title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: The monolith is the subject of the film's final line of dialogue (spoken at the end of the "Jupiter Mission" segment): "Its origin and purpose still a total mystery." Reviewers McClay and Roger Ebert wrote that the monolith is the main element of mystery in the film; Ebert described "the shock of the monolith's straight edges and square corners among the weathered rocks," and the apes warily circling it as prefiguring man reaching "for the stars." Patrick Webster suggests the final line relates to how the film should be approached as a whole: "The line appends not merely to the discovery of the monolith on the Moon, but to our understanding of the film in the light of the ultimate questions it raises about the mystery of the universe."


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: Clarke indicated his preferred reading of the ending of "2001" as oriented toward the creation of "a new heaven" provided by the Star Child. His view was corroborated in a posthumously released interview with Kubrick. Kubrick says that Bowman is elevated to a higher level of being that represents the next stage of human evolution. The film also conveys what some viewers have described as a sense of the sublime and numinous. Ebert writes in his essay on "2001" in "The Great Movies":


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: In a book on architecture, Gregory Caicco writes that "Space Odyssey" illustrates how our quest for space is motivated by two contradictory desires, a "desire for the sublime" characterised by a need to encounter something totally other than ourselves—"something numinous"—and the conflicting desire for a beauty that makes us feel no longer "lost in space," but at home. Similarly, an article in "The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy", titled "Sense of Wonder," describes how "2001" creates a "numinous sense of wonder" by portraying a universe that inspires a sense of awe but that at the same time we feel we can understand. Christopher Palmer wrote that "the sublime and the banal" coexist in the film, as it implies that to get into space, people had to suspend the "sense of wonder" that motivated them to explore it.


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: The reasons for HAL's malfunction and subsequent malignant behaviour have elicited much discussion. He has been compared to Frankenstein's monster. In Clarke's novel, HAL malfunctions because of being ordered to lie to the crew of "Discovery" and withhold confidential information from them, namely the confidentially programmed mission priority over expendable human life, despite being constructed for "the accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment". This would not be addressed on film until the 1984 follow-up, "". Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that HAL, as the supposedly perfect computer, is actually the most human of the characters. In an interview with Joseph Gelmis in 1969, Kubrick said that HAL "had an acute emotional crisis because he could not accept evidence of his own fallibility".


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: Multiple allegorical interpretations of "2001" have been proposed. The symbolism of life and death can be seen through the final moments of the film, which are defined by the image of the "Star Child," an in utero foetus that draws on the work of Lennart Nilsson. The Star Child signifies a "great new beginning," and is depicted naked and ungirded but with its eyes wide open. Leonard F. Wheat sees "2001" as a multi-layered allegory, commenting simultaneously on Nietzsche, Homer, and the relationship of man to machine. "Rolling Stone" reviewer Bob McClay sees the film as like a four-movement symphony, its story told with "deliberate realism".


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: Kubrick originally planned a voice-over to reveal that the satellites seen after the prologue are nuclear weapons, and that the Star Child would detonate the weapons at the end of the film but felt this would create associations with "Dr. Strangelove" and decided not to make it obvious that they were "war machines". A few weeks before the film's release, the U.S. and Soviet governments had agreed not to put any nuclear weapons into outer space.


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: In a book he wrote with Kubrick's assistance, Alexander Walker states that Kubrick eventually decided that nuclear weapons had "no place at all in the film's thematic development", being an "orbiting red herring" that would "merely have raised irrelevant questions to suggest this as a reality of the twenty-first century".


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: Kubrick scholar Michel Ciment, discussing Kubrick's attitude toward human aggression and instinct, observes: "The bone cast into the air by the ape (now become a man) is transformed at the other extreme of civilization, by one of those abrupt ellipses characteristic of the director, into a spacecraft on its way to the moon." In contrast to Ciment's reading of a cut to a serene "other extreme of civilization", science fiction novelist Robert Sawyer, in the Canadian documentary "2001 and Beyond", says he sees it as a cut from a bone to a nuclear weapons platform, explaining that "what we see is not how far we've leaped ahead, what we see is that today, '2001', and four million years ago on the African veldt, it's exactly the same—the power of mankind is the power of its weapons. It's a continuation, not a discontinuity in that jump."


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: The film was re-released in 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1993. In 2001, a restoration of the 70 mm version was screened at the Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival, and the production was also reissued to selected film houses in North America, Europe and Asia.


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: For the film's 50th anniversary, Warner Bros. struck new 70mm prints from printing elements made directly from the original film negative. This was done under the supervision of film director Christopher Nolan, who has spoken of "2001"s influence on his career. Following a showing at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival introduced by Nolan, the film had a limited worldwide release at select 70mm-equipped theatres in the summer of 2018, followed by a one-week run in North American IMAX theatres (including five locations equipped with 70 mm IMAX projectors).


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: On 3 December 2018, an 8K Ultra-high definition television version of the film was reported to have been broadcast in select theatres and shopping-mall demonstration stations in Japan.


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: "2001: A Space Odyssey" is widely regarded as among the greatest and most influential films ever made. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2010, it was named the greatest film of all time by "The Moving Arts Film Journal".


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: The influence of "2001" on subsequent filmmakers is considerable. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and others—including many special effects technicians—discuss the impact the film has had on them in a featurette titled "Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001", included in the 2007 DVD release of the film. Spielberg calls it his film generation's "big bang", while Lucas says it was "hugely inspirational", calling Kubrick "the filmmaker's filmmaker". Sydney Pollack calls it "groundbreaking", and William Friedkin says "2001" is "the grandfather of all such films". At the 2007 Venice film festival, director Ridley Scott said he believed "2001" was the unbeatable film that in a sense killed the science fiction genre. Similarly, film critic Michel Ciment in his essay "Odyssey of Stanley Kubrick" wrote, "Kubrick has conceived a film which in one stroke has made the whole science fiction cinema obsolete."


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: Others credit "2001" with opening up a market for films such as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Alien", "Blade Runner", "Contact", and "Interstellar", proving that big-budget "serious" science-fiction films can be commercially successful, and establishing the "sci-fi blockbuster" as a Hollywood staple. Science magazine "Discover"s blogger Stephen Cass, discussing the film's considerable impact on subsequent science fiction, writes that "the balletic spacecraft scenes set to sweeping classical music, the tarantula-soft tones of HAL 9000, and the ultimate alien artifact, the monolith, have all become enduring cultural icons in their own right". Trumbull said that when working on "" he made a scene without dialogue because of "something I really learned with Kubrick and "2001": Stop talking for a while, and let it all flow".


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: Kubrick did not envision a sequel to "2001". Fearing the later exploitation and recycling of his material in other productions (as was done with the props from MGM's "Forbidden Planet"), he ordered all sets, props, miniatures, production blueprints, and prints of unused scenes destroyed. Most of these materials were lost, with some exceptions: a "2001" spacesuit backpack appeared in the "Close Up" episode of the Gerry Anderson series "UFO", and one of HAL's eyepieces is in the possession of the author of "Hal's Legacy", David G. Stork. In 2012, Lockheed engineer Adam Johnson, working with Frederick I. Ordway III, science adviser to Kubrick, wrote the book "2001: The Lost Science", which for the first time featured many of the blueprints of the spacecraft and film sets that previously had been thought destroyed. Clarke wrote three sequel novels: "" (1982), "" (1987), and "" (1997). The only filmed sequel, "", released in 1984, was based on Clarke's 1982 novel. Kubrick was not involved; it was directed as a spin-off by Peter Hyams in a more conventional style. The other two novels have not been adapted for the screen, although actor Tom Hanks in June 1999 expressed a passing interest in possible adaptations.


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the film's release, an exhibit called "The Barmecide Feast" opened on 8 April 2018, in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The exhibit features a fully realised, full-scale reflection of the neo-classical hotel room from the film's penultimate scene. Director Christopher Nolan presented a mastered 70 mm print of "2001" for the film's 50th anniversary at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival on 12 May. The new 70 mm print is a photochemical recreation made from the original camera negative, for the first time since the film's original theatrical run. Further, an exhibit entitled "Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey" presented at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, New York City opened in January 2020.


title: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

text: In July 2020, a silver space suit was sold at auction in Los Angeles for $370,000, exceeding its estimate of $200,000–300,000. Four layers of paint indicate it was used in multiple scenes, including the Clavius Moon base sequence. The helmet had been painted green at one stage, leading to a belief that it may have been worn during the scene where Dave Bowman disconnects HAL 9000.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.


title: Normandy landings

text: Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Allied forces.


title: Normandy landings

text: The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30. The target stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, Saint-Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were documented for at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year.


title: Normandy landings

text: After the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his new allies for the creation of a in western Europe. In late May 1942, the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a "... full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a second front in Europe in 1942." However, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill persuaded U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to postpone the promised invasion as, even with U.S. help, the Allies did not have adequate forces for such an activity.


title: Normandy landings

text: Instead of an immediate return to France, the western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, where British troops were already stationed. By mid-1943, the campaign in North Africa had been won. The Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and subsequently invaded the Italian mainland in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a major victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of available landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean and Pacific. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the long-delayed second front in May 1944.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Allies considered four sites for the landings: Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, and the Pas-de-Calais. As Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected. With the Pas-de-Calais being the closest point in continental Europe to Britain, the Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, so it was the most heavily fortified region. But it offered few opportunities for expansion, as the area is bounded by numerous rivers and canals, whereas, landings on a broad front in Normandy would permit simultaneous threats against the port of Cherbourg, coastal ports further west in Brittany, and an overland attack towards Paris and eventually into Germany. Normandy was hence chosen as the landing site. The most serious drawback of the Normandy coast—the lack of port facilities—would be overcome through the development of artificial Mulberry harbours. A series of modified tanks, nicknamed Hobart's Funnies, dealt with specific requirements expected for the Normandy Campaign such as mine clearing, demolishing bunkers, and mobile bridging.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Allies planned to launch the invasion on 1 May 1944. The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all land forces involved in the invasion. On 31 December 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions with two more divisions in support. The two generals insisted that the scale of the initial invasion be expanded to five divisions, with airborne descents by three additional divisions, to allow operations on a wider front and to hasten the capture of Cherbourg. The need to acquire or produce extra landing craft for the expanded operation meant that the invasion had to be delayed to June. Eventually, thirty-nine Allied divisions would be committed to the Battle of Normandy: twenty-two U.S., twelve British, three Canadian, one Polish, and one French, totalling over a million troops.


title: Normandy landings

text: Operation Overlord was the name assigned to the establishment of a large-scale lodgement on the continent. The first phase, the amphibious invasion and establishment of a secure foothold, was codenamed Operation Neptune. To gain the air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies undertook a bombing campaign (codenamed Operation Pointblank) that targeted German aircraft production, fuel supplies, and airfields. Elaborate deceptions, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, were undertaken in the months leading up to the invasion to prevent the Germans from learning the timing and location of the invasion.


title: Normandy landings

text: The landings were to be preceded by airborne operations near Caen on the eastern flank to secure the Orne River bridges and north of Carentan on the western flank. The Americans, assigned to land at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, were to attempt to capture Carentan and Saint-Lô the first day, then cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and eventually capture the port facilities at Cherbourg. The British at Sword and Gold Beaches and Canadians at Juno Beach would protect the U.S. flank and attempt to establish airfields near Caen on the first day. (A sixth beach, code-named "Band", was considered to the east of the Orne.) A secure lodgement would be established with all invading forces linked together, with an attempt to hold all territory north of the Avranches-Falaise line within the first three weeks. Montgomery envisaged a ninety-day battle, lasting until all Allied forces reached the River Seine.


title: Normandy landings

text: Under the overall umbrella of Operation Bodyguard, the Allies conducted several subsidiary operations designed to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the Allied landings. Operation Fortitude included Fortitude North, a misinformation campaign using fake radio traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway, and Fortitude South, a major deception involving the creation of a fictitious First United States Army Group under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, supposedly located in Kent and Sussex. Fortitude South was intended to deceive the Germans into believing that the main attack would take place at Calais. Genuine radio messages from 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent via landline and then broadcast, to give the Germans the impression that most of the Allied troops were stationed there. Patton was stationed in England until 6 July, thus continuing to deceive the Germans into believing a second attack would take place at Calais.


title: Normandy landings

text: Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed in preparation for the landings. In addition, on the night before the invasion, a small group of Special Air Service operators deployed dummy paratroopers over Le Havre and Isigny. These dummies led the Germans to believe that an additional airborne landing had occurred. On that same night, in Operation Taxable, No. 617 Squadron RAF dropped strips of "window", metal foil that caused a radar return which was mistakenly interpreted by German radar operators as a naval convoy near Le Havre. The illusion was bolstered by a group of small vessels towing barrage balloons. A similar deception was undertaken near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas de Calais area by No. 218 Squadron RAF in Operation Glimmer.


title: Normandy landings

text: The invasion planners determined a set of conditions involving the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that would be satisfactory on only a few days in each month. A full moon was desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have the . The Allies wanted to schedule the landings for shortly before dawn, midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles on the beach while minimising the amount of time the men would be exposed in the open. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. However, on 4 June, conditions were unsuitable for a landing: high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets.


title: Normandy landings

text: Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force (RAF) met Eisenhower on the evening of 4 June. He and his meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve enough for the invasion to proceed on 6 June. The next available dates with the required tidal conditions (but without the desirable full moon) would be two weeks later, from 18 to 20 June. Postponement of the invasion would have required recalling men and ships already in position to cross the English Channel and would have increased the chance that the invasion plans would be detected. After much discussion with the other senior commanders, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead on 6 June. A major storm battered the Normandy coast from 19 to 22 June, which would have made the beach landings impossible.


title: Normandy landings

text: Allied control of the Atlantic meant German meteorologists had less information than the Allies on incoming weather patterns. As the "Luftwaffe" meteorological centre in Paris was predicting two weeks of stormy weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes, and men in many units were given leave. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to petition Hitler for additional Panzer divisions.


title: Normandy landings

text: Nazi Germany had at its disposal fifty divisions in France and the Low Countries, with another eighteen stationed in Denmark and Norway. Fifteen divisions were in the process of formation in Germany. Combat losses throughout the war, particularly on the Eastern Front, meant that the Germans no longer had a pool of able young men from which to draw. German soldiers were now on average six years older than their Allied counterparts. Many in the Normandy area were "Ostlegionen" (eastern legions)—conscripts and volunteers from Russia, Mongolia, and other areas of the Soviet Union. They were provided mainly with unreliable captured equipment and lacked motorised transport. Many German units were under strength.


title: Normandy landings

text: In early 1944, the German Western Front (OB West) was significantly weakened by personnel and materiel transfers to the Eastern Front. During the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian offensive (24 December 1943 – 17 April 1944), the German High Command was forced to transfer the entire II SS Panzer Corps from France, consisting of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, as well as the 349th Infantry Division, 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion and the 311th and 322nd StuG Assault Gun Brigades. All told, the German forces stationed in France were deprived of 45,827 troops and 363 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled anti-tank guns. It was the first major transfer of forces from France to the east since the creation of Führer Directive 51, which eased restrictions on troop transfers to the eastern front.


title: Normandy landings

text: The 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", 9th, 11th, 19th and 116th Panzer divisions, alongside the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich", had only arrived in March–May 1944 to France for extensive refit after being badly damaged during the Dnieper-Carpathian operation. Seven of the eleven panzer or panzergrenadier divisions stationed in France were not fully operational or only partially mobile in early June 1944.


title: Normandy landings

text: Allied forces attacking Utah Beach faced the following German units stationed on the Cotentin Peninsula:


title: Normandy landings

text: Alarmed by the raids on St Nazaire and Dieppe in 1942, Hitler had ordered the construction of fortifications all along the Atlantic coast, from Spain to Norway, to protect against an expected Allied invasion. He envisioned 15,000 emplacements manned by 300,000 troops, but shortages, particularly of concrete and manpower, meant that most of the strongpoints were never built. As it was expected to be the site of the invasion, the Pas de Calais was heavily defended. In the Normandy area, the best fortifications were concentrated at the port facilities at Cherbourg and Saint-Malo. Rommel was assigned to oversee the construction of further fortifications along the expected invasion front, which stretched from the Netherlands to Cherbourg, and was given command of the newly re-formed Army Group B, which included the 7th Army, the 15th Army, and the forces guarding the Netherlands. Reserves for this group included the 2nd, 21st, and 116th Panzer divisions.


title: Normandy landings

text: Rommel believed that the Normandy coast could be a possible landing point for the invasion, so he ordered the construction of extensive defensive works along that shore. In addition to concrete gun emplacements at strategic points along the coast, he ordered wooden stakes, metal tripods, mines, and large anti-tank obstacles to be placed on the beaches to delay the approach of landing craft and impede the movement of tanks. Expecting the Allies to land at high tide so that the infantry would spend less time exposed on the beach, he ordered many of these obstacles to be placed at the high water mark. Tangles of barbed wire, booby traps, and the removal of ground cover made the approach hazardous for infantry. On Rommel's order, the number of mines along the coast was tripled. The Allied air offensive over Germany had crippled the "Luftwaffe" and established air supremacy over western Europe, so Rommel knew he could not expect effective air support. The "Luftwaffe" could muster only 815 aircraft over Normandy in comparison to the Allies' 9,543. Rommel arranged for booby-trapped stakes known as "Rommelspargel" (Rommel's asparagus) to be installed in meadows and fields to deter airborne landings.


title: Normandy landings

text: German armaments minister Albert Speer notes in his 1969 autobiography that the German high command, concerned about the susceptibility of the airports and port facilities along the North Sea coast, held a conference on 6–8 June 1944 to discuss reinforcing defences in that area. Speer wrote:


title: Normandy landings

text: Rommel believed that Germany's best chance was to stop the invasion at the shore. He requested that the mobile reserves, especially tanks, be stationed as close to the coast as possible. Rundstedt, Geyr, and other senior commanders objected. They believed that the invasion could not be stopped on the beaches. Geyr argued for a conventional doctrine: keeping the Panzer formations concentrated in a central position around Paris and Rouen and deploying them only when the main Allied beachhead had been identified. He also noted that in the Italian Campaign, the armoured units stationed near the coast had been damaged by naval bombardment. Rommel's opinion was that because of Allied air supremacy, the large-scale movement of tanks would not be possible once the invasion was under way. Hitler made the final decision, which was to leave three Panzer divisions under Geyr's command and give Rommel operational control of three more as reserves. Hitler took personal control of four divisions as strategic reserves, not to be used without his direct orders.


title: Normandy landings

text: The First Army contingent totalled approximately 73,000 men, including 15,600 from the airborne divisions.


title: Normandy landings

text: Overall, the Second Army contingent consisted of 83,115 men, 61,715 of them British. The nominally British air and naval support units included a large number of personnel from Allied nations, including several RAF squadrons manned almost exclusively by overseas air crew. For example, the Australian contribution to the operation included a regular Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron, nine Article XV squadrons, and hundreds of personnel posted to RAF units and RN warships. The RAF supplied two-thirds of the aircraft involved in the invasion.


title: Normandy landings

text: Through the London-based "État-major des Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur" (French Forces of the Interior), the British Special Operations Executive orchestrated a campaign of sabotage to be implemented by the French Resistance. The Allies developed four plans for the Resistance to execute on D-Day and the following days:


title: Normandy landings

text: The resistance was alerted to carry out these tasks by "messages personnels" transmitted by the BBC's French service from London. Several hundred of these messages, which might be snippets of poetry, quotations from literature, or random sentences, were regularly transmitted, masking the few that were actually significant. In the weeks preceding the landings, lists of messages and their meanings were distributed to resistance groups. An increase in radio activity on 5 June was correctly interpreted by German intelligence to mean that an invasion was imminent or underway. However, because of the barrage of previous false warnings and misinformation, most units ignored the warning.


title: Normandy landings

text: A 1965 report from the Counter-insurgency Information Analysis Center details the results of the French Resistance's sabotage efforts: "In the southeast, 52 locomotives were destroyed on 6 June and the railway line cut in more than 500 places. Normandy was isolated as of 7 June."


title: Normandy landings

text: Naval operations for the invasion were described by historian Correlli Barnett as a "never surpassed masterpiece of planning". In overall command was British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who had served as Flag officer at Dover during the Dunkirk evacuation four years earlier. He had also been responsible for the naval planning of the invasion of North Africa in 1942, and one of the two fleets carrying troops for the invasion of Sicily the following year.


title: Normandy landings

text: The invasion fleet, which was drawn from eight different navies, comprised 6,939 vessels: 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft of various types, 736 ancillary craft, and 864 merchant vessels. The majority of the fleet was supplied by the UK, which provided 892 warships and 3,261 landing craft. In total there were 195,700 naval personnel involved; of these 112,824 were from the Royal Navy with another 25,000 from the Merchant Navy; 52,889 were American; and 4,998 sailors from other allied countries. The invasion fleet was split into the Western Naval Task Force (under Admiral Alan G. Kirk) supporting the U.S. sectors and the Eastern Naval Task Force (under Admiral Sir Philip Vian) in the British and Canadian sectors. Available to the fleet were five battleships, 20 cruisers, 65 destroyers, and two monitors. German ships in the area on D-Day included three torpedo boats, 29 fast attack craft, 36 R boats, and 36 minesweepers and patrol boats. The Germans also had several U-boats available, and all the approaches had been heavily mined.


title: Normandy landings

text: At 05:10, four German torpedo boats reached the Eastern Task Force and launched fifteen torpedoes, sinking the Norwegian destroyer off Sword Beach but missing the British battleships and . After attacking, the German vessels turned away and fled east into a smoke screen that had been laid by the RAF to shield the fleet from the long-range battery at Le Havre. Allied losses to mines included the American destroyer off Utah and submarine chaser , a 173-foot patrol craft.


title: Normandy landings

text: Bombing of Normandy began around midnight with more than 2,200 British, Canadian, and U.S. bombers attacking targets along the coast and further inland. The coastal bombing attack was largely ineffective at Omaha, because low cloud cover made the assigned targets difficult to see. Concerned about inflicting casualties on their own troops, many bombers delayed their attacks too long and failed to hit the beach defences. The Germans had 570 aircraft stationed in Normandy and the Low Countries on D-Day, and another 964 in Germany.


title: Normandy landings

text: Minesweepers began clearing channels for the invasion fleet shortly after midnight and finished just after dawn without encountering the enemy. The Western Task Force included the battleships , , and , plus eight cruisers, twenty-eight destroyers, and one monitor. The Eastern Task Force included the battleships and and the monitor , twelve cruisers, and thirty-seven destroyers. Naval bombardment of areas behind the beach commenced at 05:45, while it was still dark, with the gunners switching to pre-assigned targets on the beach as soon as it was light enough to see, at 05:50. Since troops were scheduled to land at Utah and Omaha starting at 06:30 (an hour earlier than the British beaches), these areas received only about 40 minutes of naval bombardment before the assault troops began to land on the shore.


title: Normandy landings

text: The success of the amphibious landings depended on the establishment of a secure lodgement from which to expand the beachhead to allow the build-up of a well-supplied force capable of breaking out. The amphibious forces were especially vulnerable to strong enemy counter-attacks before the arrival of sufficient forces in the beachhead could be accomplished. To slow or eliminate the enemy's ability to organise and launch counter-attacks during this critical period, airborne operations were used to seize key objectives such as bridges, road crossings, and terrain features, particularly on the eastern and western flanks of the landing areas. The airborne landings some distance behind the beaches were also intended to ease the egress of the amphibious forces off the beaches, and in some cases to neutralise German coastal defence batteries and more quickly expand the area of the beachhead.


title: Normandy landings

text: The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were assigned to objectives west of Utah Beach, where they hoped to capture and control the few narrow causeways through terrain that had been intentionally flooded by the Germans. Reports from Allied intelligence in mid-May of the arrival of the German 91st Infantry Division meant the intended drop zones had to be shifted eastward and to the south. The British 6th Airborne Division, on the eastern flank, was assigned to capture intact the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne, destroy five bridges over the Dives to the east, and destroy the Merville Gun Battery overlooking Sword Beach. Free French paratroopers from the British SAS Brigade were assigned to objectives in Brittany from 5 June until August in Operations Dingson, Samwest, and Cooney.


title: Normandy landings

text: BBC war correspondent Robert Barr described the scene as paratroopers prepared to board their aircraft:


title: Normandy landings

text: The U.S. airborne landings began with the arrival of pathfinders at 00:15. Navigation was difficult because of a bank of thick cloud, and as a result, only one of the five paratrooper drop zones was accurately marked with radar signals and Aldis lamps. Paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, numbering over 13,000 men, were delivered by Douglas C-47 Skytrains of the IX Troop Carrier Command. To avoid flying over the invasion fleet, the planes arrived from the west over the Cotentin Peninsula and exited over Utah Beach.


title: Normandy landings

text: Paratroops from 101st Airborne were dropped beginning around 01:30, tasked with controlling the causeways behind Utah Beach and destroying road and rail bridges over the Douve River. The C-47s could not fly in a tight formation because of thick cloud cover, and many paratroopers were dropped far from their intended landing zones. Many planes came in so low that they were under fire from both flak and machine-gun fire. Some paratroopers were killed on impact when their parachutes did not have time to open, and others drowned in the flooded fields. Gathering together into fighting units was made difficult by a shortage of radios and by the bocage terrain, with its hedgerows, stone walls, and marshes. Some units did not arrive at their targets until afternoon, by which time several of the causeways had already been cleared by members of the 4th Infantry Division moving up from the beach.


title: Normandy landings

text: Troops of the 82nd Airborne began arriving around 02:30, with the primary objective of capturing two bridges over the River Merderet and destroying two bridges over the Douve. On the east side of the river, 75 per cent of the paratroopers landed in or near their drop zone, and within two hours they captured the important crossroads at Sainte-Mère-Église (the first town liberated in the invasion) and began working to protect the western flank. Because of the failure of the pathfinders to accurately mark their drop zone, the two regiments dropped on the west side of the Merderet were extremely scattered, with only four per cent landing in the target area. Many landed in nearby swamps, with much loss of life. Paratroopers consolidated into small groups, usually a combination of men of various ranks from different units, and attempted to concentrate on nearby objectives. They captured but failed to hold the Merderet River bridge at La Fière, and fighting for the crossing continued for several days.


title: Normandy landings

text: Reinforcements arrived by glider around 04:00 (Mission Chicago and Mission Detroit), and 21:00 (Mission Keokuk and Mission Elmira), bringing additional troops and heavy equipment. Like the paratroopers, many landed far from their drop zones. Even those that landed on target experienced difficulty, with heavy cargo such as Jeeps shifting during landing, crashing through the wooden fuselage, and in some cases crushing personnel on board.


title: Normandy landings

text: After 24 hours, only 2,500 men of the 101st and 2,000 of the 82nd Airborne were under the control of their divisions, approximately a third of the force dropped. This wide dispersal had the effect of confusing the Germans and fragmenting their response. The 7th Army received notification of the parachute drops at 01:20, but Rundstedt did not initially believe that a major invasion was underway. The destruction of radar stations along the Normandy coast in the week before the invasion meant that the Germans did not detect the approaching fleet until 02:00.


title: Normandy landings

text: The first Allied action of D-Day was the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges via a glider assault at 00:16 (since renamed Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge). Both bridges were quickly captured intact, with light casualties by the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment. They were then reinforced by members of the 5th Parachute Brigade and the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. The five bridges over the Dives were destroyed with minimal difficulty by the 3rd Parachute Brigade. Meanwhile, the pathfinders tasked with setting up radar beacons and lights for further paratroopers (scheduled to begin arriving at 00:50 to clear the landing zone north of Ranville) were blown off course and had to set up the navigation aids too far east. Many paratroopers, also blown too far east, landed far from their intended drop zones; some took hours or even days to be reunited with their units. Major General Richard Gale arrived in the third wave of gliders at 03:30, along with equipment, such as antitank guns and jeeps, and more troops to help secure the area from counter-attacks, which were initially staged only by troops in the immediate vicinity of the landings. At 02:00, the commander of the German 716th Infantry Division ordered Feuchtinger to move his 21st Panzer Division into position to counter-attack. However, as the division was part of the armoured reserve, Feuchtinger was obliged to seek clearance from OKW before he could commit his formation. Feuchtinger did not receive orders until nearly 09:00, but in the meantime on his own initiative he put together a battle group (including tanks) to fight the British forces east of the Orne.


title: Normandy landings

text: Only 160 men out of the 600 members of the 9th Battalion tasked with eliminating the enemy battery at Merville arrived at the rendezvous point. Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway, in charge of the operation, decided to proceed regardless, as the emplacement had to be destroyed by 06:00 to prevent it firing on the invasion fleet and the troops arriving on Sword Beach. In the Battle of Merville Gun Battery, Allied forces disabled the guns with plastic explosives at a cost of 75 casualties. The emplacement was found to contain 75 mm guns rather than the expected 150 mm heavy coastal artillery. Otway's remaining force withdrew with the assistance of a few members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion.


title: Normandy landings

text: With this action, the last of the D-Day goals of the British 6th Airborne Division was achieved. They were reinforced at 12:00 by commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade, who landed on Sword Beach, and by the 6th Airlanding Brigade, who arrived in gliders at 21:00 in Operation Mallard.


title: Normandy landings

text: Some of the landing craft had been modified to provide close support fire, and self-propelled amphibious Duplex-Drive tanks (DD tanks), specially designed for the Normandy landings, were to land shortly before the infantry to provide covering fire. However, few arrived in advance of the infantry, and many sank before reaching the shore, especially at Omaha.


title: Normandy landings

text: Utah Beach was in the area defended by two battalions of the 919th Grenadier Regiment. Members of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division were the first to land, arriving at 06:30. Their landing craft were pushed to the south by strong currents, and they found themselves about from their intended landing zone. This site turned out to be better, as there was only one strongpoint nearby rather than two, and bombers of IX Bomber Command had bombed the defences from lower than their prescribed altitude, inflicting considerable damage. In addition, the strong currents had washed ashore many of the underwater obstacles. The assistant commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the first senior officer ashore, made the decision to "start the war from right here," and ordered further landings to be re-routed.


title: Normandy landings

text: The initial assault battalions were quickly followed by 28 DD tanks and several waves of engineer and demolition teams to remove beach obstacles and clear the area directly behind the beach of obstacles and mines. Gaps were blown in the sea wall to allow quicker access for troops and tanks. Combat teams began to exit the beach at around 09:00, with some infantry wading through the flooded fields rather than travelling on the single road. They skirmished throughout the day with elements of the 919th Grenadier Regiment, who were armed with antitank guns and rifles. The main strongpoint in the area and another to the south were disabled by noon. The 4th Infantry Division did not meet all of their D-Day objectives at Utah Beach, partly because they had arrived too far to the south, but they landed 21,000 troops at the cost of only 197 casualties.


title: Normandy landings

text: Pointe du Hoc, a prominent headland situated between Utah and Omaha, was assigned to two hundred men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder. Their task was to scale the cliffs with grappling hooks, ropes, and ladders to destroy the coastal gun battery located at the top. The cliffs were defended by the German 352nd Infantry Division and French collaborators firing from above. Allied destroyers and provided fire support. After scaling the cliffs, the Rangers discovered that the guns had already been withdrawn. They located the weapons, unguarded but ready to use, in an orchard some south of the point, and disabled them with explosives.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Rangers fended off numerous counter-attacks from the German 914th Grenadier Regiment. The men were isolated, and some were captured. By dawn on 7 June, Rudder had only 90 men able to fight. Relief did not arrive until 8 June, when members of the 743rd Tank Battalion and others arrived. By then, Rudder's men had run out of ammunition and were using captured German weapons. Several men were killed as a result, because the German weapons made a distinctive noise, and the men were mistaken for the enemy. By the end of the battle, the Rangers casualties were 135 dead and wounded, while German casualties were 50 killed and 40 captured. An unknown number of French collaborators were executed.


title: Normandy landings

text: Omaha, the most heavily defended beach, was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division. They faced the 352nd Infantry Division rather than the expected single regiment. Strong currents forced many landing craft east of their intended position or caused them to be delayed. For fear of hitting the landing craft, U.S. bombers delayed releasing their loads and as a result most of the beach obstacles at Omaha remained undamaged when the men came ashore. Many of the landing craft ran aground on sandbars, and the men had to wade 50–100m in water up to their necks while under fire to get to the beach. In spite of the rough seas, DD tanks of two companies of the 741st Tank Battalion were dropped from shore; however, 27 of the 32 flooded and sank, with the loss of 33 crew. Some tanks, disabled on the beach, continued to provide covering fire until their ammunition ran out or they were swamped by the rising tide.


title: Normandy landings

text: Casualties were around 2,000, as the men were subjected to fire from the cliffs above. Problems clearing the beach of obstructions led to the beachmaster calling a halt to further landings of vehicles at 08:30. A group of destroyers arrived around this time to provide fire support so landings could resume. Exit from the beach was possible only via five heavily defended gullies, and by late morning barely 600 men had reached the higher ground. By noon, as the artillery fire took its toll and the Germans started to run out of ammunition, the Americans were able to clear some lanes on the beaches. They also started clearing the gullies of enemy defences so that vehicles could move off the beach. The tenuous beachhead was expanded over the following days, and the D-Day objectives for Omaha were accomplished by 9 June.


title: Normandy landings

text: The first landings on Gold Beach were set for 07:25 because of the differences in the tide between there and the U.S. beaches. High winds made conditions difficult for the landing craft, and the amphibious DD tanks were released close to shore or directly on the beach instead of further out as planned. Three of the four guns in a large emplacement at the Longues-sur-Mer battery were disabled by direct hits from the cruisers HMS and at 06:20. The fourth gun resumed firing intermittently in the afternoon, and its garrison surrendered on 7 June. Aerial attacks had failed to hit the Le Hamel strongpoint, which had its embrasure facing east to provide enfilade fire along the beach and had a thick concrete wall on the seaward side. Its 75 mm gun continued to do damage until 16:00, when an Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) tank fired a large petard charge into its rear entrance. A second casemated emplacement at La Rivière containing an 88 mm gun was neutralised by a tank at 07:30.


title: Normandy landings

text: Meanwhile, infantry began clearing the heavily fortified houses along the shore and advanced on targets further inland. The No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando moved toward the small port at Port-en-Bessin and captured it the following day in the Battle of Port-en-Bessin. Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis received the only Victoria Cross awarded on D-Day for his actions while attacking two pillboxes at the Mont Fleury high point. On the western flank, the 1st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment captured Arromanches (future site of Mulberry "B"), and contact was made on the eastern flank with the Canadian forces at Juno. Bayeux was not captured the first day because of stiff resistance from the 352nd Infantry Division. Allied casualties at Gold Beach are estimated at 1,000.


title: Normandy landings

text: The landing at Juno Beach was delayed because of choppy seas, and the men arrived ahead of their supporting armour, suffering many casualties while disembarking. Most of the offshore bombardment had missed the German defences. Several exits from the beach were created, but not without difficulty. At Mike Beach on the western flank, a large crater was filled using an abandoned AVRE tank and several rolls of fascine, which were then covered by a temporary bridge. The tank remained in place until 1972 when it was removed and restored by members of the Royal Engineers. The beach and nearby streets were clogged with traffic for most of the day, making it difficult to move inland.


title: Normandy landings

text: Major German strongpoints with 75 mm guns, machine-gun nests, concrete fortifications, barbed wire, and mines were located at Courseulles-sur-Mer, St Aubin-sur-Mer, and Bernières-sur-Mer. The towns had to be cleared in house-to-house fighting. Soldiers on their way to Bény-sur-Mer, inland, discovered that the road was well covered by machine gun emplacements that had to be outflanked before the advance could proceed. Elements of the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade advanced to within sight of the Carpiquet airfield late in the afternoon, but by this time their supporting armour was low on ammunition so the Canadians dug in for the night. The airfield was not captured until a month later as the area became the scene of fierce fighting. By nightfall, the contiguous Juno and Gold beachheads covered an area wide and deep. Casualties at Juno were 961 men.


title: Normandy landings

text: On Sword Beach, 21 of 25 DD tanks of the first wave were successful in getting safely ashore to provide cover for the infantry, who began disembarking at 07:30. The beach was heavily mined and peppered with obstacles, making the work of the beach clearing teams difficult and dangerous. In the windy conditions, the tide came in more quickly than expected, so manoeuvring the armour was difficult. The beach quickly became congested. Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and his 1st Special Service Brigade arrived in the second wave, piped ashore by Private Bill Millin, Lovat's personal piper. Members of No. 4 Commando moved through Ouistreham to attack from the rear a German gun battery on the shore. A concrete observation and control tower at this emplacement had to be bypassed and was not captured until several days later. French forces under Commander Philippe Kieffer (the first French soldiers to arrive in Normandy) attacked and cleared the heavily fortified strongpoint at the casino at Riva Bella, with the aid of one of the DD tanks.


title: Normandy landings

text: The 'Morris' strongpoint near Colleville-sur-Orne was captured after about an hour of fighting. The nearby 'Hillman' strongpoint, headquarters of the 736th Infantry Regiment, was a large complex defensive work that had come through the morning's bombardment essentially undamaged. It was not captured until 20:15. The 2nd Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry began advancing to Caen on foot, coming within a few kilometres of the town, but had to withdraw due to lack of armour support. At 16:00, the 21st Panzer Division mounted a counter-attack between Sword and Juno and nearly succeeded in reaching the Channel. It met stiff resistance from the British 3rd Division and was soon recalled to assist in the area between Caen and Bayeux. Estimates of Allied casualties on Sword Beach are as high as 1,000.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day, with 875,000 men disembarking by the end of June. Allied casualties on the first day were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. The Germans lost 1,000 men. The Allied invasion plans had called for the capture of Carentan, Saint-Lô, Caen, and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches (other than Utah) linked with a front line from the beaches; none of these objectives were achieved. The five beachheads were not connected until 12 June, by which time the Allies held a front around long and deep. Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands at the end of D-Day and would not be completely captured until 21 July. The Germans had ordered French civilians other than those deemed essential to the war effort to leave potential combat zones in Normandy. Civilian casualties on D-Day and D+1 are estimated at 3,000.


title: Normandy landings

text: The Allied victory in Normandy stemmed from several factors. German preparations along the Atlantic Wall were only partially finished; shortly before D-Day Rommel reported that construction was only 18 per cent complete in some areas as resources were diverted elsewhere. The deceptions undertaken in Operation Fortitude were successful, leaving the Germans obliged to defend a huge stretch of coastline. The Allies achieved and maintained air supremacy, which meant that the Germans were unable to make observations of the preparations underway in Britain and were unable to interfere via bomber attacks. Infrastructure for transport in France was severely disrupted by Allied bombers and the French Resistance, making it difficult for the Germans to bring up reinforcements and supplies. Some of the opening bombardment was off-target or not concentrated enough to have any impact, but the specialised armour worked well except on Omaha, providing close artillery support for the troops as they disembarked onto the beaches. Indecisiveness and an overly complicated command structure on the part of the German high command were also factors in the Allied success.


title: Normandy landings

text: At Omaha Beach, parts of the Mulberry harbour are still visible, and a few of the beach obstacles remain. A memorial to the U.S. National Guard sits at the location of a former German strongpoint. Pointe du Hoc is little changed from 1944, with the terrain covered with bomb craters and most of the concrete bunkers still in place. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is nearby, in Colleville-sur-Mer. A museum about the Utah landings is located at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, and there is one dedicated to the activities of the U.S. airmen at Sainte-Mère-Église. Two German military cemeteries are located nearby.


title: Normandy landings

text: Pegasus Bridge, a target of the British 6th Airborne, was the site of some of the earliest action of the Normandy landings. The bridge was replaced in 1994 by one similar in appearance, and the original is housed on the grounds of a nearby museum complex. Sections of Mulberry Harbour B still sit in the sea at Arromanches, and the well-preserved Longues-sur-Mer battery is nearby. The Juno Beach Centre, opened in 2003, was funded by the Canadian federal and provincial governments, France, and Canadian veterans. The British Normandy Memorial above Gold Beach was designed by the architect Liam O'Connor and opened in 2021.


title: Joe Keery

text: Joseph David Keery (born April 24, 1992) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Steve Harrington in the science fiction series "Stranger Things" (2016–present) and for his role in the comedy film "Free Guy" (2021). Keery releases music under the stage name Djo. He is a former member of the psychedelic rock band Post Animal.


title: Joe Keery

text: Keery was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His father is an architect and his mother is an English professor. He is the second of five children.


title: Joe Keery

text: Keery was raised in Newburyport and attended River Valley Charter School, a local Montessori elementary and middle school, and Newburyport High School. When he was young, he participated in Theater in the Open, a performing arts camp at Maudslay State Park, but ultimately began acting in high school, initially performing there at his older sister's insistence.


title: Joe Keery

text: Keery went on to study at The Theatre School at DePaul University and graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting.


title: Joe Keery

text: After graduating from DePaul, Keery went to over a hundred auditions. Before his breakout role in "Stranger Things", Keery appeared in a KFC, Domino's, and amiibo commercial, and had roles in "Empire" and "Chicago Fire". His first appearance in a full-length film was in Stephen Cone's indie, "Henry Gamble's Birthday Party".


title: Joe Keery

text: Keery's breakthrough role was as Steve in the Netflix sci-fi series "Stranger Things". He was cast in late 2015; having initially auditioned for the role of Jonathan, he later sent in a tape for his character, Steve. The show premiered in 2016 to critical acclaim. He was promoted from recurring cast to a series regular for the second season of "Stranger Things". The third and fourth seasons were released in 2019 and 2022, respectively.


title: Joe Keery

text: Since beginning "Stranger Things", Keery has also acted in a few independent movies, including starring in the 2020 satire film, "Spree". He also played the role of Walter "Keys" McKey, a game developer, in the 2021 action comedy film, "Free Guy," which went on to become a major box-office hit. In May 2022, he was cast opposite Liam Neeson in the sci-fi action film "Cold Storage". In August 2022, he was cast as Gator Tillman in the fifth season of "Fargo".


title: Joe Keery

text: Aside from acting, Keery is also a musician. In his early twenties, he released music under the name "Cool Cool Cool." Keery was a guitarist and drummer for Chicago-based garage and psych-rock band Post Animal. Their debut album was released in October 2015. The band's second album, "When I Think Of You In A Castle", was released in April 2018 and saw Keery performing guitar and vocals. As of 2019, Keery was no longer a touring member of the band, and he later parted ways due to acting commitments.


title: Joe Keery

text: On July 19, 2019, Keery self-released the single "Roddy" as a solo artist under the moniker Djo. Keery released a second single on August 9, 2019, titled "Chateau (Feel Alright)" under the same moniker. On September 13, 2019, Keery released his debut album as Djo, "Twenty Twenty". In a positive review of the album, NME called Keery "a musician of very high calibre who... dabbles in the kind of inventive, warped psychedelia that gently twists your melon and constantly shapeshifts around you," and compared his music to that of Tame Impala and Ariel Pink.


title: Joe Keery

text: On September 9, 2020, he released a new single, "Keep Your Head Up". In 2022, he took part in a summer music festival tour. His sophomore album "Decide" was announced in June 2022, along with the release of its first single "Change". The album was released on September 16, 2022, and received positive reviews.


title: Joe Keery

text: Keery has criticized the online obsession over his hair, calling it "really ridiculous". He is a fan of Charli XCX and Stanley Tucci. In a 2021 interview with GQ, he said he feared an environmental apocalypse, "especially after the fires last year and the storms that are destroying the central south of our country".


title: Måneskin

text: Måneskin are an Italian rock band formed in Rome in 2016. The band are composed of vocalist Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio. Performing in the streets in their early days, they rose to prominence after finishing second in the eleventh season of the Italian talent show "X Factor" in 2017. Their international breakthrough ensued when the foursome won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 for with the song "Zitti e buoni".


title: Måneskin

text: The band have released two studio albums, "Il ballo della vita" (2018) and "" (2021). They have also released one extended play, "Chosen" (2017), and ten singles, which have topped the Italian and European music charts. They have collected 34 platinum and 7 gold certifications from FIMI, and have sold over one million records in Italy before their post-Eurovision breakthrough. Up to that point in their career, their most successful Italian single was "Torna a casa". In 2021, Måneskin became the first Italian rock band to reach the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, with their songs "Zitti e buoni", "I Wanna Be Your Slave" and their cover of The Four Seasons' "Beggin'" reaching the top 10 on the "Billboard" Global Excl. U.S. chart, collecting multiple international certifications for sales of over three million copies internationally, and four million in total. They received their first Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist category at the 2023 Grammy Awards.


title: Måneskin

text: Members Damiano David, Victoria De Angelis, and Thomas Raggi first met each other as students during their high school days in Rome, with Ethan Torchio from nearby Frosinone soon joining them when they inquired on Facebook in a "Musicians Wanted" advert for a drummer to complete the line-up. Although the band's origins can be traced to 2015, it was officially formed in 2016 when the members had to choose the band's name because they had decided to register for Pulse, a local music contest for emerging bands. While brainstorming, De Angelis, who is half Danish, was asked by her bandmates to toss out some Danish words, and they agreed on ("moonlight"), although its meaning is not related to the band itself.


title: Måneskin

text: The Pulse contest also marked a turning point in their career, since they had to start writing their own songs. The competition led them to perform at the Felt music club & school in front of 200–300 people, and they later went on to win first prize.


title: Måneskin

text: They later performed as buskers in the streets of the Colli Portuensi district of Rome, as well as in the historical centre of Rome, including in Via del Corso. One of their first live concerts outside their native city took place in Faenza, at the 2016 Meeting of Independent Record Labels. Approximately 30 people attended the show. After a trip to Denmark, during which the band also performed some live shows, Måneskin strengthened their cohesiveness, and started to play together for several hours a day.


title: Måneskin

text: In 2017, they took part in the eleventh season of the Italian talent show "X Factor", under the guidance of mentor Manuel Agnelli, finishing in second place behind Lorenzo Licitra. There they covered "Beggin'" by the Four Seasons, "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand, and "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers, among others. The original song they performed during the show, "Chosen", was released as a single on 24 November 2017 by Sony Music and charted at number two on the Italian FIMI Singles Chart. It was included in the extended play of the same title, released in mid-December 2017 and mainly consisting of covers previously performed during the "X Factor" live shows. The EP was later certified double platinum by FIMI.


title: Måneskin

text: On 23 March 2018, the band released their first Italian-language single, "Morirò da re", which continued their commercial success. Måneskin's first full-length studio album, featuring "Morirò da re" and preceded by the ballad single "Torna a casa", was released on 26 October 2018. Both the album, titled "Il ballo della vita", and the single "Torna a casa" topped the charts in Italy.


title: Måneskin

text: To promote the album, the band theatrically released a documentary film, titled "This Is Måneskin". The film premiered in Italy on 26 October 2018.


title: Måneskin

text: In January 2019, the band released their fourth single "Fear for Nobody", while in April 2019 their fifth single "L'altra dimensione" rose to fourth on the FIMI Singles Chart. Their sixth single "Le parole lontane", which was released in September 2019, reached top 5 of the FIMI Singles Chart and was certified platinum. During their first tour, held between 2018 and 2019, they sold-out over 70 dates along with selling more than 140,000 tickets, a figure that also included their first European tour with eleven sold-out dates in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom.


title: Måneskin

text: From late 2019 until spring 2020, the band lived in London where they worked on their music style and new material. In October 2020, their seventh single "Vent'anni" was released. On 6 March 2021, the band won the Sanremo Music Festival 2021 with the song "Zitti e buoni", ahead of runners-up Francesca Michielin and Fedez, and Ermal Meta. Their win was viewed by many to be a surprise, as rock is considered an atypical contesting music genre in the history of the Festival. Prior to Sanremo, the band announced their second studio album "", which was released on 19 March 2021.


title: Måneskin

text: As the winners of Sanremo 2021, Måneskin were designated as the Italian representatives at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with "Zitti e buoni". On 15 May, Italy climbed to the top of the betting odds to win the contest, surpassing competitors from France, Switzerland and Malta, all of whom had occupied the top spot at one point between the release date of their songs and the night of the grand final. On 22 May, the band confirmed the predictions by going on to win the contest with an energetic performance, having received a total of 524 points, thus giving Italy its third Eurovision triumph after Gigliola Cinquetti in 1964 and Toto Cutugno in 1990. Måneskin also became the first band and "Zitti e buoni" the first rock song to win the contest since Lordi with "Hard Rock Hallelujah" for Finland in 2006. Upon accepting the winner's trophy, Damiano shouted into the microphone:


title: Måneskin

text: After the contest, the album "Teatro d'ira Vol. I", its single "Zitti e buoni", tracks "I Wanna Be Your Slave" and "Coraline", as well as other releases from the band entered weekly charts across Europe and beyond, including several Spotify global charts. "Zitti e buoni" and "I Wanna Be Your Slave" also entered the top ten of the "Billboard" Global Excl. U.S. chart. "Zitti e buoni" also became the first Italian-language song in 30 years to chart on the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 17, as well as "I Wanna Be Your Slave" peaking at number five, which was the first song by an Italian rock band to reach the UK top ten, thus making the band the first Eurovision winners since Celine Dion to have two songs in the UK top 40, and a top 10 hit with a non-contest song. Their 2017 cover of "Beggin'" also peaked at number six, thus making them the first Italian act and the first Eurovision-associated act to have two songs charting in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart at the same time. "Beggin'" later debuted on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart at number 78 and went on to peak at number 13, making them the second Eurovision-winning act in recent history to break into the chart. "I Wanna Be Your Slave" and "Beggin'" were subsequently certified platinum by the BPI, with the former also certified gold and the latter platinum by the RIAA.


title: Måneskin

text: The band went on a European promotional tour between June and July, and performed at a number of open-air summer music festivals in 2021, including Rock for People and Nova Rock Festival. A new studio album was announced to be in the works, along with tours in Italy and Europe which were later expanded to also cover the Americas and Japan. The tours are set to begin in September 2022 in São Paulo and conclude in May 2023 in Tallinn, with additional dates in August 2022 in Tokyo and Osaka. A live recording of "Beggin'", recorded at Ronquières Festival 2021, was released as a digital single on 27 September 2021.


title: Måneskin

text: The band's tenth single "Mammamia" was released on 8 October. On 26 October, they made their US television debut performing "Beggin'" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", and later in November performed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", the MTV Europe Music Awards where they won the award for Best Rock act, and at the American Music Awards. During this period, they also held a sold-out London concert at the O2 Academy Islington, sold-out US concerts at the Roxy Theatre and Bowery Ballroom, and opened for the Rolling Stones at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium.


title: Måneskin

text: On 22 January 2022, Måneskin were the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live". The band's eleventh single "Supermodel" was released on 13 May, and was performed at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, held in Turin the following day. They also performed a short rendition of "If I Can Dream" which was later included in the soundtrack of the film "Elvis". "Supermodel" was additionally performed on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on 20 May, and at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards (where the band won the Best Alternative category for "I Wanna Be Your Slave") on 28 August. Their twelfth single "The Loneliest" was released on 7 October. The band's third studio album, "Rush!", is set for release on 20 January 2023. The album will include the track "Kool Kids", which the band debuted in October 2022 during their tour. They were nominated for the Best New Artist category for the upcoming 65th Annual Grammy Awards. "La fine" was released as a promotional single from "Rush!" on 16 December.


title: Måneskin

text: According to Damiano David, the group is "a translation of the music of the past into modernity". Måneskin's music has been classified as pop rock, alternative rock, glam rock and hard rock. Their music style changed from a pop rock sound with funk influences in their first studio album, to hard rock in their second studio album, as seen in "Zitti e buoni". Their look and sound have been compared to '70s rock music. The band members have cited various musical and fashion influences, including Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana, Perry Farrell, Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Gentle Giant, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars, R.E.M. and Italian rock bands Marlene Kuntz, Verdena and Afterhours.


title: Charlie Puth

text: Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube. Puth initially signed with the record label eleveneleven after performing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", while songwriting and producing for other artists. With primary intent on a solo career, Atlantic Records and Artist Partner Group eventually sought him, and he released his debut single, "Marvin Gaye" (featuring Meghan Trainor), in 2015.


title: Charlie Puth

text: He was then featured on the single "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa. The song peaked at number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks, was certified 11× Platinum by the RIAA, and earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song nomination, along with three nominations at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, including one for Song of the Year.


title: Charlie Puth

text: Puth's debut studio album, "Nine Track Mind", was released in 2016 to moderate commercial success and generally negative critical reception. The album included the single "We Don't Talk Anymore" featuring Selena Gomez, which peaked at number 9 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. In 2017 he released two songs, "Attention" and "How Long"; they were certified 4× and 2× Platinum, respectively, by the RIAA. Both were included on his second studio album, "Voicenotes" (2018), which was generally received positively by critics and peaked at number 4 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Charlie Puth

text: Puth released "I Warned Myself", "Mother", and "Cheating on You" in 2019. After deciding not to put these songs on his next album and scrapping what other ones he had written for it in 2020, he released the non-album singles "Girlfriend" and "Hard on Yourself". Two years later, he released his third studio album, "Charlie"; it spawned the singles "Light Switch", "That's Hilarious", "Left and Right" featuring Jungkook, "Smells Like Me", "I Don't Think That I Like Her", and "Charlie be Quiet!".


title: Charlie Puth

text: Charles Otto Puth Jr. was born December 2, 1991, in Rumson, New Jersey, to Debra, a music teacher who also wrote commercials for HBO, and Charles Otto Puth Sr., a builder and real estate agent. He has two younger siblings, twins Stephen and Mikaela.


title: Charlie Puth

text: The three have a Catholic father and a Jewish mother. Charles Sr. had a mother with Italian ancestry and a father of German and Hungarian descent.


title: Charlie Puth

text: As a two-year-old, Puth's right eyebrow was permanently scarred in a nearly fatal dog-bite incident. His mother introduced him to classical music and began teaching him the piano at age four. He started studying jazz at age 10 and participated in a summer youth jazz ensemble at Count Basie Theatre's Cool School in Red Bank, New Jersey at 12. Puth was hired by The Count Basie Theatre to play in a Charlie Brown production. In grade six, he went door to door selling a Christmas album called "Have a Very Charlie Christmas" that he had recorded and produced, making $600 in sales.


title: Charlie Puth

text: He attended the Holy Cross School, Rumson, and Forrestdale Middle School, before graduating from the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School in 2010. During his seventh grade to senior years, he attended Manhattan School of Music Pre-College as a jazz piano major and a classical studies minor. Puth is a 2013 graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he majored in music production and engineering.


title: Charlie Puth

text: In September 2009, he started his own YouTube channel, entitled "Charlies Vlogs", posting comedy videos and acoustic covers. In 2010, Puth released the music video of his first song, "These Are My Sexy Shades". In December 2010, he released his debut extended play, "The Otto Tunes", an independent release. In 2011, he won an online video competition sponsored by Perez Hilton, "Can You Sing?", with a version of Adele's "Someone like You" which he performed with Emily Luther. In the same year Ellen DeGeneres announced that she had signed Puth and Luther to her label, eleveneleven, after seeing their performance of Adele's "Someone like You". Puth and Luther had performed the song on the show. In December 2012 he released a promotional single, "Break Again", with additional vocals by Emily Luther. The music video was released days later. On January 25, 2012, Puth and Luther performed the song and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". Puth also performed at an event supporting DKMS Delete Blood Cancer, the world's largest bone marrow donor center, in October 2012. Puth left eleveneleven in late 2012.


title: Charlie Puth

text: On October 23, 2013, he released his second independent extended play, "Ego", to streaming online. Puth was credited with the production and writing of songs and jingles for fellow YouTube personalities. He wrote the theme song for Shane Dawson's "Shane and Friends" podcast and skits, the intro jingle for the videos of the Vlogger family the SHAYTARDS, the original theme song for Charles Trippy's vlog "Internet Killed Television", and a song for the tour and movie of YouTube group Our 2nd Life, as well as several singles for Our 2nd Life member Ricky Dillon. In 2014 he released the promotional single "L.U.V." The music video was directed by Andrew Vallentine In the same year, he co-wrote the song "Celebrate" on Pitbull's eighth studio album "Globalization".


title: Charlie Puth

text: In early 2015, Puth signed with APG/Atlantic and his previous records were removed from iTunes. In February 2015, Puth released his debut single "Marvin Gaye", which features American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor. The single has been certified 2× Platinum in Australia, topped the charts in New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, and peaked at number 21 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. Puth wrote, co-produced, and was featured on a song with Wiz Khalifa, "See You Again", a tribute to the late Paul Walker, included in the "Furious 7" soundtrack. While Khalifa wrote the rap lyrics, the rest of the song has been credited to Puth. The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 chart for 12 non-consecutive weeks. "See You Again" was nominated for three Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media. It was also shortlisted for the Song of the Year for the BBC Music Awards and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. He produced the song "Slow Motion" for Trey Songz and has arranged sessions with Jason Derulo and Lil Wayne.


title: Charlie Puth

text: Puth starred as Meghan Trainor's love interest in the music video for her song "Dear Future Husband", released in March 2015. In the video, she meets Puth on an online dating service and he comes to Trainor's home with a carryout pizza, which succeeds in impressing her. On May 1, 2015, Puth released a five-song extended play, "Some Type of Love". In June 2015, he released the promotional single "Nothing but Trouble" with Lil Wayne, from the soundtrack to the documentary "808: The Movie". During 2015, Puth worked on several albums of other artists. He co-wrote and produced the "Broke" and "Pull Up" for Jason Derulo's album "Everything Is 4", co-wrote "Bombastic" with Bonnie McKee from the album of the same title, and produced "Working Class Heroes (Work)" on CeeLo Green's album "Heart Blanche".


title: Charlie Puth

text: Pre-orders for Puth's debut studio album "Nine Track Mind" began on August 20, 2015, along with the second single "One Call Away". The song peaked at number 12 in the United States, 26 in the United Kingdom and 4 in Australia. By June 2017 the song had sold 1,575,475 copies domestically. Puth released a remix for the song, entitled "One Call Away (Coast to Coast Mix)", featuring American rapper Tyga, American singers Ty Dolla Sign and Brett Eldredge and Mexican singer Sofia Reyes.


title: Charlie Puth

text: His debut album, "Nine Track Mind", was released on January 29, 2016. The album debuted at number three in the United Kingdom. The album itself peaked at number 6 on the "Billboard" 200. It also received a score of 37 out of 100 on Metacritic, becoming the 15th worst reviewed album on the site. Puth embarked his debut live concert, Nine Track Mind Tour, in March 2016.


title: Charlie Puth

text: On April 21, 2017, Puth released "Attention", the lead single from his second studio album "Voicenotes". The song peaked at number on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his highest-charting single on the chart as a solo artist as of April 2022. The second single from "Voicenotes", "How Long", was released on October 5, 2017, and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Puth also collaborated with One Direction's Liam Payne on the single "Bedroom Floor", which he co-produced and provided background vocals for. In 2018, he was featured on G-Eazy's single "Sober". On January 4, 2018, Puth released the first promotional single from "Voicenotes", "If You Leave Me Now" featuring Boyz II Men. Puth also announced that he would be pushing the release date to May 11, 2018, from its original release date of January 19, 2018.


title: Charlie Puth

text: On March 15, 2018, "Done for Me" was released as the third single from "Voicenotes". The song features singer Kehlani. The song also peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. On March 25, 2018, Puth released the fourth single "Change" featuring James Taylor. A day earlier, Puth sang the song at the March for Our Lives event in Los Angeles. The album also features the songs "The Way I Am" the fifth single off the album.


title: Charlie Puth

text: "Voicenotes" was released on May 11, 2018, to generally positive reviews from critics; it debuted and peaked at number four on the US "Billboard" 200 with 58,000 album-equivalent units, of which 39,000 were pure album sales. Puth embarked on the Voicenotes Tour in 2018, with Hailee Steinfeld as a special guest.


title: Charlie Puth

text: In August 2019, Puth released "I Warned Myself"; another single, "Mother", was released in September, and a third, "Cheating on You", in October. In early 2020, Puth announced that he had scrapped what he had written for his third studio album; he remarked in 2022 that he "didn't really like any of the music" he released in 2019, and that he "felt like [he] was kind of pretending to be a cool guy". He released "Girlfriend" in June and "Hard on Yourself", featuring Blackbear, in August. In September 2021, Puth released "After All" with Elton John as part of John's album "The Lockdown Sessions".


title: Charlie Puth

text: The same month he started documenting on TikTok a process of "combin[ing] a seemingly random bunch of thoughts and noises made with different objects into a pop song", which went viral on the platform; this led to the release of "Light Switch" on January 20, 2022, as the first single from his third studio album, "Charlie". This was followed by "That's Hilarious" in April and "Left and Right" featuring Jungkook in June. On July 7, Puth revealed "Charlie" cover art and its release date. "Smells Like Me", "I Don't Think That I Like Her", and "Charlie Be Quiet!" were all released in September. "Charlie" was released on October 7 along with a music video for its song "Loser".


title: Charlie Puth

text: Growing up, Puth was bullied at school. He said, "They would team up against me so bad and they would kick me in a place that wouldn't feel fantastic and I would need to throw up and they would then say I was pretending to throw up." On "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" he said he had a nervous breakdown from "just being overworked—and I'm in my head a lot and that, in combination with jetlag and, you know, the self-realization that I am getting more famous and my privacy goes out the window pretty much every day—it's just not what I'm used to, and I don't think I'm ever going to be used to it, and my therapy is to just put melody to it and sing it."


title: Charlie Puth

text: He said that Justin Bieber's "viral leap into superstardom as a result of YouTube" influenced him to attempt the same.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinventing herself in music and fashion, for which she is referred to by the European press as the "Princess of Pop" and a style icon. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, three Brit Awards and 17 ARIA Music Awards.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Born and raised in Melbourne, Minogue first achieved recognition starring in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours", playing tomboy mechanic Charlene Robinson. She gained prominence as a recording artist in the late 1980s and released four bubblegum and dance-pop-influenced studio albums produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. By the early 1990s, she had amassed several top ten singles in the UK and Australia, including "I Should Be So Lucky", "The Loco-Motion", "Hand on Your Heart", and "Better the Devil You Know". Taking more creative control over her music, Minogue signed with Deconstruction Records in 1993 and released "Kylie Minogue" (1994) and "Impossible Princess" (1997), both of which received positive reviews. She returned to mainstream dance-oriented music with 2000's "Light Years", including the number-one hits "Spinning Around" and "On a Night Like This". The follow-up, "Fever" (2001), was an international breakthrough for Minogue, becoming her best-selling album to date. Two of its singles, "Love at First Sight" and "In Your Eyes", became hits, but its lead single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became one of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling over five million units.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Minogue continued reinventing her image and experimenting with a range of genres on her subsequent albums, which spawned successful singles such as "Slow", "2 Hearts", "All the Lovers", "Santa Baby", "Timebomb" and "Dancing". With her 2020 album "Disco", she became the first female artist to have a chart-topping album in the UK for five consecutive decades. Minogue made her film debut in "The Delinquents" (1989) and portrayed Cammy in "Street Fighter" (1994). She has also appeared in the films "Moulin Rouge!" (2001), "Jack & Diane", "Holy Motors" (2012) and "San Andreas" (2015). In 2014, she appeared as a judge on the third series of "The Voice UK" and "The Voice Australia". Her other ventures include product endorsements, children's books, fashion, and charitable work.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Minogue was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to music. She was appointed by the French government as a Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contribution to the enrichment of French culture. In 2005, while Minogue was on tour, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Health Science (D.H.Sc.) degree by Anglia Ruskin University in 2011 for her work in raising awareness for breast cancer. At the 2011 ARIA Music Awards, she was inducted by the Australian Recording Industry Association into the ARIA Hall of Fame. She was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours. Net worth of Kylie Minogue is A$109 million (2020 estimate).


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Kylie Ann Minogue was born in Melbourne on 28 May 1968, the daughter of car company accountant Ronald Charles Minogue and his wife Carol Ann (née Jones), a former ballet dancer. Both parents had moved to Australia in 1958 as part of an assisted migration scheme on the ship "Fairsea". Also aboard were the Gibb family of later Bee Gees fame. Minogue is of English and Welsh descent (though her surname is of Irish origin) and was named after the Nyungar word for "boomerang". She is the eldest of three children: her brother, Brendan Minogue, is a news cameraman in Australia, and her sister, Dannii Minogue, followed her steps and is a singer and television host. The family frequently moved around various suburbs in Melbourne to sustain their living expenses, which Minogue found unsettling as a child. She would often stay at home reading, sewing, and learning to play violin and piano. When they moved to Surrey Hills, Victoria, she went on to Camberwell High School. During her schooling years, she found it difficult to make friends. She got her HSC with subjects including Arts and Graphics and English. Minogue described herself as being of "average intelligence" and "quite modest" during her high school years. Growing up, she and her sister Dannii took singing and dancing lessons.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: A 10-year-old Minogue accompanied Dannii to a hearing arranged by the sisters' aunt, Suzette, and, while producers found Dannii too young, Alan Hardy gave Minogue a minor role in soap opera "The Sullivans" (1979). She also appeared in another small role in "Skyways" (1980). In 1985, she was cast in one of the lead roles in "The Henderson Kids". Minogue took time off school to film "The Henderson Kids" and while Carol was not impressed, Minogue felt that she needed the independence to make it into the entertainment industry. During filming, co-star Nadine Garner labelled Minogue "fragile" after producers yelled at her for forgetting her lines; she would often cry on set. Minogue was dropped from the second season of the show after producer Alan Hardy felt the need for her character to be "written off". In retrospect, Hardy stated that removing her from the showing "turned out to be the best thing for her". Interested in following a career in music, Minogue made a demo tape for the producers of weekly music program "Young Talent Time", which featured Dannii as a regular performer. Minogue gave her first television singing performance on the show in 1985 but was not invited to join the cast. Minogue was cast in the soap opera "Neighbours" in 1986, as Charlene Mitchell, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic. "Neighbours" achieved popularity in the UK, and a story arc that created a romance between her character and the character played by Jason Donovan culminated in a wedding episode in 1987 that attracted an audience of 20 million viewers. Minogue became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year and was the youngest recipient of the "Gold Logie" as the country's "Most Popular Television Performer", with the result determined by public vote. She was in a relationship with Donovan for three years, until 1989.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: During a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert, Minogue performed "I Got You Babe" as a duet with fellow actor John Waters, and "The Loco-Motion" as an encore. Producer Greg Petherick arranged for Minogue to record a demo of the latter song, re-titled as "Locomotion". The demo was sent to the head of Mushroom Records Michael Gudinski, who decided to sign Minogue in early 1987 based on her popularity from "Neighbours". The track was first recorded in big band style, but was later given a completely new backing track by producer Mike Duffy, inspired by the hi-NRG sound of UK band Dead or Alive. "The Locomotion" was released as her debut single in Australia on 27 July 1987, three weeks after "Neighbours" wedding episode premiered. The single became the best-selling single of the decade in Australia according to the Kent Music Report. The success of "Locomotion" resulted in Minogue travelling to London to work with record producing trio Stock Aitken Waterman in September 1987. They knew little of Minogue and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" while she waited outside the studio. The track was written and recorded in under 40 minutes. Although Minogue needed to be convinced to work with Stock Aitken Waterman again after feeling she'd been disrespected during her first recording session, more sessions with the producers occurred from February to April 1988 in London and Melbourne, where the singer was filming her last episodes for "Neighbours". The trio ended up composing and producing all the tracks on the forthcoming album and produced a new version of "The Loco-Motion". Producer Pete Waterman justified the highly controversial decision to re-record the latter track by claiming Minogue's platinum-selling Australian version was poorly produced, but Mike Duffy instead blamed the decision on Waterman's alleged wish to claim the prestige and royalties from the track's placement of the soundtrack of the 1988 film "."


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Minogue's self-titled debut album, "Kylie", was released in July 1988. The album is a collection of dance-oriented pop tunes and spent more than a year on the UK Albums Chart, including several weeks at number one, eventually becoming the best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist. It went gold in the United States, while the single "The Locomotion" reached number three on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and number one on the Canadian dance chart. The single "Got to Be Certain" became her third consecutive number one single on the Australian music charts. Later in the year, she left "Neighbours" to focus on her music career. Minogue also collaborated with Jason Donovan on the song "Especially for You", after intense demand for the duet from the public, media and retailers overcame her initial reservations. The track peaked at number-one in the United Kingdom and, in December 2014, sold its one millionth copy in the UK. Minogue was sometimes referred to as "the Singing Budgie" by her detractors over the coming years. In a review of the album "Kylie" for AllMusic, Chris True described the tunes as "standard, late-80s ... bubblegum", but added, "her cuteness makes these rather vapid tracks bearable". She received the ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single. The song reached number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Israel and Hong Kong. Minogue won her second consecutive ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single, and received a "Special Achievement Award".


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Minogue's second album, "Enjoy Yourself", was released in October 1989. It was a success in the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Australia and spawned the UK number-one singles "Hand on Your Heart" and "Tears on My Pillow". However, it failed to sell well throughout North America, and Minogue was dropped by her American record label Geffen Records. She then embarked on her first concert tour, the Enjoy Yourself Tour, in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Australia in February 1990. She was also one of the featured vocalists on the remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Minogue's debut film, "The Delinquents", was released in December 1989. The movie received mixed reviews by critics but proved popular with audiences. In the UK it grossed more than £200,000, and in Australia, it was the fourth-highest-grossing local film of 1989 and the highest-grossing local film of 1990. From 1989 to 1991, Minogue dated INXS frontman Michael Hutchence.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Minogue's third album, "Rhythm of Love", was released in November 1990 and was described as "leaps and bounds more mature" than her previous albums by AllMusic's Chris True. The album did not match the commercial success of its predecessors, but three of its singles – "Better the Devil You Know", "Step Back in Time" and "Shocked – reached the top ten in both the UK and Australia. "Entertainment Weekly"s Ernest Macias observed that, in "Rhythm of Love", Minogue "presented a more mature and sexually-fueled image". Macias also pointed out that the album "showcases the beginning of Minogue's career as a pop icon, propelled by her angelic vocals, sensual music videos, chic fashion, and distinct dance sound."


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Her relationship with Michael Hutchence was also seen as part of her departure from her earlier persona. The making of the "Better the Devil You Know" music video was the first time Minogue "felt part of the creative process". She said: "I wasn't in charge but I had a voice. I'd bought some clothes on King's Road for the video. I saw a new way to express my point of view creatively." To promote the album, Minogue embarked on the Rhythm of Love Tour in February 1991.


title: Kylie Minogue

text: Minogue's fourth album, "Let's Get to It", was released in October 1991 and reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. It was her first album to fail to reach the top ten. While the first single from the album, "Word Is Out", became her first single to miss the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, subsequent singles "If You Were with Me Now" and "Give Me Just a Little More Time" both reached the top five. In support of the album, she embarked on the Let's Get to It Tour in October. She later expressed her opinion that she was stifled by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, saying, "I was very much a puppet in the beginning. I was blinkered by my record company. I was unable to look left or right." Her first best-of album, simply titled "Greatest Hits", was released in August 1992. It reached number one in the United Kingdom and number three in Australia. The singles from the album, "What Kind of Fool" and her cover version of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration", both reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.