title: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)

text: Another influence came through one of Jackson's conceptual artists, John Howe, who unwittingly copied a scene from Bakshi's film in a painting that depicted the four Hobbits hiding under a branch from a Ringwraith. The painting was used in the 1987 J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar. Jackson turned the painting into a scene in the film.


title: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)

text: The film was adapted into comic book form with artwork by Spanish artist Luis Bermejo, under licence from Tolkien Enterprises. Three issues were published for the European market, starting in 1979, and were not published in the United States or translated into English due to copyright problems.


title: The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)

text: Warner Bros. (the rights holder to the post-1973 Rankin-Bass library and the pre-1990 Saul Zaentz theatrical library) first released the film on DVD and re-released on VHS in 2001 through the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. While the VHS version ends with the narrator saying "Here ends the first part of the history of the War of the Ring.", the DVD version has an alternate narration: "The forces of darkness were driven forever from the face of Middle-Earth by the valiant friends of Frodo. As their gallant battle ended, so, too, ends the first great tale of "The Lord of the Rings"." Later, "The Lord of the Rings" was released in a deluxe edition on Blu-ray and DVD on April 6, 2010. "The Lord of the Rings" was selected as the 36th greatest animated film by "Time Out" magazine, and ranked as the 90th greatest animated film of all time by the Online Film Critics Society.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish musician and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and distinctive voice. For the majority of her career, Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh and the U.S. to record with Garbage, which originally formed in Madison, Wisconsin; she now lives and works primarily in Los Angeles, while maintaining a second home in Edinburgh.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson's musical career began in her teens when she was approached to perform backing vocals and keyboards for the band Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. She developed a formidable stage presence, and was later approached by the band's record label with the idea of launching her as a solo artist. She recorded an album with her band under the name Angelfish. After seeing Manson in an Angelfish music video broadcast only once on MTV's "120 Minutes", Garbage invited her to audition, and she eventually joined the band. In 1995, Garbage released their self-titled debut album, a critical and commercial success. The band have released seven studio albums, including the multiple Grammy Award-nominated "Version 2.0" and a greatest hits album. Garbage have toured worldwide and sold over 17 million records as of 2017.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2006, Manson began to write and record solo material after Garbage went on hiatus. In 2008, she played a liquid metal T-1001 Terminator named Catherine Weaver in the second season of "". She returned to the recording studio in 2010 to write and produce material for Garbage's fifth studio album, "Not Your Kind of People", released in 2012. The band followed up with "Strange Little Birds" in 2016 and "No Gods No Masters" in 2021.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Shirley Ann Manson was born in Edinburgh on 26 August 1966, the daughter of Muriel Flora (née MacKay) and John Mitchell Manson. Her father, a descendant from the fishing community of Northmavine, was a university lecturer, while her mother was a big band singer who had been adopted by a Lothian-based family at an early age and took on the family name MacDonald. Manson was named after an aunt, who was herself named after Charlotte Brontë's novel "Shirley". She has two sisters: Lindy-Jayne, who is two years older than her and Sarah, who is two years younger than her. They were brought up in the Comely Bank and Stockbridge areas of Edinburgh. She attended Broughton High School and her childhood education was informed by the Church of Scotland (her father was her Sunday School teacher) until age 12.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson's first public performance was in 1970, at age four, with her older sister in an amateur show held at the local Church Hill Theatre. Enrolled at Flora Stevenson Primary School, she received instruction in recorder, clarinet, and fiddle, and learned ballet and piano from extramural classes at age seven. Manson was a member of Girlguiding UK throughout this period of her youth as a Brownie and a Girl Guide. She attended the City of Edinburgh Music School, the music department of Broughton High School. While at Broughton, she became an active member of its drama group, performing in amateur dramatic and musical performances such as "The American Dream" and "The Wizard of Oz", while also singing with the Waverley Singers, a local girl choir. A 1981 Edinburgh Festival Fringe production of "Maurice the Minotaur", in which Manson played a prophet, was awarded a Fringe First award by "The Scotsman" newspaper.


title: Shirley Manson

text: While she enjoyed primary school, Manson was bullied while in her first year at secondary school, causing her to suffer from depression and body dysmorphic disorder and engage in self-injury: she carried sharp objects in the laces of her boots and would cut herself when she felt low self-esteem, stress, or anxiety. The bullying stopped when Manson associated herself with a rebel crowd, which resulted in her rebelling herself. She was absent for most of her final year at school and began smoking cannabis, sniffing glue, drinking alcohol, shoplifting, and on one occasion breaking into Edinburgh Zoo. Manson had teenage ambitions to become an actress, but was rejected by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD). Her first job was volunteer work in a local hospital's cafeteria, then as a breakfast waitress at a local hotel, before spending five years as a shop assistant for Miss Selfridge. She started on the shop's makeup counters, but was eventually moved into stockrooms because of her attitude toward customers. She became well known throughout Edinburgh's clubbing scene; making use of free samples from Miss Selfridge, she styled hair for a number of local bands. She also briefly modelled clothing for "Jackie" magazine.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson's first musical experiences came from briefly singing with local Edinburgh acts The Wild Indians and performed backing vocals with Autumn 1904. While she was performing with her group, Manson was approached by Goodbye Mr Mackenzie's lead Martin Metcalfe to join his band. Manson was in a relationship with Metcalfe initially, but remained working with the band after splitting from him and became a prominent member, performing keyboards, backing vocals and becoming involved in the band's business side. Manson's first release with the Mackenzies was a YTS release of "Death of a Salesman" in 1984. The group signed a major-label record deal with Capitol Records in 1987, and they released their first album "Good Deeds and Dirty Rags", and their only UK top 40 entry "The Rattler". In 1990, the group's contract was transferred to Parlophone, another EMI label, but after two singles failed to chart Parlophone declined to release the group's second album "Hammer and Tongs".


title: Shirley Manson

text: Gary Kurfirst, who managed Talking Heads and Debbie Harry, bought the Mackenzies contract and issued their second album through his own label Radioactive Records, a subsidiary of MCA Records. After another single failed to chart, the group were persuaded to leave Radioactive by their management. The Mackenzies continued to write material; Manson was also given the opportunity to record lead vocals on a number of tracks planned for the band's third album. Although MCA had no desire to further their commitments to Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, the label expressed interest in recording an album with Manson, and after hearing several demos, Kurfirst signed Manson to Radioactive as a solo artist, with the remaining Mackenzies performing as her backing band to circumvent the band's existing deal with MCA. Manson's contract obliged her to deliver at least one album and, at the sole option of Radioactive, up to six additional albums.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Recording under the name Angelfish, and using some of the newly written material and a previously released Mackenzie b-side, Manson and the group recorded the tracks that would make up the "Angelfish" album in Connecticut with Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. A lead in track "Suffocate Me" was sent to college radio where it was well received. "Angelfish" and second single "Heartbreak to Hate" followed in 1994. Angelfish toured Belgium, Canada, France, and the U.S. The band co-supported Live on a tour of North America, along with Vic Chestnutt. The music video for "Suffocate Me" was aired once on MTV's "120 Minutes". Producer and musician Steve Marker caught the broadcast and thought Manson would be a great singer for his band, Garbage, which also featured producers Duke Erikson and Butch Vig.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Vig invited Manson to Smart Studios to sing on a couple of tracks. After an unsuccessful audition, she returned to Angelfish. Manson admitted she felt intimidated showcasing herself to Vig, who produced bands she admired such as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and The Smashing Pumpkins, and Vig added that the audition's disorganized nature along with the Americans not understanding Manson's Scottish accent caused communication problems. At the end of the Live tour, Angelfish imploded and Manson returned to Smart for a second try. She began to work on the then-skeletal origins of some songs and the band invited her to become a full-time member and finish the album; she co-wrote and co-produced the entire album with the rest of the band. In August 1994, Radioactive gave their permission for Manson to work with Garbage. The band's debut album "Garbage" was released in August 1995, and went on to sell over 4 million copies, buoyed by a run of high charting singles including "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Stupid Girl." Manson quickly became the public face of the band over the course of a tour that took the band through to the end of 1996. Echo & the Bunnymen had asked Manson to sing on their 1997 comeback album.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson became the band's chief songwriter for the follow-up record "Version 2.0" which equalled the success of the band's debut record after its May 1998 release. During the two-year tour in support of the record, Manson modelled for Calvin Klein. Manson lived in hotels throughout the recording periods of the debut and Version 2.0. The group recorded the theme song to the James Bond movie "The World Is Not Enough," and Manson became the third Scotswoman to sing a Bond theme after Lulu and Sheena Easton. In the accompanying video, she portrays an android assassin. For the recording of Garbage's third record throughout 2000, Manson became one of the first high-profile artists to write a blog online, while she decided to improve her guitar playing for the band's next tour. Their third album, "Beautiful Garbage", featured Manson's most forward and personal lyrics to date. The album did not sell as well as its predecessors, but Garbage performed a successful world tour in support of it. During a concert at the Roskilde Festival, Manson's voice gave out. She afterwards discovered a vocal fold cyst, and had to undergo corrective surgery.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson's lyrics became more overtly political for Garbage's fourth record, 2005's "Bleed Like Me," which after the surprise success of lead-in single "Why Do You Love Me", posted some of the band's highest chart positions upon release. Garbage began an extended hiatus in October 2005. During this period, in 2007, Garbage reformed to perform a short set at a benefit show to raise cash to pay for Wally Ingram's medical treatment, shared song ideas via the internet, recorded new material, and filmed a music video to promote the band's "Absolute Garbage" greatest hits compilation. Garbage returned to the studio in 2010 to write and record material for a fifth album, entitled "Not Your Kind of People" and subsequently released in May 2012, thus ending the band's seven-year hiatus from recording.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2021, Garbage supported Alanis Morissette's 2020 World Tour: Celebrating 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill, which had been postponed due to COVID-19. At several performances, Manson wore a variation on "Garden Witch Overalls", popularised by feminist poet Kate Baer through her interview on the podcast "Gee Thanks, Just Bought It", hosted by Caroline Moss. Manson paired the overalls with knee-high boots and assorted t-shirts.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Garbage's alternative musical style fuses various genres including electronic rock, industrial rock, punk, grunge, trip hop and shoegaze.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson confirmed in March 2006 that she had begun work on a solo album, working with musician Paul Buchanan, producer Greg Kurstin, and film composer David Arnold, stating that she had "no timetable" for completing the project. In 2007, Manson collaborated with Rivers Cuomo of Weezer. Manson presented some of her work to Geffen Records in 2008, who found it "too noir", prompting Manson and Geffen to terminate her contract by mutual agreement. Manson later elaborated, "[Geffen] wanted me to have international radio hits and 'be the Annie Lennox of my generation'. I kid you not; I am quoting directly." "I made a quiet, very dark, non-radio-friendly record," she recalled. "I'm not interested in writing nursery rhymes for the masses."


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson continued to write material while without a record deal and had been in talks with David Byrne and Ray Davies about a potential collaboration. In 2009, Manson posted three demos on her Facebook profile, written by her and Kurstin, titled "In the Snow", "Pretty Horses" and "Lighten Up". "Pretty Horses" was later featured in the pilot episode of the show "Conviction". 14 additional songs co-written with Kurstin and registered on copyright and performance rights societies included Don't Want To Pretend, Don't Want Anyone Hurt, Gone Upside, Hot Shit, Kid Ourselves, Little Dough, Pure Genius, Sweet Old World, Spooky, So Shines A Good Deed, The Desert, No Regrets, Stop, To Be King.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2009, Manson announced she was stepping away from music, saying she got sick of the music industry's new practices and had found more excitement in acting. Manson said she thought about abandoning the music business in 2008, when her mother developed dementia, and later died, saying that "I didn't want to make music, didn't feel creative. I could barely function." Later that year she reconsidered her words and went back into performing after being asked by friends to sing David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" at their son's memorial. According to Manson, "we were all in so much pain, but it meant so much to them that I could sing that song and so much to me that I was able to do something. It made me realise how much music sustains people. I don't know why I'd turned my back on it."


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson also worked with a number of artists outside of her solo project, reciting a verse of a long poem for a Chris Connelly album, co-writing and recording a duet with Eric Avery for his solo debut recording with Debbie Harry. Although not recording material with them, Manson also performed on-stage with The Pretenders, Iggy Pop, Incubus and Kings of Leon in Atlantic City, with Gwen Stefani and twice with No Doubt in Universal City. Manson also performed in an uncredited role as a dominatrix in the music video for She Wants Revenge's single "These Things". Most recently Manson performed vocals on a track written by Serj Tankian entitled "The Hunger", a single from the rock musical "Prometheus Bound".


title: Shirley Manson

text: In January 2012, Manson confirmed that work on her solo album had been cancelled, stating the album "[is] dead and buried. We had the funeral. It was sad and I cried a lot but it made such a beautiful corpse that we had an open casket."


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson possesses a contralto vocal range, which has been noted for its distinctive qualities as well as her emotive delivery. Elysa Gardner of the "Los Angeles Times" stated "one of Garbage's most compelling features is a force of nature: Manson's vocals, which can convey a multitude of emotions without ever coming across as melodramatic".


title: Shirley Manson

text: Reviewing a live Garbage performance, Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" commented, "Temptress, lover, sufferer, scrapper – those have been Ms. Manson's personae since Garbage started in 1995. In other eras she might have been a pop torch singer, a soul belter or a new-wave frontwoman: a Shirley Bassey, a Dusty Springfield, or a Chrissie Hynde. There's a little of each of them in her voice" also stating "In the course of each song she let her voice rise in anger, contempt or passion". "Green Left Weekly", in a review of "Garbage", remarked that Manson "vocalist and guitarist, has a powerful voice, which soars and dips like a bird. It can plead or demand. It can sound dreamy or psychotic." Reviewing a 2012 live Garbage performance, Catherine Gee of "The Daily Telegraph" noted that Manson "remains a striking performer whose distinctive contralto snarl can still raise the hairs on the back of your neck." In a review of "Garbage", Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described Manson's voice as "thin and airy", whilst Mike Diver of the BBC stated Manson owned "a snarl in her voice but [was] equally capable of a purr to melt away any resistance." also adding "even at her most vulnerable, Manson maintains her controlling condition".


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson's earliest musical memories were of her mother, who sang with a big band when Manson was a child. Manson was exposed to classic jazz records as she grew up and work by Nina Simone, Cher, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. At 14, she became a fan of Siouxsie and the Banshees albums "The Scream" and "Kaleidoscope", and taught herself how to sing listening to those albums, later stating "many of the songs of those two albums were massive loves of my life". Vocalist Siouxsie Sioux embodied how Manson aspired to be as a teen, and "has remained a touchstone for me throughout my career and is still inspiring to me."


title: Shirley Manson

text: At nineteen, Manson discovered Patti Smith, specifically her "Horses" album, which made a "strong impact" on her. Manson was inspired to learn guitar by Chrissie Hynde, who is an admirer of Manson, while also appreciating the style of Toyah Willcox and Debbie Harry, whose 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech was delivered by Manson. The majority of Manson's influences were female musicians; however she also notes David Bowie as an inspiring male musician. Manson also grew up listening to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Frank Sinatra, The Clash, The Sugarcubes, Cocteau Twins, Iggy and the Stooges, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Velvet Underground.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson's lyrics deal with darker themes, often in a mocking manner. She credits that to her Scottish psyche that leads to a preference for depressing themes, and the fact she always felt like an outsider, even within Garbage – "I'm the odd one out by default. I'm the only girl, I'm younger than they are, they've all known each other for 40 years, or something crazy like that. So I always felt, like, off the centre of things."


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson has been credited with inspiring later female artists; including Amy Lee, Florence Welch, Taylor Momsen, Liz Anjos of RAC and "The Pragmatic", Screaming Females' Marissa Paternoster, Dee Dee Penny of Dum Dum Girls, Skylar Grey, Paramore's Hayley Williams, Ritzy Bryan (lead singer and guitarist of The Joy Formidable), Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Potty Mouth's Ally Einbinder, Billie Eilish, Peaches, Radiator Hospital's Cynthia Schemmer, The Great Wilderness' Paola Rogue, Marina and the Diamonds, and Lana Del Rey. Manson is also considered a style icon, influencing various other female artists, and inspiring fashion designers and stylists.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Below is a list of studio albums featuring Manson as a member of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie (1989–1994), Angelfish (1994) and Garbage (1995–present):


title: Shirley Manson

text: The first time Manson contributed her vocals to a project separately from any of her bands was in 1998, when she performed vocals for the chorus of a Garbage-produced remix of Fun Lovin' Criminals 1999 single "Korean Bodega". Due to litigation problems surrounding Manson's contractual obligation to Radioactive Records, further collaborations with both Fun Lovin' Criminals and Moby were unable to proceed.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson teamed up with Marilyn Manson and Tim Sköld in 2004 to record a cover version of the Human League's "Don't You Want Me" but both felt the track inappropriate for either acts upcoming albums, and remains unreleased. Later that year, Manson and Brody Dalle contributed backing vocals to a Queens of the Stone Age track. In 2006, Manson planned to record a John Lennon cover version for the Amnesty International "" charity compilation with bassist Eric Avery, however a scheduling misunderstanding left them short of time and unable to record the song. Manson and Avery eventually co-wrote and recorded "Maybe", a ballad duet for Avery's album "Help Wanted".


title: Shirley Manson

text: The following year, Manson worked with long-time friend Chris Connelly, orating part of a long poem on his eighth album "Forgiveness and Exile", and worked on a duet with longtime inspiration Debbie Harry which remains uncompleted.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Upon her taking on the role of Catherine Weaver in "Terminator..." and on the encouragement of series' composer Bear McCreary, Manson was asked by showrunner Josh Friedman to perform and co-create a gospel arrangement of "Samson and Delilah" for the opening episode of the second season. After much interest, the track was released on "" soundtrack at the end of 2008. Three years later Manson recorded vocals to a track composed by Serj Tankian and Steven Sater. The track, "The Hunger", which Sater describes as exploring "the hunger of the heart", features on their rock musical adaptation of "Prometheus Bound", and was recreated with fresh instrumentation and new lyrics for the digital release, exclusively through iTunes worldwide. All proceeds made from sales of the single will benefit Amnesty International.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson has also given two tracks to Sky Ferreira; the 2012 single "Red Lips" and "I'm on Top" in 2013.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2002, electronic group West London Deep sampled Manson's vocal from "You Look So Fine" in their white label track "You're Taking Me Over". Manson refused clearance for the sample and the track was scrapped. By that point the track, and remixes by Inner City, Problem Kids and Desyn Masiello and Leon Roberts had already been circulated. The song was reworked and re-released the following year as "Gonna Make You My Lover", without Manson's vocal.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson was cast in "" in May 2008, after being asked to appear by series creator Josh Friedman and enduring a multiple audition process, beating out other actresses including Julie Ann Emery. She debuted in the season two premiere episode "" as Catherine Weaver, CEO of a technology company, ZeiraCorp. At the conclusion of the episode, Weaver is revealed to be a liquid-metal T-1001 Terminator. Manson also performed and co-arranged a rock and blues version of the gospel song "Samson and Delilah" for the episode's score. Manson cites actress Glenn Close and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her acting influences for the ambiguous character. Manson also played the human Weaver in archive footage viewed by the T-1001 in the episode "The Tower Is Tall, But the Fall Is Short".


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2009, Manson made her first venture into the video game industry by becoming digitally mapped to create an avatar of herself for the "Guitar Hero" franchise. In the fifth game in the series, Manson is an unlockable character, while the game also features a licensed Garbage track.


title: Shirley Manson

text: The next year, Manson was one of the final guests to appear on the cult US children's show "Pancake Mountain". Featured in a segment titled "Around the World with Shirley Manson", she talked about music from other countries. She filmed five such segments but none aired before creator Scott Stuckey and producer J. J. Abrams canceled the show. One segment, featuring Germany, was eventually released and featured an original theme song sung by Manson and written by Stuckey.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson has used Garbage's profile and her own to raise awareness and secure funds for a number of causes. She commissioned a Garbage branded lipgloss online, with all proceeds from the sales split between Grampian Children's Cancer Research and cancer treatment institutions at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital in Scotland and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2001, Manson became an ambassador for the M•A•C AIDS Fund, fronting their fourth two-year charity lipstick marketing campaign alongside Elton John and Mary J. Blige, beginning with the launch of the VIVAMAC IV lipstick in March 2002, in which all proceeds of the sale of the lipstick goes to help fund AIDS charities and initiatives. While touring, Manson visited several AIDS charities in Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Toronto, New York, San Francisco and Madison to make several donations totalling over $300,000 on behalf of the M•A•C AIDS Fund.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2003, the M•A•C AIDS Fund linked with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to produce the White Bedroom campaign, where both Elton John and Manson recorded PSAs promoting condom use and stating facts on AIDS. By 2007, the combined six VIVAMAC campaigns had raised over $100 million U.S. dollars, and as a former ambassador Manson accepted a cheque for £51,000 on behalf of HIV charity Waverley Care from the M•A•C AIDS Fund on 10 April 2008 at Harvey Nichols Edinburgh store. Manson had become a patron of Waverley Care in October 2002 and previously hosted a fund raiser auction to raise funds for the charity in January 2004 which raised £45,000. A Fender guitar owned by Manson raised £1,050, while other items auctioned included contributions sourced by Manson herself, from Elton John and Kylie Minogue.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson has also adopted a rescue dog, a terrier-mix named Veela, named after the veelas from the "Harry Potter" books.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2008, Manson became involved with The Pablove Foundation, a charity founded by Dangerbird Records head Jeff Castelaz, whose son Pablo succumbed to cancer the following year. Castelaz, whose family Manson had befriended in the 90s, had asked Manson to sing "Life on Mars?" at their sons' memorial. Funds raised for The Pablove Foundation fund pediatric cancer research and educational and quality of life programming for families dealing with childhood cancer. Manson reformed Garbage to contribute an exclusive track, "Witness to Your Love", to a charity album for the Foundation; signed off a Pablove poster for auction on eBay; Manson also hosted a fundraiser headlined by the Silversun Pickups, and performed acoustically on-stage at a second fundraiser with Butch Vig and Laura Jane Grace (for a rendition of "Witness...") and with Greg Kurstin (for a cover of Pablo's favourite song, David Bowie's "Life on Mars?").


title: Shirley Manson

text: In 2010, Shirley Manson donated two hand-decorated T-shirts to Binki Shapiro's (of the band Little Joy) online charity auction "Crafts for a Cause" to raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The two T-shirts raised a total of $1522.00, which was donated to the Artists for Peace and Justice organisation.


title: Shirley Manson

text: In January 2015, Manson headlined Pablove 6, the sixth-annual fundraiser for the Pablove Foundation. She made a special appearance with Chicago-based David Bowie tribute band Sons of the Silent Age, featuring Matt Walker and Chris Connelly.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson was married to Scottish artist Eddie Farrell from 1996 to 2003. In 2008, Manson became engaged to record producer and Garbage sound engineer Billy Bush. They were married at a Los Angeles courthouse in May 2010. They continue to reside in Los Angeles, while Manson maintains a second home in the Edinburgh suburb of Joppa.


title: Shirley Manson

text: Manson has distanced herself from organized religion but has long been interested in spirituality. She recalled, "When I was very small, I was very besotted with the church, absolutely. I loved the theatre of it and I got very involved in all the stories we were taught." When she was about 12, she had an argument with her father at the dinner table, screaming at him, "Religion's a sham and I'm not going to church anymore, it's just bullshit." She stopped going to church but continued to have theological debates with him every Sunday. She became disenchanted with organised religion and although she maintained an interest in spirituality, she complained that she has "brushed up against too many examples of hypocritical spiritualists".


title: Paul Weller

text: Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul music of the Style Council (1983–1989), before establishing himself as a solo artist with his eponymous 1992 album.


title: Paul Weller

text: Despite widespread critical recognition as a singer, lyricist, and guitarist, Weller has remained a national, rather than international, star and much of his songwriting is rooted in English society. Many of his songs with the Jam had lyrics about working class life. He was the principal figure of the 1970s and 1980s mod revival, often referred to as "The Modfather", and an influence on Britpop bands such as Oasis.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller was born on 25 May 1958 in Woking, Surrey, England, to John and Ann Weller (née Craddock). Although born John William Weller, he became known as Paul by his parents.


title: Paul Weller

text: His father worked as a taxi driver and a builder and his mother was a part-time cleaner. Weller started his education at Maybury County First School in 1963. His love of music began with the Beatles, then the Who and Small Faces. By the time Weller was eleven and moving up to Sheerwater County Secondary school, music was the biggest part of his life, and he had started playing the guitar.


title: Paul Weller

text: He formed the first incarnation of the Jam in the same year, playing bass guitar with his best friends Steve Brookes (lead guitar) and Dave Waller (rhythm guitar). Weller's father, acting as their manager, began booking the band into local working men's clubs. Joined by Rick Buckler on drums, and with Bruce Foxton soon replacing Waller on rhythm guitar, the four-piece band began to forge a local reputation, playing a mixture of Beatles covers and a number of compositions written by Weller and Brookes. Brookes left the band in 1976, and Weller and Foxton decided they would swap guitar roles, with Weller now the guitarist.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller became interested in 1960s mod culture in late 1974, particularly after hearing 'My Generation' by the Who. As a result, he began riding a Lambretta scooter, styling his hair like Steve Marriott and immersing himself in 1960s soul and R&B music. At his instigation, the Jam began wearing mohair suits onstage and he and Foxton began playing Rickenbacker guitars (as favoured by the Who and the Beatles in the mid-1960s). He has been a committed mod ever since, declaring in a 1991 interview that, "I'll always be a mod. You can bury me a mod".


title: Paul Weller

text: The Jam emerged at the same time as punk rock bands such as the Clash, the Damned, and Sex Pistols. The Clash emerged as leading early advocates of the band, and were sufficiently impressed to take them along as the support on their "White Riot" tour of 1977.


title: Paul Weller

text: The Jam's first single, "In the City", took them into the UK Top 40 in May 1977. Although every subsequent single had a placing within the Top 40, it was not until the group released the political "The Eton Rifles" that they would break into the Top 10, hitting the No. 3 spot in November 1979. The increasing popularity of their blend of Weller's barbed lyrics with pop melodies eventually led to their first number one single, "Going Underground", in March 1980.


title: Paul Weller

text: "I like them a lot," remarked Peter Gabriel, who enlisted Weller to play on his third album. "They're one of the new groups who have written the best songs. They're really very good."


title: Paul Weller

text: The Jam became the first band since the Beatles to perform both sides of the same single ("Town Called Malice" and "Precious") on one edition of "Top of the Pops". They also had two singles, "That's Entertainment" and "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?", reach No. 21 and No. 8 respectively in the UK singles chart despite not even being released as singles in the UK – they got there purely on the strength of the huge number of people buying import sales of the German and Dutch single releases. The Jam still hold the record for the best-selling import-only singles in the UK charts.


title: Paul Weller

text: As the band's popularity increased, however, Weller became restless and wanted to explore a more soulful, melodic style of music with a broader instrumentation, and in consequence in 1982 he announced that the Jam would disband at the end of that year. The action came as a surprise to Foxton and Buckler who both felt that the band was still a creative formation with scope to develop further professionally, but Weller was determined to end the band and move on. Their final single, "Beat Surrender", became their fourth UK chart topper, going straight to No. 1 in its first week. Their farewell concerts at Wembley Arena were multiple sell-outs; their final concert took place at the Brighton Centre on 11 December 1982.


title: Paul Weller

text: At the beginning of 1983, Weller teamed up with keyboard player Mick Talbot to form a new group called the Style Council. Weller brought in Steve White to play drums, as well as singer Dee C. Lee, who was later to become Weller's girlfriend and then wife. She also had previously been a backing singer with Wham!


title: Paul Weller

text: Free of the limited musical styles he felt imposed by the Jam, under the collective of the Style Council Weller was able to experiment with a wide range of music, from pop and jazz to Soul/R&B, house and folk-styled ballads. The band was at the vanguard of a jazz/pop revival that would continue with the emergence of bands like Matt Bianco, Sade, and Everything but the Girl, whose members Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt contributed vocals and guitar to the 1984 Style Council song "Paris Match".


title: Paul Weller

text: Many of the Style Council's early singles performed well in the charts, and Weller would also experience his first success in North America, when "My Ever Changing Moods" and "You're the Best Thing" entered the US "Billboard" Hot 100. In Australia it was far more successful than the Jam, reaching the top of the charts in 1984 with "Shout to the Top".


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller appeared on 1984's Band Aid record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and was called upon to mime the absent Bono's lyrics on "Top of the Pops". The Style Council was the second act to appear in the British half of Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985.


title: Paul Weller

text: In December 1984, Weller put together his own charity ensemble called the Council Collective to make a record, "Soul Deep", to raise money for striking miners, and the family of David Wilkie. The record featured the Style Council plus a number of other performers, notably Jimmy Ruffin and Junior Giscombe. In spite of the song's political content, it still picked up BBC Radio 1 airplay and was performed on "Top of the Pops", which led to the incongruous sight of lyrics such as "We can't afford to let the government win / It means death to the trade unions" being mimed amid the show's flashing lights and party atmosphere.


title: Paul Weller

text: As the 1980s wore on, the Style Council's popularity in the UK began to slide, with the band achieving only one top ten single after 1985. The Style Council's death knell was sounded in 1989 when its record company refused to release its fifth and final studio album, the house-influenced "". With the rejection of this effort, Weller announced that the Style Council had split. It wasn't until the 1998 retrospective CD box set "The Complete Adventures of the Style Council" that the album would be widely available.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 1989, Weller found himself without a band and without a recording deal for the first time since he was 17. After taking time off for most of 1990, he returned to the road late in the year, touring as "The Paul Weller Movement" with long-term drummer and friend Steve White and Paul Francis (session bassist from the James Taylor Quartet). After a slow start playing small clubs with a mixture of Jam/Style Council classics as well as showcasing new material such as "Into Tomorrow", by the time of the release of his 1992 LP, "Paul Weller", he had begun to re-establish himself as a leading British singer-songwriter. This self-titled album saw a return to a more jazz-guitar-focused sound, featuring samples and a funk influence with shades of the Style Council sound. The album also featured a new producer, Brendan Lynch. Tracks such as "Here's a New Thing" and "That Spiritual Feeling" were marketed among the emerging acid jazz scene.


title: Paul Weller

text: Buoyed by the positive commercial and critical success of his first solo album, Weller returned to the studio in 1993 with a renewed confidence. Accompanied by Steve White, guitarist Steve Cradock and bassist Marco Nelson, the result of these sessions was the triumphant Mercury Music Prize-nominated "Wild Wood", which included the singles "Sunflower" and "Wild Wood".


title: Paul Weller

text: His 1995 album "Stanley Road" took him back to the top of the British charts for the first time in a decade, and went on to become the best-selling album of his career. The album, named after the street in Woking where he had grown up, marked a return to the more guitar-based style of his earlier days. The album's major single, "The Changingman", was also a big hit, taking Weller to No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart. Another single, the ballad "You Do Something To Me", was his second consecutive Top 10 single and reached No. 9 in the UK.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller found himself heavily associated with the emerging Britpop movement that gave rise to such bands as Oasis, Pulp and Blur. Noel Gallagher (of Oasis) is credited as guest guitarist on the "Stanley Road" album track "I Walk on Gilded Splinters". Weller also returned the favour, appearing as a guest guitarist and backing vocalist on Oasis' hit song "Champagne Supernova".


title: Paul Weller

text: "Heavy Soul", the follow-up to the million-selling "Stanley Road", saw Weller twist his sound again. The album was more raw than its predecessor; Weller was now frequently playing live in the studio in as few takes as possible. The first single "Peacock Suit" reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart, and the album reached No. 2. Success in the charts also came from compilations: "Best Of" albums by the Jam and the Style Council charted, and in 1998 his own solo collection "Modern Classics" was a substantial success.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2000, while living in Send, Surrey, he released his fifth solo studio album, "Heliocentric". Once again finding himself without a record contract, Weller's "Days of Speed" worldwide tour provided him with the opportunity to view his works as one back catalogue, giving rise to a second successful live album in 2001. "Days of Speed" contained live acoustic versions from the world tour of the same name, including some of his best-known songs from his solo career and the back catalogues of his Jam and Style Council days.


title: Paul Weller

text: There were rumours at the time that "Heliocentric" would be Weller's final studio effort, but these proved unfounded when he released the No. 1 hit album "Illumination" in September 2002. Co-produced by Noonday Underground's Simon Dine, it was preceded by yet another top 10 hit single "It's Written in the Stars". Weller also appears on the 2002 Noonday Underground album called "Surface Noise", singing on the track "I'll Walk Right On".


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2002, Weller collaborated with Terry Callier on the single "Brother to Brother", which featured on Callier's album "Speak Your Peace". In 2003, Weller teamed up with electronic rock duo Death in Vegas on a cover of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby", which featured on their "Scorpio Rising" album.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2004, Weller released an album of covers entitled "Studio 150". It debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts and included Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" as well as covers of songs by Gil Scott-Heron, Rose Royce and Gordon Lightfoot, amongst others.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller's 2005 album "As Is Now" featured the singles "From the Floorboards Up", "Come On/Let's Go" and "Here's the Good News". The album was well-received, though critics noted that he was not moving his music forward stylistically, and it became his lowest-charting album since his 1992 debut.


title: Paul Weller

text: In February 2006 it was announced that Weller would be the latest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BRIT Awards. Despite a tendency to shun such occasions, Weller accepted the award in person, and performed four songs at the ceremony, including the Jam's classic "Town Called Malice". In June 2006, another double live album titled "Catch-Flame!", featuring songs from both his solo work and his career with the Jam and the Style Council, was released. In late 2006, the album "Hit Parade" was released, which collected all the singles released by the Jam, the Style Council and Weller during his solo career. Two versions of this album were released: a single disc with a selection from each stage of his career, and a four-disc limited edition, which included every single released and came with a 64-page booklet. Weller was offered appointment as a Commander of the Order of British Empire in the 2006 birthday honours, but rejected the offer.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2007 Weller was guest vocalist on the album issue by the folk musical project the Imagined Village.


title: Paul Weller

text: The double album "22 Dreams" was released on 2 June 2008, with "Echoes Round the Sun" as the lead single. Weller had parted company with his existing band before the recording this album, replacing everyone except guitarist Steve Cradock with Andy Lewis on bass, Andy Crofts of the Moons on keys and Steve Pilgrim of the Stands on drums. This album saw Weller move in a more experimental direction, taking in a wide variety of influences including jazz, folk and tango as well as the pop-soul more associated with his Style Council days. Weller also featured on two songs from the Moons' album "Life on Earth", playing piano on "Wondering" and lead guitar on "Last Night on Earth".


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller was the surprise recipient of the 2009 BRIT award for "Best Male Solo Artist", which resulted in controversy when it was discovered that a suspiciously high number of bets had been placed for Weller to win the award, for which James Morrison was T4's favourite. It was reported that the bookmakers had lost £100,000 in the event, and that as a result would not be taking bets for the awards in the future.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2009, Weller guested on Dot Allison's 2009 album, "Room 7½", co-writing "Love's Got Me Crazy". November and December also saw him on tour, playing shows across the country.


title: Paul Weller

text: On 24 February 2010, Weller received the Godlike Genius Award at the NME Awards. His 2010 album, "Wake Up the Nation", was released in April to critical acclaim, and was subsequently nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The album also marked his first collaboration with Jam bassist Bruce Foxton in 28 years. In May 2010, Weller was presented with the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award, saying "I've enjoyed the last 33 years I've been writing songs and hopefully, with God's good grace, I'll do some more."


title: Paul Weller

text: On 19 March 2012 Weller released his eleventh studio album "Sonik Kicks". The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller provided vocals on the Moons' 2012 single "Something Soon". In December 2012, Weller headlined the Crisis charity gig at the Hammersmith Apollo, where he performed with Emeli Sande, Miles Kane and Bradley Wiggins. On 23 March 2013, Paul Weller played drums on stage with Damon Albarn, Noel Gallagher and Graham Coxon, playing the Blur track "Tender". This was played as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts curated by Noel Gallagher.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2015, Weller made a West Coast Tour of the US to promote the "Saturn's Pattern" album. The tour ran from 9 June to 9 October.


title: Paul Weller

text: In January 2017 he made a cameo appearance in "The Final Problem", the final episode of series four of the BBC TV series "Sherlock".


title: Paul Weller

text: On 8 March 2019, audio and video versions of "Other Aspects, Live at the Royal Festival Hall" was released. It is the second of two shows and was recorded in October 2018 at London's Royal Festival Hall with an orchestra.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller's 15th solo album, "On Sunset", was released 3 July 2020 and debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, giving Weller UK number-one albums spanning five consecutive decades. He joins John Lennon and Paul McCartney in having the distinction. His number-one albums: "The Gift", as part of the Jam (1982). "Our Favourite Shop", as part of the Style Council (1985), and solo albums "Stanley Road" (1995), "Illumination" (2002), "22 Dreams" (2008), "Sonik Kicks" (2012), and "On Sunset" (2020).


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller's 16th solo album, "Fat Pop (Volume 1)", was released to critical acclaim on 14 May 2021, and entered the charts at number 1. On 15 May 2021 Weller recorded live symphonic renditions of songs from his catalogue at the Barbican Centre in London with Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. A live album of the recording session, "An Orchestrated Songbook", was released in December 2021.


title: Paul Weller

text: On October 28, 2022, Weller released a B-sides and rarities album "Will Of The People". He collaborated on the songs with Richard Fearless, Young Fathers, Straightface and Stone Foundation.


title: Paul Weller

text: Since boyhood, Weller has been inspired by a broad range of artists, records and musical styles. Formative influences that have remained relatively constant include the Beatles, The Who, the Small Faces, the Kinks, Tamla Motown, Stax and mid-late 1960s soul, R&B and pop music in general.


title: Paul Weller

text: During the Jam years, Weller was influenced by early punk bands, including the Sex Pistols and the Clash, and later post-punk acts such as Gang of Four, the Undertones and the Skids. During the final part of the Jam's career, he became more interested in contemporary soul and funk acts, such as Pigbag and Shalamar as well as 1970s soul and funk artists, most notably Curtis Mayfield.


title: Paul Weller

text: Jazz became a major influence on Weller's work during the early Style Council years, and he has been a big fan ever since, citing artists such as Lee Morgan, Jimmy Smith, John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk as favourites.


title: Paul Weller

text: In the late 1980s, his tastes became increasingly eclectic as the Style Council's later releases were influenced by artists as diverse as Claude Debussy and American house music.


title: Paul Weller

text: During the 1990s, Weller's work began being influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s artists such as Van Morrison, Neil Young, Nick Drake, and Traffic. He also became a big fan of many of the Britpop bands he had influenced, including Oasis, Blur, the Charlatans, Supergrass, and many others. This taste for stripped-down rock music led to Weller's music being dismissed as "dad-rock" by sections of the music press, most notably the NME, during the late 1990s, who cast Weller as a miserable, angry old man — a 1997 front cover of the paper titled an interview with Weller "Let's Get Ready to Grumble".


title: Paul Weller

text: Despite telling "Mojo" magazine on 2000 that he did not "make music with fuzzy radios or electric spoons", from the late 2000s onwards, Weller began incorporating more and more experimental influences into his music, citing the likes of Neu! and Broadcast as influential. He also embraced the influence of David Bowie, despite having once said that all but three of his records were "pish".


title: Paul Weller

text: Among the many albums that Weller has cited as all-time favourites are "Odessey and Oracle", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "What's Going On", "Innervisions", "Low", "Journey in Satchidananda", "Village Green Preservation Society", the Small Faces eponymous 1967 album, Traffic's eponymous 1968 album, "McCartney", "Down by the Jetty", and "My Generation". Other songs he has nominated as favourites include the Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever', the Small Faces' 'Tin Soldier', James Brown's 'Sex Machine', Declan O'Rourke's 'Galileo', the Kinks' 'Waterloo Sunset' and 'Days', and Pharrell Williams' 'Happy'


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2012, Weller invaded a live radio interview with singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan to praise his songs 'Alone Again (Naturally)' and 'Nothing Rhymed' as "two of my favourite songs, great lyrics, great tunes".


title: Paul Weller

text: He has curated numerous playlists and CDs for magazines over the years. In 2003, a compilation called "Under the Influence" was released, featuring 15 tracks chosen by Weller. In 2009, he picked 13 "real R&B and soul" tracks for a compilation called "Lost & Found".


title: Paul Weller

text: During the Jam and early Style Council years, Weller worked various literary influences into this work, most notably George Orwell, romantic poet Percy Shelley, and poet friends Dave Waller and Aidan Cant.


title: Paul Weller

text: Between the summer of 1977 and around August 1985, Weller was in a relationship with Gill Price, a fashion designer from Bromley. She and their relationship inspired several Jam songs, including "I Need You (For Someone)", "Aunties & Uncles", "English Rose", "Fly", and "Happy Together". She worked in the Jam's offices, contributed to Weller's fanzines, and frequently toured with them — she can be seen in various behind-the-scenes photos. She appeared on the sleeve of the final Jam single, 'Beat Surrender', and along with Weller's sister Nicky, she also had a cameo in the video for the Style Council's 'My Ever Changing Moods'.


title: Paul Weller

text: At the height of the Style Council's success, Weller and Dee C. Lee, the Style Council's backing singer, began a romantic relationship. The couple married in 1987 and divorced in 1998. They have two children, Leah and Nathaniel (Natt), who is also a working musician and once appeared on stage with his father at Hammersmith Apollo at age 12.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller became involved with Samantha Stock whilst he was recording at the Manor studio, later having two children together, Jesamine (Jessie) and Stevie Mac (Mac).


title: Paul Weller

text: In October 2008, Stock and Weller broke up and Weller moved in with Hannah Andrews, a backing singer on his "22 Dreams" album, who has also toured with his band. They first met in New York in 2005 and married in September 2010 on the Italian island of Capri. The couple have twin boys, John Paul and Bowie, who were born in 2012, and a daughter, Nova, born in 2017.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2014, Weller won £10,000 in damages from Associated Newspapers after "plainly voyeuristic" photographs of his family out shopping were published on "MailOnline".


title: Paul Weller

text: On 24 April 2009, John Weller, Paul Weller's father and long-time manager since the days of the Jam, died from pneumonia at the age of 77.


title: Paul Weller

text: Weller has a long association with British politics. In the Jam's first "NME" interview in May 1977, he famously announced that the band would vote Conservative at the next election, something he has long since claimed was a joke.


title: Paul Weller

text: From late 1980, he became increasingly interested in CND, often being pictured wearing a CND badge (as in the video for "Town Called Malice") and playing rallies with both the Jam and the Style Council. In tandem, he became more vocally socialist in interviews, and between around 1982 and 1987, his songwriting also became increasingly politicised, most notably on "Trans-Global Express", "Money-Go-Round", "The Big Boss Groove", 'Soul Deep' and the majority of "Our Favourite Shop".


title: Paul Weller

text: In late 1984, Weller took part in Band Aid and then put together his own benefit record for the UK miners' strike, which was called "Soul Deep" and credited to the Council Collective. The 12" of the single featured interviews with striking miners, although half of the money raised went to the widow of David Wilkie, a taxi driver who was killed whilst driving strike-breaking miners to their shift. During the 1980s, Weller was also vegetarian and concerned with animal rights. As a result, he wrote the song "Bloodsports", which was included on the B-side of the Style Council's 1985 single, "Walls Come Tumbling Down". Royalties from the track were donated to a defence fund for John Curtin and Terry Helsby, two hunt saboteurs then on remand in Bristol Prison.


title: Paul Weller

text: From the latter half of 1985, Weller was highly involved in the formation of Red Wedge, a left-wing collective of musicians and actors etc. who aimed to "bring left-wing ideas to other people". However, from around 1988 onwards, he became less politically vocal, ultimately claiming during the 1990s that he no longer particularly believed in any politics.


title: Paul Weller

text: In 2008, after then-Conservative Party leader and former Eton pupil David Cameron chose the Jam's "The Eton Rifles" as one of his Desert Island Discs, Weller expressed disgust, saying, "which bit didn't [Cameron] get?" He also began playing the song live again for the first time since 1982.


title: Paul Weller

text: During the mid-2010s, Weller made a brief return to the political arena, being vocally supportive of then-Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and even playing a 'Concert for Corbyn' in December 2016.


title: Paul Weller

text: "The Daily Telegraph" said of Weller: "Apart from David Bowie, it's hard to think of any British solo artist who's had as varied, long-lasting and determinedly forward-looking a career." The BBC described Weller in 2007 as "one of the most revered music writers and performers of the past 30 years". In 2012, he was among the British notables selected by the artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover – to celebrate the British social figures of his life. He has received four Brit Awards, winning the award for Best British Male three times, and the 2006 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African filmmaker. He employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects, and his films often deal with themes of xenophobia and social segregation. He is best known as the co-writer and director of the critically acclaimed and financially successful science fiction action film "District 9", for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He directed another dystopian science fiction action film "Elysium", which garnered moderately positive reviews. He is known for his collaborations with actor Sharlto Copley.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: "Time" named Blomkamp as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2009. A 2011 article in "Forbes" named him as the 21st most powerful celebrity from Africa.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the age of sixteen, he met Sharlto Copley, who had also attended Redhill High School in Johannesburg. Copley provided Blomkamp with the use of computers at his production company for Blomkamp to pursue his passion and talent for 3D animation and design. In return, Blomkamp assisted Copley in creating 3D work for pitches on various projects. Blomkamp was 18 when he moved to Vancouver with his family, where he enrolled at the Vancouver Film School.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In the late 1990s, he started working in the film industry as a special effects artist and 3D animator. His animation credits include "Stargate SG-1" (1998), "First Wave" (1998), "Mercy Point" (1998) and "" (1999). In 2000, he garnered his first role of lead animator for the "Dark Angel" TV series (2000). He was the lead 3D animator for "3000 Miles to Graceland" (2001).


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In 2003, he was hired to illustrate photo-realistic future aircraft for "Popular Science"'s "Next Century in Aviation". In 2004, he illustrated "The Future of the Automobile". Blomkamp worked as a visual effects artist at The Embassy Visual Effects in Vancouver as well as at Rainmaker Digital Effects, and was signed by Toronto commercial house Spy Films. Blomkamp directed a trilogy of live-action short films in 2007, known collectively as "Landfall". They were set in the "Halo" universe, to promote the release of "Halo 3".


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: Blomkamp was then slated to direct his first feature-length film, an adaptation of the "Halo" series of video games, produced by Peter Jackson. Jackson came to know of Blomkamp after viewing a reel of his commercial work and shorts, shot in his off time. The four shorts that got him noticed included: "Tetra Vaal", a faux advertisement for a third-world police robot that established Blomkamp's signature style of mixing lo-fi production with seamless CGI; "Alive in Joburg", a gritty mockumentary about extraterrestrials marooned in Johannesburg; "Tempbot", an "Office Space"-esque spoof; and "Yellow", a short film based on the colour yellow for Adidas' "Adicolor" campaign by digital studio IDEALOGUE, which portrays a globe-trotting android gone rogue.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: Blomkamp has admitted since that the "Halo" pre-production was a nightmare, and relations between 20th Century Fox and Blomkamp severely disintegrated before the project's end. When funding for the "Halo" film collapsed, Peter Jackson decided to produce "District 9" instead, an adaptation of Blomkamp's earlier short film "Alive in Joburg", which had been produced by Hansen and Copley. The film, directed by Blomkamp, starring Copley, and co-written with Blomkamp's wife and production partner Terri Tatchell, was released in mid-August 2009 by TriStar Pictures to widespread critical acclaim. "District 9" was later nominated for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture, along with nominations for Best Visual Effects, Editing, and Adapted Screenplay.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In October 2010, a video released on the iPad version of "Wired Magazine" was credited to Neill Blomkamp. It shows an amateur recording of two young men who find a dead mutated creature in a puddle of mud while driving down a countryside road. The creature, a dog-sized mix between a pig and a lizard, presents a tattooed seal on its side that reads "18.12 AGM Heartland Pat. Pend. USA". "AGM Heartland" was trademarked for its use in an entertainment-oriented website. On 20 February 2012, a 23-second video clip titled "IS IT DEAD?" appeared on YouTube, featuring Yolandi Visser, of the South African group Die Antwoord, crouching over the creature. Blomkamp admitted that he was still interested in making a "Halo" film in April 2013.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: After "Elysium", he started work on his next sci-fi film, "Chappie", in April 2013. The film was based on his own short, "Tetra Vaal". Blomkamp directed and Sony Pictures Entertainment (Columbia Pictures) and Media Rights Capital co-produced and co-financed the film, which was released March 2015.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In early 2015, Blomkamp posted several pictures to his Instagram page that showed concept art for an "Alien" film he might have been working on. Included in the art is Ripley and Hicks, a ship bearing resemblance to "The Derelict" from the 1979 "Alien", and a concept Xenomorph. In a February 2015 interview with "Collider", he stated that he planned the "Alien" sequel with Sigourney Weaver in the lead role as Ellen Ripley. On 18 February 2015, Blomkamp himself confirmed that the "Alien" film will be his next project. In March 2015, he confirmed that he planned more than one sequel to the "Alien" franchise. The project was shelved in October 2015, pending the outcome of Ridley Scott's second prequel installment, "". In January 2017, a fan on Twitter asked Blomkamp about the outlook of the film going into production, he responded by saying they were "slim". On 1 May 2017, its title had been revealed to be "Alien: Awakening". Though Ridley Scott initially confirmed Blomkamp's film had been officially canceled, 20th Century Fox may reconsider after the fan reception of "Covenant". Fans of the franchise have started a petition to help save Blomkamp's cancelled film. As of June 2020, there's no update on whether the planned and cancelled film is being revived.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In November 2015, it was announced that Blomkamp would be working on adapting the forthcoming Tom Sweterlitsch novel "The Gone World", described as a "sci-fi time travel" concept, but the film was either subsequently scrapped or stuck in "development hell," with production never going forward.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In 2017, Blomkamp announced the creation of his own film production company, Oats Studios, and confirmed a series of experimental short films and other content titled "Oats Studios Volume 1" to be released via Steam. The films will also be available for free streaming on YouTube. These films are distributed to gauge interest in a certain theme, with the intention to expand them into a feature film if deemed viable. The first short, an alien invasion-themed film co-written with Sweterlitsch, is titled "Rakka".


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In July 2018, Blomkamp announced that he would be directing a new entry in the "RoboCop" film series for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was to be adapted from a previously-unproduced spec script written in the late 1980s by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, the writers of the first film, who were slated to executive produce the film. Tentatively titled "RoboCop Returns", the film was to serve as a direct sequel to the first film, ignoring 1990's "RoboCop 2" and 1993's "RoboCop 3", as well as the 2014 remake. On 15 August 2019, Blomkamp announced on Twitter that he is no longer directing "RoboCop Returns" as he is focusing on directing a horror movie instead.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In December 2020, it was revealed that Blomkamp had secretly shot a supernatural horror film, "Demonic", in British Columbia during the summer of 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: In August 2021 it was confirmed that the sequel to District 9 was in the works but that the script was still under development.


title: Neill Blomkamp

text: Blomkamp is married to Terri Tatchell, a Canadian screenwriter, best known for co-writing the screenplay of "District 9". She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with Blomkamp at the 82nd Academy Awards.


title: Flamenco

text: Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Murcia. In a wider sense, it is a portmanteau term used to refer to a variety of both contemporary and traditional musical styles typical of southern Spain. Flamenco is closely associated to the gitanos of the Romani ethnicity who have contributed significantly to its origination and professionalization. However, its style is uniquely Andalusian and flamenco artists have historically included Spaniards of both gitano and non-gitano heritage.


title: Flamenco

text: The oldest record of flamenco music dates to 1774 in the book "Las Cartas Marruecas" by José Cadalso. The development of flamenco over the past two centuries is well documented: "the theatre movement of sainetes (one-act plays) and tonadillas, popular song books and song sheets, customs, studies of dances, and "toques", perfection, newspapers, graphic documents in paintings and engravings. ... in continuous evolution together with rhythm, the poetic stanzas, and the ambiance.”


title: Flamenco

text: On 16 November 2010, UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.


title: Flamenco

text: It is believed that the flamenco genre emerged at the end of the 18th century in cities and agrarian towns of Baja Andalusia, highlighting Jerez de la Frontera as the first written vestige of this art, although there is practically no data related to those dates and the manifestations of this time are more typical of the bolero school than of flamenco. There are hypotheses that point to the influence on flamenco of types of dance from the Indian subcontinent – the place of origin of the Romani people – such as the kathak dance. There may have been African influence on the rhythms and choreographies of flamenco, as explained in the documentary film "Gurumbé. Afro-Andalusian Memories ()", directed by Miguel Ángel Rosales. The musician and anthropologist indicates a possible African origin of the word "fandango", pointing out that in certain Bantu languages, fanda means party, and that the suffix -ngo (as in "Congo" or "Mandinga") is used.


title: Flamenco

text: During the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, a number of factors led to rise in Spain of a phenomenon known as "Costumbrismo Andaluz" or "Andalusian Mannerism".


title: Flamenco

text: In 1783 Carlos III promulgated a pragmatics that regulated the social situation of the Gitanos. This was a momentous event in the history of Spanish gitanos who, after centuries of marginalization and persecution, saw their legal situation improve substantially.


title: Flamenco

text: After the Spanish War of Independence (1808–1812), a feeling of racial pride developed in the Spanish conscience, in opposition to the "gallified" "Afrancesados" - Spaniards who were influenced by French culture and the idea of the enlightenment. In this context, gitanos were seen as an ideal embodiment of Spanish culture and the emergence of the bullfighting schools of Ronda and Seville, the rise of the Bandidos and Vaqueros led to a taste for Andalusian romantic culture which triumphed in the Madrid court.


title: Flamenco

text: In 1881 Silverio Franconetti opened the first flamenco singer café in Seville. In Silverio's café the cantaores were in a very competitive environment, which allowed the emergence of the professional cantaor and served as a crucible where flamenco art was configured. In them Gitanos and non-Gitanos learned the cantes, while reinterpreting the Andalusian folk songs in their own style, expanding the repertoire. Likewise, the taste of the public contributed to configure the flamenco genre, unifying its technique and its theme.


title: Flamenco

text: Flamenco, defined by the Royal Spanish Academy as a "fondness for flamenco art and customs", is a conceptual catch-all where flamenco singing and a fondness for bullfighting, among other traditional Spanish elements, fit. These customs were strongly attacked by the generation of 98, all of its members being "anti-flamenco", with the exception of the Machado brothers, since Manuel and Antonio, being Sevillians and sons of the folklorist Demófilo, had a more complex vision of the matter. The greatest standard bearer of anti-flamenquism was the Madrid writer Eugenio Noel, who, in his youth, had been a militant casticista. Noel attributed to flamenco and bullfighting the origin of the ills of Spain which he saw as manifestations of the country's Oriental character which hindered economic and social development. These considerations caused an insurmountable rift to be established for decades between flamenco and most "intellectuals" of the time.


title: Flamenco

text: Between 1920 and 1955, flamenco shows began to be held in bullrings and theaters, under the name "flamenco opera". This denomination was an economic strategy of the promoters, since opera only paid 3% while variety shows paid 10%. At this time, flamenco shows spread throughout Spain and the main cities of the world. The great social and commercial success achieved by flamenco at this time eliminated some of the oldest and most sober styles from the stage, in favor of lighter airs, such as cantiñas, los cantes de ida y vuelta and fandangos, of which many personal versions were created. The purist critics attacked this lightness of the cantes, as well as the use of falsete and the gaitero style.


title: Flamenco

text: In the line of purism, the poet Federico García Lorca and the composer Manuel de Falla had the idea of concurso de cante jondo en Granada en 1922. Both artists conceived of flamenco as folklore, not as a scenic artistic genre; for this reason, they were concerned, since they believed that the massive triumph of flamenco would end its purest and deepest roots. To remedy this, they organized a cante jondo contest in which only amateurs could participate and in which festive cantes (such as cantiñas) were excluded, which Falla and Lorca did not consider jondos, but flamencos. The jury was chaired by Antonio Chacón, who at that time was the leading figure in cante. The winners were "El Tenazas", a retired professional cantaor from Morón de la Frontera, and Manuel Ortega, an eight-year-old boy from Seville who would go down in flamenco history as Manolo Caracol. The contest turned out to be a failure due to the scant echo it had and because Lorca and Falla did not know how to understand the professional character that flamenco already had at that time, striving in vain to seek a purity that never existed in an art that was characterized by mixture and the personal innovation of its creators. Apart from this failure, with the Generation of '27, whose most eminent members were Andalusians and therefore knew the genre first-hand, the recognition of flamenco by intellectuals began.


title: Flamenco

text: At that time, there were already flamenco recordings related to Christmas, which can be divided into two groups: the traditional flamenco carol and flamenco songs that adapt their lyrics to the Christmas theme. These cantes have been maintained to this day, the Zambomba Jerezana being spatially representative, declared an Asset of Intangible Cultural Interest by the Junta de Andalucía in December 2015.


title: Flamenco

text: During the Spanish Civil War, a large number of singers were exiled or died defending the Republic and the humiliations to which they were being subjected by the National Party: Bando Nacional: Corruco de Algeciras, Chaconcito, El Carbonerillo, El Chato De Las Ventas, Vallejito, Rita la Cantaora, Angelillo, Guerrita are some of them. In the postwar period and the first years of the Franco regime, the world of flamenco was viewed with suspicion, as the authorities were not clear that this genre contributed to the national conscience. However, the regime soon ended up adopting flamenco as one of the quintessential Spanish cultural manifestations. The singers who have survived the war go from stars to almost outcasts, singing for the young men in the private rooms of the brothels in the center of Seville where they have to adapt to the whims of aristocrats, soldiers and businessmen who have become rich.


title: Flamenco

text: In short, the period of the flamenco opera was a time open to creativity and that definitely made up most of the flamenco repertoire. It was the Golden Age of this genre, with figures such as Antonio Chacón, Manuel Vallejo , Manuel Torre, La Niña de los Peines, Pepe Marchena and Manolo Caracol.


title: Flamenco

text: Starting in the 1950s, abundant anthropological and musicological studies on flamenco began to be published. In 1954 Hispavox published the first Antología del Cante Flamenco, a sound recording that was a great shock to its time, dominated by orchestrated cante and, consequently, mystified. In 1955, the Argentine intellectual Anselmo González Climent published an essay called "Flamencología", whose title he baptized the "set of knowledge, techniques, etc., on flamenco singing and dancing." This book dignified the study of flamenco by applying the academic methodology of musicology to it and served as the basis for subsequent studies on this genre.


title: Flamenco

text: As a result, in 1956 the National Contest of Cante Jondo de Córdoba was organized and in 1958 the first flamencology chair was founded in Jerez de la Frontera, the oldest academic institution dedicated to the study, research, conservation, promotion and defense of the flamenco art. Likewise, in 1963 the Cordovan poet Ricardo Molina and the Sevillian cantaor Antonio Mairena published Alalimón Mundo y Formas del Cante flamenco, which has become a must-have reference work.


title: Flamenco

text: For a long time the Mairenistas postulates were considered practically unquestionable, until they found an answer in other authors who elaborated the "Andalusian thesis", which defended that flamenco was a genuinely Andalusian product, since it had been developed entirely in this region and because its styles basic ones derived from the folklore of Andalusia. They also maintained that the Andalusian Gitanos had contributed decisively to their formation, highlighting the exceptional nature of flamenco among gypsy music and dances from other parts of Spain and Europe. The unification of the Gitanos and Andalusian thesis has ended up being the most accepted today. In short, between the 1950s and 1970s, flamenco went from being a mere show to also becoming an object of study.


title: Flamenco

text: Flamenco became one of the symbols of Spanish national identity during the Franco regime, since the regime knew how to appropriate a folklore traditionally associated with Andalusia to promote national unity and attract tourism, constituting what was called national-flamenquismo. Hence, flamenco had long been seen as a reactionary or retrograde element. In the mid-60s and until the transition, cantaores who opposed the regime began to appear with the use of protest lyrics. These include: José Menese and lyricist Francisco Moreno Galván, Enrique Morente, Manuel Gerena, El Lebrijano, El Cabrero, Lole y Manuel, el Piki or Luis Marín, among many others.


title: Flamenco

text: In contrast to this conservatism with which it was associated during the Franco regime, flamenco suffered the influence of the wave of activism that also shook the university against the repression of the regime when university students came into contact with this art in the recitals that were held, for example, at the Colegio Mayor de San Juan Evangelista: "flamenco amateurs and professionals got involved with performances of a manifestly political nature. It was a kind of flamenco protest charged with protest, which meant censorship and repression for the flamenco activists ".


title: Flamenco

text: As the political transition progressed, the demands were deflated as flamenco inserted itself within the flows of globalized art. At the same time, this art was institutionalized until it reached the point that the Junta de Andalucía was attributed in 2007 "exclusive competence in matters of knowledge, conservation, research, training, promotion and dissemination".


title: Flamenco

text: In the 1970s, there were airs of social and political change in Spain, and Spanish society was already quite influenced by various musical styles from the rest of Europe and the United States. There were also numerous singers who had grown up listening to Antonio Mairena, Pepe Marchena and Manolo Caracol. The combination of both factors led to a revolutionary period called flamenco fusion. | Seville Flamenco Dance Museum 2014.


title: Flamenco

text: The singer Rocío Jurado internationalized flamenco at the beginning of the 70s, replacing the bata de cola with evening dresses. Her facet in the "Fandangos de Huelva" and in the Alegrías was recognized internationally for her perfect voice tessitura in these genres. She used to be accompanied in her concerts by guitarists Enrique de Melchor and Tomatito, not only at the national level but in countries like Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.


title: Flamenco

text: The musical representative José Antonio Pulpón was a decisive character in that fusion, as he urged the cantaor Agujetas to collaborate with the Sevillian Andalusian rock group "Pata Negra", the most revolutionary couple since Antonio Chacón and Ramón Montoya, initiating a new path for flamenco. It also fostered the artistic union between the virtuoso guitarist from Algeciras Paco de Lucía and the long-standing singer from the island Camarón de la Isla, who gave a creative impulse to flamenco that would mean its definitive break with Mairena's conservatism. When both artists undertook their solo careers, Camarón became a mythical cantaor for his art and personality, with a legion of followers, while Paco de Lucía reconfigured the entire musical world of flamenco, opening up to new influences, such as Brazilian music, Arabic and jazz and introducing new musical instruments such as the Peruvian cajon, the transverse flute, etc.


title: Flamenco

text: Other leading performers in this process of formal flamenco renewal were Juan Peña El Lebrijano, who married flamenco with Andalusian music, and Enrique Morente, who throughout his long artistic career has oscillated between the purism of his first recordings and the crossbreeding with rock, or Remedios Amaya from Triana, cultivator of a unique style of tangos from Extremadura, and a wedge of purity in her cante make her part of this select group of established artists. Other singers with their own style include Cancanilla de Marbella. In 2011 this style became known in India thanks to María del Mar Fernández, who acts in the video clip of the film You Live Once, entitled Señorita. The film was seen by more than 73 million viewers.


title: Flamenco

text: In the 1980s a new generation of flamenco artists emerged who had been influenced by the mythical cantaor Camarón, Paco de Lucía, Morente, etc. These artists were interested in popular urban music, which in those years was renewing the Spanish music scene, it was the time of the Movida madrileña. Among them are "Pata Negra", who fused flamenco with blues and rock, Ketama, of pop and Cuban inspiration and Ray Heredia, creator of his own musical universe where flamenco occupies a central place.


title: Flamenco

text: Also the recording company Nuevos Medios released many musicians under the label nuevo flamenco and this denomination has grouped musicians very different from each other like Rosario Flores, daughter of Lola Flores, or the renowned singer Malú, niece of Paco de Lucía and daughter of Pepe de Lucía, who despite sympathizing with flamenco and keeping it in her discography has continued with her personal style. However, the fact that many of the interpreters of this new music are also renowned cantaores, in the case of José Mercé, El Cigala, and others, has led to labeling everything they perform as flamenco, although the genre of their songs differs quite a bit from the classic flamenco. This has generated very different feelings, both for and against.


title: Flamenco

text: Other contemporary artists of that moment were O'Funkillo and Ojos de Brujo, Arcángel, Miguel Poveda, Mayte Martín, Marina Heredia, Estrella Morente or Manuel Lombo, etc.


title: Flamenco

text: But the discussion between the difference of flamenco and new flamenco in Spain has just gained strength during since 2019 due to the success of new flamenco attracting the taste of the youngest Spanish fans but also in the international musical scene emphasizing the problem of how should we call this new musical genre mixed with flamenco.


title: Flamenco

text: One of these artist who has reinvented flamenco is Rosalía, an indisputable name on the international music scene. "Pienso en tu mirá", "Di mi nombre" or the song that catapulted her to fame, "Malamente", are a combination of styles that includes a flamenco/south Spain traditional musical base. Rosalía has broken the limits of this musical genre by embracing other urban rhythms, but has also created a lot of controversy about which genre is she using. The Catalan artist has been awarded several Latin GrammyAwards and MTV Video Music Awards, which also, at just 26 years old, garners more than 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify.


title: Flamenco

text: But it is not the only successful case, the Granada-born Dellafuente, C. Tangana, MAKA, RVFV, Demarco Flamenco, Maria Àrnal and Marcel Bagés, El Niño de Elche, Sílvia Pérez Cruz; Califato 3/4, Juanito Makandé, Soledad Morente, María José Llergo o Fuel Fandango are only a few of the new spanish musical scene that includes flamenco in their music.


title: Flamenco

text: It seems that the Spanish music scene is experiencing a change in its music and new rhythms are re-emerging together with new artists who are experimenting to cover a wider audience that wants to maintain the closeness that flamenco has transmitted for decades.


title: Flamenco

text: The state of New Mexico, located in the southwest of the United States maintains a strong identity with Flamenco culture. The University of New Mexico located in Albuquerque offers a graduate degree program in Flamenco. Flamenco performances are widespread in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe communities, with the National institute of Flamenco sponsoring an annual festival, as well as a variety of professional flamenco performacess offere at various locales. Emmy Grimm, known by her stage name La Emi is a professional Flamenco dancer and native to New Mexico who performs as well as teaches Flamenco in Santa Fe. She continues studying her art by traveling to Spain to work intensively with Carmela Greco and La Popi, as well as José Galván, Juana Amaya, Yolanda Heredia, Ivan Vargas Heredia, Torombo and Rocio Alcaide Ruiz.


title: Flamenco

text: "Palos" (formerly known as "cantes") are flamenco styles, classified by criteria such as rhythmic pattern, mode, chord progression, stanzaic form and geographic origin. There are over 50 different "palos", some are sung unaccompanied while others have guitar or other accompaniment. Some forms are danced while others are not. Some are reserved for men and others for women while some may be performed by either, though these traditional distinctions are breaking down: the "Farruca", for example, once a male dance, is now commonly performed by women too.


title: Flamenco

text: There are many ways to categorize "Palos" but they traditionally fall into three classes: the most serious is known as "cante jondo" (or "cante grande"), while lighter, frivolous forms are called "Cante Chico". Forms that do not fit either category are classed as "Cante Intermedio" . These are the best known "palos" (; ):


title: Flamenco

text: The alegrías are thought to derive from the Aragonese jota, which took root in Cadiz during the Peninsular war and the establishment of the Cortes de Cadiz. That is why its classic lyrics contain so many references to the Virgen del Pilar, the Ebro River and Navarra.


title: Flamenco

text: Enrique Butrón is considered to have formalized the current flamenco style of alegrías and Ignacio Espeleta who introduced the characteristic "tiriti, tran, tran...". Some of the best known interpreters of alegrías are Enrique el Mellizo, Chato de la Isla, Pinini, Pericón de Cádiz, Aurelio Sellés, La Perla de Cádiz, Chano Lobato and El Folli.


title: Flamenco

text: One of the structurally strictest forms of flamenco, a traditional dance in alegrías must contain each of the following sections: a salida (entrance), paseo (walkaround), silencio (similar to an adagio in ballet), castellana (upbeat section) zapateado (Literally "a tap of the foot") and bulerías. This structure though, is not followed when alegrías are sung as a standalone song (with no dancing). In that case, the stanzas are combined freely, sometimes together with other types of cantiñas.


title: Flamenco

text: Alegrías has a rhythm consisting of 12 beats. It is similar to Soleares. Its beat emphasis is as follows: 1 2 [3] 4 5 [6] 7 [8] 9 [10] 11 [12]. Alegrías originated in Cádiz. Alegrías belongs to the group of "palos" called Cantiñas and it is usually played in a lively rhythm (120-170 beats per minute). The livelier speeds are chosen for dancing, while quieter rhythms are preferred for the song alone.


title: Flamenco

text: Bulerías a fast flamenco rhythm made up of a 12 beat cycle with emphasis in two general forms as follows: [12] 1 2 [3] 4 5 [6] 7 [8] 9 [10] 11 or [12] 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 [7] [8] 9 [10] 11. It originated among the Calé Romani people of Jerez during the 19th century, originally as a fast, upbeat ending to "soleares" or "alegrias". It is among the most popular and dramatic of the flamenco forms and often ends any flamenco gathering, often accompanied by vigorous dancing and tapping.


title: Flamenco

text: A typical flamenco recital with voice and guitar accompaniment comprises a series of pieces (not exactly "songs") in different palos. Each song is a set of verses (called "copla", "tercio", or "letras"), punctuated by guitar interludes ("falsetas"). The guitarist also provides a short introduction setting the tonality, "compás" (see below) and tempo of the cante . In some palos, these falsetas are played with a specific structure too; for example, the typical sevillanas is played in an AAB pattern, where A and B are the same falseta with only a slight difference in the ending .


title: Flamenco

text: Flamenco uses the flamenco mode (which can also be described as the modern Phrygian mode ("modo frigio"), or a harmonic version of that scale with a major 3rd degree), in addition to the major and minor scales commonly used in modern Western music. The Phrygian mode occurs in "palos" such as soleá, most bulerías, siguiriyas, tangos and tientos.


title: Flamenco

text: A typical chord sequence, usually called the "Andalusian cadence" may be viewed as in a modified Phrygian: in E the sequence is Am–G–F–E . According to Manolo Sanlúcar E is here the tonic, F has the harmonic function of dominant while Am and G assume the functions of subdominant and mediant respectively .


title: Flamenco

text: Guitarists tend to use only two basic inversions or "chord shapes" for the tonic chord (music), the open 1st inversion E and the open 3rd inversion A, though they often transpose these by using a capo. Modern guitarists such as Ramón Montoya, have introduced other positions: Montoya himself started to use other chords for the tonic in the modern Dorian sections of several "palos"; F for "tarantas", B for "granaínas" and A for the "minera". Montoya also created a new "palo" as a solo for guitar, the "rondeña" in C with "scordatura". Later guitarists have further extended the repertoire of tonalities, chord positions and "scordatura".


title: Flamenco

text: There are also "palos" in major mode; most cantiñas and alegrías, guajiras, some "bulerías" and "tonás", and the "cabales" (a major type of "siguiriyas"). The minor mode is restricted to the "Farruca", the "milongas" (among "cantes de ida y vuelta"), and some styles of "tangos, bulerías", etc. In general traditional palos in major and minor mode are limited harmonically to two-chord (tonic–dominant) or three-chord (tonic–subdominant–dominant) progressions . However modern guitarists have introduced chord substitution, transition chords, and even modulation.


title: Flamenco

text: "Fandangos" and derivative "palos" such as "malagueñas", "tarantas" and "cartageneras are bimodal": guitar introductions are in Phrygian mode while the singing develops in major mode, modulating to Phrygian at the end of the stanza .


title: Flamenco

text: Dionisio Preciado, quoted by Sabas de , established the following characteristics for the melodies of flamenco singing:


title: Flamenco

text: Compás is the Spanish word for metre or time signature (in classical music theory). It also refers to the rhythmic cycle, or layout, of a "palo".


title: Flamenco

text: The compás is fundamental to flamenco. Compás is most often translated as rhythm but it demands far more precise interpretation than any other Western style of music. If there is no guitarist available, the compás is rendered through hand clapping ("palmas") or by hitting a table with the knuckles. The guitarist uses techniques like strumming ("rasgueado") or tapping the soundboard ("golpe"). Changes of chords emphasize the most important downbeats.


title: Flamenco

text: Flamenco uses three basic counts or measures: Binary, Ternary and a form of a twelve-beat cycle that is unique to flamenco. There are also free-form styles including, among others, the tonás, saetas, malagueñas, tarantos, and some types of fandangos.


title: Flamenco

text: There are three types of 12-beat rhythms, which vary in their layouts, or use of accentuations: soleá, seguiriya and bulería.


title: Flamenco

text: The Bulerías is the emblematic palo of flamenco: today its 12-beat cycle is most often played with accents on the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th beats. The accompanying "palmas" are played in groups of 6 beats, giving rise to a multitude of counter-rhythms and percussive voices within the 12 beat compás. In certain regions like, Xerez, Spain, the rhythm stays in a simpler six-count rhythm, only including the twelve count in a musical resolve.


title: Flamenco

text: The posture and technique of flamenco guitarists, called "tocaores", differs from that used by the players of classical guitar. While the classical guitarist supports the guitar on his left leg in an inclined way, the flamenco guitarist usually crosses his legs and supports it on the one that is higher, placing the neck in an almost horizontal position with respect to the ground. Modern guitarists usually use classical guitars, although there is a specific instrument for this genre called flamenco guitar. This is less heavy, and its body is narrower than that of the classical guitar, so its sound is lower and does not overshadow the cantaor. It is usually made of cypress wood, with the handle of cedar and the top of fir. The cypress gives it a brilliant sound very suitable for the characteristics of flamenco. Formerly, the palo santo from Rio or India was also used, being the first of higher quality, but currently it is in disuse due to its scarcity. The palo santo gave guitars an amplitude of sound especially suitable for solo playing. At present, the most widely used headstock is the metal one, since the wooden one poses tuning problems.


title: Flamenco

text: The main guitar makers were Antonio de Torres Jurado (Almería, 1817–1892) considered the father of the guitar, , the Great Ramírez (Madrid, 1864 -1920), and his disciples Santos Hernández (Madrid, 1873–1943), who built several guitars for the maestro Sabicas, Domingo Esteso and . Also noteworthy are the Conde Brothers, Faustino (1913–1988), Mariano (1916–1989) and Julio (1918–1996), nephews of Domingo Esteso, whose children and heirs continue the saga.


title: Flamenco

text: The guitarists use the technique of alzapúa, picado, the strum and the tremolo, among others. One of the first touches that is considered flamenco, such as the "rondeña", was the first composition recorded for solo guitar, by Julián Arcas (María, Almería, 1832 – Antequera, Málaga, 1882) in Barcelona in 1860. The strum can be performed with 5, 4 or 3 fingers, the latter invented by Sabicas. The use of the thumb is also characteristic of flamenco playing. Guitarists rest their thumb on the guitar's soundboard and their index and middle fingers on the string above the one they are playing, thus achieving greater power and sound than the classical guitarist. The middle finger is also placed on the pickguard of the guitar for more precision and strength when plucking the string. Likewise, the use of the pickguard as an element of percussion gives great strength to flamenco guitar playing. The melodic or flourishing phrase that is inserted between the chord sequences intended to accompany the couplet is called "falseta".


title: Flamenco

text: The accompaniment and solo playing of flamenco guitarists is based on both the modal harmonic system and the tonal system, although the most frequent is a combination of both. Some flamenco songs are performed "a palo seco" (a cappella), without guitar accompaniment.


title: Flamenco

text: According to the Royal Spanish Academy, "cante" is called the "action or effect of singing any Andalusian singing", defining "flamenco singing" as "agitated Andalusian singing" and cante jondo as "the most genuine song. Andalusian, of deep feeling ". The interpreter of flamenco singing is called "cantaor" instead of singer, with the loss of the intervocalic characteristic of the Andalusian dialect.


title: Flamenco

text: The most important award in flamenco singing is probably the , which has been awarded five times to: , , Antonio Mairena, Camarón de la Isla and Fosforito.


title: Flamenco

text: "El baile flamenco" is known for its emotional intensity, proud carriage, expressive use of the arms and rhythmic stamping of the feet, unlike tap dance or Irish dance which use different techniques. As with any dance form, many different styles of flamenco have developed.


title: Flamenco

text: In the 20th century, flamenco danced informally at gitano (Roma) celebrations in Spain was considered the most "authentic" form of flamenco. There was less virtuoso technique in gitano flamenco, but the music and steps are fundamentally the same. The arms are noticeably different from classical flamenco, curving around the head and body rather than extending, often with a bent elbow.


title: Flamenco

text: "Flamenco puro" otherwise known as "flamenco por derecho" is considered the form of performance flamenco closest to its gitano influences. In this style, the dance is often performed solo, and is based on signals and calls of structural improvisation rather than choreographed. In the improvisational style, castanets are not often used.


title: Flamenco

text: "Classical flamenco" is the style most frequently performed by Spanish flamenco dance companies. It is danced largely in a proud and upright style. For women, the back is often held in a marked back bend. Unlike the more gitano influenced styles, there is little movement of the hips, the body is tightly held and the arms are long, like a ballet dancer. In fact many of the dancers in these companies are trained in Ballet Clásico Español more than in the improvisational language of flamenco. Flamenco has both influenced and been influenced by Ballet Clásico Español, as evidenced by the fusion of the two ballets created by 'La Argentinita' in the early part of the 20th century and later, by Joaquín Cortés, eventually by the entire Ballet Nacional de España et al.


title: Flamenco

text: In the 1950s Jose Greco was one of the most famous male flamenco dancers, performing on stage worldwide and on television including the Ed Sullivan Show, and reviving the art almost singlehandedly. Greco's company left a handful of prominent pioneers, most notably: Maria Benitez and Vicente Romero of New Mexico. Today, there are many centers of flamenco art. Albuquerque, New Mexico is considered the "Center of the Nation" for flamenco art. Much of this is due to Maria Benitez's 37 years of sold-out summer seasons. Albuquerque boasts three distinct prominent centers: National Institute of Flamenco, Casa Flamenca and Flamenco Works. Each center dedicates time to daily training, cultural diffusion and world-class performance equaled only to world-class performances one would find in the heart of Southern Spain, Andalucía.


title: Flamenco

text: Modern flamenco is a highly technical dance style requiring years of study. The emphasis for both male and female performers is on lightning-fast footwork performed with absolute precision. In addition, the dancer may have to dance while using props such as castanets, canes, shawls and fans.


title: Flamenco

text: "Flamenco nuevo" is a recent marketing phenomenon in flamenco. Marketed as a "newer version" of flamenco, its roots came from world-music promoters trying to sell albums of artists who created music that "sounded like" or had Spanish-style influences. Though some of this music was played in similar pitches, scales and was well-received, it has little to nothing to do with the art of flamenco guitar, dance, cante Jondo or the improvisational language. "Nuevo flamenco" consists largely of compositions and repertoire, while traditional flamenco music and dance is a language composed of stanzas, actuated by oral formulaic calls and signals.