW" and "whenever you'd see blood in WCW, Vince would write these letters from the king's court to Ted criticizing him, and WCW, and the health and welfare of the talent by saying it's gross, it's crap, and all this. And then he'd turn around and do the same thing a month later. None of us took any of those letters very seriously, and it was pretty obvious what Vince was trying to do. We all just chuckled about it".


title: Vince McMahon

text: In a conference call in 2021, McMahon described the "situation where "rising tides" because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner's assets as well".


title: Vince McMahon

text: On May 5, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation announced it was changing both its company name and the name of its wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the company had lost a lawsuit initiated by the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark. Shortly thereafter, the company transitioned into its Ruthless Aggression Era; McMahon officially referred to the new era as "Ruthless Aggression" on June 24, 2002. This period still featured many similar elements of its predecessor the Attitude Era, including the levels of violence, sex, and profanity, but there was less politically incorrect content, and a further emphasis on wrestling was showcased.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In July 2008, all WWE programs shifted to TV-PG ratings. McMahon also stated that the Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s was the result of competition from WCW and forced the company to "go for the jugular". Due to WCW's demise in 2001, McMahon says that they "don't have to" appeal to viewers in the same way and that during the "far more scripted" PG Era, WWE could "give the audience what they want in a far more sophisticated way". McMahon also stated that the move to PG cut the "excess" of the Attitude Era and "ushered in a new era of refined and compelling storytelling". McMahon also had the most say in the WWE company's creative direction. The move into the PG Era made the promotion more appealing to corporate sponsors.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In 2019, Tony Khan's All Elite Wrestling (better known as AEW) emerged as the second largest professional wrestling promotion in the market after WWE, and during a conference call on July 25, 2019, McMahon announced a new direction for WWE where he stated that it would "be a bit edgier, but still remain in the PG environment". In another conference call on July 29, 2021, McMahon stated that he doesn't consider AEW competition and that he was "not so sure what their investments are as far as their talent is concerned". WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite competed in the Wednesday Night Wars, from October 2, 2019, to April 7, 2021, which ended with AEW Dynamite emerging victorious and NXT moving to Tuesday nights. This eventually led WWE to revamp NXT with major changes to "NXT 2.0" starting from the September 14, 2021.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon voluntarily stepped down as chairman and CEO of WWE on June 17, 2022, pending an internal investigation, with his daughter Stephanie McMahon being named the interim CEO and interim Chairwoman of the WWE. McMahon however continued to oversee WWE creative and content development. On July 22, 2022, Vince McMahon officially announced his retirement from WWE and named his daughter Stephanie McMahon, the company's new permanent chairwoman and Co-CEO (alongside Nick Khan). Triple H then replaced Vince McMahon as Head of WWE creative.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In 1979, Vince and Linda purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum and the Cape Cod Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League. In addition to pro wrestling and hockey, they began selling out rock concerts (including Van Halen and Rush) in non-summer months, traditionally considered unprofitable due to lack of tourists. This venture led the McMahons to join the International Association of Arena Managers, learning the details of the arena business and networking with other managers through IAAM conferences, which Linda later called a great benefit to WWE's success.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In 2000, McMahon again ventured outside the world of professional wrestling by launching the XFL, a professional American football league. The league began in February 2001, with McMahon making an appearance at the first game, but folded after one season due to low television ratings. This wasn't until January 25, 2018, when he announced its resurrection. The league filed for bankruptcy on April 13, 2020.


title: Vince McMahon

text: Before the evolution of the Mr. McMahon character, McMahon appeared as a commentator on television. His executive role was not publicized to maintain the illusion of wrestling's staged story lines, or kayfabe. While McMahon did publicly identify himself as the owner of the WWF outside of WWF programming, on television his ownership of the WWF was considered an open secret through the mid-1990s. Jack Tunney was portrayed as the president of WWF instead of McMahon.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon made his commentary debut in 1971 when he replaced Ray Morgan after Morgan had a pay dispute with McMahon's father, Vincent J. McMahon, shortly before a scheduled television taping. The elder McMahon let Morgan walk instead of giving in to his demands and needed a replacement on the spot, offering it to his son. For the younger McMahon, it was also somewhat of a compromise, as it allowed him to appear on television. McMahon wanted to be a wrestler but his father did not let him, explaining that promoters did not appear on the show and should stay apart from their wrestlers.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon eventually became the regular play-by-play commentator and maintained that role until November 1997, portraying himself originally as mild-mannered and diplomatic until 1984. In addition to matches, McMahon also hosted other WWF shows, and introduced WWF programming to TBS on Black Saturday, upon the WWF's acquisition of Georgia Championship Wrestling and its lucrative Saturday night timeslot (McMahon sold the time slot to Jim Crockett Promotions after the move backfired on him and he eventually acquired JCP's successor company, World Championship Wrestling, from AOL Time Warner in 2001). At the 1987 Slammy Awards, McMahon performed in a musical number and sang the song "Stand Back". The campy "Stand Back" video has since resurfaced several times over the years as a running gag between McMahon and any face wrestler he is feuding with at that particular time, and was included on the 2006 "McMahon" DVD.


title: Vince McMahon

text: As a commentator, McMahon was a babyface "voice of the fans", a contrast to the heel color commentator, usually Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan or Jerry Lawler. While most of McMahon's on-screen physicality took place under his "Mr. McMahon" persona later in his career, he was involved in physical altercations on WWF television only a few times as a commentator or host; in 1977, when he and Arnold Skaaland were struck from behind by Captain Lou Albano (as part of a kayfabe "Manager Of the Year" storyline, when Albano was disgruntled over losing to Skaaland); in 1985, when Andre the Giant grabbed him by the collar during an interview on "Tuesday Night Titans" (Andre had become irritated at McMahon's questions regarding his feud with Big John Studd and their match at the first WrestleMania); on the September 28, 1991 episode of "WWF Superstars of Wrestling", when Roddy Piper mistakenly hit him with a folding chair aimed at Ric Flair (requiring McMahon to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher), and again on the November 8, 1993 episode of "Monday Night Raw", when Randy Savage hurled him to the floor in an attempt to attack Crush after McMahon attempted to restrain him. McMahon can also be seen screaming at medics and WWF personnel during the May 26, 1990 episode of "WWF Superstars of Wrestling" (after Hulk Hogan was attacked by Earthquake during a segment of "The Brother Love Show"), when Hogan was not moved out of the arena quickly enough.


title: Vince McMahon

text: Throughout late 1996 and into 1997, McMahon slowly began to be referred to as the owner on WWF television while remaining as the company's lead play-by-play commentator. On the September 23, 1996 "Monday Night Raw", Jim Ross delivered a worked shoot promo during which he ran down McMahon, outing him as chairman and not just a commentator for the first time in WWF storylines. This was followed up on the October 23 "Raw" with Stone Cold Steve Austin referring to then-WWF President Gorilla Monsoon as "just a puppet" and that it was McMahon "pulling all the strings". The March 17, 1997 "WWF Raw Is War" is cited by some as the beginning of the Mr. McMahon character, as after Bret Hart lost to Sycho Sid in a steel cage match for the WWF Championship, Hart engaged in an expletive-laden rant against McMahon and WWF management. This rant followed Hart shoving McMahon to the ground when he attempted to conduct a post-match interview. McMahon, himself, returned to the commentary position and nearly cursed out Hart before being calmed down by Ross and Lawler.


title: Vince McMahon

text: McMahon largely remained a commentator after the Bret Hart incident on "Raw". On September 22, 1997, on the first-ever "Raw" to be broadcast from Madison Square Garden, Bret's brother Owen Hart was giving a speech to the fans in attendance. During his speech, Stone Cold Steve Austin entered the ring with five NYPD officers following and assaulted Hart. When it appeared Austin would fight the officers, McMahon ran into the ring to lecture him that he could not physically compete; at the time, Austin was recovering from a broken neck after Owen Hart botched a piledriver in his match against Austin at SummerSlam. After telling McMahon that he respects the fact that he and the WWF cared, Austin attacked McMahon with a Stone Cold Stunner, leaving McMahon in shock. Austin was then arrested on charges of trespassing, assault, and assaulting a police officer. This marked the beginning of the Austin-McMahon rivalry.


title: Vince McMahon

text: At Survivor Series in 1997, Bret Hart defended his WWF Championship against long-time rival Shawn Michaels in the main event. During the match, Michaels applied Hart's signature submission maneuver The Sharpshooter on Hart. Though Hart did not submit, McMahon ordered the referee to ring the bell, thus screwing Hart out of the title and making Michaels the champion and making McMahon turn heel for the first time on WWF television. This incident was subsequently dubbed the "Montreal Screwjob". Following the incident, McMahon left the commentary table for good (Jim Ross replaced McMahon as lead commentator) and the Mr. McMahon character began.


title: Vince McMahon

text: In December 1997 on "Raw Is War", the night after , McMahon talked about the behavior and attitude of Stone Cold Steve Austin, such as Austin having assaulted WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter and commentators such as Jim Ross and McMahon himself. Mr. McMahon demanded that Austin defend his Intercontinental Championship against The Rock in a rematch. As in the previous match, Austin used his pickup truck as a weapon against The Rock and the Nation of Domination gang. Austin decided to forfeit the title to The Rock, but instead, Austin gave The Rock a "Stone Cold Stunner" and knocked McMahon off the ring ropes.