Rock History

On This Day in Rock History: February 7

Sep 03

2008 – Metallica have just premiered the video for their single “The Day That

Posted in 2000s, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

2008 – Metallica have just premiered the video for their single “The Day That Never Comes” on their MySpace page. The epic clip was directed by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and filmed this past July in southern California.

On working with the acclaimed filmmaker, Hetfield explained to MTV.com, “That’s the beauty, I think, of writing vague but powerful lyrics — that someone like a movie director can interpret it in his own way and obviously, someone creative is able to take the metaphors and apply them to whatever he needs in his own life.” Go Watch The Video

The band have also just unveiled another song from their upcoming album Death Magnetic. The hard-charging track, “Cyanide” is now available for sale on iTunes.

The leak: Seems some diehard fans got their hands on the album early and it’s all good with Lars. Blabbermouth has a little on that: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has commented on the premature release of the band’s new album, “Death Magnetic”, via a French record store. A shop in Paris reportedly sold a number of copies of the CD this morning well ahead of its official September 12 worldwide release date with illegal “Death Magnetic” MP3 files making their way online by this afternoon.

During a guest appearance earlier today on “The Woody Show” on the San Francisco, California radio station Live 105 (KITS 105.3 FM), Ulrich stated about the French leak, “Listen, we’re ten days from release. I mean, from here, we’re golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out and it hasn’t quote-unquote fallen off the truck yet? Everybody’s happy. It’s 2008 and it’s part of how it is these days, so it’s fine. We’re happy.”

Tags: album, appearance, Band, California, creative, date, day, death, director, drummer, Fan, fans, files, film, fine, Good, iTunes, life, live, lyrics, Metallica, Morning, Movie, Online, Paris, Premier, premiere, radio, Record, recording, Records, release, released, sales, single, singles, sold, Song, songs, Store, thing, tracks, unveil, Unveiling, unveils, watch, world

Jun 18

1942 – Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, Englan…

Posted in 1940s, Bands/Artists that Rock, Bassists, Billboard charts, Bio, Birthdays, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Guitarists, Industry, Off the Hook, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers, TV, Movies, Radio, Internet, & itunes | 7 Comments »

1942 – Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, England. The Beatles have 20 No. 1 songs, more than any other recording act, and McCartney by himself or in duets has another nine. His biggest post-Beatles hits are “Ebony and Ivory,” a duet with Stevie Wonder that stays at No. 1 for seven weeks, and “Say Say Say,” a duet with Michael Jackson that tops the pop chart for six weeks.
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English rock singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer and animal-rights activist. He gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best had previously played with the group, before Starr was asked to join. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and “wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history”. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman McCartney, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. He has worked on film scores, classical music, and ambient/electronic music; released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist; and taken part in projects to help international charities.

McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history, with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles. His song “Yesterday” is listed as the most covered song in history and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings’ 1977 single “Mull of Kintyre” became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK’s top selling non-charity single. (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so—in 1984—was Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, whose participants included McCartney.)

His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. McCartney is also an advocate for animal rights, vegetarianism, and music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt.
Early years: 1942–1957

Jim & Mary McCartney

Paul McCartney was born in Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary, had worked as a nurse in the maternity ward. He has one brother, Michael, born January 7, 1944. McCartney was baptised Roman Catholic but was raised non-denominationally: his mother was Roman Catholic, and his father, James “Jim” McCartney, was a Protestant turned agnostic.

In 1947, he began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary school. He then attended the Joseph Williams Junior School, and passed the 11-plus exam in 1953 with three others out of the 90 examinees and thus gained admission to the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, while riding on the bus to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who lived nearby. Passing the exam meant that McCartney and Harrison did not have to go to a secondary modern school, which most pupils attended until they were eligible to work. It also meant that Grammar school pupils had to find new friends.

20 Forthlin Road now attracts large numbers of tourists

In 1955 the McCartney family moved to 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. Mary McCartney rode a bicycle to houses where she was needed as a midwife, and an early McCartney memory is of her leaving when it was snowing heavily. On 31 October 1956, Mary McCartney (who was a heavy smoker) died of an embolism after a mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her breast cancer. The early loss of his mother later connected McCartney with John Lennon, whose mother, Julia, died when Lennon was 17.

McCartney’s father was a trumpet player and pianist who had led Jim Mac’s Jazz Band in the 1920s. He encouraged his two sons to be musical. Jim had an upright piano in the front room that he had bought from Harry Epstein’s store, and McCartney’s grandfather, Joe McCartney, played an E-flat tuba. Jim McCartney used to point out the different instruments in songs on the radio, and often took McCartney to local brass band concerts. After the death of his wife, Mary, Jim McCartney gave McCartney a nickel-plated trumpet, but when skiffle music became popular, McCartney swapped the trumpet for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar.

McCartney, being left-handed, found the Zenith difficult to play. He then saw a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert, and realised that Whitman played left-handed, with his guitar strung the opposite way to a right-handed player. McCartney wrote his first song (“I Lost My Little Girl”) on the Zenith, and also played his father’s Framus Spanish guitar when writing early songs with Lennon. He later started playing piano and wrote “When I’m Sixty-Four”. Per his father’s advice, he took music lessons, but since he preferred to learn ‘by ear’ he never paid attention in them.

1957–1960: The Quarrymen and the Silver Beetles

Main articles: The Quarrymen and Lennon/McCartney

Fifteen-year-old McCartney met Lennon and The Quarrymen at the Woolton (St. Peter’s church hall) fête on July 6, 1957. At the start of their friendship Lennon’s Aunt Mimi disapproved of McCartney because he was, she said, “working class”, and called him “John’s little friend”. McCartney’s father told his son that Lennon would get him “into trouble”, although he later allowed The Quarrymen to rehearse in the front room at 20 Forthlin Road.

McCartney formed a close working relationship with Lennon and they collaborated on many songs. He convinced Lennon to allow Harrison to join The Quarrymen (Lennon thought Harrison was too young) after Lennon heard Harrison play at a rehearsal in March 1958. Harrison joined the group as lead guitarist, followed by Lennon’s art school friend, Stuart Sutcliffe, on bass, although McCartney was later dismissive about Sutcliffe’s musical ability. By May 1960, they had tried several new names, including The Silver Beetles; playing a tour of Scotland under that name with Johnny Gentle. They finally changed the name of the group to The Beatles for their performances in Hamburg.

1960–1970: The Beatles

Main article: The Beatles

Starting in May 1960, The Beatles were managed by Allan Williams, who booked them into Bruno Koschmider’s Indra club in Hamburg. McCartney’s father was reluctant to let the teenage McCartney go to Hamburg until McCartney pointed out that he would earn ₤2/10s per day. As this was more than he earned himself, Jim finally agreed.
The Indra Club,Hamburg where the Beatles first played
The Indra Club,Hamburg where the Beatles first played

The Beatles first played at the Indra club, sleeping in small, “dirty” rooms in the Bambi Kino, and then moved (after the closure of the Indra) to the larger Kaiserkeller. In October 1960, they left Koschmider’s club and worked at the “Top Ten Club”, which was run by Peter Eckhorn. When McCartney and Pete Best went back to the Bambi Kino to get their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, they found a condom, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of their room, and set fire to it. There was no real damage, but Koschmider reported them for attempted arson. McCartney and Best spent three hours in a local jail and were deported, as was Harrison, for working under the legal age limit. Lennon’s work permit was revoked a few days later and he went home by train, but Sutcliffe had a cold and stayed in Hamburg, and then flew home.

The group reunited in December 1960, and on 21 March 1961, played their first of many concerts at Liverpool’s Cavern club. McCartney realised that other Liverpool bands were playing the same cover songs, which prompted him and Lennon to write more original material. The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, and recorded “My Bonnie” with Tony Sheridan. Sutcliffe left the band after the end of their contract, so McCartney reluctantly took over bass. After borrowing Sutcliffe’s Hõfner 500/5 model for a short time, he bought a left-handed 1962 500/1 model Höfner bass. On 1 October 1961, McCartney went with Lennon (who paid for the trip) to Paris for two weeks.

The Beatles were first seen by Brian Epstein at the Cavern club on 9 November 1961, and he later signed them to a management contract. The Beatles’ road manager, Neil Aspinall, drove them to London on 31 December 1961, where they auditioned the next day, but were rejected by Decca Records. In April 1962, they went back to Hamburg to play at the Star-Club, and learned of Stuart Sutcliffe’s death a few hours before they arrived. The Beatles were ready to sign a record contract on 9 May 1962, with Parlophone Records—after having been rejected by many record companies—but Epstein sacked Pete Best (at the behest of McCartney, Lennon and Harrison) before they signed the contract. “Love Me Do” was released on 5 October 1962, featuring McCartney singing solo on the chorus line. Over the course of the next two years, McCartney and his band mates would rise from relative obscurity to international stardom, an unprecedented feat at that time for a rock-music combo.

*
Yesterday (1965)
Play sound
Hey Jude (1968)
Play sound
* Problems playing the files? See media help.

All Lennon-McCartney songs on the first pressing of Please Please Me album (recorded in one day on 11 February 1963) as well as the “Please Please Me” single, “From Me to You”, and its B-side, “Thank You Girl”, are credited to “McCartney-Lennon”, but this was later changed to “Lennon-McCartney”. They usually needed an hour or two to finish a song, which were written in hotel rooms after a concert, at Wimpole Street, at Cavendish Avenue, or at Kenwood (Lennon’s house). McCartney also wrote songs for other artists, such as Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black, Badfinger, and Mary Hopkin -and most notably he wrote two hit songs for the group Peter & Gordon-launching their career. One song, “World Without Love”, became a #1 hit in the U.K. & U.S. (Peter was the brother of Jane Asher, McCartney’s girlfriend at the time)
Epiphone Texan modeled after the one often used by McCartney.
Epiphone Texan modeled after the one often used by McCartney.

Lennon, Harrison, and Starr lived in large houses in the ‘stockbroker belt’ of southern England,] but McCartney continued to live in central London: in Jane Asher’s parents’ house, and then at 7 Cavendish Avenue, St John’s Wood, near the Abbey Road Studios.] It was at Cavendish Avenue that McCartney bought his first Old English Sheepdog, Martha, which inspired the song “Martha My Dear”.

McCartney often went to nightclubs alone, which offered ‘dining and dancing until 4:00 a.m.’ and featured cabaret acts. McCartney would get preferential treatment everywhere he went, which he readily accepted. He even once accepted an offer from a policeman to be allowed to park McCartney’s car. He later visited gambling clubs after 4:00am, such as ‘The Curzon House’, and often saw Brian Epstein there. The Ad Lib club (above the Prince Charles Theatre at 7 Leicester Place) was later opened for the emerging ‘Rock and Roll’ crowd of musicians, and tolerated their unusual lifestyle. After the Ad Lib fell out of favour, McCartney moved on to the Scotch of St James, at 13 Masons Yard. He also frequented The Bag O’Nails club at 8 Kingly Street in Soho, London, where he met Linda Eastman.

On 12 June 1965, The Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE); they received their insignia from Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 26 October 1965. They stopped touring after their last concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on 29 August 1966. The other three Beatles had often talked about stopping touring, but after the Candlestick Park concert, and after having played so many concerts where they could not be heard, McCartney finally agreed that they should stop playing live concerts.
Beatles Houston sculpture
Beatles Houston sculpture

McCartney was the first to be involved in a project outside of the group, when he composed the score for the film The Family Way in 1966. The soundtrack was later released as an album (also called The Family Way), and won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme, ahead of acclaimed jazz musician Mike Turner. McCartney wrote songs for and produced other artists, including Mary Hopkin, Badfinger, and the Bonzo Dog Band, and in 1966, he was asked by Kenneth Tynan to write the songs for the National Theatre’s production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare (starring Laurence Olivier) but declined. In 1968 he co-produced the song “I’m the Urban Spaceman” by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and was credited as “Apollo C. Vermouth” because of contractual restrictions.

McCartney later attempted to persuade Lennon and Harrison to return to the stage, and when they had a meeting to sign a new contract with Capitol Records, McCartney suggested “going back to our roots,” to which Lennon replied, “I think you’re mad!” Although Lennon had quit the group in September 1969, and Harrison and Starr had temporarily left the group at various times, McCartney was the one who publicly announced The Beatles’ breakup on 10 April 1970—one week before releasing his first solo album, McCartney. The album included a press release inside with a self-written interview stating McCartney’s hopes about the future. The Beatles’ partnership was legally dissolved after McCartney filed a lawsuit on 31 December 1970.]

1970s: Paul McCartney (solo) and Wings

Wings (band)

Paul and Linda McCartney at the 1974 Academy Awards.
Paul and Linda McCartney at the 1974 Academy Awards.

McCartney released his debut solo album, McCartney, in April 1970. He insisted that his wife should be involved in his musical career so that they would not be apart when he was on tour. McCartney’s second solo album, Ram (1971) was credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney. In August of that year McCartney formed Wings with guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell (although membership in Wings would change several times during its existence) and released their debut album, Wild Life. In 1972, Wings started an unplanned tour of British universities and small European venues. In February of that year, they released a single called “Give Ireland Back to the Irish”, which was banned by the BBC. Wings then embarked on the 26-date Wings Over Europe Tour.

The first of Wings’ two 1973 albums Red Rose Speedway spawned the band’s first #1 in the United States, “My Love”. On 16 April, McCartney starred in a TV variety show called James Paul McCartney. Wings then released the theme song for the James Bond film Live and Let Die. It reunited McCartney with George Martin, who both produced the song and arranged the orchestral break. Their second 1973 album Band on the Run, which won two Grammy Awards is Wings’ most lauded work. From it were released the singles “Jet”, and, in 1974, “Band on the Run” (the song) as well as the non-album single “Junior’s Farm”. A jam session — with Lennon and McCartney — was recorded in California, in 1974, and released on the bootleg A Toot and a Snore in ’74. The same year, he recorded an instrumental, “Walking in the Park with Eloise”, which had been written by his father. The song featured Wings, Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins. Venus and Mars was released in 1975, which featured “Listen to What the Man Said” and “Rock Show.” Till 1976, Wings embarked on the Wings Over the World tour.

In 1977, McCartney released Thrillington under the name “Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington”. Wings also released “Mull of Kintyre”. It stayed at #1 in the UK for nine weeks, and was the highest-selling single in the UK until 1984, when Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas beat its record. Wings toured again in 1979, and McCartney organised the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. McCartney’s “Rockestra” theme won a Grammy award. At Christmas 1979, McCartney released his (solo) “Wonderful Christmastime”.

Although McCartney’s relationship with Lennon was troubled, they reconciled during the 1970s. McCartney would often call Lennon, but was never sure of what sort of reception he would get, such as when McCartney once called Lennon and was told, “You’re all pizza and fairytales!” McCartney understood that he could not just phone Lennon and only talk about business, so they often talked about cats, baking bread, or babies.

1980s-1990s: Solo career

Paul McCartney (solo)

McCartney played every instrument on the 1980 release McCartney II (as he had on McCartney before it), this time with an emphasis on synthesisers instead of guitars. The single “Coming Up” reached #2 in Britain and #1 in the US. “Waterfalls” was another UK Top 10 hit. McCartney’s next album, 1982′s Tug of War, reunited him with Ringo Starr and Beatles producer George Martin, and the album hit No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time as it’s lead single, a duet with Stevie Wonder, “Ebony and Ivory”, did likewise. Two further hit duets followed, both with Michael Jackson: “The Girl Is Mine”, from Jackson’s Thriller album, and “Say Say Say”, a single from McCartney’s 1983 album, Pipes of Peace.

McCartney wrote and starred in the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street. The film and soundtrack featured the US and UK Top 10 hit “No More Lonely Nights”, and the album reached #1 in the UK, but the film did not do well commercially or critically. Roger Ebert awarded the film a single star and wrote, “You can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track”. Later that year, McCartney released “We All Stand Together”, the title song from the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song, which was the supporting feature to “Broad Street” in cinemas and which, when released on video cassette would become the year’s top-seller. The following year, McCartney released Spies Like Us the title song to the Dan Ackroyd/Chevy Chase comedy which hit #7 on the Billboard chart (making it his last US Top 20 hit to date).

In the second half of the decade McCartney would find new collaborators. Eric Stewart had appeared on McCartney’s Pipes of Peace album, and he co-wrote most of McCartney’s 1986 album Press to Play. The album and its lead single, “Press”, became minor hits. McCartney returned the favour by co-writing two songs for Stewart’s band, 10cc: “Don’t Break the Promises” (…Meanwhile, 1992), and “Yvonne’s the One” (Mirror Mirror, 1995). In 1987, EMI released All the Best! which was the first compilation of McCartney’s own songs.

In 1988, he released, initially in the Soviet Union only, Снова в СССР a collection of McCartney cover-versions of his favourite vintage Rock and roll classics which later had a general release in 1991. Around this time, McCartney also began a songwriting partnership with Elvis Costello (Declan MacManus) from which songs would appear on singles and albums by both artists, notably “Veronica”on Costello’s album Spike and “My Brave Face” from McCartney’s Flowers in the Dirt, (which reached #1 in the UK on releas in 1989). Further McCartney/MacManus compositions for surfaced on Costello’s 1991 album Mighty Like a Rose and McCartney’s 1993 album Off the Ground. In late 1989, McCartney started his first concert tour since Lennon’s murder, also his first tour of the US in thirteen years.

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said that the last time he had seen McCartney was when they had watched the episode of Saturday Night Live (May 1976) in which Lorne Michaels had made his $3,000 cash offer to get Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr to reunite on the show. McCartney and Lennon had seriously considered going to the studio, but were too tired. This event was fictionalised in the 2000 television film Two of Us.

Reaction to John Lennon’s murder

On the morning of December 9, 1980, McCartney awoke to the news that Lennon had been murdered outside his home in the Dakota building in New York. Lennon’s death created a media frenzy around the surviving members of The Beatles. On the evening of 9 December, as McCartney was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio, he was surrounded by reporters and asked for his reaction to Lennon’s death. He replied, “I was very shocked, you know—this is terrible news,” and said that he had spent the day in the studio listening to some material because he “just didn’t want to sit at home.” When asked why, he replied, “I didn’t feel like it,” he was then asked when he first heard the news McCartney replied “This morning sometime” and one of the reporters asked “very early?” and said “yeah” and then asked the reporters if they all knew, they added “yeah” McCartney then added, “drag, isn’t it?” When published, his “drag” remark was criticised, and McCartney later regretted it. He furthermore stated that he had intended no disrespect but had just been at a loss for words, after the shock and sadness he felt over his friend’s murder. He was also to recall:
“ I talked to Yoko the day after he was killed and the first thing she said was, “John was really fond of you.” The last telephone conversation I had with him we were still the best of mates. He was always a very warm guy, John. His bluff was all on the surface. He used to take his glasses down, those granny glasses, and say, “It’s only me.” They were like a wall, you know? A shield. Those are the moments I treasure. ”

In 1983 Paul said:
“ I would not have been as typically human and standoffish as I was if I knew John was going to die. I would have made more of an effort to try and get behind his “mask” and have a better relationship with him.’ ”

In a Playboy interview in 1984, McCartney said that he went home that night and watched the news on television—while sitting with all his children—and cried all evening. His last telephone call to Lennon, which was just before Lennon and Yoko released Double Fantasy, was friendly. During the call, Lennon said (laughing) to McCartney, “This housewife wants a career!” which referred to Lennon’s “house-husband” years, while looking after Sean Lennon.

McCartney carried on recording after the death of Lennon but did not play any live concerts for some time. He explained that this was because he was nervous that he would be “the next” to be murdered. This led to a disagreement with Denny Laine, who wanted to continue touring and subsequently left Wings, which McCartney disbanded in 1981. Also in 1981, six months after Lennon’s death, McCartney sang backup on George Harrison’s tribute to Lennon, “All Those Years Ago,” which also featured Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney would go on to record “Here Today”, a tribute song to Lennon.

1990s: Classical music
McCartney at the Grammy Awards, February 1990.
McCartney at the Grammy Awards, February 1990.

The 1990s saw McCartney venture into classical music. In 1991 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by McCartney to celebrate its sesquicentennial. McCartney collaborated with Carl Davis to release Liverpool Oratorio. The Oratorio was premiered in Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, and had its North American premiere in Carnegie Hall in New York on 18 November 1991, with Davis conducting. McCartney’s singers and musicians included the opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley and Willard White, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral. EMI Classics recorded the premiere of the oratorio and released it on a 2-CD album which topped the classical charts. His next classical project to be released (in 1995) was A Leaf, a solo-piano piece played by Royal College of Music gold-medal winner Anya Alexeyev. The Prince of Wales later honoured McCartney as a Fellow of The Royal College of Music. Other forays into classical music included Standing Stone (1997), Working Classical (1999), and “Ecce Cor Meum” (2006).

In the early 1990s (after another world tour), McCartney reunited with Harrison and Starr to work on Apple’s The Beatles Anthology documentary series. It included three double albums of alternative takes, live recordings, and previously unreleased Beatles songs, as well as a ten-hour video boxed set. Anthology 1 was released in 1995, and featured “Free as a Bird”, which was the first Beatles reunion track, while Anthology 2, released in 1996, included “Real Love” (1996), the second and final in the reunion series. Both reunion tracks were co produced by Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne, who had worked with Harrison in The Traveling Wilburys. Both reunion tracks were completed by adding new music and vocal tracks to Lennon’s demos from the late 1970s.

In 1997, McCartney released Flaming Pie which was produced by Lynne and Martin. It debuted at #2 in the UK and the US, and was nominated in the Grammy Awards category Album of the Year. The same year, McCartney made his second venture into classical music with Standing Stone, which was commissioned by EMI Records to mark their 100th anniversary in autumn. On 11 March 1997, he was knighted as “Sir Paul McCartney” for his “services to music”. He dedicated his knighthood to fellow Beatles Lennon, Harrison, and Starr, and to the people of Liverpool. In 1999, McCartney released another album of rock ‘n’ roll songs, titled Run Devil Run. That same year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. (Bitter that he had not been inducted sooner, McCartney brought his daughter to the stage with him and smiled as he pointed to her shirt, which read: “About Fucking Time.”) In 1999, he released Working Classical.

2000s
McCartney on Live8.
McCartney on Live8.

In 2000, McCartney released A Garland for Linda; a choral tribute album with compositions from eight other contemporary composers. The music was performed by “The Joyful Company of Singers” to raise funds for The Garland Appeal, a fund to aid cancer patients. In May 2001, he released Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait, a retrospective documentary that features behind-the-scenes films and photographs that he and Linda McCartney (who had died in 1998) took of their family and bands. Interspersed throughout the 88 minute film is an interview by Mary McCartney with her father. Mary was the baby photographed inside McCartney’s jacket on the back cover of McCartney, and was one of the producers of the documentary.

Earlier in the year, McCartney worked on what would become his new album, Driving Rain, released on November 12. Driving Rain featured uplifting songs inspired by and written for his soon-to-be wife Heather. Clearly determined to follow the example of Run Devil Run’s brisk recording pace, most of the album was recorded in two weeks, starting in February 2001. McCartney also composed and recorded the title track for the film Vanilla Sky, released later that year. The track was nominated for—but did not win—an Oscar for Best Original Song.

McCartney took a lead role in organising The Concert for New York City in response to the events of September 11. The concert took place on 20 October 2001.

In late 2001, McCartney was informed that George Harrison was losing his battle with cancer. Upon Harrison’s death on 29 November, McCartney told Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, Good Morning America, The Early Show, MTV, VH-1 and Today that Harrison was like his “baby brother”. Harrison spent his last days in a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by McCartney. On 29 November 2002—on the first anniversary of George Harrison’s death—McCartney played Harrison’s “Something” on a ukulele at the Concert for George.

In 2002, McCartney began a two-year world tour. He contributed to an album titled Good Rockin’ Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records, which included a version of Elvis Presley’s song “That’s All Right (Mama)”. He performed during the pre-game ceremonies at the NFL’s Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 and starred in the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. In 2003, McCartney played a concert in Red Square, Russia. Vladimir Putin gave him a tour of the Square.

In what would be his first British music festival appearance, McCartney headlined the Glastonbury Festival in June 2004. McCartney and festival organiser Michael Eavis won the NME Award on behalf of the festival, which won ‘Best Live Event’ in the 2005 awards. McCartney performed at the main Live 8 concert on 2 July 2005, playing “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with U2 to open the Hyde Park event, although Ringo Starr criticised McCartney for not asking him to play.

On November 13th, 2005, McCartney played a live concert at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA. Towards the end of the concert, a satellite link-up was made to the International Space Station so McCartney and those at the concert could see NASA Astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev as they were awakening for the 44th day of their six month mission in space. McCartney proceeded to play the traditional wakeup song played on each space mission, a tradition that began during the moon missions. McCartney also performed “Good Day Sunshine”, and “English Tea”. Afterwards he and the concert goers talked with McArthur and Tokarev via a projection screen. This was the first time a live concert had been linked to a U.S. spacecraft.
McCartney gives a speech at the US premier of Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall..
McCartney gives a speech at the US premier of Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall..

In March 2006, McCartney finished composing a ‘modern classical’ musical work named Ecce Cor Meum [Behold My Heart]. It was recorded with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the boys of King’s College Choir, Cambridge, Magdalen College School, Oxford, and was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 3 November 2006..[141] It was voted Classical Album of the Year in 2007 in the Classical Brit Awards.[142]

On 18 June 2006, McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, as in “When I’m Sixty-Four.” Paul Vallely noted it in The Independent as “a cultural milestone for a generation. Such is the nature of celebrity, McCartney is one of those people who have represented the hopes and aspirations of those born in the baby-boom era, which had its awakening in the Sixties.”[143]

McCartney joined Jay-Z and Linkin Park onstage at the 2006 Grammy Awards in a performance of “Numb/Encore” & “Yesterday” to commemorate the recent passing of Coretta Scott King. McCartney later noted that it was the first time he had performed at the Grammys and quipped, “I finally passed the audition,” which was a reference to the Lennon comment at the end of the Let It Be film: “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition.”[144] McCartney was nominated for another Grammy Award in 2007 for “Jenny Wren”—a song from his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, which itself had been nominated as Album of the Year in 2006.[145]

On 21 March 2007, McCartney left EMI to become the first artist signed to Starbucks’s new record label, Los Angeles-based Hear Music, to be distributed by Concord Music Group. He made an appearance via a video-feed from London at the company’s annual meeting.[146] “For me, the great thing is the commitment and the passion and the love of music, which as an artist is good to see. It’s a new world now and people are thinking of new ways to reach the people, and that’s always been my aim”.[147]

On 2 April 2007, a fan drove through the security fence on McCartney’s Peasmarsh county estate shouting that he had to “get at” the ex-Beatle. The incident echoed the murder of Lennon and the attempted murder of George Harrison. The assailant was arrested after a chase through Sussex country lanes.[148][149][150]

McCartney played “secret gigs” in London, New York, and Los Angeles to promote his album. Several live recordings from these shows have been released as B-sides to singles from Memory Almost Full. In New York, the crowd included only a few hundred contest winners and celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg, Elijah Wood, Kate Moss, Aidan Quinn, and Steve Buscemi.[151]
McCartney’s BBC Electric Proms performance in Camden, London.
McCartney’s BBC Electric Proms performance in Camden, London.

McCartney played at the BBC Electric Proms on October 25, 2007, at The Roundhouse in Camden, which is run by a music festival run by the British Broadcasting Corporation. On 13 November 2007, The McCartney Years, a 3-DVD set was released. It contains a commentary, behind the scenes footage, over 40 music videos, Wings’ live performances, interviews with Melvyn Bragg and Michael Parkinson, LIVE AID, the Super Bowl XXXIX Halftime Show and the 2005 documentary Creating Chaos at Abbey Road.[152]

In February 2008, McCartney was awarded a BRIT award for outstanding contribution, the same as a Lifetime Achievement Award.[153] The minor planet 4148, discovered in 1983 was named ‘McCartney’ in his honour.[154] Yale University conferred an honorary Doctor of Music degree on Paul McCartney on 26 May 2008.[155] On 1 June 2008 McCartney celebrated Liverpool’s year as European capital of culture by playing a concert there. It featured special guest Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. Grohl played guitar and sang backing vocals on “Band on the Run” and played drums on Back in the U.S.S.R. and I Saw Her Standing There.

In April 2008 it has been revealed that McCartney was invited by Ukrainian tycoon Victor Pinchuk to play a free concert in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 14 June, 2008. He played in the city’s main square Maidan Nezalezhnosti at a show dubbed the Independence Concert.[156] Over 350,000 concert goers braved adverse weather conditions as Paul McCartney played the biggest concert in the Ukraine’s history. Furthermore, McCartney will open a personal exhibition of his artistic works at the PinchukArtCentre[157].

Creative outlets

During the ’60s, McCartney was often seen at major cultural events, such as the launch party for The International Times, and at The Roundhouse (28 January and 4 February 1967).[158] He also delved into the visual arts, becoming a close friend of leading art dealers and gallery owners, explored experimental film, and regularly attended movie, theatrical and classical music performances. His first contact with the London avant-garde scene was through John Dunbar, who introduced him to the art dealer Robert Fraser, who in turn introduced McCartney to an array of writers and artists. McCartney later became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason’s Yard, London—John Lennon first met Yoko Ono at the Indica.[159][160] The Indica Gallery brought McCartney into contact with Barry Miles, whose underground newspaper, The International Times, McCartney helped to start.[161] Miles would become de facto manager of the Apple’s short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney’s official biography, Many Years From Now (1998).

While living at the Asher house, McCartney took piano lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which The Beatles’ producer Martin had previously attended. McCartney studied composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio.[162] McCartney later wrote and released several pieces of modern classical music and ambient electronica, besides writing poetry and painting. McCartney is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, an arts school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys.[163] The 1837 building, which McCartney attended during his schooldays, had become derelict by the mid-1980s.[163] On 7 June 1996, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the redeveloped building.[163]

Electronica

After the recording of “Yesterday” in 1965, McCartney contacted the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale, London, to see if they could record an electronic version of the song, but never followed it up. When visiting John Dunbar’s flat in London, McCartney would take along tapes he had compiled at Jane Asher’s house. The tapes were mixes of various songs, musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that he had Dick James make into a demo record for him.[166] He later made tape loops by recording voices, guitars and bongos on a Brenell tape machine, and splicing the various loops together. He reversed the tapes, sped them up, and slowed them down to create the effects he wanted (which were later used on Beatles’ recordings, such as “Tomorrow Never Knows”). McCartney referred to them as electronic symphonies and was heavily influenced by John Cage at the time.[167]

In the spring of 1966, while McCartney was part of a small group which included figureheads John Dunbar and (Barry) Miles, involved with giving birth to the Indica Gallery and the newspaper International Times, he rented a ground floor and basement flat from Ringo Starr at 34 Montagu Square, to be used as a small demo studio for spoken-word recordings by poets, writers (including William Burroughs) and avant-garde musicians.[168] The Beatles’ Apple Records then launched a sub-label, Zapple with (Barry) Miles as its manager, ostensibly to release recordings of a similar aesthetic, (although few releases would ultimately result as Apple and The Beatles slid into subsequent business and personal difficulties.)[168]

In 1995, McCartney recorded a radio series called “Oobu Joobu” for the American network Westwood One, which McCartney described as being “wide-screen radio”

During the 1990s, McCartney collaborated with Youth of Killing Joke under the name of the Fireman, and have released two ambient albums; Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (in 1993) and Rushes, in 1998. In 2000, he released an album, Liverpool Sound Collage, with Super Furry Animals and Youth, utilising collage and musique concrete techniques which fascinated him in the mid-1960s. Most recently, in 2005, he worked on a project with bootleg producer and remixer Freelance Hellraiser, consisting of remixed versions of songs from throughout his solo career and released under the name Twin Freaks.

Film

McCartney was interested in animated films as a child, and later had the financial resources to ask Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called the Rupert and the Frog Song in 1981. McCartney wrote the music and the script, was the producer, and added some of the characters voices.Dunbar worked again with McCartney on an animated film about the work of French artist Honore Daumier, in 1992, which won both of them a Bafta award. They also worked on Tropic Island Hum, in 1997.In 1995, McCartney directed a short documentary about The Grateful Dead.[

Painting

In 1966, McCartney met art gallery-owner Robert Fraser, whose flat was visited by many well-known artists.[181] McCartney met Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Peter Blake, and Richard Hamilton there, and learned about art appreciation.[181] McCartney later started buying paintings by Magritte, and used Magritte’s painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo.[182] He now owns Magritte’s easel and spectacles.[183]

McCartney’s love of painting surfaced after watching artist Willem de Kooning paint, in Kooning’s Long Island barn.[184] McCartney took up painting in 1983.[185] In 1999, he exhibited his paintings (featuring McCartney’s portraits of John Lennon, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie) for the first time in Siegen, Germany, and included photographs by Linda. He chose the gallery because Wolfgang Suttner (local events organiser) was genuinely interested in his art, and the positive reaction led to McCartney showing his work in UK galleries.[186] The first UK exhibition of McCartney’s work was opened in Bristol, England with more than 500 paintings on display. McCartney had previously believed that “only people that had been to art school were allowed to paint” – as Lennon had.[186]

In October 2000, Yoko Ono and McCartney presented art exhibitions in New York and London. McCartney said,
“ I’ve been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where John and I used to spend many a pleasant afternoon. So I’m really excited about it. I didn’t tell anybody I painted for 15 years but now I’m out of the closet.[187][188] ”

Writing and poetry
McCartney’s English teacher, Alan Durband, in 1946.
McCartney’s English teacher, Alan Durband, in 1946.

When McCartney was young, his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books. McCartney’s father was interested in crosswords and invited the two young McCartneys (Paul and his brother Michael) to solve them with him, so as to increase their “word power”.[189] McCartney was later inspired – in his school years – by Alan Durband, who was McCartney’s English literature teacher at the Liverpool Institute.[190] Durband was a co-founder and fund-raiser at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Willy Russell also worked, and introduced McCartney to Geoffrey Chaucer’s works.[191] McCartney later took his A-level exams, but passed only one subject – Art.[192][193]

In 2001 McCartney published ‘Blackbird Singing’, a volume of poems, some of which were lyrics to his songs, and gave readings in Liverpool and New York.[194] Some of them were serious: “Here Today” (about Lennon) and some humorous (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”).[195] In the foreword of the book, McCartney explained that when he was a teenager, he had “an overwhelming desire” to have a poem of his published in the school magazine. He wrote something “deep and meaningful”, but it was rejected, and he feels that he has been trying to get some kind of revenge ever since. His first “real poem” was about the death of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan.[196]

In October 2005, McCartney released a children’s book called High In The Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail. In a press release publicizing the book, McCartney said, “I have loved reading for as long as I can remember,” singling out Treasure Island as a childhood favourite.[197] McCartney collaborated with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar to write the book.[198]

Relationships and marriages

McCartney had a three-year relationship with Dot Rhone in Liverpool, and they were due to get married until Rhone lost the baby she was expecting. In London McCartney had a five-year relationship with actress Jane Asher. They were engaged to be married until they broke up in 1968. McCartney married American photographer Linda Eastman in 1969 (McCartney was the last Beatle to get married). They had four children (Linda’s daughter Heather who was adopted by Paul, followed by three more children) and remained married until Linda’s death from breast cancer in 1998. In 2002, McCartney married former model Heather Mills and they had a child in 2003. They separated in May 2006 and they were divorced in May 2008.[199]

Widespread animosity towards McCartney’s wives was reported in 2004. “They [the British public] didn’t like me giving up on Jane Asher,” McCartney said. “I married a New York divorcee with a child, and at the time they didn’t like that.”[200]

Relationship with Dot Rhone
McCartney and Dot Rhone on 17 March 1962, in Liverpool.
McCartney and Dot Rhone on 17 March 1962, in Liverpool.

One of McCartney’s first girlfriends was called Layla, whom McCartney remembered as having an unusual name in Liverpool at the time. Layla was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her, which was a code word for sex. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray’s niece.[201]

McCartney’s first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959.[202] McCartney picked out the clothes he wanted Rhone to wear and told her which make-up to use. He also paid for Rhone to have her blonde hair done in the style of Brigitte Bardot, whom Lennon and McCartney idolised.[203][204] When McCartney went to Hamburg with The Beatles he wrote regular letters to Rhone, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when The Beatles played there again in 1962.[205] According to Rhone, McCartney bought her a gold ring, took her sightseeing around Hamburg and was very attentive and caring.[206] Rhone later rented a room in the same house as Cynthia Lennon was living as McCartney helped with the rent.[207] McCartney admitted that he had other girlfriends in Hamburg during his time with Rhone, and that they were usually “strippers”, who knew a lot more about sex than Liverpool girls.[208]

Shortly after McCartney returned from Hamburg in May 1962, Rhone told him that she was pregnant. They told Jim McCartney—whom they expected to be shocked at the news—but found him delighted at the prospect of becoming a grandfather. McCartney took out a marriage licence and set the wedding date for November; shortly before the baby was due.[209] Rhone had a miscarriage in July 1962, and after a few weeks, McCartney’s feelings towards Rhone “cooled off” and he finished their relationship.[210]

Rhone later emigrated to Toronto, Canada, and McCartney met her again when The Beatles played there, and then again with Wings. Rhone said that “Love of the Loved” and “P.S. I Love You” were written about her. Years later, Cynthia Lennon gave back Rhone the gold ring that McCartney had bought in Hamburg, as Cynthia had once tried it on when Rhone was washing dishes, and had forgotten to take it off. Rhone is now a grandmother and lives in Mississauga, Ontario.[211]

Relationship with Jane Asher

Jane Asher

The Beatles were performing at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, when McCartney first met British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, and a photographer asked them to pose with Asher.[212] The Beatles were interviewed by Asher for the BBC, and Asher was then photographed screaming at them like a fan. McCartney later persuaded her to become his girlfriend.[213]

McCartney soon met Jane’s family: Margaret, Jane’s mother, who combined her life as the mother of three children with a full-time career as a music teacher, and Jane’s father, Richard, who was a physician. Jane’s brother, Peter, was a member of Peter and Gordon, and Jane’s younger sister, Clare, was also an actress.[214] McCartney later gave “A World Without Love” to Peter and Gordon-as well as the song “Nobody I Know”. Both songs became hits for the group.[215] McCartney took up residence at the Ashers’ house at 57 Wimpole Street, London, and lived there for nearly three years.[216] During his time there McCartney met writers such as Bertrand Russell, Harold Pinter and Len Deighton.[217] He wrote several songs at the Ashers’, including “Yesterday”, and worked on songs with Lennon in the basement music room. Jane inspired many songs, such as “And I Love Her”, “You Won’t See Me”, and “I’m Looking Through You”.[218] On 13 April 1965, McCartney bought a £40,000 three-storey Regency house, at 7 Cavendish Avenue, London, and spent a further £20,000 renovating it. McCartney created a music room on the top floor of his house, where he worked with Lennon. He thanked the Ashers by paying for the decoration of the front of their house.[219]

On 15 May 1967, McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O’Nails club in London.[220] Eastman was in the UK on an assignment to take photographs of “Swinging sixties” musicians in London. McCartney and Linda later went to The Speakeasy club on Margaret Street.[221] They met again four days later at the launch party for the Sgt. Pepper album at Brian Epstein’s house in Belgravia, but when her assignment was completed, Linda flew back to New York City.[222]

On 25 December 1967, McCartney and Asher announced their engagement, and she accompanied McCartney to India in February and March of 1968. Asher broke off the engagement in early 1968, after coming back from Bristol to find McCartney in bed with another woman.[223] They attempted to mend the relationship, but finally broke it off in July 1968. Jane Asher has consistently refused to publicly discuss that part of her life.[224]

Marriage to Linda Eastman

Main articles: Linda McCartney, Heather McCartney, Mary McCartney, Stella McCartney, and James McCartney

In May 1968, McCartney met Eastman again in New York, when Lennon and McCartney were there to announce the formation of Apple Corps.[225] In September, McCartney phoned Eastman and asked her to fly over to London. Six months later, McCartney and Eastman were married at a small civil ceremony (when Linda was four months pregnant with McCartney’s child) at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969. He later said that Eastman was the woman who “gave me the strength and courage to work again” (after the break-up of The Beatles).[226] McCartney adopted Linda’s daughter from her first marriage, Heather Louise (now a potter), and the couple had three more children together: photographer Mary Anna, fashion designer Stella Nina,[227] and musician James Louis. McCartney has claimed that he and Linda spent less than a week apart during their entire marriage, interrupted only by Paul’s incarceration in Tokyo on drug charges in January 1980.

Linda McCartney died of breast cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on 17 April 1998.[228] McCartney denied rumours that her death was an assisted suicide.[228][229]

McCartney now has five grandchildren: Mary’s two sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999) and Elliot Donald (born 1 August 2002) and Stella’s children, Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005),[230] daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born 8 December 2006).[231], and Beckett Robert Lee (born 8 January 2008).

Marriage to Heather Mills

Main article: Heather Mills

After having sparked the interest of the tabloids about his appearances with Heather Mills at events, McCartney appeared publicly beside Mills at a party in January 2000, to celebrate her 32nd birthday.[232][233] On 11 June 2002, McCartney married Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner, in an elaborate ceremony at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland, where more than 300 guests were invited and the reception included a vegetarian banquet.[234] In October 2003, Mills gave birth to a daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney.[235] The baby was reportedly named after Heather’s late mother Beatrice and Paul’s Aunt Milly.[236]

On 29 July 2006, British newspapers announced that McCartney had petitioned for divorce, which sparked a press furor.[237][238][239] A settlement was announced on 21 January 2007, but Mills’ lawyers denied this.[240] On March 17, 2008, the financial terms of the divorce were finalised[241] with a settlement awarding Heather Mills £24.3 million ($48.6 million).[242] The settlement will also see the former Beatle pay their four-year-old daughter Beatrice’s nanny and school fees and will pay Beatrice £35,000 ($70,000) a year until she is 18, or ends secondary education.[242][243][244][245] After the divorce ruling, Justice Bennett said that throughout the case Mills was “inconsistent, inaccurate and less than candid” while McCartney was “honest.”[246][247] On May 12, 2008, Justice Hugh Bennett issued only a preliminary divorce decree to be finalized in 6 months: “On the petition for divorce presented by Miss Heather Mills, I pronounce the decree nisi of divorce on the grounds of two years’ separation.”[248][249]

Lifestyle

McCartney’s lifestyle was greatly altered by his success and the income he earned. In the 1960s, the new availability of the first oral contraceptive and illegal drugs changed many people’s opinions—including McCartney’s—about life, marriage, and sexual relationships.[250]

Recreational drug use

McCartney’s introduction to drugs started in Hamburg, Germany.[251] The Beatles had to play for hours, and they were often given “Prellies” (Preludin) by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr (whose mother bought them). McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five.[252]

After having been introduced to cannabis, by Bob Dylan in New York, in 1964, McCartney remembered getting “very high” and giggling.[253] McCartney’s use of cannabis became regular, and he was quoted in the Barry Miles book as saying that any future Beatles’ lyrics containing the words “high”, or “grass” were written specifically as a reference to cannabis—as was “Got to Get You into My Life”.[254] John Dunbar’s flat at 29 Lennox Gardens, in London, became a regular hang-out for McCartney, where he talked to musicians, writers and artists, and smoked cannabis.[166] In 1965, Miles introduced McCartney to hash brownies by using a recipe for hash fudge he found in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.[255] During the filming of Help!, he and the other Beatles occasionally smoked a spliff in the car on the way to the studio during filming, which often made them forget their lines.[256] Help! director Dick Lester said that he overheard “two beautiful women” trying to cajole McCartney into taking heroin, but he refused.[256]
McCartney called for the legalization of Cannabis in 1967.
McCartney called for the legalization of Cannabis in 1967.

McCartney’s attitude about cannabis was made public in the 1960s, when he added his name to an advertisement in The Times, on 24 July 1967, which asked for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana’s medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by 65 people, including The Beatles, Brian Epstein, Graham Greene, R.D. Laing, 15 doctors, and two MPs.[257]

McCartney was introduced to cocaine by Robert Fraser, and it was available during the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.[258][259] McCartney admitted sniffing heroin with Fraser, but did not feel any effect, and never took it again.[260]

In 1967, on a sailing trip to Greece—with the idea of buying an island for the whole group—McCartney said everybody sat around and took LSD, although McCartney first took it with Tara Browne, in 1966.[261][262][263] He took his second “acid trip” with Lennon on 21 March 1967 after a studio session.[264] McCartney was the first British pop star openly to admit to using LSD, in an interview in the now-defunct “Queen” magazine.[265] His admission was followed by a TV interview in the UK on Independent Television News on 19 June 1967, when McCartney was asked about his admission of LSD use, he said:
“ I was asked a question by a newspaper, and the decision was whether to tell a lie or tell him the truth. I decided to tell him the truth … but I really didn’t want to say anything, you know, because if I had my way I wouldn’t have told anyone. I’m not trying to spread the word about this. But the man from the newspaper is the man from the mass medium. I’ll keep it a personal thing if he does too, you know … if he keeps it quiet. But he wanted to spread it so it’s his responsibility, you know, for spreading it, not mine. ”

In another quote (cited and endorsed by The Byrds’ David Crosby at the Monterey Pop Festival), McCartney said,
“ [LSD] opened my eyes. We only use one-tenth of our brain. Just think of what we could accomplish if we could only tap that hidden part! It would mean a whole new world if the politicians would take LSD. There wouldn’t be any more war or poverty or famine. ”

In spite of his statements then, and his admission (in 2004) that he had used cocaine, McCartney was not arrested by Norman Pilcher’s Drug Squad, as had been Lennon, Harrison, Donovan, and several members of the Rolling Stones.[266] In 1972, however, police found cannabis plants growing on his Scottish farm.[267]

On 16 January 1980, Wings went to Tokyo for 11 concerts in Japan. As McCartney was going through customs, officials found 7.7 ounces (218.3 g) of cannabis in his luggage. He was arrested and taken to a Tokyo prison while the Japanese government decided what to do. McCartney had been previously denied a visa to Japan (in 1975) because he had been convicted twice in Europe for possession of cannabis.[266] Public figures called for McCartney to be tried by a jury for drug-smuggling. Had he been tried and convicted, he would have faced up to seven years in prison. The members of Wings cancelled the tour and left Japan. After ten days in jail, McCartney was released and deported. He was told that he would not be welcome in Japan again, although a decade later he played a concert in Tokyo. In 1984, Paul and Linda McCartney were both arrested for possession of cannabis.[268][269]

Meditation

On 24 August 1967, McCartney met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend ‘initiation’ conference.[270] McCartney said that although he does not meditate daily, he still uses the mantra that the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi gave him in Bangor.[271] The time McCartney later spent in India at the Maharishi’s ashram was highly productive, as practically all of the songs that would later be recorded for The White Album and Abbey Road were composed there by McCartney, Lennon, or both together.[272] Although McCartney was told that he was never to repeat the mantra to anyone else, he did tell Linda McCartney,[273] and said he meditated a lot while he was in jail in Japan.[271]

Activism
McCartney’s campaign against landmines
McCartney’s campaign against landmines

The McCartneys became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists. They said that their vegetarianism was realised when they happened to see lambs in a field as they ate a meal of lamb.[274] McCartney has also credited the 1942 Disney film Bambi – in which the young deer’s mother is shot by a hunter – as the original inspiration for him to take an interest in animal rights.[275] In his first interview after Linda’s death, he promised to continue working for animal rights.[276][277]

In 1999, McCartney spent £3,000,000 to make sure Linda McCartney’s food range remains free of GM ingredients.[278] In 2002, McCartney gave his support to a campaign against a proposed ban on the sale of certain vitamins, herbs and mineral products in the European Union.[279] Following his marriage to Heather Mills, McCartney joined with her to campaign against landmines;[280][281] both McCartney and Mills are patrons of Adopt-A-Minefield.[282] In 2003, he played a personal concert for the wife of a wealthy banker and donated his one million dollars to the charity.[283] He also wore an anti-landmines t-shirt on the Back in the World tour.[282]

In 2006, the McCartneys travelled to Prince Edward Island to bring international attention to the seal hunt (their final public appearance together). Their arrival sparked attention in Newfoundland and Labrador where the hunt is of economic significance.[284] The couple also debated with Newfoundland’s Premier Danny Williams on the CNN show Larry King Live. They further stated that the fishermen should quit hunting seals and begin a seal watching business.[285] McCartney has also criticised China’s fur trade,[286][287] and supports the Make Poverty History campaign.[288]

McCartney has been involved with a number of charity recordings and performances. In 2004, he donated a song to an album to aid the “US Campaign for Burma”, in support of Burmese Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,[289] and he had previously been involved in the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Live Aid, and the recording of “Ferry Cross the Mersey” (released 8 May 1989) following the Hillsborough disaster.[290][291]

Football

The Beatles made few comments about the football clubs they supported, in case they alienated fans of the group,[292] although McCartney is a supporter of Everton Football Club[293] (his father and relatives used to take him to matches) but his allegiance later encompassed Liverpool F.C. (both clubs being from the same city; Liverpool).[294] Linda McCartney said: “We spent last night listening to Liverpool football team on the radio, wanting them to win so badly. Paul supports Liverpool. He was Everton for a while because of his family – but it’s all Liverpool now”.[295][296]

Both Lennon and McCartney watched the 1966 FA Cup Final between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, and McCartney attended the 1968 FA Cup Final (18 May 1968) which was played between West Bromwich Albion and Everton.[297] After the final whistle, McCartney shared cigarettes and whisky with other fans.[296] Liverpool player, Albert Stubbins, was the only footballer shown on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band cover.[292] On 28 July 1968, The Beatles were photographed in a photographer’s studio at 192-212 Gray’s Inn Road, with McCartney wearing a Liverpool F.C. Rosette on two photos.[298]

McCartney tried to listen to the Liverpool v Manchester United 1977 FA Cup Final on a radio, while sailing in the Caribbean.[292] The video for McCartney’s Pipes of Peace (1983) recreated the football game played between German and British troops during WWI.[299][300] McCartney was seen at the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton,[296] and in 1989, McCartney contributed to the “Ferry Cross the Mersey” charity single that was recorded to aid victims of the Hillsborough Disaster, which happened during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.[301]

Business

Main articles: Apple Corps, Northern Songs, and MPL Communications

McCartney is today one of Britain’s wealthiest men, with an estimated fortune of £824 million,[302] although Justice Bennett, in his judgment on McCartney’s divorce case found no evidence that McCartney was worth more than £400 million.[303] In addition to his interest in Apple Corps, McCartney’s MPL Communications owns a significant music publishing catalogue, with access to over 25,000 copyrights.[304][305] McCartney earned £40 million in 2003, making him Britain’s highest media earner.[306] This rose to £48.5 million by 2005.[307] In the same year he joined the top American talent agency Grabow Associates, who arrange private performances for their richest clients.[308] Northern Songs was established in 1963, by Dick James, to publish the songs of Lennon/McCartney.[309] The Beatles’ partnership was replaced in 1968 by a jointly-held company, Apple Corps, which continues to control Apple’s commercial interests. Northern Songs was purchased by Associated TeleVision (ATV) in 1969, and was sold in 1985 to Michael Jackson. For many years McCartney was unhappy about Jackson’s purchase and handling of Northern Songs.[310]

MPL Communications is an umbrella company for McCartney’s business interests, which owns a wide range of copyrights,[311] as well as the publishing rights to musicals,[312] and controls 25 subsidiary companies.[313] In 2006, the Trademarks Registry reported that MPL had started a process to secure the protections associated with registering the name “Paul McCartney” as a trademark.[314] The 2005 films, Brokeback Mountain[315] and Good Night and Good Luck, feature MPL copyrights.[316]

Critique and achievements

McCartney is listed in The Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history,[317][318] with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs.[319][320] McCartney has achieved twenty-nine number-one singles in the U.S., twenty of them with The Beatles, the rest with Wings and as a solo artist.[317] McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles in the United Kingdom than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artist. McCartney has achieved 24 number-ones in the U.K.: solo (1), Wings (1), with Stevie Wonder (1), Ferry Aid (1), Band Aid (1), Band Aid 20 (1) and The Beatles (17).[321] McCartney is the only artist to reach the U.K. number one as a soloist (“Pipes of Peace”), duo (“Ebony and Ivory” with Stevie Wonder), trio (“Mull of Kintyre”, Wings), quartet (“She Loves You”, The Beatles), quintet (“Get Back”, The Beatles with Billy Preston) and sextet (“Let It Be” with Ferry Aid). McCartney’s song “Yesterday” is the most covered song in history with more than 3,500 recorded versions[322] and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American TV and radio, for which McCartney was given an award.[323] After its 1977 release the Wings single “Mull of Kintyre” became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984.

On 2 July 2005, he was involved with the fastest-released single in history. His performance of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with U2 at Live 8 was released only 45 minutes after it was performed, before the end of the concert.[324] The single reached number six on the Billboard charts, just hours after the single’s release, and hit number one on numerous online download charts across the world.[325] McCartney played for the largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 people paid to see him perform at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on 21 April, 1990,[326] and he played his 3,000th concert in front of 60,000 fans in St Petersburg, Russia, on 20 June 2004.[327] Over his career, McCartney has played 2,523 gigs with The Beatles, 140 with Wings, and 325 as a solo artist.[328]

In the concert programme for his 1989 world tour, McCartney wrote that Lennon received all the credit for being the avant-garde Beatle,[161] and McCartney was known as ‘baby-faced’, which he disagreed with.[329] People also assumed that Lennon was the ‘hard-edged one’, and McCartney was the ‘soft-edged’ Beatle, although McCartney admitted to ‘bossing Lennon around.’[330] Linda McCartney said that McCartney had a ‘hard-edge’—and not just on the surface—which she knew about after all the years she had spent living with him.[331] McCartney seemed to confirm this edge when he commented that he sometimes meditates, which he said is better than “sleeping, eating, or shouting at someone”.[273] In June 1983, McCartney released “We All Stand Together” from the animated film Rupert And The Frog Song, which was commercially successful, but was widely ridiculed as being “one of the worst songs in recent years”.[332]

Paul is dead rumours

Main article: Paul is dead

“Paul is Dead” is an urban legend alleging that McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike and sound-alike. The rumour is the subject of several books, including American journalist Andru J. Reeve’s 1994 book Turn Me On, Dead Man (ISBN 1-4184-8294-3) and English author Benjamin Fitzpatrick’s 1997 book, ‘Rumours from John, George, Ringo and Me’.”Paul is dead” analyst Joel Glazier hypothesized in a 1978 treatise that Lennon’s love of wordplay and studio editing may have been responsible for clues in later Beatles albums.[333]

2006 – Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav finds love with Deelishis on the final episode

Posted in 2000s, General, TV, Movies, Radio, Internet, & itunes | No Comments »

2006 – Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav finds love with Deelishis on the final episode of Flavor of Love‘s second season. 7.5 million people watch the outcome.

Tags: love, million, millions, public, Seasons, watch

Oct 02

2006 – English songbird Katie Melua performs a concert 303 meters below

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, Albums/Singles that Rock, Alternative or something else, Comical, Concerts, Gigs & Tours, Industry, Off the Hook, Platinum, Singers, TV, Movies, Radio, Internet, & itunes | No Comments »

2006 – English songbird Katie Melua performs a concert 303 meters below sea level. The world’s deepest gig happens at the bottom of an oil rig shaft in the North Sea. Unfortunately, someone lifts Melua back to the surface.

Katie Melua has entered the record books by playing the deepest ever gig.

Melua set the record on Statoil Troll A, a gas rig in the North Sea, descending to a depth of 303 metres to play her set.

The gig was watched by a Guinness Book Of Records adjudicator, a small group of rig workers, and a Norwegian TV crew.

The singer had to endure rigorous training and medical tests in Norway to prepare for the performance.

Melua told the BBC: “It took nine minutes to go from the main part of the gas platform down to the bottom of the shaft in a lift.

“Giving a concert to the workers there was something really extraordinary and an occasion that I will remember all my life.”
Melua’s deep sea gig sets record
Katie Melua
The gig took place at the bottom of one of the rig’s legs
Singer Katie Melua has entered the record books by playing the world’s deepest underwater concert.

Melua and her band performed for workers 303 metres below sea level on the Statoil Troll A gas rig in the North Sea.

“This was definitely the most surreal gig I have ever done,” Melua said.

The 22-year-old singer underwent extensive medical tests and survival training in Norway before flying by helicopter to the rig.

“It took nine minutes to go from the main part of the gas platform down to the bottom of the shaft in a lift,” said Melua.

“Giving a concert to the workers there was something really extraordinary and an occasion that I will remember all my life.”

Deep sea set-list

The songs Melua performed included Closest Thing To Crazy and Nine Million Bicycles.

Katie Melua
Melua underwent survival training before the gig
Guinness World Records has confirmed the gig sets a new record.

The concert was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of gas production on Troll A and was filmed for Norwegian TV channel NRK.

Melua is currently the UK’s biggest-selling female artist.

Tags: BBC, book, books, concert, concerts, english, gig, life, Norwegian, perform, play, Record, recording, Records, seas, Singer, Singers, test, watch, world

Sep 21

2004 – Singer Cat Stevens (“Wild World”), who changed his name to Yusuf Islam

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Off the Hook, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

2004 – Singer Cat Stevens (“Wild World”), who changed his name to Yusuf Islam after becoming a Muslim, is denied entry into the United States after his name is found on an anti-terrorist watch list. Stevens denies links to the terror group Hamas.

Tags: Islam, Muslim, Singer, Singers, terrorism, watch, Who, wild, world

Jan 05

2004 – Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean chases down and captures

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, General, I fought the law | No Comments »

2004 – Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean chases down and captures a jewel thief in the parking lot of Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel. McLean was trying on watches at the hotel’s boutique when the man ran off with a $40,000 diamond ring.

Tags: hotel, La, man, park, Rock, Vegas, watch

Sep 23

2003 – Jack Osbourne, Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Sugar Ray’s

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, Albums/Singles that Rock, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

2003 – Jack Osbourne, Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath watch English comedy rockers the Darkness make their West Coast debut at Los Angeles’ Roxy Theatre.

Tags: comedy, debut, english, jacks, Lo, mark, McGrath, Osbourne, rocker, watch

Sep 22

2003 – Jack Osbourne, Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Sugar Ray

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

2003 – Jack Osbourne, Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath watch English comedy rockers the Darkness make their West Coast debut at Los Angeles’ Roxy Theatre.

Tags: comedy, debut, english, jacks, Lo, mark, McGrath, Osbourne, rocker, watch

Jul 04

2003 – Ja Rule becomes the first high-profile inte…

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, Bio, Concerts, Gigs & Tours, General, Holidays, July 4th (U.S) | No Comments »

2003 – Ja Rule becomes the first high-profile international artist to tour South Africa.

Jeffrey Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper and actor signed to The Inc. and Universal Records formerly of Def Jam Recordings. A Hollis, New York native best-known for hits such as “Put It On Me,” “Between Me And You,” “I’m Real” and “Wonderful,” Ja Rule has released seven albums to date and sold over 20 million albums worldwide.

Biography

Early years

Born and raised in a Hollis, Queens, New York housing project, he attended Junior High School in Floral Park where he met his future wife Aisha Murray, graduating with her in 1991. They attended Martin Van Buren High School together, but he did not graduate.

When Atkins was five years old, his sister died from respiratory problems. His parents were Jehovah’s Witnesses. Growing up in a strict religious home, Atkin’s family did not celebrate birthdays and Christmas, and as a child, was not allowed to listen to rap music. When he first heard it, he decided to be a rapper. He would sneak the music into his house and played it on his CD player when his mother wasn’t around. Ja Rule allegedly stated that although he had previously attended a school in Queens, he transferred to a private school in Manhattan because of bullying about his small height. During his interview with Louis Farrakahn, he stated that he was the only black student at the school and said that because of his race, the other kids didn’t bother him.

At age 15, Atkins appeared with 0-1 and Chris Black as part of Cash Money Click which would lead to him being signed by TVT Records. Atkins was heard by a young DJ who called himself DJ Irv, and later Irv Gotti. Gotti was a friend of Jay-Z and a DJ for Def Jam Recordings . During the mid 90′s, Gotti was intent on meeting Ja Rule and helping him land a solo deal, eventually scoring one at Def Jam. Shortly after Def Jam decided to launch his career through the success of Jay-Z. Ja would appear on Jay-Z’s hit single Can I Get A… alongside Amil . Soon after we would quickly become one of the more popular rappers in the game as well as one of Def Jam’s premier acts.

Music career

Venni Vetti Vecci (1999)

On June 1, 1999, Ja Rule released his debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci. The album marked not only Ja’s debut, but the debut album from his label, Murder Inc. Records. Venni Vetti Vecci instantly launched Ja Rule’s career as he became a staple on hip hop and pop networks like MTV, VH1, and BET. The album featured “Holla Holla” along with “Its Murda” with Jay-Z and DMX. The final single was “Daddy’s Little Baby,” a duet with Ronald Isley. These three singles and the production coming from Irv Gotti along with performances from Memphis Bleek, Erick Sermon, Case, Black Child, Nemesis, and Caddillac Tah, then known as Tah Murdah, along with a notable performance from his mentor, Jay-Z led to the album going platinum.

Rule 3:36 (2000)

Ja Rule would return during the summer of 2000, with his new single “Between Me and You,” which featured Def Soul act Christina Milian. The single was quickly followed by Ja’s second effort, Rule 3:36, which was released on October 10, 2000. 3:36 also featured singles “Put It On Me,” and “I Cry.” The album featured guest appearances from Lil Mo, Vita, Christina Milian, label mates Jayo Felony, and Black Child. The album received mixed responses from critics due to its more commercial sound, abandoning a bit the darker street sound of his debut. Despite this, the album fared extremely well and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts, eventually going 3x Platinum. The release of this album marked a huge turn in Ja Rule’s style of music from a more hardcore edge to a pop crossover oriented sound.

Pain Is Love (2001)

Soon after the release of Rule 3:36, Irv Gotti would sign R&B singer Ashanti to the label, which led to Lil Mo ending her collaborations with the label. During the late summer of 2001, Ja Rule released the lead single from his third studio album, Pain Is Love, which was “Livin’ It Up.” The second single was the “I’m Real (remix),” and the third was “Always On Time,” and the last was “Down Ass Bitch.” This album is noted for two things the first is introducing a young Ashanti to the music business and the second is bringing Charli Baltimore back to the music business. Pain Is Love featured guest appearances from Case, The Murder Inc. Family, Missy Elliott, Jodie Mack, Tweet, Jennifer Lopez and a recording from the late Tupac Shakur. Along with its critical success it was also a commercial success it, like its predecessor went 3x Platinum.

The Last Temptation (2002)

Ja Rule would shave his head during the promotion of his fourth studio album, The Last Temptation. His fourth album was released on November 19, 2002. Although the album was fairly successful, certified platinum, it failed to carry the momentum brought by his previous album, criticized for being too commercial. It seemed that Ja’s popularity was starting to fade, due to many fan’s perceived notion that he was now catering exclusively to pop audiences.

Blood In My Eye (2003)

Blood In My Eye is the fifth album from Ja Rule. The content of this album led to a dramatic fall in his popularity. This album is also noted as the last Ja Rule album released by The Inc. Records under the moniker Murder Inc. This was partially due to Ja’s disses and death threats to adversaries, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes (a former associate), Eminem, Dr. Dre, DMX, and G-Unit. The album was originally planned to be a mixtape, but former label Def Jam Recordings forced him to release an album in 2003 to honor the contract, where he released an album every year. Blood In My Eye peaked at #6, but became his first album not to go gold or platinum, making it his lowest selling to date. On this album, Ja sparked rivalries with many artists on the Interscope Records roster. In October 2003, Ja Rule met with Minster Louis Farrakhan, who wanted to intervene and prevent escalating violence in the feud between 50 Cent and Ja Rule.

R.U.L.E. (2004)

Ja Rule returned to form on his sixth studio album, R.U.L.E. released on November 9, 2004. This album was considered a comeback of sorts for Ja as he attempted a return to mainstream success. The lead single was “Wonderful” which was followed by the street anthem, “New York,” the third and last single was “Caught Up”. The album featured guest appearances from Ashanti, Lloyd, Trick Daddy, R. Kelly, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Claudette Ortiz, Black Child, Caddillac Tah and many more. Despite not having the staying power of his earlier albums R.U.L.E. still managed to go gold, a feat he hadn’t accomplished since 2002 with The Last Temptation.

Exodus (2005)

On December 6, 2005, Ja Rule released his seventh album, which is nothing more than a greatest hits album. It featured only one new song “Exodus (Intro)” which was produced by Irv Gotti. The album was released to honor the contract with Def Jam so that The Inc. could get a fresh start with a new distributor. After the release of this compilation, Ja Rule took a hiatus from recording music.

Departure from Def Jam (2005-2006)

In 2005, The Inc. Records would come under investigation because of the drug trades by Kenneth “Supreme” Mc Griff, who is associated with Irv Gotti. This would all lead to Def Jam Recordings refusing to renew The Inc.’s contract. From 2005 to 2006, Irv would search for other labels, until finally reaching a deal with Universal Records.

The Mirror (2008)
This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

In March, 2008, Ja Rule planned to release his Universal Records debut and eighth studio album, The Mirror. The first single, “Uh Oh” was released on July 31, 2007 and premiered on music video shows the following day. This second single, “Body” was released in September. The album contains a collaboration with former G-Unit artist, The Game , whom he had once had a lyrical altercation with, called “Sunset.” The album was originally supposed to be titled Love Is Pain as a sequel to his album Pain Is Love. The album eventually was pushed back a second time with no definitive release date.

Personal life

Criminal charges

In 1999, he along with the rest of Murder Inc. were brought up on charges for assaulting 50 Cent, which led to a restraining order against them for 50. Also in 2003, he punched a man in Toronto for shouting at him in a crowd because of the 50 Cent feud. He would end up suing Ja Rule, but they settled out of court. In 2004, police investigated whether a feud involving The Inc. led to fatal shooting outside a nightclub party hosted by Ja Rule. In July 2007, Ja Rule was arrested for gun and drug possession charges along with Lil Wayne.

Romantic life

Ja Rule met his future wife, Aisha while attending middle school and they married when they were eighteen.

Homophobia

In the September 2007 issue of Complex magazine, Ja Rule was mistakenly reported to have expressed that homosexuals are to be blamed for the problems and destruction in the United States, and was disgusted at MTV’s promotion of LGBT television shows. He also spoke out about how hip hop is being blamed for more issues than homosexuality, and perpetuated the belief that gays are evil and corrupting music and television.
“ “And if it is, then we need to go step to Paramount, and fucking MGM, and all of these other motherfuckers that’s making all of these movies and we need to go step to MTV and Viacom, and lets talk about all these fucking shows that they have on MTV that is promoting homosexuality, that my kids can’t watch this shit,” he continued. “Dating shows that’s showing two guys or two girls in mid-afternoon. Let’s talk about shit like that! If that’s not fucking up America, I don’t know what is.” ”

His comments prompted a strong rebuke from GLAAD, who issued a public statement stating, “No fair-minded person can look at Ja Rule’s interview with Complex Magazine and believe for one second that his children could be more harmed by what they might see on television than by the vulgarity and prejudice that comes out of their father’s mouth. Now that media have seen Ja Rule’s intolerance unmasked by his own words, they have a responsibility not to provide in the future a platform for his ugly, vulgar displays of prejudice.”

It was later revealed that GLAAD had been mistaken and that he was actually mis-quoted in an interview with online MySpace interview channel The Hook Up on October 24, 2007. He went on in a January 2008 issue of XXL Magazine to state his words were taken out of context. He is quote as stating:
“ “What I was saying in that article is everyone has that same responsibility. They’re absolutely right: Rappers have a responsibility to the kids. But don’t just pin it on the hip-hop. If I gotta curb my lyrics or censor what I say, no problem. But if you gonna show sexual images during the daytime for children, that should be censored as well … And I’m not just talking about homosexuality. I’m talking about any sexuality. If it’s too sexy for kids, its too sexy for kids …” ”

Hip Hop entrepreneur

Aside from being president of The Inc. Records, Ja Rule is the owner and founder of Rule Global Media. This consists of Mpire Records, ErvingGeoffrey, and Stars On Poker.net.

The Inc. Records

Ja Rule co-founded The Inc. Records along with Irv Gotti in 1997. When it was formed, because of it being a vanity label, Def Jam owned a 50% stake in the label.

In 2002, Irv Gotti granted Ja Rule 50% of his share of the label due to his recent success on the charts. The next year, Ja Rule was named label president while Irv is the primary owner and the label CEO.

Mpire Records

In 2006, Ja Rule formed his own label to be distributed by The Inc., Mpire Records. To the label, he has signed Young Merc, Ashley Joi, D. Gift, Boxie, Tre, Newz, and Thunderkatz. He owns 100 percent of this label, which is a subsidiary of The Inc. Also signed to the label are his group Cash Money Click.

ErvingGeoffrey

In 2004, Ja Rule teamed up with Irv Gotti to create their own clothing line, ErvingGeoffrey, which is an urban wear clothing line. It is prominently featured in various Inc-associated videos and on their artists various albums.

Philanthropy

Atkins teamed up with associates of Tupac Shakur’s organization and founded L.I.F.E Foundation, which opens its doors to underprivileged kids. The foundation has various programs which include art, music, poetry and sports.

Discography

Main article: Ja Rule discography

* 1999: Venni Vetti Vecci
* 2000: The Murderers
* 2000: Rule 3:36
* 2001: Pain Is Love
* 2002: The Inc.
* 2002: The Remixes
* 2002: The Last Temptation
* 2003: Blood in My Eye
* 2004: R.U.L.E.
* 2005: Exodus
* 2008: The Mirror

Awards history
Award     Category     Genre     Song/Album     Year     Result
Source Hip-Hop Music Award     Single of the Year     Rap/Hip-Hop     “Put It On Me”     2001     Won
Source Award     R&B/Rap Collboration of the Year     R&B/Rap     “Thug Lovin’”     2003     Won
Source Award     Fat Tape Song of the Year     Rap/Hip-Hop     “Clap Back”     2004     Won
MTV Video Music Award     Best Rap Video     Rap     “Put It On Me”     2001     Nominated
MTV Video Music Award     Best Hip-Hop Video     Hip-Hop     “Im Real (Murder Remix)”     2002     Won
MTV Video Music Award     Best Hip-Hop Video     Hip-Hop     “Always On Time”     2002     Nominated
American Music Award     Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist     Rap/Hip-Hop     –     2002     Nominated
American Music Award     Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B Male Artist     Hip-Hop/R&B     –     2003     Nominated
Grammy Award     Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group     Rap/Hip-Hop     “Put It On Me”     2002     Nominated
Grammy Award     Best Rap Album     Rap     “Pain Is Love”     2002     Nominated
Grammy Award     Best Rap/Sung Collaboration     Rap/Sung     “Livin’ It Up”     2002     Nominated
Grammy Award     Best Rap/Sung Collaboration     Rap/Sung     “Always On Time”     2003     Nominated
World Music Award     World’s Best-Selling Rap Artist     Rap/Hip-Hop     –     2002     Won
BET Award     Best Male Hip-Hop Artist Artist     Hip-Hop     –     2002     Won
GQ Men of the Year Award     Musician of the Year     Rap/Hip-Hop     –     2002     Won
Teen Choice Award     Male Artist of the Year     Rap/Hip-Hop     –     2002     Won
NAACP Image Award     Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist     Rap/Hip-Hop     –     2002     Won
Soul Train Award     Best Rap/Soul or Rap Album of the Year     Rap     “Pain Is Love”     2002     Nominated

Acting career

During his break from rapping, Ja Rule co-starred in the movie The Fast and the Furious with Vin Diesel. He appeared on the 2004 movie Back in The Day along with Ving Rhames and Pam Grier. He was also starred in the movie The Cookout with Queen Latifah. He is working on his bio-pic and on Saw IV.

Filmography
Year     Title     Role     Notes
2000     Da Hip Hop Witch     Himself
2000     Turn it Up     David ‘Gage’ Williams
2001     Crime Partners 2000
2001     The Fast and the Furious     Edwin
2002     Half Past Dead     Nicolas ‘Nick’ Frazier
2003     Scary Movie 3     Agent Thompson
2003     Pauly Shore Is Dead     Himself
2004     The Cookout     Bling Bling
2004     Shall We Dance?     Hip Hop Bar Performer
2005     Back in the Day     Reggie Cooper
2005     Assault on Precinct 13     Smiley
2007     Kenny     TBA     post-production
2007     Furnace     TBA     post-production
2007     Don’t Fade Away     TBA     post-production

Tags: ad, album, America, American, appearance, arrest, arrested, Artist, artists, assault, Audience, award, Awards, Baby, babys, Best, Billboard, birthday, black, Blood, born, Break, celebrate, Charged, chart, Charts, child, children, Commercial, court, criminal, Critic, critics, ctract, date, dead, deal, death, debut, dies, distributi doors, drug, drugs, Eminem, falling, family, Fan, fans, fatal, Father, fats, felony, first, foundation, founder, game, gaming, girls, Gold, Grammies, Grammy, Greatest, gun, guns, Help, Hip-hop, hit, hits, Hollies, Home, Honor, Honored, Honors, Host, Hosts, image, international, interview, is jay-z, label, Last, launch, life, love, lyrics, man, Manager, mark, marry, Martin, May, Memphis, million, millions, money, Mothers, Movie, MTV, murder, Murdered, Music, Musician, NAACP, Nightclub, on, Online, orders, Original, paramount, park, party, perform, Platinum, police, pop, possession, Premier, premiere, president, Producer, Producers, producing, promoter, promoting, public, Queen, rap, Record, recording, Records, release, released, Religious, remix, reporter, return, rights, s, same, sell, shooting, sign, Singer, Singers, single, singles, sold, solo, Song, songs, soul, stage, star, Stills, Studio, Success, Sued, summer, Sunset, Supremes, Temptations, thing, Time, title, Toronto, tour, Universal, watch, Who, wife, Wonder, world, Year, York, young

Jun 07

2003 – Beck is prevented from performing at the Fi…

Posted in 2000s, Agents & Lawyers, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, Concerts, Gigs & Tours, General, Gold, Off the Hook, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

2003 – Beck is prevented from performing at the Field Day Festival in East Rutherford, N.J., as he recovers from a rib injury. According to the artist’s official Web site, Beck was watching Blur’s performance from the side of the stage when he was accidentally slammed in the ribs by a local working stage hand.

Tags: Artist, artists, Beck, Blur, perform, stage, watch, Web

Apr 08

2003 – NBC debuts the concert special, Cher:…

Posted in 2000s, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, Concerts, Gigs & Tours, General, Gold, Industry, Off the Hook, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers, TV, Movies, Radio, Internet, & itunes | No Comments »

2003 – NBC debuts the concert special, Cher: The Farewell Tour, filmed at her concert stop in Miami. 16.6 million people are reported to watch the premiere.

Tags: Cher, concert, concerts, debut, film, million, millions, NBC, Premier, premiere, reporter, tour, watch

Aug 09

1997 – Elvis Week begins in Memphis to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Elvis

Posted in 1990s, Agents & Lawyers, Anniversaries, tributes, & celebrations, Bands/Artists that Rock, Blues, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, Copyrights & Trademarks, Deaths, Elvis, General, Gold, Guitarists, Industry, Misc., Off the Hook, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers, Something Missing | No Comments »

1997 – Elvis Week begins in Memphis to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on August 16.

Elvis Week 2008 Event Calendar & Ticket Information
Saturday, August 9 – Sunday, August 17

Below is the current Elvis Week 2008 calendar of events along with ticket purchase information for each event. Updates to the calendar will be made as additional guests, details and events are confirmed. Please check back often to get the latest updates.

Some ticketed events below are sold through Graceland. Other events are sold through Ticketmaster.

For the Elvis Week Fun Package and other tickets sold through Graceland, the ticket prices below include sales tax. There is a $4.50 per transaction service fee for each order placed through Graceland. This includes orders made over the phone or online orders. Tickets available through Graceland reservations will be on sale through August 5. After August 5, they will be available in person at Graceland Guest Services or at the door of the event, pending availability. All tickets below sold through Ticketmaster will be subject to tax and Ticketmaster fees.
All ticket sales are final and non-refundable.

Please note, if you are ordering your tickets to tour Graceland at the same time as ordering your Elvis Week event tickets, the $4.50 order fee for Graceland tickets is a separate charge from the $4.50 order fee for Elvis Week tickets and will appear as two separate order fees on your final order listing

Want to be alerted whenever we make significant updates? Sign up for our FREE e-newsletters service.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9

26th Annual Elvis Presley International 5K Run to Benefit United Cerebral Palsy
8:00 a.m. Starts at the Graceland gates. Join thousands of Elvis fans and runners in front of Graceland for the 26th Annual Elvis Presley International 5K Run to benefit United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of the Mid-South. Runners and walkers will enjoy more than the typical 5K. More than 2,000 entrants from around the world will join in the family fun while enjoying the festive atmosphere of Elvis Week 2008 and raising money for UCP. After the race, join everyone across from the mansion as UCP hosts one of the best post-race parties in town. Entertainment will be provided by The AIMS Gang, one of the best bands in Memphis. Pre-registration is $20; race day registration is $25. Click here to register for the race online or call Joanie Nuchols at (901) 761-4277.

D&N’s Mardis Gras Beads for Elvis and United Cerebral Palsy
D&N’s Elvis Presley Fan Club invites you to support UCP of the Mid-South and honor Elvis’s memory by purchasing a Guitar Mardis Gras beads for $2. You don’t have to come to Memphis to be a “spirit runner” in the 26th Annual Elvis Presley International 5K Run. You may register as a “spirit runner” to receive the cool “King Creole” Elvis Race Shirt for 2008 and Guitar Mardis Gras beads. Click here to register online or visit D&N’s site for more information.

Elvis Presley – His Home, His Story – DVD Theatrical Premiere
Three screenings: 9:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m., 10:00 a.m. Malco’s Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Avenue, Memphis. Enjoy the theatrical premiere of the new Graceland tour DVD on the big screen. See stunning footage of Graceland while watching the story of Elvis’s life at Graceland and his amazing career. The new DVD features photos from the Graceland archives, home movies and more. Tickets for the event are free, however you must have a ticket to attend. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

Elvis Meetup at Marlowe’s Benefiting the Memphis Humane Society
12:00 noon. Marlowe’s, 4381 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis. No cover charge, but attendees must pay for their own food, drinks and tips. Special guests have been invited. Elvis door prizes will be given. RSVP to Sharon Parker by calling 615-830-5126 or emailing elvismeetupatmarlowes@hotmail.com.

Memphis Welcomes the Fans Redbirds Baseball Game
6:10 p.m. AutoZone Park, 200 Union Avenue (corner of Third & Union) in downtown Memphis. On behalf of the citizens of Memphis, grateful to Elvis fans and all they mean to our city, the Memphis Redbirds baseball team and AutoZone Park celebrate Elvis and welcome the Elvis fans to town with this Elvis Week 2008 kick-off event. Enjoy Elvis-themed entertainment, fireworks and more. For more information call 901-721-6000 or visit their web site to buy your tickets today.

Elvis Week Kick-Off Party at EP’s Delta Kitchen
10:00 p.m. – 3:00 a.m. EP’s Delta Kitchen, 126 Beale Street, Memphis. After the Redbirds game, the official kick-off party is at the EP’s Delta Kitchen on Beale Street. The event will feature live music by Elmo and the Shades. General admission is $20. VIP admission is $40 and includes a food buffet. Cash bar. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000. Please note, this event venue has changed from the original location to EP’s Delta Kitchen, located at 126 Beale Street.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10

Elvis Gospel Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Enjoy brunch in the Elvis Presley Car Museum while listening to Elvis Gospel music and watching Elvis videos on the drive-in theater movie screen. Tickets are $33.00 per person. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

Memorial Luncheon for Bill Burk
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Marlowe’s, 4381 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis. Celebrate the life of Bill Burk at a special Elvis Week memorial luncheon. All of Bill’s friends – the fans and the famous – have been invited to come to remember Bill and share memories. An open mic will be available for comments, stories, songs, poems, photos…whatever you would like to do. There will also be a special presentation to Bill’s family. Everyone in attendance will receive a special memento. Reservations are a must. Tickets are $15 and include your lunch and beverage. Please send your check, made out to Nancie Craft, to her at 6607 Cindy Lane, Houston, TX 77088. Part of the ticket includes a donation in Bill’s name to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Graceland Scavenger Hunt – Bears on Tour
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Starting at the Graceland Ticket Office. Guests are invited to tour Graceland Mansion (no audio tour) and the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum while simultaneously participating in a trivia scavenger hunt. Adult and junior versions of the scavenger hunt will be available. Prizes for both adult and junior versions to be announced. All ticket holders receive a complimentary limited-edition Elvis bear from Limited Treasures. Admission: $29.00 Adults; $14.00 children 7-12. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

Club Elvis
8:00 p.m. – 12:00 Midnight. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Come hang out and enjoy a private party with your fellow Elvis fans. A disc jockey spins Elvis records for your listening and dancing pleasure. Cash bar featuring adult beverages (ID’s checked) and soft drinks. Outdoor smoking area designated – no smoking inside. A wristband ticket allows you to come and go from Club Elvis as much as you like during the evening in order for you to enjoy all the other activities on the property. Admission $25.00. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

MONDAY, AUGUST 11

A Celebration of Fans – Fan Club Presidents’ Event
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. Join Elvis Presley fan club presidents from independent Elvis fan clubs from around the world at this special event. At this year’s August Fan Club Presidents’ Event, Elvis Presley Enterprises will open the doors to let more people know about the amazing work that fan clubs do. For the August 2008 fan club presidents’ event, the public will be invited to purchase tickets to the attend the event and hear from some of the fan clubs who work hard to continue on Elvis’s name and memory. All fans are invited to attend this event where they can learn more about what official Elvis Presley fan clubs do, while also enjoying a program of EPE company updates, special announcements and a special guests. This year’s special guests for the Elvis Presley Fan Club Presidents’ Event will be members of The Imperials – Joe Moscheo, Terry Blackwood and Sherman Andrus. The Imperials sang backup vocals for Elvis in Vegas. The event this year will spotlight the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County and EPE will be collecting donations for the organization at the door of the event. Click here for a wish list of donation items. Elvis Presley fan club presidents’ will receive an invitation to the event directly from EPE in early June to reserve their complimentary ticket for the event and do not need to call Graceland Reservations. Tickets for additional fan club members and the general public are $8.00 and can be reserved through Graceland Reservations. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

Elvis Week Memphis Meetup & Meet ‘n’ Greet
12:30 p.m. Downtown Marriott’s Magnolia Grille Restaurant on the main level. It is a buffet-style lunch at $12.99 per person. Seating is limited to 50, so please email Gigi at ballester_gigi@yahoo.com if you are planning on attending. This event will benefit the Todd Morgan Sound Fuzion Performance Enrichment Fund. They will be collecting donations for the fund. Anyone not attending can mail a check for donation to Gigi. Email Gigi Ballester at ballester_gigi@yahoo.com for details.

Music and Movies at Graceland – Day One
7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 5:30 p.m.) Front lawn, Graceland Mansion. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and make yourself at home on the front lawn of Graceland to enjoy a live concert by Andy Childs and his band while the sun begins to set. Then, stay for a screening of Jailhouse Rock under the stars. Refreshments available in a vendor area outside the mansion gates. Food, beverages and coolers may not be brought onto the mansion grounds. Also during Music and Movies will be a celebration of the launch of Elvis: Viva Las Vegas, with clips from the special and appearances by Jerry Schilling and George Klein. For more information about Elvis: Viva Las Vegas and to enter the sweepstakes, click here. For more about Jailhouse Rock on DVD and other Elvis Warner Home Video releases, visit www.elvisondvd.com. One day Music and Movie admission is $44.00. If you plan on attending both days of Music and Movies, you can purchase a two day ticket for $75.00 Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000. In addition, you can purchase special VIP seating for this event by purchasing the Elvis Week Fun Package. A special rate is also available for groups of 15 or more who purchase tickets for this event in one transaction. Groups of 15 or more will receive a discount of $5.00 off each one night ticket or $10.00 off each two night ticket. Tickets must be purchased in one transaction, via phone only and all tickets will need to be picked up by same person who placed order. To order at the group rate, contact Graceland Reservations at 800- 238-2000 or 901-332-3322.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12

Malco Theatre’s Elvis Film Fest 5
Presented by The DeHart Group
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Avenue, Memphis. Celebrate the 5th anniversary of the now-legendary Elvis Film Fest with special showings of King Creole, GI Blues, Blue Hawaii, Girls!Girls!Girls! and Paradise Hawaiian Style. Admission is $5.00 per film and all proceeds benefit the Todd Morgan Sound Fuzion Performance Enrichment Fund at the University of Memphis. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 6, at www.malco.com and the Malco theatre box office. So, make a date to take a memorable trip down memory lane with your friends from the The DeHart Group and Malco Theatres.

Elvis Presley Fan Club Reception at The MED
10:00 a.m. The MED’s cafeteria. For more information, contact Marsha Evans at 901-545-6405 or email mevans@the-med.org.

The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Meet ‘n’ Greet
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. EP’s Delta Kitchen, 126 Beale Street. Private event reserved for those who have purchased the platinum seating package for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Please note, this event has moved from its original location to EP’s Delta Kitchen, located at 126 Beale Street.

Shawn Klush in Concert
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. Enjoy an amazing concert by 2007 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest winner Shawn Klush. Opening act will by comedian Sammy Shore, who opened for Elvis in Las Vegas in 1969-1972. Tickets are $30.00 and $22.00. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 901-525-1515.

Music and Movies at Graceland – Day 2
7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 5:30 p.m.) Front lawn, Graceland Mansion. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and make yourself at home on the front lawn of Graceland to enjoy a live concert by Terry Mike Jeffrey & Band, members of the TCB Band and The Imperials. Then, stay for a screening of Elvis – That’s The Way It Is under the stars. Refreshments available in a vendor area outside the mansion gates. Food, beverages and coolers may not be brought onto the mansion grounds. For more about Elvis – That’s The Way It Is on DVD and other Elvis Warner Home Video releases, visit www.elvisondvd.com. One day Music and Movie admission is $44.00. If you plan on attending both days of Music and Movies, you can purchase a two day ticket for $75.00. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000. In addition, you can purchase special VIP seating for this event by purchasing the Elvis Week Fun Package. A special rate is also available for groups of 15 or more who purchase tickets for this event in one transaction. Groups of 15 or more will receive a discount of $5.00 off each one night ticket or $10.00 off each two night ticket. Tickets must be purchased in one transaction, via phone only and all tickets will need to be picked up by same person who placed order. To order at the group rate, contact Graceland Reservations at 800- 238-2000 or 901-332-3322.

Club Elvis
9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Come hang out and enjoy a private party with your fellow Elvis fans. A disc jockey spins Elvis records for your listening and dancing pleasure. Cash bar featuring adult beverages (ID’s checked) and soft drinks. Outdoor smoking area designated – no smoking inside. A wristband ticket allows you to come and go from Club Elvis as much as you like during the evening in order for you to enjoy all the other activities on the property. Admission $25.00. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13

Elvis Expo 2008 – Day 1
9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. South Hall, Memphis Cook Convention Center, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. . The ultimate Elvis tradeshow with more than 75 booths and 35,000 square feet of Elvis that includes all the latest Elvis music, movies, merchandise, celebrity autograph sessions, authors, artists and photographers, and lots of Elvis freebies and samples. Admission is $15.00 per day. Elvis Insiders Conference attendees are admitted free by showing their conference badge. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

Guests confirmed to appear in the showroom are: actress Darlene Tompkins, who appeared with Elvis in the movies Blue Hawaii and Fun in Acapulco; dancer Tanya Lemani George, who appeared in Elvis’s 1968 television special; Joanne Cash, singer; The Imperials, gospel group and backup vocals for Elvis in Vegas; Celeste Yarnall, Elvis co-star in Live A Little, Love a Little; DJ Fontana, Elvis’s original drummer, who worked with him from 1955-1968; Chris Noel, who appeared with Elvis in Girl Happy; Charles Stone, who helped arrange tour schedules and security for Elvis in the ’70s; Marian Cocke, Elvis’s friend and private nurse from 1975-1977; Sandi Pichon, an Elvis fan who became a REAL Elvis Insider by getting to know and socialize with Elvis and his inner circle of friends; Edward Faulkner, Elvis’s co-star in GI Blues and Tickle Me; Francine York, Elvis’s co-star in Tickle Me; Nancy Rooks, Elvis’s maid and Author of Inside Graceland: Elvis’ Maid Remembers. Cydney Miller, Elvis fan and current Mrs. Tennessee, representing the state in the Mrs. America pageant. More guests to be announced.

The Official Elvis Insiders Conference – Day 1
10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. Hosted by Tom Brown, Vice President of Original Production at Turner Classic Movies. Enjoy two full days of special guests and programming put together by Elvis Presley Enterprises, including on-stage interviews with people who were part of Elvis’s life and career. Conference attendees will receive a welcome kit loaded with Elvis-themed gifts and everyone will win a door prize. The Elvis Expo 2008 will be open nearby and admission to the showroom is included with your Elvis Insiders Conference ticket. Tickets are $85.00 for a two-day ticket. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 901-525-1515. In addition, you can purchase special VIP seating for this event by purchasing the Elvis Week Fun Package. Click here for details on the Elvis Week Fun Package.

Special guests for August 13: Dixie Locke Emmons, who dated Elvis early in his career; Mike Stoller, part of the Leiber/Stoller song writing team who wrote “Jailhouse Rock”, “King Creole”, “Hound Dog”, “Treat Me Nice”, “Love Me” and many more; Sammy Shore, comedian who opened for Elvis from 1969-1972 in Las Vegas; Celeste Yarnall, Elvis’s co-star in Live A Little, Love A Little; Francine York, Elvis’s co-star in Tickle Me; Edward Faulkner, Elvis’s co-star in GI Blues and Tickle Me .

Special guests for August 14: Robert F.X. Sillerman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CKX Inc., parent company of Elvis Presley Enterprises; Susan Henning, appeared in Live A Little, Love A Little and the ’68 Special; Joe Guercio, Elvis’s musical director and conductor for concerts from the summer of 1970 to the summer of 1977; Jerry Schilling, one of Elvis’s closest friends; Steve Binder, producer of Elvis’s ’68 Special.

D&N’s Humes Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction
4:30 – 5:30 PM Silent Auction; 5:30 Dinner. Humes Room at Club Superior, 159 Beale Street, Memphis. D&N’s Elvis Presley Fan Club invites you to join them for a fabulous 3 course dinner in the private Humes Room at Club Superior. Enjoy the large collection of Humes memorabilia, including unique items of Humes famous graduate, Elvis Presley, formerly displayed at Anna’s Steakhouse. Silent auction benefiting Elvis’s Alma Mater, Humes. Advance ticket purchase only. Reserved seating. Tickets are $35 per person. Mail checks to: Nancie Craft, 6607 Cindy Lane, Houston, TX 77008. Please enclose a self addressed, stamped envelope for tickets to be mailed. Click here for more information.

Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Semifinals
7:00 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. Semifinal round of competition for the 2008 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Attendees to the show will see the best Elvis tribute artists from around the world performing and competing on stage for their chance to move onto the finals round on August 14. Elvis Tribute Artists will receive their chance to showcase their talents and why they should be named Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008. Finalists chosen from these rounds will return on August 14th to compete for the title of Elvis Tribute Artist of the Year. The Exspence Account Band will perform with the contestants. Visit the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest page to find out about the finalists.

Tickets are only available in a set that includes one ticket to the semifinals on August 13 and one ticket to the finals on August 14. Platinum package seating for the event is $140.00 and includes a special Meet ‘n’ Greet with the semifinalists. (Tickets for the Meet ‘n’ Greet will not be mailed out with the semifinals/finals tickets. Ticket holders who are entitled to attend the Meet ‘n’ Greet will just need to show ID at EP’s Delta Kitchen on August 12.) Gold package seating is $80.00. Silver package seating is $50.00. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 901-525-1515.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14

Elvis Expo 2008 – Day 2
9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. South Hall, Memphis Cook Convention Center, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. The ultimate Elvis tradeshow with more than 75 booths and 35,000 square feet of Elvis that includes all the latest Elvis music, movies, merchandise, celebrity autograph sessions, authors, artists and photographers, and lots of Elvis freebies and samples. Elvis Expo special guest information coming soon. Admission is $15.00 per day. Elvis Insiders Conference attendees are admitted free by showing their conference badge. Tickets are now on sale through Graceland Reservations. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 800-238-2000.

The Official Elvis Insiders Conference – Day 2
10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. Hosted by Tom Brown, Vice President of Original Production at Turner Classic Movies. Enjoy two full days of special guests and programming put together by Elvis Presley Enterprises, including on-stage interviews with people who were part of Elvis’s life and career. Conference attendees will receive a welcome kit loaded with Elvis-themed gifts and everyone will win a door prize. The Elvis Expo 2008 will be open nearby and admission to the showroom is included with your Elvis Insiders Conference ticket. Tickets are $85.00 for a two-day ticket. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 901-525-1515. In addition, you can purchase special VIP seating for this event by purchasing the Elvis Week Fun Package. Click here for details on the Elvis Week Fun Package.

Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Finals
7:00 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. The finals of the 2008 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Top finalists from semifinals on August 13 compete for the title of Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008. Elvis Tribute Artists will receive their chance to showcase their talents and why they should be named Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008. The Exspence Account Band will perform with the contestants. Visit the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest page to find out about the finalists.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15

Blue Hawaii Breakfast at Graceland with Darlene Tompkins – SOLD OUT
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Have breakfast in the Elvis Presley Car Museum while enjoying Elvis music and watching Elvis videos on the drive-in theater movie screen. Darlene Tompkins, who co-starred with Elvis in Blue Hawaii and Fun in Acapulco, will be the special guest at breakfast and will meet ‘n’ greet with fans and sign autographs. This event is now sold out.

David Garibaldi’s Rhythm and Hue Performance Art Show
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Graceland Plaza. World famous artist David Garibaldi will be showcasing his “Rhythm and Hue” performance art show, where he creates 6-foot portraits of pop icons in under 7 minutes to music. David will also be available to meet fans during an autograph session following his performance from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Special pieces and artwork in addition to Garibaldi’s new coffee table book will be available for purchase at Graceland during the performance and signing session. Free.

Presley Place Open House and Tours
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Les Passees Center for Children and Families and Presley Place, 715 St. Paul Ave, Memphis. Free of charge. During this open house and tour, see Presley Place, a 12-unit apartment property affiliated with MIFA Housing Opportunities. This program provides transitional housing for families who have been homeless, as well as valuable life skills education to help them live independently and productively. Supported by the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation and Elvis fans across the globe, Presley Place has been a safe haven for more than 100 families since its inception in July 2001. You can also see the Elvis Music room, which has inspired young people for years, as well as meet families who have lived at Presley Place. Other activities and refreshments will also be available. This event is sponsored by the Jennings Osborne family of Arkansas. For more information, contact MIFA at 901-529-4544.

Mass In Memory of Elvis Presley
3:00 p.m. St. Paul Catholic Church, 1425 E. Shelby Drive, Memphis, TN 38116. On the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mother, St. Paul Catholic Church will celebrate a special Mass for the repose of the soul of Elvis Presley. St. Paul Church is located at 1425 E. Shelby Drive (south of Graceland–approx. 2 1/2 miles). Recorded music: 2:15 p.m. Choir: 2:45 p.m. Mass: 3:00 p.m. Come together to pray and remember Elvis. Spaghetti Dinner follows.

Candlelight Vigil
8:30 p.m. Gates of Graceland Mansion. After an opening ceremony at the gates of the Graceland Mansion property, fans are invited to walk up the driveway to Elvis’s gravesite and back down carrying a candle in quiet remembrance. Free admission. No tickets or reservations. Gates remain open until all who wish to participate in the procession have done so, which typically takes until the early morning hours of August 16, the anniversary date of Elvis’s passing. Free secured parking at the Graceland visitor center complex after 6:00 p.m. Prior to Elvis Week, posted here will be a link to the text of the special information and guidelines flyer for the Vigil that is handed out at Graceland during Elvis Week.

Can’t be here for the Vigil? Enjoy live coverage from Graceland by Elvis Radio/Sirius Satellite 13. They also will have special Elvis programming throughout Elvis Week.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16

George Klein’s Elvis Memorial Service
12:00 noon. Main Theatre Building, University of Memphis. Free admission. Annual event hosted by George Klein, longtime friend of Elvis. Speakers will include friends and family of Elvis and celebrity guests. For more information, contact the U of M Department of Communication at (901) 678-2565.

Elvis: From Broadway to Memphis with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra
Two Shows: Matinee Show – 2:00 p.m. Evening Show – 8:00 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, downtown Memphis. An all new, never-before-seen show! Enjoy a sophisticated and fun celebration of Elvis music with Leah Hocking, from the Broadway cast of “All Shook Up” and Austin Miller, television and Broadway star. The show will also star Elvis Presley, via video, accompanied by live music on stage during some special segments of the show. All will be accompanied by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Included in the exciting show will be Elvis fan favorites, The Dempseys and lots of surprises. Tickets to the matinee event are $70.00, $50.00 and $30.00. Tickets to the evening show are $125.00, $85.00, $65.00 and $45.00. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Click here to purchase your tickets online or call 901-525-1515. (The special $125.00 ticket package includes access to the rehearsal of Elvis: Broadway to Memphis on August 15, a seat in the orchestra pit section, a reception during intermission of the show with light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar, a complimentary Elvis Insiders membership or renewal, a special collectible lanyard from the event and two Elvis champagne flutes. All package items (excluding ticket) will be available for pickup at Graceland on August 8-16 from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM.)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17

MULTIPLE DATE EVENTS

Morning and Evening Walk-ups for Meditation Garden
Daily throughout the year, there is a special period of time for free admission walk-up visits to the Meditation Garden at Graceland. The summer hours for free walk-ups are 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. daily, then the garden becomes part of the regular ticketed Graceland tour. There will be no morning walk-ups on the morning of August 16 due to the Candlelight Vigil. As a special courtesy to fans, there is always an additional schedule of evening walk-up times during Elvis Week. Evening walk-up times will be from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on August 9, 10, 13, 14 & 16.

Elvis Week Entertainment Tent at Graceland Crossing Sponsored by Elvis Collector’s Edition Tins
August 8-16. Continuous presentation of Elvis music performed live by various singers and bands, plus other activities. Children and youth karaoke also featured. Free admission. A detailed schedule will be available at the Elvis Week information table in the Graceland Plaza as Elvis Week begins.

Elvis Week Art Contest & Exhibit
August 9-15. Ticket office pavilion in Graceland Plaza. Free admission to view this exhibition of Elvis-themed artwork from amateur and professional artists from around the world. Click here for a Art Contest Rules, Guidelines and Entry Form for artists who would like to submit their work. Deadline to submit artwork is July 31.

Children’s Elvis Week Art Activities
August 9: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and August 10: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Ticket office pavilion in Graceland Plaza. Children will get the opportunity to create Elvis art to hang in the 2008 Elvis Week Art Contest & Exhibit as part of the exhibit only category. Each participant will receive a certificate of participation. Free.

Kids Karaoke
August 9: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 pm; August 12: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 pm. Elvis Week Entertainment Tent sponsored by Elvis Collector’s Edition Tins, Graceland Crossing. Children and youth aged 2 to 17 are invited to perform karaoke Elvis songs. Free admission to perform and to be in the audience.

Children’s Activities
August 11-15. 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Graceland Ticket Pavilion. Craft activities for children aged 2 to 12. Free.

Elvis Fan Club Festival
August 12-16. 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Airport Inn, 1441 E. Brooks Rd., Memphis. Free admision. This year is the 30th anniversary of the original Elvis Fan Club Festival. Vegas atmosphere with EPE, Inc. items from 1956 to present. Continuous Elvis music.

Artwork of Betty Harper Exhibit
August 13 & 14: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Everything Elvis, Graceland Crossing. Betty will be exhibiting her artwork and meeting fans.

Tours of The MED and Elvis Presley Trauma Center
August 12-17. Contact Marsha Evans at 901-545-6405 or mevans@the-med.org for details.

Tags: advance, America, appearance, Artist, artists, Audience, Austin, Band, Bear, benefit, Best, Bill, Blues, book, books, broadway, Brown, car, cars, cast, celebrate, ceremy, Charged, child, children, Church, Club, community, competiti, competiti concert, concerts, cool, court, cssic, date, day, death, delta, dinner, director, Dixie, donate, doors, drummer, DVD, Elvis, family, Fan, fans, film, foundation, free, game, gaming, George, girls, Gold, gospel, grateful, ground, guitar, hall, Hawaii, Hearing, Help, Home, Honor, Honored, Honors, hospital, Host, Hosts, houston, international, interview, kid, King, La, launch, le, Leiber, life, lights, live, love, Mail, mansion, May, Memorabilia, Memphis, mic, miller, money, Morning, Mothers, Movie, museum, Music, Nancy, nights, on, Online, Orchestra, orders, Original, Paradise, park, party, Paul, pay, perform, phone, Photo, Platinum, pop, Premier, premiere, president, Presley, Presy, Producer, Producers, producing, public, radio, Record, recording, Records, release, released, return, Rock, sales, same, sammy, samples, service, session, Sharon, Showcase, sign, Singer, Singers, smoke, sold, Song, songs, soul, stage, stamp, star, stones, story, Studio, summer, Sun, talent, ticket, tickets, Time, title, Top, Tops, tour, Trauma, tribut, Tribute, Tuesday, turner, Universal, Vegas, Venus, Virgin, Vocal, Vocals, walk, Warner, watch, Web, Who, Winner, world, Year, York, young

Stu Sweatman: We host this ourselves... our own equipment. Very expsensive...
Plantagenet: This date is completely wrong. Ann Lantree was born 28th Au...
Bruce La Rochelle: Many thanks for the detailed history of Lulu. As you demons...
Stu Sweatman: Sorry about that... I have it in my notes... but was dealing...
Mahogany Rush Steve: This information is wrong, I have e-mailed this day in rock ...

On This Day in Rock History: February 7

2008 – Metallica have just premiered the video for their single “The Day That

1942 – Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, Englan…

2006 – Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav finds love with Deelishis on the final episode

2006 – English songbird Katie Melua performs a concert 303 meters below

2004 – Singer Cat Stevens (“Wild World”), who changed his name to Yusuf Islam

2004 – Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean chases down and captures

2003 – Jack Osbourne, Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Sugar Ray’s

2003 – Jack Osbourne, Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Sugar Ray

2003 – Ja Rule becomes the first high-profile inte…

2003 – Beck is prevented from performing at the Fi…

2003 – NBC debuts the concert special, Cher:…

1997 – Elvis Week begins in Memphis to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Elvis

HOME

RSS Feed. Get It!

Music Related

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

About