{{infobox settlement| name	Prague
native name
native name lang	cs:
motto	(Prague, Head of the State; Latin)
image shield	Praha CoA CZ.svg
pushpin map	Czech Republic
coordinates region	CZ
subdivision type	Country
subdivision name	Czech Republic
area footnotes
area total km2	496
elevation footnotes
elevation max m	399
population as of	2011-01-14
population total	1290846
population metro	2300000
population density km2	auto
coordinates display	inline,title
leader title	Mayor
leader party	ODS
leader name	Bohuslav Svoboda
established title	Founded
established date	c. 885
area code type	ISO 3166-2
timezone	CET
utc offset	+1
timezone dst	CEST
utc offset dst	+2
postal code type	Postal code
postal code	1xx xx
blank name sec1	NUTS code
blank info sec1	CZ01
blank1 name sec1	GDP per capita (recalculated – in purchasing power standards)
blank1 info sec1	€ 42,800(PPS) (2007)
website	www.praha.eu
footnotes	}}

Prague (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million. The city has a temperate oceanic climate with warm summers and chilly winters.

Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of Europe and particularly central Europe during its 1,100 year existence. For centuries, during the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the permanent seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus was also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Later it was an important city in the Habsburg Monarchy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and after World War I became the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city played major roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era.

Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of twentieth century Europe. Main attractions include the following: Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petřín hill. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Prague boasts more than ten major museums, along with countless theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. Also, Prague is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including the famous Charles University. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city receives more than 4.1 million international visitors annually, . Prague is classified as a global city.

A modern public transportation system connects the city. Prague is also accessible by road, train, and air.

History

During the thousand years of its existence, the city grew from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehrad in the south, becoming the multicultural capital of a modern European state, the Czech Republic, a member state of the European Union.

Ancient age

The area on which Prague was founded was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. Around 200 BC the Celts established an oppidum (settlement) in the south, now called Závist. By the end of the 1st century BC, the population was composed mostly of the Marcomanni (and possibly the Suebi), a Germanic people. In the 6th century AD, during the great migration period following the collapse of the Roman empire, the Marcomanni people migrated westwards or were assimilated into the invading West Slavic people.

According to legends, Prague was founded by Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the dynasty of the same name. By the year 800 there was a simple fort fortified with wooden buildings, occupying about two-thirds of the area that is now Prague Castle. The first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885.

The other Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad was founded in the 10th century, some 70 years later than Prague Castle. Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century.

The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings, of Bohemia. Under Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973. Until Prague was elevated to archbishopric in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz.

Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from all of Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Jewish merchant and traveller Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub. The Old New Synagogue of 1270 still stands. Prague contained an important slave market.

At the site of the ford in the Vltava river, King Vladislaus II had the first bridge built in 1170, the Judith Bridge, (Juditin most) named honor of his wife Judith of Thuringia. This bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1342. Some of the original foundation stones of that bridge remain.

In 1257, under King Ottokar II, Malá Strana ("Lesser Quarter") was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the Hradčany (Prague Castle) area. This was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg rights. The new district was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město ("Old Town"), which had borough status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications.

The era of Charles IV

Prague flourished during the 14th century reign (1346–1378) of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new Luxembourg dynasty. As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital. He ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just prior to his reign, was erected to connect the right bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. On 9 July 1357 at 5:31 am Charles IV personally laid the first foundation stone for the Charles Bridge. The exact time of laying the first foundation stone is known because the palindromic number 135797531 was carved into the Old Town bridge tower having been chosen by the royal astrologists and numerologists as the best time for starting the bridge construction. In 1347 he founded Charles University which remains today the oldest university in Central Europe.

He began construction of the Gothic Saint Vitus Cathedral, within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda there. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, the year the cathedral was begun.

The city had a mint and was a centre of trade for German and Italian bankers and merchants. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to the rising power of the craftsmen's guilds (themselves often torn by internal fights), and the increasing number of poor people. The Hunger Wall, a substantial fortification wall south of Malá Strana and the Castle area, was built during a famine in the 1360s. The work is reputed to have been ordered by Charles IV as a means of providing employment and food to the workers and their families. Prague was at that time the third-largest city in Europe.

Charles IV died in 1378. During the reign of his son, King Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. During Easter 1389, members of the Prague clergy announced that Jews had desecrated the host (Eucharistic wafer) and the clergy encouraged mobs to pillage, ransack and burn the Jewish quarter. Nearly the entire Jewish population of Prague (3,000 people) perished.

Jan Hus, a theologian and rector at the Charles University, preached in Prague. In 1402, he began giving sermons in the Bethlehem Chapel. Inspired by John Wycliffe, these sermons focused on what were seen as radical reforms of a corrupt Church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance, put on trial for heresy, and burned at the stake in Constanz in 1415.

Four years later Prague experienced its first defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský. Hus' death, coupled with Czech proto-nationalism and proto-Protestantism, had spurred the Hussite Wars. Peasant rebels, led by the general Jan Žižka, along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated King Sigismund, in the Battle of Vítkov Hill.

In the following two centuries, Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings were erected and Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle was added.

Habsburg era

In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg The fervent Catholicism of its members was to bring them into conflict in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were gaining popularity. These problems were not pre-eminent under Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. He lived in the Prague Castle where his court saw invitations to astrologers and magicians, but also scientists, musicians, and artists. Rudolf was an art lover too and Prague became the capital of European culture. This was a prosperous period for the city: famous people living there in that age include the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johann Kepler, the painter Arcimboldo, the alchemists Edward Kelley and John Dee, the poetess Elizabeth Jane Weston, and others.

In 1618, the famous second defenestration of Prague provoked the Thirty Years' War, a particularly harsh period for Prague and Bohemia. Ferdinand II of Habsburg was deposed, and his place as King of Bohemia taken by Frederick V, Elector Palatine; however the Czech Army under him was crushed in the Battle of White Mountain (1620) not far from the city. Following this in 1621 was an execution of 27 Czech leaders (involved in the uprising) in Old Town Square and an exiling of many others. The city suffered subsequently during the war under Saxon (1631) and Swedish (1648) occupation. Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000. In the second half of the 17th century Prague's population began to grow again. Jews have been in Prague since the end of the 10th century and, by 1708, they accounted for about a quarter of Prague’s population.

In 1689, a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1713–14, a major outbreak of plague hit Prague one last time, killing 12–13,000 people. The economic rise continued through the 18th century, and the city in 1771 had 80,000 inhabitants. Many of these were rich merchants and nobles who enriched the city with a host of palaces, churches and gardens, creating a Baroque style renowned throughout the world. After the Battle of Prague in 1757 the city was badly damaged during a Prussian bombardment. In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město, and Hradcany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution had a strong effect in Prague, as factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby region. A first suburb, Karlín, was created in 1817, and twenty years later population exceeded 100,000.

The revolutions that shocked all Europe around 1848 touched Prague too, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years the Czech nationalist movement began its rise, until it gained the majority in the town council in 1861. Prague had a German speaking majority in 1848, but by 1880 the German population had decreased to 14% (42,000), and by 1910 to 6.7% (37,000), due to a massive increase of the city's overall population caused by the influx of Czechs from the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and also due to ethnic mixing and assimilation.

20th century

;The First Republic World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president (Tomáš Masaryk). At this time Prague was a true European capital with highly developed industry. By 1930, the population had risen to 850,000.

;Second World War

Hitler ordered the German Army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939 and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. For most of its history Prague had been a multi-ethnic city with important Czech, German and (mostly Czech- and/or German-speaking) Jewish populations. From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, and during World War II, most Jews fled the city or were deported.

In 1942, Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany – Reinhard Heydrich (during Operation Anthropoid). Hitler ordered bloody reprisals. At the end of the war Prague suffered several bombing raids by the USAAF. Over 1,000 people were killed and hundreds of buildings, factories and historical landmarks were destroyed (however the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time). On 5 May 1945, two days before Germany capitulated, an uprising against Germany occurred. Four days later the 3rd Shock Army entered the city. The majority of the German population either fled or was expelled by the Beneš decrees in the aftermath of the war.

;Cold War

Prague was a city in the territory of military and political control of the Soviet Union (see Iron Curtain). The 4th Czechoslovakian Writers' Congress held in the city in 1967 took a strong position against the regime. This spurred the new secretary of the Communist Party, Alexander Dubček to proclaim a new deal in his city's and country's life, starting the short-lived season of the "socialism with a human face". It was the ''"Prague Spring"'', which aimed at the renovation of institutions in a democratic way. The Soviet Union and its allies reacted with the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the capital on 21 August 1968 by tanks, suppressing any attempt at work.

;Era after the Velvet Revolution In 1989, after the riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague and the Czechoslovak capital benefited greatly from the new mood. In 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. In the late 1990s Prague again became an important cultural centre of Europe and was notably influenced by globalisation. In 2000 anti-globalisation protests in Prague (some 15,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits. In 2002 Prague suffered from widespread floods that damaged buildings and also its underground transport system. Prague launched a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but failed to make the candidate city shortlist. Due to low political support, Prague's officials chose in June 2009 to cancel the city's planned bid for 2020 Summer Olympics as well.

Etymology and other names

The name Prague is derived from an old Slavic root, ''praga'', which means “ford”, referring to the city's origin at a crossing point of the Vltava river.

The native name of the city, Praha, however, is also related to the modern Czech word ''práh'' (threshold) and a legendary etymology connects the name of the city with princess Libuše, prophetess and a wife of mythical founder of the Přemyslid dynasty. She is said to have ordered the city ''"to be built where a man hews a threshold of his house"''. The Czech ''práh'' might thus be understood to refer to rapids or a cataract in the river, the edge of which could have acted as a means of fording the river – thus providing a "threshold" to the castle. However, no geological ridge in the river has ever been located directly beneath the castle.

Another derivation of the name ''Praha'' is suggested from ''na prazě'', the original term for the shale hillside rock upon which the original castle was built. At that time, the castle was surrounded by forests, covering the nine hills of the future city – the Old Town on the opposite side of the river, as well as the Lesser Town beneath the existing castle, appeared only later.

Nicknames for Prague have included: ''Praga mater urbium''/''Praha matka měst'' ("Prague – Mother of Cities") in Latin/Czech, ''Stověžatá Praha'' ("City of a Hundred Spires") based on count by 19 century mathematician Bernard Bolzano. Today's count is estimated at 500.

Other nicknames: ''Zlaté město''/''Goldene Stadt'' ("Golden City") in Czech/German.

Main sights

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's (and the world's) most popular tourist destinations. It is the sixth most-visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin. Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern. Some popular sights include:

Prague Castle (Pražský hrad, the largest castle in the world) with the St. Vitus Cathedral

Old Town (Staré Město) with its Old Town Square

The Astronomical Clock (Orloj) on Old Town Square

The picturesque Charles Bridge (Karlův Most)

The vaulted Gothic Old New Synagogue (Staronová Synagoga) of 1270

New Town (Nové město) with its busy and historic Wenceslas Square

National Museum on the Wenceslas Square

Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter) with its Infant Jesus of Prague

Josefov (the old Jewish quarter) with Old Jewish Cemetery and Old New Synagogue

Jan Žižka equestrian statue in Vítkov Park, Žižkov – Prague 3.

The Lennon Wall

Vinohrady, a cadastral district that was once covered in vineyards

Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, with its huge collections of glass, furniture, textile, toys, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Art Deco and so on

The museum of the Heydrich assassination in the crypt of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Vyšehrad Castle and Cemetery where many famous Czechs are buried, including the composers Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana

Písek Gate, the last preserved city gate of Baroque fortification

Petřínská rozhledna, an observation tower on Petřín Hill, which resembles the Eiffel Tower

Anděl, a busy part of the city with modern architecture and a shopping mall

Žižkov Television Tower (Žižkovský vysílač) with observation deck – Prague 3.

The New Jewish Cemetery in Olšany, location of Franz Kafka's grave – Prague 3.

The Metronome, a giant, functional metronome that looms over the city

The Dancing House (Fred and Ginger Building)

The Mucha Museum, showcasing the Art Nouveau works of Alfons Mucha

The vast cemeteries that are also used for walks by the locals, such as Olšany Cemetery

Places connected to writers living in the city, such as Franz Kafka (one popular destination is the Franz Kafka Museum, also his grave at the New Jewish cemetery near the metro station Želivského)

The Prague Zoo, selected as the 7th best zoo in the world by Forbes magazine

The Nusle bridge with tube for underground

Geography

Prague is situated on the Vltava river, at 50°05"N and 14°27"E. in the centre of the Bohemian Basin. Prague is approximately at the same latitude as Frankfurt, Germany; Paris, France; and Vancouver, Canada.

Climate

The city of Prague has borderline oceanic climate (Köppen ''Cfb'') . The winters are relatively cold with very little amount of sunshine. Snow cover is common between mid-November to late March but is usually not too heavy. Summers usually bring fine sunny days with highs being around 25 degrees. Nights can be quite cool even in summer, though. Precipitation in Prague is rather low (it is less rainy than Rome and Paris) as the rain shadow of Ore Mountains and Czech Central Highland takes effect. The driest season is usually winter while the summers can bring quite heavy rain especially in form of violent storms and showers. Temperature inversions are relatively common between mid-October and mid-March bringing often cloudy and cold days in comparison with mountains or highlands and can be often connected with air pollution. |date=January 2011 }}

Culture

Prague is traditionally one of the cultural centres of Europe, hosting many cultural events. Some of the significant cultural institutions include the National Theatre (''Národní Divadlo'') and the Estates Theatre (''Stavovské or Tylovo'' or ''Nosticovo divadlo''), where the première of Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' and ''La clemenza di Tito'' was held. Other major cultural institutions are the Rudolfinum which is home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Municipal House which is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The Prague State Opera (Státní opera) performs at the Smetana Theatre.

There are many world class museums in Prague including the National Museum (Národní muzeum), the Museum of the Capital City of Prague, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Alfons Mucha Museum, the African-Prague Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague the Náprstek Museum (Náprstkovo Muzeum, the Josef Sudek Gallery, the National Library and the National Gallery

There are hundreds of concert halls, galleries, cinemas and music clubs in the city. Prague hosts Music Festivals including the Prague Spring International Music Festival, the Prague Autumn International Music Festival and the Prague International Organ Festival. Film festivals include the Febiofest, the One World and Echoes of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Prague also hosts the Prague Writers' Festival, the Prague Folklore Days, Prague Advent Choral Meeting g, the ''Summer Shakespeare Festival'', the Prague Fringe Festival, the World Roma Festival as well as hundreds of Vernissages and fashion shows.

Many films have been made at the Barrandov Studios. Hollywood movies set in Prague include ''Mission Impossible'', ''Blade II'' and ''xXx''. Other Czech films shot in Prague include ''Empties'' and ''The Fifth Horseman is Fear''. Also, the music video to "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" by Kanye West was shot in Prague, and features shots of the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock, among other famous landmarks. Prague was also the setting for the film "Dungeons and Dragons" in 2000. The music video "Silver and Cold" by AFI, an American rock band, was also filmed in Prague.

Forbes Traveller Magazine listed Prague Zoo among the world's best zoos.

The Prague restaurant Allegro received the first Michelin star in the whole of post-Communist Eastern Europe.

With the growth of low-cost airlines in Europe, Prague has become a popular weekend city destination allowing tourists to visit its many museums and cultural sites as well as try its famous Czech beers and hearty cuisine.

Prague sites many buildings by renowned architects, including Adolf Loos (Villa Müller), Frank O. Gehry (Dancing House), or Jean Nouvel (Golden Angel).

Recent major events held in Prague:

NATO Summit 2002

International Monetary Fund and World Bank Summit 2000

International Olympic Committee Session 2004

International Astronomical Union General Assembly 2006

EU & USA Summit 2009

USA & Russia Summit 2010 (signing of the New START treaty)

Economy

Prague's economy accounts for 25% of the Czech Republic's GDP making it the highest performing regional economy of the country. According to the Eurostat, as of 2007, its GDP per capita in purchasing power standard is 42,800 €. Prague ranked the 5th best-performing European NUTS 2 level region at 172 % of the EU-27 average.

The city is the site of the European headquarters of many international companies.

Since 1990, Prague economy structure has shifted from industrial to service-oriented. Industry is present in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, printing, food processing, manufacture of transport equipment, computer technology and electrical engineering. In services sector, most significant are financial services, commercial services, trade, restaurants and accommodations and public administration. Services account for around 80% of employment. There are 800,000 employees in Prague, including 120,000 commuters. The number of (legally registered) foreign residents in Prague has been increasing in spite of the country's economic downturn. As of March 2010, 148,035 foreign workers were reported to be living in the city making up about 18% of the workforce, up from 131,132 in 2008. Approximately one-fifth of all investment in the Czech Republic takes place in Prague city.

Almost one-half of the national income from tourism is spent in Prague. The city offers approximately 73,000 beds in accommodation facilities, most of which were built after 1990, including almost 51,000 beds in hotels and boarding houses capable of satisfying all categories of visitors.

From the late 1990s to late 2000s, Prague was a popular filming location for international productions and Hollywood, Bollywood motion pictures. A combination of architecture, low costs and the existing motion picture infrastructure have proven attractive to international film production companies.

The modern economy of Prague is largely service and export-based and, in a 2010 survey, the city was named the best city in East Europe for business.

In 2005 Prague was deemed among the three best cities in eastern Europe according to the Economist's livability rankings. The city was named as a top-tier nexus city for innovation across multiple sectors of the global innovation economy, placing 29th globally out of 289 cities, ahead of Brussels and Helsinki for innovation in 2010 in 2thinknow annual analysts Innovation Cities Index.

In the Eurostat research, Prague ranked fifth among Europe's 271 regions in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant, achieving 172% of the EU average. It ranked just above Paris and well above the Czech Republic as a whole, which achieved 80% of the EU average.

Prague is also the site of some of the most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic.

President of the Czech Republic

The Government and both houses of Parliament

Ministries and other national offices (Industrial Property Office, Czech Statistical Office, National Security Authority etc.)

Czech National Bank

Czech Television and other major broadcasters

Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty

Galileo global navigation project

Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Education

: Several universities, colleges and schools are located in the city:

Public universities

Charles University (UK) founded in 1348 (the oldest university in Central and Eastern Europe)

Czech Technical University (ČVUT) founded in 1707

Institute of Chemical Technology (VŠCHT) founded in 1920

University of Economics (VŠE) founded in 1953

Czech University of Agriculture (ČZU) founded in 1906/1952

Public arts academies

Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) founded in 1800

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (VŠUP) founded in 1885

Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) founded in 1945

Private schools

University of New York in Prague (UNYP) founded in 1998

International School of Prague (ISP) founded in 1948

Anglo-American University (AAU) founded in 1990

University of Northern Virginia in Prague (UNVA) founded in 1998

Architectural Institute in Prague (ARCHIP) founded in 2010

The University of Finance and Administration (VSFS) founded in 1999

International institutions

Instituto Camões

Goethe-Institut

Instituto Cervantes

British Council

Science, research and hi-tech centres

The region city of Prague is an important centre of research. It is the seat of 39 out of 54 institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, including the largest ones, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Microbiology and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. It is also a seat of 10 public research institutes, four business incubators and large hospitals performing research and development activities such as the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague or the Motol University Hospital. Universities seated in Prague (see section ''Colleges and Universities'') also represent important centres of science and research activities.

As of 2008, there were 13,000 researchers (out of 30,000 in the Czech Republic, counted in full-time equivalent), representing 3% share of Prague's economically active population. Gross expenditure on research and development accounted for 901.3 million € (41.5% of country's total).

Some well-known multinational companies have established research and development facilities in Prague, among them Siemens, Honeywell and Sun Microsystems.

In 2010, Prague was selected to host administration of the EU satellite navigation system Galileo.

Transport

Public transportation

The public transport infrastructure consists of an intensely used integrated transport system of Prague Metro (its length is 59 km with 57 stations in total), Prague Tram System (including the "nostalgic tram" no. 91), buses, the Petřín funicular to Petřín Hill, and six ferries: PID, Pražská integrovaná doprava (''Prague integrated transport system''). Prague has one of the highest rates of public transport usage in the world with 1.2 billion passenger journeys per annum. Per capita usage of the Prague metro is the highest in the world.

The Metro has three major lines extending throughout the city; in June 2010, construction began to extend the green line further into the northwest corner of Prague and eventually to the airport. A fourth Metro line is planned, although a date for construction to begin has not yet been specified.

Though Melbourne has the longest tram track length in the world, Prague's tram network is one of the biggest in the world by other measures: it runs more trams (900 against 500 in Melbourne), has more routes (33 against 28) and carries more passengers (356 million against 178 million), the third highest tram patronage in the world after St Petersburg and Budapest. On a per capita basis, Prague has the second highest tram patronage after Zurich. All services have a common ticketing system, and are run by the Prague Public Transit(Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy, a.s.) and some other companies. Recently, Prague integrated transport coordinator (ROPID) has franchised operation of ferries on the Vltava river, which are also a part of the public transport system with common fares. Taxi services operate from regulated taxi stands, and from independent drivers who make pick-ups on the street..

Roads

The main flow of traffic leads through the centre of the city.

The longest city tunnel in Europe with a proposed length of and five interchanges is now being built to relieve congestion in the north-western part of Prague. Called ''Tunel Blanka'' and to be part of the Municipal Ring Road, it is estimated that it will now cost – after several increases – 38 billion CZK. Construction started in 2007 and the tunnel is scheduled to be completed in 2013/2014.

There is also an ongoing project to create a ring road leading around the outskirts of the city. The southern part of this road (with a length of more than ) was opened on 22 September 2010.

Rail

The city forms the hub of the Czech railway system, with services to all parts of the Czech Republic and abroad. The railway system links Prague with major European cities, including Munich (Germany); Berlin (Germany); Warsaw (Poland); Budapest (Hungary) and Vienna (Austria) (all of which can be reached without transfers). Travel times range between 3.5 hours to Berlin and approximately 10 hours to Warsaw.

Prague's main international railway station is Hlavní nádraží (formerly called Wilsonovo nádraží). Rail services are also available from the main stations Praha-Smíchov and Praha-Holešovice, in addition to selected suburban stations.

Air

Prague is served by Prague Ruzyně Airport, the biggest airport in the Czech Republic and one of the busiest in Central and Eastern Europe. It is the hub of the flag carrier, Czech Airlines, as well as of the low-cost airlines Smart Wings and Wizzair operating throughout Europe. Other airports in Prague include the city's original airport at the Kbely north-east district, which is serviced by the Czech Air Force, internationally too: The runway (9–27) at Kbely is 2 km long. The airport also houses the Prague Aviation Museum. Close to town the Letňany airport is mainly used for private aviation and aeroclub aviation. Another airport in the proximity is Aero Vodochody aircraft factory's on the north, used for testing purposes, as well as for aeroclub aviation. There are a few aeroclubs around Prague, such as the Točná airfield.

Sport

Prague is the site of many sports events, national stadiums and teams.

Prague International Marathon

Sparta Prague (Europa League)

Slavia Prague (Gambrinus liga). The venue of 2013 UEFA Super Cup.

Bohemians 1905 (Gambrinus liga)

Dukla Prague (Gambrinus liga)

Viktoria Žižkov (Gambrinus liga)

O2 Arena – NHL 2008 and 2010 Opening Game, 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and Euroleague Final Four

Strahov Stadium – the second-largest stadium in the world

ECM Prague Open – Tennis Tournament held in the I. Czech Lawn Tennis Club

Sparta Prague Open – Tennis Tournament held in Prague 7

Josef Odložil Memorial – Athletics meeting

Mystic SK8 Cup – World cup of skateboarding

World Ultimate Club Championships 2010

International relations

The city of Prague also maintains its own EU delegation in Brussels called Prague House.

Prague was location of United States president Obama's speech on 5 April 2009, which lead to the START treaty with Russia.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Prague is twinned with:

* Beijing, China

* Berlin, Germany (1995)

* Brussels, Belgium (2003)

* Budapest, Hungary

* Chicago, United States (1990)

* Frankfurt am Main, Germany (1990)

* Hamburg, Germany (1990)

* Jerusalem, Israel

* Lisbon, Portugal

Helsinki, Finland

* Kyoto, Japan (1996)

* Moscow, Russia (1995)

* Nuremberg, Germany (1990)

* Paris, France (1997)

Phoenix, Arizona>Phoenix, United States (1991)

* Rome, Italy

* Bratislava, Slovakia

* Rosh Haayin, Israel

* Rotterdam, Netherlands

* Saint Petersburg, Russia (1991)

* Seoul, South Korea

* Stockholm, Sweden

* Taipei, Taiwan (2001)

* Vienna, Austria

* Copenhagen, Denmark

* Vilnius, Lithuania

Namesakes

Czech emigration has left a number of namesake cities scattered over the globe, though more heavily concentrated in the New World.

	* Praha, Slovakia	* Praha, Texas, United States	* Prague, Oklahoma, United States	* Prague, Nebraska, United States	* New Prague, Minnesota, United States

See also

Golem

List of people from Prague

Prague uprising

International Youth Leadership Conference (IYLC)

Further reading

''Prague Legends'' (Think Prague Magazine) (2002) Legend's of Prague

''Prague'' (Eyewitness Travel Guide by DK Publishing) (2009) excerpt and text search 2006 edition

''Prague (City Guide)'' by Neil Wilson (2009) excerpt and text search

''Praha – Prague and environs'' (by Čedok) (1926) digitised city guide from 1920s

''Rick Steves' Prague and The Czech Republic'' by Rick Steves and Honza Vihan (2009) excerpt and text search

Wilson, Neil. ''Lonely Planet Prague'' (2007) excerpt and text search

Wilson, Paul. ''Prague: A Traveler's Literary Companion'' (1995)

''Prague'' Top 10 (2011) Prague Top 10

Culture and society

Becker, Edwin et al., ed. ''Prague 1900: Poetry and Ecstasy.'' (2000). 224 pp.

Burton, Richard D. E. ''Prague: A Cultural and Literary History.'' (2003). 268 pp. excerpt and text search

Cohen, Gary B. ''The Politics of Ethnic Survival: Germans in Prague, 1861–1914.'' (1981). 344 pp.

Fucíková, Eliska, ed. ''Rudolf II and Prague: The Court and the City.'' (1997). 792 pp.

Holz, Keith. ''Modern German Art for Thirties Paris, Prague, and London: Resistance and Acquiescence in a Democratic Public Sphere.'' (2004). 359 pp.

Iggers, Wilma Abeles. ''Women of Prague: Ethnic Diversity and Social Change from the Eighteenth Century to the Present.'' (1995). 381 pp. online edition

Porizka, Lubomir; Hojda, Zdenek; and Pesek, Jirí. ''The Palaces of Prague.'' (1995). 216 pp.

Sayer, Derek. "The Language of Nationality and the Nationality of Language: Prague 1780–1920." ''Past & Present'' 1996 (153): 164–210. Issn: 0031-2746 Fulltext: in Jstor

Spector, Scott. ''Prague Territories: National Conflict and Cultural Innovation in Kafka's Fin de Siècle.'' (2000). 331 pp. online edition

Svácha, Rostislav. ''The Architecture of New Prague, 1895–1945.'' (1995). 573 pp.

Wittlich, Peter. ''Prague: Fin de Siècle.'' (1992). 280 pp.

References

;Notes

External links

Commons:Atlas of Europe

Category:Buildings and structures in Prague Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Category:European Capitals of Culture Category:Landmarks Category:Landmarks in the Czech Republic Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Category:Regions of the Czech Republic Category:World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic Category:IOC Session Host Cities Category:Olympic Congress Host Cities

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name	Nick Cave
background	solo_singer
born	September 22, 1957Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia
instrument	Guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals
genre	Post-punk, alternative rock, garage rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer, actor
years active	1973–present
label	Mute
associated acts	Boys Next Door, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Grinderman, The Birthday Party
notable instruments	}}

Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.

He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and musical styles. Before that, he had fronted the group The Birthday Party in the early 1980s, a band renowned for its highly dark, challenging lyrics and violent sound influenced by free jazz, blues, and post-punk. In 2006, he formed the garage rock band Grinderman that released its debut the following year. Cave's music is generally characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences, and lyrical obsessions with "religion, death, love, America, and violence."

Upon Cave's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, ARIA Awards committee chairman Ed St John said, “Nick Cave has enjoyed—and continues to enjoy—one of the most extraordinary careers in the annals of popular music. He is an Australian artist like Sidney Nolan is an Australian artist—beyond comparison, beyond genre, beyond dispute."

Youth and education

Cave was born in the small town of Warracknabeal in the state of Victoria, Australia, to Dawn and Colin Cave. He has two brothers: Tim (b. 1952) and Peter (b. 1954), and a sister, Julie (b. 1959). As a child, he lived in Warracknabeal and then Wangaratta in rural Victoria. His father was an English teacher and administrator, with a love of literature, and his mother was a librarian. His grandfather, Frank J. Cave, was a prominent radio broadcaster and documentary film producer.

Raised as an Anglican, Cave sang in the boys choir at Wangaratta Cathedral. He grew to detest the attitudes of small-town Australia, and he was often in trouble with the local school authorities, so his parents sent him to boarding school at Melbourne's Caulfield Grammar School in 1970. Cave joined the school choir under choirmaster Norman Kaye, and also benefited from having a piano in his home. The following year he became a "day boy" when his family moved to Murrumbeena, a suburb of Melbourne. Cave was 19 when his father was killed in a car accident; at the moment he was informed of this, his mother Dawn Cave was bailing him out of a St Kilda police station for a charge of burglary. Cave would later recall that his father "died at a point in my life when I was most confused", and "the loss of my father created in my life a vacuum, a space in which my words began to float and collect and find their purpose".

After his secondary schooling, Cave studied painting (Fine Art) at the Caulfield Institute of Technology (now Monash University, Caulfield Campus) in 1976, but dropped out in 1977 to pursue music. He also began using heroin around this time. On 28 March 2008, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from this university.

Music career

Early years and The Birthday Party (1973–84)

In 1973, Cave met Mick Harvey (guitar), Phill Calvert (drums), John Cochivera (guitar), Brett Purcell (bass), and Chris Coyne (saxophone); fellow students at Caulfield Grammar. They founded a band with Cave as singer. Their repertoire consisted of proto-punk cover versions of songs by Lou Reed, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music and Alex Harvey, among others. Later, the line-up slimmed down to four members including Cave's friend Tracy Pew on bass. In 1977, after leaving school, they adopted the name The Boys Next Door and began playing predominantly original material. Guitarist and songwriter Rowland S. Howard joined the band in 1978, expanding to five members.

From 1977 until their dissolution in 1984 (by which time they were known as The Birthday Party) the band explored various styles. They were a part of Melbourne's post-punk music scene in the late 1970s, playing hundreds of live shows in Australia before changing their name to the Birthday Party in 1980 and moving to London, then West Berlin. Cave's Australian girlfriend and muse Anita Lane accompanied them to London. The band were notorious for their provocative live performances which featured Cave shrieking, bellowing and throwing himself about the stage, backed up by harsh pounding rock music laced with guitar feedback. At that time, Cave became a regular member of a gothic club in London called The Batcave.

After establishing a cult following in Europe and Australia, The Birthday Party disbanded in 1984. Howard and Cave found it difficult to continue working together and both were rather worn down from alcohol and drug use.

Current career with The Bad Seeds (since 1984)

The band with Cave as their leader and frontman has released fourteen studio albums. Their most recent album, ''Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'' was released on 8 April 2008. Though their sound tends to change considerably from one album to another, the one constant of the band is an unpolished blending of disparate genres, and song structures which provide a vehicle for Cave's virtuosic, frequently histrionic theatrics.

Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Steve Huey write, "With the Bad Seeds, Cave continued to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America, and violence with a bizarre, sometimes self-consciously eclectic hybrid of blues, gospel, rock, and arty post-punk, although in a more subdued fashion than his work with the Birthday Party". Pitchfork Media calls the group one of rock's "most enduring, redoubtable" bands, with an accomplished discography.

Cave and the band curated an edition of the famous All Tomorrow's Parties music festival, the first in Australia, throughout the country in January 2009.

Solo work and Grinderman

In addition to his performances with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Cave has, since the 1990s, performed live 'solo' tours with himself on piano/vocals, Warren Ellis on violin/accordion and various others on bass and drums. The current trio are Bad Seeds' Martyn P. Casey, Jim Sclavunos and Ellis (nicknamed the ''Mini-Seeds''). In 2006, this line-up, now including Cave on electric guitar, continued his 'solo' tours performing Bad Seeds material.

In the same year three other Bad Seeds, Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler and James Johnston, undertook Harvey's first 'solo' tours of Europe and Australia performing material from his own albums. Melbourne double bassist Rosie Westbrook completed the quartet.

An album of new material by Cave's 'solo' quartet, now named Grinderman, was released in March 2007.

Nick Cave 'solo' and Grinderman both played at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in April 2007. This was Grinderman's first public performance. Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream accompanied Grinderman on backing vocals and percussion.

Soundtrack involvement

Many of Nick Cave's songs have found their way into movie soundtracks. One of the earliest to feature Cave's distinctive style by incorporating him as part of the movie's music scene—circa 1979—was ''Dogs in Space'', a film by Richard Lowenstein. Cave performed parts of the Boys Next Door song "Shivers" twice during the film, once on video and once live.

Another early fan of Cave's was German director Wim Wenders, who lists Cave, along with Lou Reed and Portishead, as among his favorites. Two of Cave's songs were featured in his 1987 film ''Wings of Desire''. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also make a cameo appearance in this film. Two more songs were included in Wenders' 1993 sequel ''Faraway, So Close!'', including the title track. The soundtrack for Wenders' 1991 film ''Until the End of the World'' features Cave's "(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World." His most recent production, ''Palermo Shooting'', also contains a Nick Cave song, as does his 2003 documentary ''The Soul of a Man''.

Cave's songs have also appeared in a number of Hollywood blockbusters and major TV shows. For instance, his "There is a Light" appears on the 1995 soundtrack for ''Batman Forever'', and "Red Right Hand" appeared in a number of films and TV shows, including ''The X-Files'', ''Dumb & Dumber''; ''Scream'', its sequels ''Scream 2'' and ''3'', and ''Hellboy'' (performed by Pete Yorn). In ''Scream 3'', the song was given a reworking with Cave writing new lyrics and adding an orchestra to the arrangement of the track. This version appears on The Bad Seeds B-Sides and Rarities album. The song "People Ain't No Good" was featured in the animated movie ''Shrek 2'', as well as in one of the episodes of the television series ''The L Word''. Cave also sang a cover of The Beatles' "Let It Be," for the 2001 film ''I Am Sam''.

Original material written for movie productions includes the song "To Be By Your Side," for the soundtrack of the 2001 French documentary ''Le Peuple Migrateur'' (called ''Winged Migration'' in the US). Cave composed the soundtrack for the 2005 film ''The Proposition'' with fellow Australian and Bad Seed Warren Ellis. Cave and Ellis once again collaborated on the music for the 2007 film ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford''. Also in 2007, Cave and Ellis wrote the soundtrack for the feature documentary ''The English Surgeon''. The duo also provided original music for ''The Road'' in 2009 and the soundtrack for the audiobook of Cave's novel ''The Death of Bunny Munro''.

Most recently, his song "Up Jumped the Devil" was featured in the Remedy-developed 2010 video game Alan Wake.

Cave's song "O Children" was featured in the 2010 movie, though not in the official soundtrack, of ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1.''

Work with other artists

Nick Cave has also played with Shane MacGowan, in a cover version of Bob Dylan's "Death is Not the End", and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". Cave has also performed "What a Wonderful World" live with The Flaming Lips. Cave recorded a cover version of the Pogues song "Rainy Night in Soho", written by MacGowan. MacGowan also sings a version of "Lucy", released on ''B-Sides and Rarities''. On 3 May 2008, during the ''Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'' tour Shane MacGowan joined Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on stage to perform "Lucy" at Dublin Castle in Ireland. Pulp's single "Bad Cover Version" includes on its B-side a cover version by Cave of that band's song "Disco 2000". On the Deluxe Edition of Pulp's ''Different Class'' another take of this cover can be found.

In 2000, one of Cave's heroes, Johnny Cash, covered Cave's "The Mercy Seat" on the album ''American III: Solitary Man'', seemingly repaying Cave for the compliment he paid by covering Cash's "The Singer" (originally "The Folk Singer") on his ''Kicking Against the Pricks'' album. Cave was then invited to be one of many rock and country artists to contribute to the liner notes of the retrospective ''The Essential Johnny Cash'' CD, released to coincide with Cash's 70th birthday. Subsequently, Cave cut a duet with Cash on a version of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" for Cash's ''American IV: The Man Comes Around'' album (2002). A similar duet, the American folk song "Cindy", was released posthumously on the "Johnny Cash: Unearthed" boxset. Cave's song "Let the Bells Ring" is a posthumous tribute to Cash. Cave has also covered the song "Wanted Man" which is best known as performed by Johnny Cash but is a Bob Dylan composition.

In 2004, Cave gave a hand to Marianne Faithfull on the album, ''Before the Poison''. He co-wrote and produced three songs ("Crazy Love", "There is a Ghost" and "Desperanto"), and the Bad Seeds are featured on all of them. He is also featured on "The Crane Wife" (originally by The Decemberists), on Faithfull's 2008 album, ''Easy Come, Easy Go''.

Cave collaborated with the band Current 93 on their album ''All the Pretty Little Horses'', where he sings the title track, a lullaby. For his 1996 album ''Murder Ballads'', Cave recorded "Where The Wild Roses Grow" with Kylie Minogue, and "Henry Lee" with P.J. Harvey.

Cave also took part in the "X-Files" compilation CD with some other artists, where he reads parts from the Bible combined with own texts, like "Time Jesum...", he outed himself as a fan of the series some years ago, but since he does not watch much TV, it was one of the only things he watched. He collaborated on the 2003 single "Bring It On", with Chris Bailey, formerly of the Australian punk group, The Saints. Cave contributed vocals to the song "Sweet Rosyanne", on the 2006 album ''Catch That Train!'' from Dan Zanes & Friends, a children's music group.

Literary career

Cave released his first book, ''King Ink'', in 1988. It is a collection of lyrics and plays, including collaborations with American ''enfant terrible'' Lydia Lunch. In 1997, he followed up with ''King Ink II'', containing lyrics, poems, and the transcript of a radio essay he did for the BBC in July 1996, "The Flesh Made Word," discussing in biographical format his relationship with Christianity. While he was based in West Berlin, Cave started working on what was to become his debut novel, ''And the Ass Saw the Angel'' (1989). Significant crossover is evident between the themes in the book and the lyrics Cave wrote in the late stages of the Birthday Party and the early stage of his solo career. "Swampland", from ''Mutiny'', in particular, uses the same linguistic stylings ('mah' for 'my', for instance) and some of the same themes (the narrator being haunted by the memory of a girl called Lucy, being hunted like an animal, approaching death and execution). On 21 January 2008, a special edition of Cave's novel ''And the Ass Saw the Angel'' was released. Cave's second novel, ''The Death of Bunny Munro'' was published on 8 September 2009 by Harper Collins books. ''The Death of Bunny Munro'', which tells the story of a sex-addicted salesman, was also released as a binaural audio-book produced by British Artists Forsyth and Jane Pollard and an iPhone app. The book originally started as a screenplay Cave was going to write for John Hillcoat.

As proof of his interest in scripture, so evident in his lyrics and his prose writing, Cave wrote the foreword to a Canongate publication of the ''Gospel according to Mark'', published in the UK in 1998. The American edition of the same book (published by Grove Press) contains a foreword by the noted American writer Barry Hannah.

Cave and Ellis composed scores for a production by the Icelandic theatre company Vesturport of ''Woyzeck'' by Georg Büchner, performed at the Barbican Theatre in the Barbican Arts Centre in London in 2005, and a stage adaptation of Franz Kafka's ''The Metamorphosis'' at the Lyric Hammersmith in London in 2006.

Cave is a contributor to the 2009 rock biography on The Triffids ''Vagabond Holes: David McComb and the Triffids'', edited by Australian academics Niall Lucy and Chris Coughran.

Acting and screenwriting

Cave has made occasional appearances as an actor, most prominently in the 1989 film ''Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead'', written and directed by John Hillcoat, and in the 1991 film ''Johnny Suede'', with Brad Pitt.

Cave appeared in the 2005 homage to Leonard Cohen, ''Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man'', in which he performed "I'm Your Man" solo, and "Suzanne" with Julie Christensen and Perla Batalla. He also appeared in the 2007 film adaptation of Ron Hansen's novel ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'', where he sings a song about Jesse James. Cave and Warren Ellis are credited for the film's soundtrack.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are also featured in Wim Wenders' 1987 film ''Wings of Desire''.

Displaying a keen interest in other aspects of film, Cave wrote the screenplay for ''The Proposition'', a film set in the colonial Australian Outback. Directed by John Hillcoat and filmed in Queensland in 2004, it premiered in October 2005 and has since been released worldwide to critical acclaim. The movie reviewer for British newspaper ''The Independent'' called it "peerless," "a star-studded and uncompromisingly violent outlaw film." It even features on a website promoting tourism to the area. The generally ambient soundtrack was recorded by Cave and Warren Ellis.

At the request of friend Russell Crowe, Cave wrote a script for a proposed sequel to ''Gladiator'' which was rejected by the studio.

His interest in the work of Edward Gorey led to his participation in the BBC Radio 3 programme, guest+host=ghost, featuring Peter Blegvad and the radiophonic sound of the Langham Research Centre.

Cave has also lent his voice in narrating an award winning animated film called ''The Cat Piano''. It was directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson (of The People's Republic Of Animation), produced by Jessica Brentnall and has music by Benjamin Speed.

Cave wrote the screenplay for ''The Wettest County in the World''. He has also completed the script for a new film titled ''Death of a Ladies' Man'' and will rewrite the script of ''The Crow'' remake.

Personal life

Cave dated Anita Lane from the late 1970s to mid 1980s. She had an undeniably strong influence upon Cave and his work, often cited as his "muse". Despite this, Cave and Lane recorded together on only a few occasions. Their most notable collaborations include Lane's 'cameo' verse on Cave's Bob Dylan cover "Death Is Not The End" from the album ''Murder Ballads'', and a cover of the Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin song "Je t'aime/ I love you nor do I". Lane co-wrote the lyrics to the title track for Cave's 1984 LP, ''From Her to Eternity'', as well as the lyrics of the song "Stranger Than Kindness" from ''Your Funeral, My Trial''. Cave, Lydia Lunch and Lane wrote a comic book together, entitled AS-FIX-E-8, in the style of the old "Pussy Galore"/Russ Meyer movies.

After completing his debut novel ''And the Ass Saw the Angel'', Cave left West Berlin shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall and moved to São Paulo, Brazil, where he met Brazilian journalist Viviane Carneiro. The two have a son, Luke (b. 10 May 1991), but never married. Cave's son Jethro (born in 1991) lives with his mother, Beau Lazenby, in Australia and has a career in modelling.

Cave briefly dated PJ Harvey during the mid 1990s. The love affair and their break-up inspired him to write the album ''The Boatman's Call''.

He met British model Susie Bick in 1997. A cover star of the Damned's 1985 album ''Phantasmagoria'' and a Vivienne Westwood model, she gave up her job when they married in summer 1999. They have twin sons, Arthur and Earl (born in 2000). Cave and Bick lived for some time on a houseboat near Hove. They currently live in Brighton and Hove, England.

Cave performed "Into My Arms" at the televised funeral of Michael Hutchence, but refused to play in front of the cameras. Cave is godfather of Hutchence's only child, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily.

In the past, Cave identified as a Christian. In his recorded lectures on music and songwriting, he has claimed that any true love song is a song for God and has ascribed the mellowing of his music to a shift in focus from the Old to the New Testaments. He does not belong to a particular denomination and has distanced himself from "religion as being an American thing, in which the name of God has been hijacked". In an interview in ''The Guardian'' in 2009, he said: "Do I personally believe in a personal God? No." He elaborated in a recent ''Los Angeles Times'' article: "I'm not religious, and I'm not a Christian, but I do reserve the right to believe in the possibility of a god. It's kind of defending the indefensible, though; I'm critical of what religions are becoming, the more destructive they're becoming. But I think as an artist, particularly, it's a necessary part of what I do, that there is some divine element going on within my songs.".

Discography

Soundtracks/scores

''Ghosts... of the Civil Dead'', soundtrack (1988) – composed with Mick Harvey & Blixa Bargeld

''And the Ass Saw the Angel'', readings of the novel (1988), plus theatre score (1993) – text by Cave, music composed by Harvey and Ed Clayton-Jones

''To Have and to Hold'', soundtrack (1996) – composed with Harvey & Bargeld

''Woyzeck'', theatre score (2005) – composed with Warren Ellis

''The Proposition'', soundtrack (2005) – composed with Ellis

''Metamorphosis'', theatre score (2006) – composed with Ellis

''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'', soundtrack (2007) – composed with Ellis

''The English Surgeon'', soundtrack (2007) – composed with Ellis ''The Death of Bunny Munro'', soundtrack (2009) – composed with Ellis ''The Road'', soundtrack (2009) – composed with Ellis ''The Wettest County in the World'' (2012)

Contributions/appearances

Die Haut and Nick Cave: ''Burnin' the Ice'' (1982), features Nick Cave's vocals on 4 songs.

''September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill'' produced by Hal Willner. Cave contributes a cover version of "Mack the Knife".

''Nick Cave i Przyjaciele'' (''Nick Cave and Friends'') (2001). A tribute album by Polish musicians. Cave appears on tracks 1 & 10.

''I Am Sam'' (2002). Cave contributes a cover version of The Beatles' "Let It Be", which was later issued as a single with a cover version of "Here Comes the Sun" as the B-side.

"Kiss of Love" (duet with Sam Brown) from Jools Holland's 2003 album ''Small World Big Band Friends 3 – Jack O The Green''.

''Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys'' (2006). Cave contributes the tracks "Fire Down Below" and "Pinery Boy".

"Bad Cover Version" single by Pulp. Cave contributes a cover version of Pulp's "Disco 2000".

"Helpless" single by Neil Young. He did this in 1989 for the Neil Young tribute album ''The Bridge''.

''American IV: The Man Comes Around'' (2003) Duet with Johnny Cash on "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry".

''Batman Forever'' soundtrack — contributes the track "There is a Light"

Ute Lemper's ''Punishing Kiss''. Cave co-wrote (with Bruno Pisek) "Little Water Song".

"''To Be By Your Side''" – from the OST for French documentary film ''Le Peuple Migrateur'' (2001).

Cave performs "I'm Your Man" and "Suzanne" in the documentary/concert film ''Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man'' (2005).

Seasick Steve's song "Just Like A King" includes Cave's vocals

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds appear on the Martin Scorsese series ''The Blues'' singing J. B. Lenoir's "I Feel So Good"

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song "Up Jumped The Devil" was featured in the video game ''Alan Wake''. (2010)

''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1'' (2010). Cave contributed the song "O Children".

Nick Cave joins Neko Case to cover the The Zombies song ''She's Not There'' for HBO show True Blood. (2011)

Spoken-word lectures

''The Secret Life Of The Love Song & The Flesh Made Word: Two Lectures'' (2000).

Books by Nick Cave

''King Ink''. Los Angeles: 13 February 1961, 1988. ISBN 1-880985-08-X.

''And the Ass Saw the Angel'' Los Angeles: 13 February 1961, 1989. ISBN 1-880985-72-1.

''King Ink II''. Los Angeles: 13 February 1961, 1997. ISBN 2-84261-053-9.

Introduction to ''The Pocket Canons Bible Series: Authorised King James Version: The Gospel According to Mark''. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1998. ISBN 0-86241-796-1.

''Complete Lyrics''. London: Penguin, 2001. ISBN 0-14-100515-7.

* ''The Complete Lyrics'' (revised and updated). London: Penguin, 2007. ISBN 978-0-141-02714-2.

''The Death of Bunny Munro''. 2009

Awards and honours

2011 MOJO Awards: Song of the Year for "Heathen Child" by Grinderman

2010 made an honorary Doctor of Laws, by University of Dundee. 2008 ARIA Awards Male Artist of the Year (''Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'').

2008 MOJO Awards: Best Album of 2008 (''Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!'').

2008 Awarded an Honorary degree as Doctor of Laws, by Monash University. 2007 ARIA Awards ARIA Hall of Fame inductee.

2006 Venice Film Festival: Gucci Award (for the script to ''The Proposition'').

2005 Q magazine: Q Classic Songwriter Award.

2005 AFI Awards: Best Original Music Score with Warren Ellis (''The Proposition'').

2005 Inside Film Awards: Best Music (''The Proposition'').

2005 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards: Best Musical Score (''The Proposition'').

2004 MOJO Awards: Best Album of 2004 (''Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus'').

2001 ARIA Awards: Best Male Artist (''No More Shall We Part''). 2001 APRA Music Awards: "The Ship Song" voted in the Top 30 Best Australian Songs of the previous 75 years.

1997 APRA Music Awards: Songwriter of the year.

1997 ARIA Awards: Best Original Soundtrack (''To Have and to Hold''). 1996 ARIA Awards: Song of the Year & Single of the Year & Best Pop Release ("Where the Wild Roses Grow").

1996 MTV Europe Music Awards: Nick Cave formally requested that his nomination for "Best Male Artist" be withdrawn as he was not comfortable with the "competitive nature" of such awards.

1990 ''Time Out'' Magazine: Book Of The Year (''And the Ass Saw the Angel'').

Further reading

''Bad Seed: A Biography of Nick Cave'', Ian Johnston (1997) ISBN 0-316-90833-9

''The Life and Music of Nick Cave: An Illustrated Biography'', Maximilian Dax & Johannes Beck (1999) ISBN 3-931126-27-7

Liner notes to the CDs ''Original Seeds: Songs that inspired Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds'', Kim Beissel (1998 & 2004), Rubber Records

''Kicking Against the Pricks: An Armchair Guide to Nick Cave'', Amy Hanson (2005), ISBN 1-900924-96-X

''Nick Cave Stories'', Janine Barrand (2007)

''Cultural Seeds: Essays on the Work of Nick Cave'', eds. Karen Welberry and Tanya Dalziell (2009) ISBN 0754663957

''Nick Cave Sinner Saint: The True Confessions'', ed. Mat Snow (2011) ISBN 978-0-85965-448-7

References

External links

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds official website

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds official merchandise

Category:1957 births Category:Alternative rock musicians Category:ARIA Award winners Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:Australian male singers Category:Australian novelists Category:Australian songwriters Category:People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Category:Gothic rock musicians Category:Living people Category:People from Wangaratta Category:Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds members Category:People from Brighton and Hove (district) Category:Post-punk musicians

af:Nick Cave bs:Nick Cave ca:Nick Cave cs:Nick Cave da:Nick Cave de:Nick Cave et:Nick Cave el:Νικ Κέιβ es:Nick Cave eo:Nick Cave eu:Nick Cave fa:نیک کیو fr:Nick Cave gl:Nick Cave hr:Nick Cave it:Nick Cave he:ניק קייב ka:ნიკ კეივი lt:Nick Cave hu:Nick Cave nl:Nick Cave ja:ニック・ケイヴ no:Nick Cave nn:Nick Cave pl:Nick Cave pt:Nick Cave ru:Кейв, Ник sk:Nick Cave sh:Nick Cave fi:Nick Cave sv:Nick Cave tr:Nick Cave uk:Нік Кейв

playername	Dirk Kuyt
fullname	Dirk Kuyt
dateofbirth	July 22, 1980
cityofbirth	Katwijk aan Zee
countryofbirth	Netherlands
height
currentclub	Liverpool
clubnumber	18
position	Winger / Striker
youthclubs1	Quick Boys
years1	1997–1998 |clubs1 Quick Boys |caps1 6 |goals1 3
years2	1998–2003 |clubs2 Utrecht |caps2 160 |goals2 51
years3	2003–2006 |clubs3 Feyenoord |caps3 101 |goals3 71
years4	2006– |clubs4 Liverpool |caps4 177 |goals4 49
nationalyears1	2004– |nationalteam1 Netherlands |nationalcaps1 78 |nationalgoals1 22
pcupdate	22 May 2011
ntupdate	8 June 2011 }}

Dirk Kuyt (; born 22 July 1980) is a Dutch footballer who plays for English club Liverpool. He started his career as a striker, earning the nickname Dangerous Dirk due to his prowess in front of goal, but he has been converted into a winger and plays the position for both Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.

Kuyt began his professional career with FC Utrecht in 1998 and quickly became part of their first team. He spent five years at the club and in his final season he won his first senior honour, the Dutch Cup, and was chosen as the season's Dutch Golden Shoe Winner. Following this, he left Utrecht in a €1 million transfer to Feyenoord. He became the club captain in 2005 and was a prolific goalscorer at the Rotterdam club; he was the club's top scorer for three consecutive seasons, the top goalscorer in the 2004–05 Eredivisie season, and the 2005–06 Dutch Footballer of the Year. Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006 and appeared in 179 consecutive matches between 2001–06, striking up a fruitful partnership with fellow Feyenoord teammate Salomon Kalou.

He left Feyenoord after three years, having scored 71 league goals in 101 appearances, and joined Premier League side Liverpool for £10 million. He made his Premier League debut late in 2006 and immediately became part of the first team squad. He scored in his first ever UEFA Champions League final with Liverpool against AC Milan, with Kuyt offering late hope for Liverpool although eventually losing 2–1.

Kuyt scored several important goals for Liverpool elsewhere too, including seven goals in the 2007-08 Champions League tournament, including a goal in the quarter final against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium & in the semi final against Chelsea, two penalty kicks against Everton in the derby the same season. He scored his first "Hat-Trick" for Liverpool against Manchester United on March 6th 2011. Kuyt has drawn plaudits for his exceptional work-rate during his time at Liverpool and has won-over his critics with first-class commitment and a never-say-die attitude. Kuyt has a 100% penalty record for Liverpool, and takes spot kicks in the absence of club captain Steven Gerrard.

He made his international debut in 2004 and has represented the Netherlands at three major international tournaments, the 2006 and 2010 World Cup and Euro 2008.

Early life

Kuyt is the third of four children. His father was a fisherman and he has stated that had he not found a career in football he probably would have followed his father into the family business. He grew up in the fishing town of Katwijk aan Zee.

His football career began when he joined the local amateur team Quick Boys at age 5. He broke into the first team in March 1998, playing the last six games of the season in the Hoofdklasse, and catching the eye of Eredivisie team FC Utrecht. Kuyt still regularly visits Katwijk and his old club Quick Boys, who benefited from a £300,000 windfall as a result of the player's move to Liverpool.

Club career

FC Utrecht

Kuyt signed professionally for FC Utrecht that summer, aged 18, and immediately established himself in the first team.Sometimes He played as striker. However he was more often than not played as a winger, as they preferred to play Serbian Igor Gluščević up front.

This continued until the 2002–03 season when Foeke Booy was installed as the club's new manager. Booy played Kuyt as a striker / attacking midfielder (behind the striker) for the entire season, and Kuyt repaid him with 20 league goals. FC Utrecht also reached the Dutch Cup final, where they met Feyenoord. Although they were the underdogs Utrecht comfortably won the cup 4–1, with Kuyt scoring one and being given the man-of-the-match award. At the end of the season Kuyt completed a €1 million move to Feyenoord, where he replaced the out-going Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Feyenoord

At Feyenoord, Kuyt immediately became a fans' favourite with his continued goal scoring success. His first season saw him net another 20 league goals. The opening game of the 2004–05 season marked Kuyt's first ever hat-trick against De Graafschap. He later went on to score three in the 6–3 victory against Den Haag and ended the season as the Eredivisie's top scorer with 29 goals—a career high.

In 2005 Kuyt was handed the Feyenoord club captaincy and went on to have a third successful season with the club, scoring 25 goals in all competitions. He formed a golden duo with Salomon Kalou, nicknamed K2.

Over the summer of 2006 Kuyt was again linked with moves to many top English clubs, most notably Liverpool and Newcastle United. Rumours started in May with Dirk Kuyt stating "I am happy at Feyenoord but I would like to play in the Premier League." Kuyt completed a move to Liverpool on 18 August for an undisclosed fee.

Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006, making 233 appearances. Between March 2001 and April 2006 he played 179 consecutive matches.

Liverpool

2006–07 season

Upon joining Liverpool, Kuyt stated "I only wanted to leave Feyenoord for a really big club, and that is what Liverpool are. They are a fantastic big club and it will be a real pleasure to play here."

After sitting out the first game Kuyt made his Liverpool debut as a substitute against West Ham on 26 August 2006. His first start came against PSV in the Champions League and he has been first choice in most games since. He immediately got praises for the new defensive approach by a striker. In his third start for the club on 20 September 2006 Kuyt scored his first goal against Newcastle United in a Premier League game at Anfield, and followed up with another against Tottenham Hotspur in the next game. He scored his third goal for Liverpool with his father watching the game at Anfield, contributing to Liverpool's 3–1 win over Aston Villa. Two weeks later he bagged a brace, as the only scorer in the Reds' 2–0 victory against Premiership newcomers Reading.

Kuyt won much praise for his early performances, with the ''Daily Mirror'' stating: "The Dutch striker has the look of a cult hero in the making" and ''The People'' reporting that he is "propelling himself towards iconic status." One of the reasons for his early popularity is his post match courtesy to the fans. After each match he walks to every corner of the ground, and applauds the Liverpool supporters.

On 20 January 2007, Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring against Chelsea after only 4 minutes after a Peter Crouch flick-on. Liverpool went on to defeat the champions 2–0. It was the first time Rafael Benítez had defeated José Mourinho in the Premiership. It was also the first goal scored by Liverpool against a top four club in the league in the 2006–07 season. Kuyt moved his league-goal tally into double figures by scoring the first goal in the game against West Ham on 30, January 2007.

Kuyt played a key part in Liverpool's penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea in the semi-finals of the 2006–07 Champions League. Firstly in extra-time he had a goal disallowed for offside from Xabi Alonso's strike. Kuyt also scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out, and scored a consolation goal in their 2–1 defeat to Milan in the final.

2007–08 season

He scored his first goals of the 2007–2008 season in Liverpools 4–0 victory over Toulouse in their 3rd round qualifying encounter at Anfield on 28 August 2007. He scored two penalties against Everton in the Merseyside derby to give Liverpool a 2–1 win. His 3rd and final league goal of the season came in a 3-0 away win over Newcastle in November 2007, Kuyt would not score another league goal until October 2008.

Kuyt failed to score in 13 games for Liverpool, before netting against Barnsley in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

On 19 February 2008, Kuyt scored the first goal in the first leg of the round of 16 of the 2007–08 Champions League against favourites Internazionale in a 2–0 win.

Starting in early 2008, Kuyt began to be employed as a right winger and set up two of Fernando Torres's goals against West Ham in March. He adapted to this new role and soon regained his overall form, playing himself into the starting XI again after putting on various vital team performances. On 2 April 2008, Kuyt scored an equalising goal against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium.

On 22 April 2008, in the first leg of the Champions League all-English semi-final against Chelsea at Anfield, Kuyt scored the opening goal just before half time.

2008–09 season

Dirk Kuyt scored a late extra time goal against Standard Liège in the 2008–09 Champions League qualifiers return match to put Liverpool through to the group stages of the competition. In his next game, a 2–1 win in the Premier League against Manchester United, he assisted fellow countryman Ryan Babel's winning goal.

Kuyt's goals at vital moments in important games, such as the last minute strike against Standard Liege, an injury time winner against Manchester City on 5 October 2008 and twice in Liverpool's 3–2 comeback win over Wigan Athletic on 18 October 2008, have led to his reputation as a "Big Game Player"

The 2008/09 season saw Kuyt score 15 goals for the club, his best return for the club.

2009–10 season

As a result of heavy injuries sustained by the Liverpool squad, Kuyt often found himself playing a central striker role. Kuyt scored against Stoke and Burnley in two home 4–0 triumphs. He also scored the winning goal in Liverpool's opening Champions League group game against Hungarian team Debrecen in a 1–0 win. Kuyt's goal against Debreceni means only Ian Rush and Steven Gerrard have scored more goals for the club in the European Cup. It was his 12th goal in Europe's premier club competition. Kuyt scored his 4th league goal of the season in a vital 2–0 win against Everton at Goodison Park, in the Merseyside derby. He took his season's goal tally to six, his fifth in the league, by scoring in a 2–1 premier league loss to Arsenal at Anfield. On 20 January, Kuyt scored both goals at Anfield against Spurs in a 2–0 victory and a week later, scored the opener against Bolton. For both goals, he was assisted by Alberto Aquilani which could be the start of a new partnership. Against Spurs, he played a delightful one-two with Alberto Aquilani before slotting it home. While against Bolton, Alberto Aquilani guided an Emiliano Insua cross back into the path of Kuyt who slotted it home. On many occasions, they linked up together and threatened to score.

On the 6th of February he scored his fourth goal in the Merseyside Derby, a header from a corner against Everton in the 55th minute bringing his tally of goals for Liverpool to 50 in all competitions. He was also awarded man of the match for this game which Liverpool won 1–0. On the 8th April he notched his 51st goal for Liverpool with a crucial yet controversial header in the Europa League against Benfica. The goal, a header direct from a corner, was originally dissallowed by the linesmen for offside, but after some heavy protests by the Liverpool players and manager Rafael Benitez that you could not be offside directly from a corner, the referee changed his mind and allowed the goal. Kuyt played in his 200th competitive game for Liverpool, against Hull City on the final day of Liverpool's dismal season.

2010–11 season

Kuyt featured in Liverpool's opening game of the season against Arsenal at Anfield, the game finishing 1-1 and both teams finishing with 10 men. On 23 August, he played in the Red's heavy defeat to Manchester City at Eastlands and featured in Liverpool's UEFA Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor, netting the winning goal in a 2-1 win 3 days later. On 29 August, he played in Liverpool's 1-0 win against West Brom at Anfield. An injury to his shoulder during a Netherlands training session forced Kuyt out for a month, but returned a week earlier than expected, celebrating by scoring his second goal of the season against Sunderland at Anfield on 25 September in a 2-2 draw. Dirk Kuyt scored a penalty in Liverpool's 3-0 win against West Ham United. On 16 January 2011, he scored yet another penalty to draw Liverpool level 2-2 against Everton F.C., after Tim Howard fouled Maxi Rodriguez. On 24 February he headed in from a corner against Sparta Prague to put Liverpool through to the last 16 of the Europa League, winning 1-0 on the night at Anfield and 1-0 on aggregate.

On 6 March, Kuyt scored his first hat-trick for Liverpool in a 3-1 win at Anfield against Liverpools biggest rivals Manchester United. Kuyt added another goal to his Liverpool tally on 20 March 2011 scoring a well placed penalty against Sunderland. Kuyt scored his 11th goal of the season against Manchester City, with a neat finish to make it 2-0, with the game ending 3-0 to Liverpool. On 15 April, Kuyt signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2013. On 17 April, Kuyt scored a 102nd minute penalty after Emmanuel Eboue fouled Lucas Leiva to seal a late draw against Arsenal after Robin van Persie had scored a penalty in the 98th minute. The match finished 1-1. On the 23 April, Kuyt scored a 23 minute goal against Birmingham after a tussle inside the box, the match ended 5-0 to Liverpool. On the 1 May, Kuyt scored a 59 minute penalty against Newcastle United for the second goal in a 3-0 win.On 9 May 2011 he became the first Liverpool player since John Aldridge, in over two decades to score in five consecutive games, after his 16th minute goal against Fulham that led to a 5-2 victory. Dirk Kuyt finished the season as Liverpool's top goal scorer scoring 13 league goals, finishing with a total of 15, equalling his best return for the club in a season .

International career

When Marco van Basten took over as coach of the Dutch national team he dropped many established players, including strikers Roy Makaay and Patrick Kluivert. Kuyt benefitted as in September 2004 he made his international debut in van Basten's first game against Liechtenstein. He has been a permanent fixture in the Dutch squad ever since, making the starting line-up for eleven of the Netherlands' twelve 2006 World Cup qualification matches.

2006 World Cup

At the 2006 World Cup, Kuyt found himself relegated to the substitutes bench. Although he made an appearance as a 69th minute replacement in the first game against Serbia and Montenegro, he sat the entire second game out. With the team already qualified for the next round van Basten decided to rest many of his first choice players for the final group game against Argentina, and Kuyt was handed a start in the right wing position.

For the Netherlands' Round of 16 tie against Portugal, Kuyt was given a surprise start ahead of star-striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. However, Kuyt did not have a successful game and the Netherlands eventually lost 1–0 in a game that was more reputable for its record breaking disciplinary record (4 red cards and 16 yellow cards).

Euro 2008

Kuyt was selected for the Dutch squad for Euro 2008. On 9 June, he played in their opening Group C match, a 3–0 victory over 2006 World Champions Italy, assisting in two goals, his most notable act being the header that provided the link between Giovanni van Bronckhorst's crossfield pass and Wesley Sneijder's goal to make it 2–0 on 31 minutes. On 13 June, Kuyt contributed his team's second in the next game of Group C, a 4–1 victory over 2006 World Cup finalists France by opening the scoring with a ninth minute header from a corner, taking his tally of international goals to eight. During Euro 2008, Kuyt was employed as a winger, partnering with Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart in the midfield due to the team's change of formation from 4-3-3/4–4–2 to 4–2–3–1.

Post Euro 2008

Kuyt scored 3 goals in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. During a friendly against England, he opened the scoring less than ten minutes after kick-off, pouncing on Rio Ferdinand's poor back pass.

2010 World Cup

Kuyt was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.

At the finals, Kuyt scored Holland's second goal in the 85th minute of their 2-0 win over Denmark in their opening group match on a tap-in after Eljero Elia's shot hit the post. In the quarter-final match on 2 July against Brazil, Kuyt flicked a corner on to Wesley Sneijder who headed the ball into the net giving the Dutch in a 2-1 win. He also assisted the goal scored by Arjen Robben against Uruguay in the semi-finals. Kuyt started all seven matches for the Dutch who finished as runners up to Spain and finished the tournament with one goal and three assists.

Post 2010 World Cup

On 2 September 2010, Kuyt scored a penalty as Holland began their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 5-0 away win against San Marino. On 12 October 2010, Kuyt injured his ankle in Holland's fourth Euro 2012 qualifier against Sweden and was out of action for four weeks with the injury. On 25 March 2011 Kuyt scored Hollands third goal in a 4-0 win against Hungary for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Four days later he scored twice in a 5-3 win against the same opponents. On 8 June 2011, Kuyt scored a 90th minute equaliser for Holland against Uruguay, leveling the match to 1-1, with Liverpool teammate Luis Suarez netting the opening goal of the match. Holland went on to lose to Uruguay on penalties.

International career statistics

|- |2004||5||1 |- |2005||10||2 |- |2006||12||2 |- |2007||8||1 |- |2008||13||3 |- |2009||11||4 |- |2010||14||4 |- |2011||5||5 |- !Total||78||22 |}

International goals

Skopje City Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia 4 June 2005 8 June 2005 1 March 2006 6 September 2006 22 August 2007 24 May 2008 13 June 2008 19 November 2008 28 March 2009 1 April 2009 1 April 2009 12 August 2009 3 March 2010 1 June 2010 14 June 2010 3 September 2010 9 February 2011 25 March 2011 29 March 2011 29 March 2011 8 June 2011

+ Dirk Kuyt: International Goals	Goal !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
1.	9 October 2004	|		2–1	2–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)>2006 World Cup qualification
2.	|	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands		2–0	2–0	2006 World Cup qualification
3.	|	Helsinki Olympic Stadium>Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland		0–2	0–4	2006 World Cup qualification
4.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		1–0	1–0	Friendly match>Friendly
5.	|	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands		3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying>Euro 2008 qualification
6.	|	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland		2–1	2–1	Friendly
7.	|	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands		1–0	3–0	Friendly
8.	|	Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland		1–0	4–1	UEFA Euro 2008>Euro 2008
9.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		3–1	3–1	Friendly
10.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		3–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)>2010 World Cup qualification
11.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		1–0	4–0	2010 World Cup qualification
12.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		3–0	4–0	2010 World Cup qualification
13.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		1–0	2–2	Friendly
14.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		1–0	2–1	Friendly
15.	|	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands		1–0	4–1	Friendly
16.	|	Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa		2–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup>2010 World Cup
17.	| Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino ||		0–1	0–5	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying>Euro 2012 qualification
18.	|	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands		3–0	3–1	Friendly
19.	|	Stadium Puskas Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary		0–3	0–4	Euro 2012 qualification
20.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		4–3	5–3	Euro 2012 qualification
21.	|	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands		5–3	5–3	Euro 2012 qualification
22.	|	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay		1–1	1–1	Friendly

Personal life

Kuyt's wife Gertrude has found favour in the Dutch media for her down-to-earth attitude. She continued to work as a nurse in an old people's home after marrying Kuyt until their daughter, Noelle, was born. Kuyt and his wife now carry out extensive charity work off the pitch. Most notably, he and his wife set up the Dirk Kuyt Foundation to help disadvantaged children in his homeland and the Third World. One of the ways the foundation raises money is by selling DK-branded clothes.

Kuyt's father, also called Dirk, died of cancer on 29 June 2007.

Statistics

0 13 9 12 3 12 !colspan="2" 1 29 4 20 1 4 7 3 13 3 6 4 5 1

+ Professional Club Performance
Club	Season	!colspan="2"	FA Cup	!colspan="2"	Europe	Others	Total
!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals
rowspan="6"		3	|	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
2010-11 in English football	2010–11	33	|	1	0	0	0	7	2	0	0	41	15
2009-10 in English football	2009–10	37	|	2	0	1	0	13	2	0	0	53	11
2008-09 in English football	2008–09	38	|	2	0	0	0	11	3	0	0	51	15
2007-08 in English football	2007–08	32	|	4	1	0	0	12	7	0	0	48	11
2006-07 in English football	2006–07	34	|	1	1	2	0	11	1	0	0	48	14
style="text-align:center; background:beige;"	Total		177	49	10	2	3	0	54	15	0	0	244	66
Club	Season	Eredivisie	!colspan="2"
Europe	!colspan="2"	Total
!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals	!App	!Goals
rowspan="3"	Feyenoord	2005–06	33	22	|0|
2004–05	34	|	3
2003–04	34	|	2
style="text-align:center; background:beige;"	Total		101	71	6	5	–	–	13	5	2	2	122	83
rowspan="5"	FC Utrecht	2002–03	34	20	|2|
2001–02	34	|	3
2000–01	32	|	5
1999–00	32	|	4
1998–99	28	|	2
Total		160	51	18	13	–	–	6	2	–	–	184	66
Total		438	171	34	20	3	0	73	22	2	2	550	215

!colspan="2" 3

+ Amateur Club Performance

Club

Season

!colspan="2"

!colspan="2"

Europe

!colspan="2"

Total

!App

!Goals

!App

!Goals

!App

!Goals

!App

!Goals

!App

!Goals

!App

!Goals

1997-98

6

Total

6

3

-

-

–

–

-

-

–

–

6

3

Career honours

Club

Utrecht

Winner

KNVB Cup: 2002–03

'''Liverpool

Runner-up

UEFA Champions League: 2007

FA Premier League: 2008-09

Netherlands

Runner-up

FIFA World Cup: 2010

Individual

[[Eredivisie#Topscorers|Eredivisie

Top Scorer]]: 2005

Dutch Golden Shoe 2003, 2006

References

External links

Dirk Kuyt Liverpool FC

Stats and Analytics of Dirk Kuyt Footbalistic

The Dirk Kuyt Foundation

Player profile LFChistory.net

Player Profile: Dirk Kuyt This is Anfield

profile ESPN Soccernet

Profile at Premier League

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Association football forwards Category:Dutch footballers Category:Netherlands international footballers Category:Dutch expatriate footballers Category:Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:FC Utrecht players Category:Feyenoord players Category:Liverpool F.C. players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Premier League players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:People from Katwijk

ar:ديرك كاوت bg:Дирк Койт ca:Dirk Kuyt cs:Dirk Kuijt da:Dirk Kuijt de:Dirk Kuijt et:Dirk Kuijt es:Dirk Kuyt eo:Dirk Kuyt fa:درک کویت fr:Dirk Kuijt ga:Dirk Kuyt ko:디르크 카위트 hr:Dirk Kuijt id:Dirk Kuyt it:Dirk Kuijt he:דירק קויט jv:Dirk Kuijt la:Dirk Kuyt lv:Dirks Kijts lt:Dirk Kuyt hu:Dirk Kuijt mr:डिर्क कुयट ms:Dirk Kuyt mn:Дирк Кёйт nl:Dirk Kuijt ja:ディルク・カイト no:Dirk Kuyt nn:Dirk Kuijt pl:Dirk Kuyt pt:Dirk Kuyt ro:Dirk Kuyt ru:Кёйт, Дирк simple:Dirk Kuyt sk:Dirk Kuyt sl:Dirk Kuyt sr:Дирк Којт fi:Dirk Kuyt sv:Dirk Kuyt th:เดิร์ก คัยต์ tr:Dirk Kuyt uk:Дірк Кейт vi:Dirk Kuijt zh:德克·库伊特

Name	David Duke
State house	Louisiana
District	81st
Term start	1990
Term end	1992
Preceded	Charles Cusimano
Succeeded	David Vitter
Residence	Mandeville, Louisiana, U.S.
Birth name	David Ernest Duke
Birth date	July 01, 1950
Birth place	Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation	Author, political activist
Party	Republican since 1989, Democratic until December, 1988
Religion	Christianity
Spouse	Chloê Eleanor Hardin (m. 1974 – divorced 1984); 2 daughters
Website	http://www.davidduke.com
Education	Ph.D. History (2005) Ukrainian Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP) }}

David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white nationalist activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988. Duke has unsuccessfully run for the Louisiana State Senate, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and Governor of Louisiana.

A former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Duke describes himself as a racial realist, asserting that "all people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage." He is described by the Anti-Defamation League as a racist and white supremacist. He is a strong advocate of opposition to Zionism as well as what he asserts to be Jewish control of the Federal Reserve Bank, the federal government and the media. Duke supports anti-immigration, both legal and illegal, preservation of what he labels Western culture and traditionalist Christian "family values", strict Constitutionalism, abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, voluntary racial segregation, ardent anti-communism and white separatism.

Youth and early adulthood

Duke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to David H. Duke and Alice Maxine Crick. As the son of an engineer for Shell Oil, Duke frequently moved with his family around the world. They lived a short time in the Netherlands, before settling in Louisiana. In the late 1960s, Duke met the leader of the white supremacist National Alliance, William Pierce, who would remain a life-long influence. Duke joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1967.

Duke studied at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, and in 1970, he formed a white student group called the White Youth Alliance; it was affiliated with the National Socialist White People's Party. The same year, to protest William Kunstler's appearance at Tulane University in New Orleans, Duke appeared at a demonstration in Nazi uniform. Picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth, he became notorious on the LSU campus for wearing a Nazi uniform.

Duke claimed to have spent nine months in Laos, calling that a "normal tour of duty". He actually went there to join his father who was working there and had asked him to visit during the summer of 1971. His father got him a job teaching English to Laotian military officers from which he was dismissed after six weeks when he drew a Molotov Cocktail on the blackboard. He also claimed to have gone behind enemy lines twenty times at night to drop rice to anti-Communist insurgents in planes flying ten feet off the ground, narrowly avoiding receiving a shrapnel wound. Two Air America pilots who were in Laos at that time said that flights were during the day and flew no less than 500 feet from the ground. One suggested that it might have been possible for Duke to have gone on a safe "milk run" once or twice but no more than that. Duke was also unable to recall the name of the airfield used.

He graduated from Louisiana State University in 1974 after enrolling in 1968. During this time he spent what would have been his senior year organising the National Party.

Family and personal life

While working in the White Youth Alliance, Duke met Chloê Hardin, who became active in the group. They remained companions throughout college and married in 1974. Hardin is the mother of Duke's two daughters, Erika and Kristin. It's claimed that in 1977, David Duke, then a married man with two children, pursued female sex partners so avidly and so openly that it embarrassed many of his closest colleagues. Metzger, then Duke's state leader in southern California, became livid when Duke showed up for a Klan anti-immigrant "border watch" stunt and immediately started hitting on women. Duke divorced in 1984—arguably because Chloe was fed up with Duke's womanizing—and Chloe moved to West Palm Beach to be near her parents. There she became involved with Duke's Klan friend, Don Black, whom she later married. Duke also developed a life-long weakness for gambling

As of 2009 it was confirmed that David Duke was living in Zell am See in Salzburg, Austria. From there he ran the Internet business "Art by Ernst", taking and selling photographs of rare birds, mountain scenery and wildlife under the pseudonym "Ernst Duke" (his middle-name "Ernest" germanized). Local authorities have stated that as long as he does not break any laws, Duke is allowed to stay in Austria if he wishes. Duke has stated: ''"I'm not in Austria for any political activities. I just come to Austria to relax – the mountains are beautiful. The Austrian Alps are just beautiful. There's beauty all over the world."'' In May 2009, Duke issued a statement denying that he resides in Austria and saying that he is a resident of Mandeville, Louisiana, and is registered as a taxpayer in his city, state and on the national level.

Political activities

Early campaigns

Duke first ran for the Louisiana State Senate as a Democrat from a Baton Rouge district in 1975. In 1979, he ran as a Democrat for the 10th District Senate seat and finished second in a three-candidate race with 9,897 votes (26 percent). Duke allegedly conducted a direct-mail appeal in 1987, using the identity and mailing-list of the Georgia Forsyth County Defense League without permission. League officials described it as a fund-raising scam. Duke was accused by several Klan officials of stealing his organization's money. "Duke is nothing but a con artist," Jack Gregory, Duke's Florida state leader, told the ''Clearwater Sun'' (of Florida) after David Duke allegedly refused to turn over proceeds from a series of 1979 Klan rallies to the Knights. Another Klan official under Duke, Jerry Dutton, told reporters that Duke had used Klan funds to purchase and refurbish his home in Metairie. Duke later justified the repairs by saying most of his home was used by the Klan. In 1979, after his first, abortive run for president (as a Democrat) and a series of highly publicized violent Klan incidents, Duke quietly incorporated the nonprofit National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) in an attempt to leave the baggage of the Klan behind.

1988 Democratic presidential campaign

In 1988, Duke ran initially in the Democratic presidential primaries. His campaign failed to make much of an impact, with the one notable exemption of winning the little known New Hampshire Vice-Presidential primary. Duke, having failed to gain much traction as a Democrat, then successfully sought the Presidential nomination of the Populist Party. He appeared on the ballot for President in eleven states and was a write-in candidate in some other states, some with Trenton Stokes of Arkansas for Vice President, and on other state ballots with Floyd Parker for Vice President. He received just 47,047 votes, for 0.04 percent of the combined, national popular vote.

1989: Successful run in special election for Louisiana House seat

In December 1988, Duke changed his political affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

In 1988, Republican State Representative Charles Cusimano of Metairie resigned his District 89 seat to become a 24th Judicial District Court judge, and a special election was called early in 1989 to select a successor. Duke entered the race to succeed Cusimano and faced several opponents, including fellow Republicans, John Spier Treen, a brother of former Governor David C. Treen, Delton Charles, a school board member, and Roger F. Villere, Jr., who operates Villere's Florist in Metairie. Duke finished first in the primary with 3,995 votes (33.1%). As no one received a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff election was required between Duke and Treen, who polled 2,277 votes (18.9%) in the first round of balloting. John Treen's candidacy was endorsed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush, former President Ronald Reagan, and other notable Republicans, as well as the Democrat Victor Bussie (president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO) and Edward J. Steimel (president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and former director of the "good government" think tank, the Public Affairs Research Council). Duke, however, hammered Treen on a statement the latter had made indicating a willingness to entertain higher property taxes, anathema in that suburban district. Duke with 8,459 votes (50.7%) defeated Treen, who polled 8,232 votes (49.3%). He served in the House from 1990 until 1992.

As a short-term legislator, Duke was, in the words of a colleague, Ron Gomez of Lafayette, "so single minded, he never really became involved in the nuts and bolts of House rules and parliamentary procedure. It was just that shortcoming that led to the demise of most of his attempts at lawmaking."

One legislative issue pushed by Duke was the requirement that welfare recipients be tested for the use of narcotics. The recipients had to show themselves drug-free to receive state and federal benefits under his proposal.

Gomez recalls having met and interviewed Duke in the middle 1970s when Duke was a state senate candidate: "He was still in his mid-20s and very non-descript. Tall and slimly built, he had a very prominent nose, flat cheek bones, a slightly receding chin and straight dark brown hair. The interview turned out to be quite innocuous, and I hadn't thought about it again until Duke came to my legislative desk, and we shook hands. Who was this guy? Tall and well-built with a perfect nose, a model's cheek bones, prominent chin, blue eyes and freshly coiffed blond hair, he looked like a movie star. He obviously didn't remember from the radio encounter, and I was content to leave it at that."

Consistent with Gomez's observation, Duke in the latter 1980s reportedly had his nose thinned and chin augmented. Following his election to the Louisiana House of Representatives, he shaved his mustache.

Gomez continued: "He once presented a bill on the floor, one of the few which he had managed to get out of committee. He finished his opening presentation and strolled with great self-satisfaction back up the aisle to his seat. In his mind, he had spoken, made his presentation and that was that. Before he had even reached his desk and re-focused on the proceedings, another first-term member had been recognized for the floor and immediately moved to table the bill. The House voted for the motions effectively killing the bill. That and similar procedures were used against him many times." Gomez said that he recalls Duke obtaining the passage of only a single bill, legislation which prohibited movie producers or book publishers from compensating jurors for accounts of their court experiences.

Gomez added that Duke's "tenure in the House was short and uninspired. Never has anyone parlayed an election by such a narrow margin to such a minor position to such international prominence. He has run for numerous other positions without success but has always had some effect, usually negative, on the outcome."

Gomez continued: Duke's "new message was that he had left the Klan, shed the Nazi uniform he had proudly worn in many previous appearances and only wanted to serve the people. He eliminated his high-octane anti-Semitic rhetoric. He was particularly concerned with the plight of 'European-Americans.' He never blatantly spoke of race as a factor but referred to the 'growing underclass.' He used the tried and true demagoguery of class envy to sell his message: excessive taxpayers' money spent on welfare, school busing practices, affirmative action... and set-aside programs. He also embraced a subject near and dear to every Jefferson Parish voter, protection of the homestead exemption."

Duke launched unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1990 and governor in 1991. Villere did not again seek office but instead concentrated his political activity within the Republican organization.

1990 campaign for U.S. Senate

In 1990, in the October 6 primary, Duke ran as a Republican against three Democrats including incumbent Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.

The Republican Party endorsed state Senator Ben Bagert of New Orleans, but national GOP officials anticipated that Bagert could not win and was fragmenting Johnston's support; so funding for Bagert's campaign was halted, and he dropped out two days before the election, though his name remained on the ballot.

Duke's views prompted some of his critics (including Republicans) to form the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, which directed media attention to Duke's statements of hostility to blacks and Jews. Duke received 43.51 percent (607,391 votes) of the vote to Johnston's 53.93 percent (752,902 votes).

In a 2006 editorial, Gideon Rachman (''The Economist'', the ''Financial Times'') recalled interviewing Duke's campaign manager (from his 1990 campaign) who said, "The Jews just aren't a big issue in Louisiana. We keep telling David, stick to attacking the blacks. There's no point in going after the Jews, you just piss them off and nobody here cares about them anyway."

1991 campaign for Governor of Louisiana

Despite repudiation by the Republican Party, Duke ran for Louisiana Governor in 1991. In the open primary, Duke was second to former governor Edwin Edwards in votes; thus, he faced Edwards in a runoff. In the initial round, Duke received 32% of the vote. Incumbent Governor Buddy Roemer, who had switched from the Democratic to Republican parties during his term, came in third with 27% of the vote. Duke effectively killed Roemer's bid for re-election. While Duke had a sizable core constituency of devoted supporters, many voted for him as a "protest vote" to register dissatisfaction with Louisiana's establishment politicians. Duke said he was the spokesman for the "White majority."

The interest group, the Louisiana Coalition against Racism and Nazism, rallied against the election of Duke as governor. Among its leaders was Beth Rickey, a moderate member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee and a Ph.D. student at Tulane University, who began to follow Duke to record his speeches and expose what she saw as instances of racist and neo-Nazi remarks. For a time, Duke took Rickey to lunch, introduced her to his daughters, telephoned her late at night, and tried to convince her that he was a mainstream conservative in the Reagan mold.

Between the primary and the runoff, called the "general election" under Louisiana election rules (in which all candidates run on one ballot, regardless of party), white supremacist organizations from around the country contributed to his campaign fund. Duke was endorsed by James Meredith, a black civil rights figure.

Duke's success garnered national media attention. While Duke gained the backing of the quixotic former Alexandria Mayor John K. Snyder, he won few serious endorsements in Louisiana. Celebrities and organizations donated thousands to Edwards' campaign. Referencing Edwards' long-standing problem with accusations of corruption, popular bumper stickers read: "Vote for the Crook. It's Important," and "Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard." When a reporter asked Edwards what he needed to do to triumph over Duke, Edwards replied with a smile: "Stay alive."

Edwards received 1,057,031 votes (61.2%). Duke's 671,009 votes represented 38.8% of the total. Duke claimed victory, saying: "I won my constituency. I won 55% of the white vote." Exit polls confirmed that he had.

1992 Republican Party presidential candidate

In 1992 Duke ran for the nomination. Republican Party officials tried to block his participation. He received 119,115 (0.94%) votes in the primaries, but no delegates to the national convention. His presidential campaign inspired a song by Skankin' Pickle.

In 1992 a film was released that investigated Duke's appeal among some white voters. ''Backlash: Race and the American Dream'' explored the demagogic issues of Duke's platform, examining his use of black crime, welfare, affirmative action and white supremacy and tied Duke to a legacy of other white backlash politicians, such as Lester G. Maddox and George C. Wallace, Jr., and the use in the 1988 Presidential campaign of Pres. George H.W. Bush of these same racially themed hot buttons.

Late 1990s campaigns

When Johnston announced his retirement in 1996, Duke ran again for the U.S. Senate. He polled 141,489 votes (11.5%). Former Republican state representative Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge and Democrat Mary Landrieu of New Orleans, the former state treasurer, went into the general election contest. Duke was fourth in the nine-person, jungle primary race.

Because of the sudden resignation of powerful Republican incumbent Bob Livingston in 1999, a special election was held in Louisiana's First Congressional District. Duke sought the seat as a Republican and received 19% of the vote. He finished a close third, thus failing to make the runoff. His candidacy was repudiated by the Republicans. Republican Party Chairman Jim Nicholson remarked: "There is no room in the party of Lincoln for a Klansman like David Duke." Republican state representative David Vitter (now a U.S. Senator) went on to defeat Republican ex-Governor David C. Treen. Also in the race was the New Orleans Republican leader Rob Couhig.

In 1999 Duke ran for Louisiana's First Congressional District. Duke finished third in the May 1, 1999 election with 28,059 votes (19.15%).

In 2004, Duke's bodyguard, roommate, and longtime associate Roy Armstrong made a bid for the United States House of Representatives to serve Louisiana's First Congressional District. In the open primary Armstrong finished second in the six candidate field with 6.69% of the vote but Republican Bobby Jindal received 78.40% winning the seat. Duke was the head advisor of Armstrong's campaign.

Affiliations

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

In 1974, David Duke founded the Louisiana-based Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKKK), a Louisiana Ku Klux Klan organization, shortly after graduating from LSU. He became Grand Wizard of the KKKK. A follower of Duke, Thomas Robb, changed the title of Grand Wizard to National Director, and replaced the Klan's white robes with business suits. Duke first received broad public attention during this time, as he endeavored to market himself in the mid-1970s as a new brand of Klansman: well-groomed, engaged, and professional. Duke also reformed the organization, promoting nonviolence and legality, and, for the first time in the Klan's history, women were accepted as equal members and Catholics were encouraged to apply for membership. Duke would repeatedly insist that the Klan was "not anti-black", but rather "pro-white" and "pro-Christian."

NAAWP

In 1980, Duke left the Klan and formed the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP).

On May 20, 2004, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) became outraged when it discovered that David Duke had chosen New Orleans to host his International NAAWP Conference during the NAACP's Big Easy Rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ''Brown v. Board of Education'' decision.

Ernst Zündel and the Zundelsite

Duke has expressed his support for Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, a German who lived in Canada. Duke made a number of statements in support of Zündel and his Holocaust denial campaign. After the aging Zündel was deported from Canada to Germany and imprisoned in Germany on charges of inciting the masses to ethnic hatred, Duke referred to him as a "political prisoner".

Interregional Academy of Personnel Management

In September 2005, Duke received a Kandidat Nauk degree in History from the Ukrainian Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP).

His doctoral thesis was titled "Zionism as a Form of Ethnic Supremacism." Prior to earning his Ph.D., Duke had received an honorary doctorate. Anti-Defamation League claims that MAUP is the main source of antisemitic activity and publishing in Ukraine, and its "anti-Semitic actions" were "strongly condemned" by Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk and various organizations. The Anti-Defamation League describes it as a "University of Hate". Duke has taught an international relations and a history course at MAUP.

New Orleans Protocol

Shortly after his release from prison for tax fraud in 2004, Duke organized a weekend gathering of "European Nationalists", in the vein of white nationalism, in Kenner, Louisiana. In an attempt to overcome the splintering and division that had followed the death of William Pierce in 2002, he presented a unity proposal for peace within the movement and a better image amongst outsiders. His proposal was accepted and is now known as the ''New Orleans Protocol'' (NOP). It pledges adherents to a pan-European outlook, recognizing national and ethnic allegiance, but stressing the value of all European peoples. It has three provisions: #"Zero tolerance for violence." #"Honorable and ethical behavior in relations with other signatory groups. This includes not denouncing others who have signed this protocol. In other words, no enemies on the right." #"Maintaining a high tone in our arguments and public presentations." Those who signed the pact on May 29, 2004 include Duke, Paul Fromm, Don Black, Willis Carto, Kevin Alfred Strom, and John Tyndall (signing as an individual, not on behalf of his British National Party).

Publications

Finders-Keepers

Duke wrote a self-help book for women to raise money under the pseudonym Dorothy Vanderbilt and James Konrad, titled ''Finders-Keepers – Finding and Keeping the Man You Want'' which contains sexual, diet, fashion, cosmetic and relationship advice, published by Arlington Place Books in 1976. Professor Lawrence N. Powell, who read a rare copy of the book given to him by Patsy Sims, wrote that it includes advice on vaginal exercises, fellatio, and anal sex. The book is out of print and difficult to find; however, according to Tyler Bridges, ''The Times-Picayune'' obtained a copy and traced its proceeds to Duke who compiled the information from women's self-help magazines.

My Awakening

Duke published his autobiography ''My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding'' in 1998. The book details Duke's social philosophies, especially his reasoning behind racial separation. In the book, Duke says:

We (Whites) desire to live in our own neighborhoods, go to our own schools, work in our own cities and towns, and ultimately live as one extended family in our own nation. We shall end the racial genocide of integration. We shall work for the eventual establishment of a separate homeland for African Americans, so each race will be free to pursue its own destiny without racial conflicts and ill will.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) book review refers to it as containing racist, antisemitic, sexist and homophobic views.

To raise the money to re-publish a new, updated edition of ''My Awakening'', Duke instigated a 21-day fundraising drive on November 26, 2007 where he had to raise "$25,344 by a December 17 deadline for the printers." Duke states this drive is necessary because the work "has become the most important book in the entire world in the effort to awaken our people for our heritage and freedom."

Jewish Supremacism

In 2002, Duke traveled to Eastern Europe to promote his book, ''Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening on the Jewish Question'' in Russia in 2003. The book purports to "examine and document elements of ethnic supremacism that have existed in the Jewish community from historical to modern times." The book is dedicated to Israel Shahak, a critical author of what Shahak saw as supremacist religious teachings in Jewish culture. Former Boris Yeltsin administration official and politician Boris Mironov wrote an introduction for the Russian edition, called ''The Jewish Question Through the Eyes of an American''.

The ADL office in Moscow urged the Moscow prosecutor to open an investigation of Mironov. The ADL office initiated a letter from a prominent Duma member to Russia’s Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, urging a criminal case be opened against the author and the Russian publisher of Duke's book. The letter by Aleksandr Fedulov described the book as antisemitic and as violating Russian anti-hate crime laws. Around December 2001 Prosecutor's office closed the investigation of Boris Mironov and Jewish Supremacism. In a public letter, Yury Biryukov, First Deputy of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, stated that a socially-psychological examination, which was conducted as a part of the investigation, concluded that the book and the actions of Boris Mironov did not break Russian hate-crime laws.

Duke says his views had been "vindicated" with the publication of ''The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy'' by professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, and said he was "surprised how excellent [the paper] is". Duke dedicated several radio webcasts to the book and the authors comparing it to his work ''Jewish Supremacism'', although Walt stated: "I have always found Mr. Duke's views reprehensible, and I am sorry he sees this article as consistent with his view of the world".

Duke says that his books "have become two of the two most influential and important books in the world." The ADL refer to the book as antisemitic, though Duke had denied the book is motivated by antisemitism. At one time, the book was sold in the main lobby of the building of Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament). The first printing of 5,000 copies sold out in several weeks.

In 2004, the book was published in the United States. Originally published in English and Russian, the book has subsequently been translated internationally into Swedish, Ukrainian, Persian, Hungarian, Spanish. and most recently (2010) into Finnish (ISBN 978-952-92-8137-4). In 2007, an updated edition was published which Duke purports to be a "fine quality hardback edition with full color dust jacket and it has a new index and a number of timely additions".

Internet commentary and Stormfront

In 1995, Don Black and Chloê Hardin, Duke's ex-wife, began a small bulletin board system (BBS) called Stormfront. Today, Stormfront has become a prominent online forum for white nationalism, Neo-Nazism, hate speech, racism, and antisemitism. Duke has an account on Stormfront which he uses to post articles from his own website, www.davidduke.com, as well as polling forum members for opinions and questions, in particular during his internet broadcasts. Duke has worked with Don Black on numerous projects including Operation Red Dog in 1980.

On February 5, 2002, Duke said, on his Internet radio show, that Ariel Sharon was "the world's worst terrorist" and that Mossad was involved in the September 11 attacks. The broadcast said that Zionists were behind the attacks in order to reduce sympathy for Muslim nations in the West, and that the number of Israelis killed in the attack was lower than it would be under normal circumstances, citing early assessments by ''The Jerusalem Post'' and "the legendary involvement of Israeli nationals in businesses at the World Trade Center". According to Duke, this indicated that Israeli security services had prior knowledge of the attack.

On August 5, 2005, Duke published an article stating support for Cindy Sheehan, saying that:

The Iraq war and her son's death did not defend America from hatred or terrorism ... In fact, the war is massively increasing hatred and terrorism. For every one terrorist killed in Iraq, we are creating thousands more who hate and want to hurt America and Americans. This is the surest way to lose the war on terror, not win it.

On February 4, 2009, Duke repeatedly called MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann "untermensch" on his radio show in response to being labeled "Worst Person in the World" on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Public appearances

Public address in Syria

On November 24, 2005, Duke visited Damascus, Syria, addressing a rally which was broadcast on Syrian television, and later giving an interview. During the rally, he referred to Israel as a "war-mongering country" and stated that Zionists "occupy most of the American media and now control much of the American government…It is not just the West Bank of Palestine, it is not just the Golan Heights that are occupied by the Zionists, but Washington D.C. and New York and London and many other capitals of the world.” He concluded by stating: "Your fight for freedom is the same as our fight for freedom.” After speaking at the rally, Duke gave an interview where he said that Israel "makes the Nazi state look very, very moderate." Syrian parliament member Muhammad Habash later stated that Duke's visit gave Syrians a "new and very positive view of the average American."

Comments in the media

Since 2005, Duke has appeared three times on ''Current Issues'', a Lafayette, Louisiana–based television show hosted and produced by Palestinian-American Hesham Tillawi, which has recently been picked up by Bridges TV. Show host Tillawi gave Duke the opportunity to discourse at length about his beliefs about Jewish supremacism. On a show in October 2005, Duke claimed that Jewish extremists are responsible for undermining the morality of America and are attempting to "wash the world in blood."

After John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's paper on the Israel Lobby appeared in March 2006, Duke praised the paper in a number of articles on his website, on his March 18 Live Web Radio Broadcast, and on MSNBC's March 21 ''Scarborough Country'' program. According to ''The New York Sun'', Duke said in an email, "It is quite satisfying to see a body in the premier American university essentially come out and validate every major point I have been making since even before the war even started." Duke added that "the task before us is to wrest control of America's foreign policy and critical junctures of media from the Jewish extremist Neocons that seek to lead us into what they expectantly call World War IV."

Conferences

Duke organized a gathering of European Nationalists who signed the New Orleans Protocol on May 29, 2004. The signatories agreed to avoid infighting among far-right racialists.

On June 3, 2005, Duke co-chaired a conference named "Zionism As the Biggest Threat to Modern Civilization" in Ukraine, sponsored by the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management. The conference was attended by several notable Ukrainian public figures and politicians, and writer Israel Shamir.

Duke claims that Swedish police thwarted an attempted assassination against him, in August 2005, while Duke was speaking in Sweden.

On the weekend of June 8–10, 2006, Duke attended as a speaker at the international "White World's Future" conference in Moscow, which was coordinated and hosted by Pavel Tulaev. From December 11–13, he Duke attended the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran, Iran, opened by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating "The Holocaust is the device used as the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist aggression, Zionist terror and Zionist murder."

Duke attended the conference, along with Gazi Hussein (Syria); Dr Rahmandost (conference chair, Society for Supporting People of Palestine); Jan Bernhoff, a Swedish computer science teacher who maintains that 300,000 Jews died during the Holocaust; and Fredrick Töben, director of the Adelaide Institute, Australia.

Criticism and legal difficulties

Plastic surgery claims

In 1990 syndicated columnist Jack Anderson argued Duke has done "everything to make himself look better to the voters, including plastic surgery".

Duke explained in ''My Awakening'' that he had had reconstructive surgery on his nose, which had been broken many times.

Critical publications

In ''Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust and David Duke's Louisiana'' by Professor Lawrence N. Powell, who teaches at Tulane University history department and was a founding member of Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, "connects the prewar and wartime experiences of Jewish survivors to the lives they built in the United States" and depicts"story of Anne Skorecki Levy, a Holocaust survivor who transformed the horrors of her childhood into a passionate mission to defeat the political menace of reputed neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke." The book won three awards.

Tax fraud conviction

David Duke pleaded guilty to the felony charge of filing a false tax return under and mail fraud under in December 2002.

Four months later, Duke was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and he served the time in Big Spring, Texas. He was also fined US$10,000, ordered to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service, and to pay money still owed for his 1998 taxes. Following his release in May 2004, he stated that his decision to take the plea bargain was motivated by the bias that he perceived in the United States federal court system and not his guilt. He said he felt the charges were contrived to derail his political career and discredit him to his followers, and that he took the safe route by pleading guilty and receiving a mitigated sentence, rather than pleading not guilty and potentially receiving the full sentence.

Duke pled guilty to what prosecutors described as a six-year scheme to dupe thousands of his followers by asking for donations. Through postal mail, Duke later appealed to his supporters that he was about to lose his house and his life savings. Prosecutors claimed that Duke raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in this campaign. Prosecutors also claimed he sold his home at a hefty profit, had multiple investment accounts, and spent much of his money gambling at casinos.

The entire file of court documents related to this case can be found at The Smoking Gun website, including details on the December 12, 2002 guilty plea to federal charges that he filed a false tax return and committed mail fraud.

Don Black claims that Duke was targeted in this way by the government to discredit him.

Arrest in the Czech Republic

On April 24, 2009, Duke, who had arrived in the Czech Republic on invitation by a Czech neo-Nazi Group known as ''Národní Odpor'' ("National Resistance") to deliver three lectures in Prague and Brno to promote the translation of his book ''My Awakening'' into Czech language, was arrested on suspicion of "denying or approving of the Nazi genocide and other Nazi crimes" and "promotion of movements seeking suppression of human rights," which are crimes in the Czech Republic punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. At the time of his arrest, Duke was reportedly guarded by members of the ''Národní Odpor''.

The Czech police accused Duke of promoting movements suppressing human rights. The police released him early on April 25, 2009, on condition that he leave the country by midnight that same day.

Duke's first lecture had been scheduled at Charles University in Prague, but it was canceled after university officials learned that neo-Nazis were planning to attend. Some Czech politicians, including Interior Minister Ivan Langer and Human Rights and Minorities Minister Michael Kocáb, had previously expressed opposition to Duke's being allowed into the country.

In September 2009, the office of the District Prosecutor for Prague dropped all charges, explaining that there was no evidence that David Duke had committed any crime.

Election history

''See Electoral history of David Duke''

Possible 2012 presidential campaign

Duke has claimed that thousands of Tea Party movement activists have urged him to run for president in 2012 and he is seriously considering entering the Republican Party primaries. Duke has also released a video detailing his platform. In the video pledges that as president he would stop all immigration to the US, including legal immigration, and says that he "will not let Israel or any nation dictate our foreign policy". Duke claimed that he would be "willing to risk life and limb, endure the barbs of the media” to mount "the most honest campaign for president since the time of our Founding Fathers". However, Duke has been legally disqualified from running for public office since 2002 as part of his guilty plea for tax evasion.

References

Works and filmography

David Duke's official web site

David Duke's account at YouTube with his videos about US and world politics

Duke, David "Jewish Supremacism " (Free Speech Pr, 2003; 350 pages) ISBN 1-892796-05-8

Duke, David "My Awakening" (Free Speech Books, 1998; 736 pages) ISBN 1-892796-00-7

European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), White Civil Rights

"The truth about David Duke" by one of Duke's European Friends

"The Federal Persecution of David Duke" by Duke's childhood friend Don Black

Federal Indictment of David Duke on mail fraud and filing false tax return

"Ex-Klan Leader Is Popular in Europe, Mideast, Even as He Heads to Jail Here" Times-Picayune, New Orleans April 13, 2003 by John McQuaid

Attitudes of Mississippi college students toward David Duke before and after seeing the film 'Who Is David Duke?'

David Duke in Damascus to express solidarity with Syria Arabic News, November 22, 2005

Bridges, Tyler "The Rise of David Duke" (Mississippi University Press, 1995; 300 pages) ISBN 0-87805-678-5

Rose; Douglas D. ''The Emergence of David Duke and the Politics of Race'' University of North Carolina Press. 1992

Zatarain, Michael "David Duke: Evolution of a Klansman" (Pelican Publishing Company, 1990; Gretna, Louisiana; 304 pages) ISBN 0-88289-817-5

Interviews with Dutch nationalist Alfred Vierling

Further reading

External links

Official website

David Duke speaks in his Presidential campaign in Washington 1991 on C-SPAN

David Duke speaks in his Presidential campaign in Massachusetts 1992 on C-SPAN

David Duke withdraws his Presidential campaign, April 1992

David Duke interview on "My Awakening" on C-SPAN

Interviews

The Nationalist Report: Interview with David Duke

The Sunic Journal: Interview with David Duke

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:American anti-communists Category:American anti–illegal immigration activists Category:American Christians Category:American expatriates Category:American government officials convicted of crimes Category:American people convicted of fraud Category:American people convicted of tax crimes Category:American self-help writers Category:American white nationalists Category:Antisemitism in the United States Category:Far-right politics in the United States Category:Holocaust deniers Category:Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragons Category:Louisiana Republicans Category:Louisiana State University alumni Category:Male authors who wrote under female pseudonyms Category:Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:People from Salzburg Category:People from Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:Politics and race Category:Populist Party (United States, 1984) politicians Category:Racism in the United States Category:United States presidential candidates, 1988 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1992 Category:Writers from Louisiana Category:Writers from Oklahoma Category:American politicians convicted of crimes

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Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of Lady Gaga
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Birth date	March 28, 1986
Birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Pop, dance
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	}}

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (; born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and by the end of 2007 was signed with Streamline Records. During her employment as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro" and allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her 2011 album ''Born This Way'' topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, which include "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Beside her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by such acts as David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through fashion, performance and music videos. She has sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide, making herself one of the best-selling music artists of all time and her singles some of the best-selling worldwide. Her achievements include four ''Guinness World Records'', five Grammy Awards and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), is regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine, and was named one of the most influential people in the world by ''Time'' magazine.

Biography

1986–2004: Early life

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in New York, NY to parents Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur. Descending from Italian and more distant French-Canadian roots, Gaga is the elder of two children. Her sister, Natali, a fashion student, was born in 1992. Despite her seemingly affluent upbringing in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga has stressed that she did not come from a wealthy background, stating that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."

From the age of 11, Gaga – who was raised Roman Catholic – attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure": "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate.

Lady Gaga began playing the piano at the age of 4, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of 14. Her passion for musical theatre brought her lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in ''Guys and Dolls'' and Philia in ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series ''The Sopranos'' in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" in addition to unsuccessfully auditioning for parts in New York shows. When her time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart came to an end, her mother encouraged her to apply for the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After gaining early admission at 17, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street.

CAP21 prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity" where, in addition to sharpening her songwriting skills, she composed essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics, including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst. With CAP21, she also tried out for and won auditions, including the part of an unsuspecting diner customer where MTV's ''Boiling Points'', a prank reality television show, was being filmed. Not withstanding these achievements, she felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she withdrew to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she remembers.

2005–07: Career beginnings

Settled in a small apartment on Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book ''The Portal in the Park'', by Cricket Casey. She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman, drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager Frank Fredericks – in September of that year. The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er". Playing in bars like the Greenwich Village's The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis. Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays ''Words'' and ''Red and Blue'' at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.

SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at The Cutting Room in June where Wendy Starland, a musician, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer. While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. It was Fusari who helped create the moniker Gaga after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga." He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance song" and that the text message was the result of a predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again." ''The New York Post'', however, has reported that this story is incorrect, and that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.

Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team Lovechild in which they recorded and produced electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses. Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R at Def Jam Recordings, responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months. However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night". Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side.

She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging neo-burlesque shows, go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs. Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months. "I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself." It was then when she became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film ''Grease'': "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.

During this time, she met performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona. Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival in August that year. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.

While Gaga and Starlight were busy performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going." Having already served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.

While Gaga was writing at Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. He then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live Distribution, making her his "franchise player." As 2007 came to a close, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.". Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album; making the chart-topping singles "Just Dance", "Poker Face" and "LoveGame" together. Gaga also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. Her response: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."

2008–10: ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster''

By 2008, Gaga relocated to Los Angeles to work extensively with her record label to complete her debut album while setting up her own creative team modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory: Haus of Gaga. Intensive work continued on the album, described as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, combining genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks" while drawing inspiration from 1980s synthpop and incorporating dance music with clear hooks. ''The Fame'' was first released on August 19, 2008 but, radio play being slow, Gaga supported it by performing around Europe and in small gay clubs around the US in addition to being billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour. A sleeper hit, lead single "Just Dance" had preceded the album's release by four months but only hit the summit of the international charts in January 2009.

"Just Dance" provoked the instant success of ''The Fame'' after earning her first Grammy Award nomination (for Best Dance Recording) while becoming one of the best-selling singles worldwide. Receiving positive reviews from contemporary critics who commended Gaga's ability to discover a melodious hook, the album went to number one in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK and appeared in the top five in Australia, the US and 15 other countries. It also stayed atop the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 106 non-consecutive weeks and, since its release, has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Gaga achieved a greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number one in most major music markets worldwide in early 2009. The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, while ''The Fame'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Dance/Electronica Album. Gaga was the recipient of other honors in 2009 including the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations – winning Best New Artist while the video for her single "Paparazzi" gained Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects – and ''Billboard'' magazine's Rising Star award. In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.

While she traveled the globe, she wrote ''The Fame Monster'', an EP of eight songs released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Making Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (alongside "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales, its lead single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries and reached the top two in the US, Australia and New Zealand while accruing the Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. The second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number one single; its accompanying music video, although controversial, receiving positive reception from contemporary critics who praised her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of blasphemy. Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube. At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won 8 of her 13 nominations, including Video of the Year for "Bad Romance" (with "Telephone" also nominated), which made her the first female artist to be nominated twice for the award. In addition, ''The Fame Monster'' garnered a total of six nominations at the 53rd Grammy Awards – equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received – winning Best Pop Vocal Album and earning her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year.

The success of the album allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of ''The Fame Monster'' and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour. Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist. Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a HBO television special titled ''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden''. The special accrued one of its five Emmy Award nominations and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray. Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony. Other performances may have included her participation in Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series at London's O2 Arena. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers, doing duets with Michael on stage."

Nevertheless, she realized a collaboration with consumer electronic company Beats by Dr. Dre to create a pair of in-ear jewel-encrusted headphones titled Heartbeats. "They are designed to be the first ever fashion accessories that double as the absolute best sonically sounding headphones in the world," she commented. Gaga also partnered with Polaroid in January 2010. Excited about "blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era," Gaga was named Creative Director and by the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, unveiled the first trio of new products called Grey Label: a pair of picture-taking sunglasses, a paperback-sized mobile printing unit and an updated version of the traditional Polaroid camera. But her collaboration with past producer Rob Fusari led to her production team, Mermaid Music LLC, being sued in March 2010 when he claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of the company's earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment, but five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga. In addition to such strife, Gaga was tested borderline positive for lupus, but claimed not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay among fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

2011–present: ''Born This Way''

Gaga released her second studio album and third major release, ''Born This Way'', on May 23, 2011. Described as a marriage of electronic music with metal, rock 'n' roll, pop and anthemic style melodies with sledge-hammering dance beats and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid," Gaga characterized it as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and, upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level." Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles and her vocals. ''Born This Way'' sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, and topped the charts in more than 20 other countries. In addition to exceeding 8 million copies in worldwide sales, ''Born This Way'' has received 3 Grammy Award nominations, including her third consecutive for Album of the Year.

In the months prior to its unveiling, Gaga released the singles "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory" alongside a promotional single "Hair". The eponymous lead single, which was first sung live at the 53rd Grammy Awards in a performance that saw Gaga emerge from an egg-like vessel, deals with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation and debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts. It sold more than 3 million digital copies in the US by October 2011, becoming her eighth consecutive single to exceed sales of 2 million and one of her five best-selling singles worldwide. Critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised the concept of the song's accompanying music video, in which Gaga gives birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images. The music video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references; the video, nonetheless, received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it. "Judas" also peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets while "The Edge of Glory", first a commercial success in digital outlets, was later released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a music video which notably stripped down compared to her usually "extravagant" efforts.

She released "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as the fourth and fifth singles from ''Born This Way''. Although their "crazy and ambitious" music videos were praised for their audacity, both songs failed to match the similar international success that its predececors achieved. Nonetheless, she continued her musical endeavors by pairing with veteran artists like Tony Bennett to record a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp". She also recorded a duet with Cher on a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which Gaga "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason." Gaga also lent her vocals to an original duet with Elton John for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet''. The song, "Hello, Hello", was released without Gaga's vocals but the duet version features in the film. As she enters 2012, songs for a new album are "beginning to flourish" as she works with producer Fernando Garibay while the accompanying tour for ''Born This Way'' materializes.

Gaga continued her live appearances throughout 2011 including a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13 in promotion of ''Born This Way''. She also performed at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th Birthday alongside Bono, Stevie Wonder and Usher, among others, wearing a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changing the lyrics to "You and I" specifically for the performance. Televised appearances comprised her own Thanksgiving Day television special entitled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' which was critically lauded, attained 5.749 million American viewers, and spawned the release of her fourth extended play ''A Very Gaga Holiday''. Her second performance on ''Saturday Night Live'' saw her singing a selection of ''Born This Way'' songs alongside appearing in number of sketches with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg.

Artistry

Influences

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Elton John, had significant influence on her childhood and, presently, still do. "I am a real family girl. When it comes to love and loyalty, I am very old-fashioned. And I am quite down-to-earth for such an eccentric person," she insists. "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way." According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged 19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art. Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12 years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin, she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to love and experience in our lives." Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer Deepak Chopra. Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the music for my fans."

Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from dance-pop singers like Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like Andy Warhol and of her musical theatre roots in performance. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name: "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music," she commented. Gaga receives regular comparisons to recording artist Madonna who admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. In response to the comparisons, Gaga stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the years of her career, has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of artists including Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson and Yoko Ono.

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow and to American recording artist Cher. She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own." She has considered Donatella Versace her muse and the late British fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work. Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos. Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us." The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream." Gaga made her runway debut at Thierry Mugler's Paris fashion show in March 2011 where she wore items from Nicola Formichetti's debut women's wear collection. In June of the same year, she won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for Fashion Icon. She has since devoted her time as a fashion columnist for ''V'' magazine, where she has written about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme.

Musical style

Continually experimenting with new musical ideas and images, Gaga's musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and scrutiny from critics. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been drawn to such a practice since her childhood. Vocally, Gaga possesses the range of a contralto and exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being able to move through 2.4 octaves. Refusing to lip sync, Gaga – whose range is frequently compared to those of Madonna and Gwen Stefani – has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers ''Born This Way'' (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of." In summation of her voice, ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "There's an immense emotional intelligence behind the way she uses her voice. Almost never does she overwhelm a song with her vocal ability, recognizing instead that artistry is to be found in nuance rather than lung power."

Although her early lyrics have been criticized for lacking intellectual stimulation, "[Gaga] does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." She admits that her songwriting has been misinterpreted; her friend and blogger Perez Hilton articulated her message in a clearer way: "you write really deep intelligent lyrics with shallow concepts." Gaga opined, "Perez is very intelligent and clearly listened to my record from beginning to end, and he is correct." "I love songwriting. It's so funny – I will just jam around in my underwear or I could be washing my dishes. I wrote several songs just at the piano," she confesses. Gaga believes that "all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit." She has covered a wide variety of topics in her songs: while ''The Fame'' (2008) meditates on the lust for stardom, ''The Fame Monster'' (2009) expresses fame's dark side through monster metaphors. ''Born This Way'' (2011) is sung in English, French, German and Spanish and includes common themes in Gaga's controversial songwriting like love, sex, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom and individualism.

The structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. Her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008) provoked ''The Sunday Times'' to assert "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, [Gaga] evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now" and a critic from ''The Boston Globe'' to comment that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B-ish beats." The follow-up ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), saw Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q" while ''Born This Way'' (2011) also draws on the records of her childhood and still has the "electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants" of its predecessor but includes genres as diverse as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll. "There isn't a subtle moment on the album, but even at its nuttiest, the music is full of wide-awake emotional details," wrote ''Rolling Stone'', who concluded: "The more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds."

Performances and music videos

Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and innovative"; the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV. She continued the "blood soaked" theme in The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and is "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene on tour in England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence. Her unconventionality continued at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards when she performed in drag as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivered a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "You and I". Chris Rock has defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," he said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?" As Gaga's choreographer and creative director, Laurieann Gibson provided much material for her shows and videos for four years but the pair parted in November 2011. Gaga replaced her with Gibson's assistant Richard Jackson. Gaga admits to being a perfectionist when it comes to her elaborate shows. "I'm very bossy. I can scream my head off if I see one light fixture out. I'm very detailed – every minute of the show has got to be perfect."

With constant costume changes, backup dancers, and plenty of provoctative visuals, Gaga's music videos are often described as short films. "Being provocative is not just about getting people's attention. It's about saying something that really affects people in a real way, in a positive way," she professes. Exploring bondage and sadomasochism in addition to highlighting prevalent feminist themes, "the three central themes that shape Lady Gaga's music videos are sex, violence, and power." "Vaudevillian and carnal, Lady Gaga has got the knack of sending rape-like fantasies—in songs and videos that double as catch club hits—to the top of the charts," wrote one critic. "Whether it is physical violence or sexual exploitation, these videos offer vivid depictions of male power over women's bodies," wrote another. While she labels herself "a little bit of a feminist" (she rejects man-hating feminism) and asserts that she is "sexually empowering women," Gaga strives to empower young women to stand up for what they believe in. She also attempts to liberate her fans so they can feel "less alone." "She not only reiterates her assertion of total originality," professed pop critic Ann Powers, "but also finesses it until it's both a philosophical stance about how constructing a persona from pop-cultural sources can be an expression of a person's truth—a la those drag queens Gaga sincerely admires—and a bit of a feminist act." In summation of her videos, ''Rolling Stone'' used the rhetoric: "Does anyone look to a Lady Gaga video for restraint?"

Public image

While ''Rolling Stone'' named Gaga the "Queen of Pop" in 2011, public reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed. Her status as a role model, self-esteem booster for her fans, trailblazer and fashion icon who breathes new life into the industry is by turns affirmed and denied. Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews and critics have pointed out her unique place in pop music, the need for new movements in popular culture, the attention Gaga brings to modern social issues, and the inherently subjective nature of her art. In view of her influence on modern culture and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina has organized a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" since the spring of 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga."

Contrary to her outré style, the ''New York Post'' described her early look as like "a refugee from ''Jersey Shore''" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Lady Gaga is a natural brunette; she bleached her hair blonde because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She has nine tattoos on the left side of her body (her father has banned etchings on her right): a unicorn head with a ribbon wrapped around its horn that says "Born This Way"; a small heart with "dad" written inside it; several white roses; a treble clef; three daises; "Tokyo Love" with a little heart; "Little Monsters" written in cursive; a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon, whom she stated was her hero; and a curling German script on her left arm quoting the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her favorite writer, commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her. Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Lady Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." Lady Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way." When Gaga briefly met with US president Barack Obama at a Human Rights Campaign fundraiser, he described the interaction as "intimidating" as she was dressed in 16-inch heels making her undoubtedly the tallest woman in the room.

When interviewed by Barbara Walters for her annual ABC News special ''10 Most Fascinating People'' in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend. Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." In addition to Aguilera's statement, comparisons continued into 2010, when Aguilera released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Lady Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Lady Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier.

Nonetheless, Gaga was named one of Vogue.com UK's Best Dressed people of 2010, which partly was awarded in recognition of the meat dress she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The dress – supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat – were all fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. Named ''Time'' magazine's Fashion Statement of 2010, it received divided opinions – evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. She denied any intention of causing disrespect to any person or organization and wished for the dress to be interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community. In a question posed about the necessary procedure to attach the prosthetics to give the unconventional appearance of recent horn-like ridges on her cheekbones, temples, and shoulders, Gaga responded, "They're not prosthetics, they're my bones." She also clarified that they were not the result of plastic surgery, believing such surgery to only be the modern byproduct of fame-induced insecurity to which she does not subscribe. The interviewer's further probing brought Gaga to the conclusion that they are an artistic representation of her inner inspirational light and part of the "performance piece" that is her musical persona: an inevitability of her becoming who she now is.

Gaga often refers to her fans as "Little Monsters" and in dedication, has had that inscription tattooed on "the arm that holds my mic." Her treatment of her "Little Monsters" has inspired criticism, due to the highly commercial nature of her music and image. To some, this dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture. Camille Paglia in her 2010 cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" in ''The Sunday Times'' asserts thatGaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those." Writing for ''The Guardian'', Kitty Empire opined that the dichotomy "...allows the viewer to have a 'transgressive' experience without being required to think. At [her performance's] core, though, is the idea that Gaga is at one with the freaks and outcasts. The Monster Ball is where we can all be free. This is arrant nonsense, as the scads of people buying Gaga's cunningly commercial music are not limited to the niche worlds of drag queens and hip night creatures from which she draws her inspiration. But Gaga seems sincere."

Philanthropy

Besides her career in music, Gaga has also contributed to various charities and humanitarian works. In 2011, she launched her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on youth empowerment and issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring, and career development. "My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation," Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from the 2011 single and album. "Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment." The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

For natural disasters, Gaga has also helped various relief efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her official online store on that day were also donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of $500,000 was collected for the fund. Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, Gaga tweeted a message and a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts. As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million. However, attorney Alyson Oliver filed a lawsuit against Gaga in Detroit in June 2011, noting that the bracelet was subject to a sales tax and an extra $3.99 shipping charge was added to the price. She also believed that not all proceeds from the bracelets would go to the relief efforts, demanding a public accounting of the campaign and refunds for people who had bought the bracelet. Lady Gaga's spokesperson called the lawsuit "meritless" and "misleading". On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan's charity show in Makuhari Messe, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross.

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS, focusing on educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Titled Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi for each contributor respectively, all net proceeds of the lipstick line were donated to the cosmetic company's campaign to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to your lipstick." The sales of Gaga-endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and lipgloss have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.

With the performance of the bilingual song "Americano" from her second studio album ''Born This Way'' (2011), Gaga jumped into the debate surrounding SB 1070, Arizona's recently-enacted anti-immigration law. She premiered the tune on the Guadalajara, Mexico stop of her "Monster Ball" tour, telling the local press that she could not "stand by many of the unjust immigration laws" in the United States.

LGBT advocacy

Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of ''The Fame'', saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event.

After ''The Fame'' was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a threesome. I'm happy with just you'." When she appeared as a guest on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community". She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009 National Equality March rally on the National Mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," similar to her 2009 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech for Best New Artist a month earlier. At the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, held the same weekend as the rally, she performed a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" declaring that "I'm not going to [play] one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me, it's about you." She changed the original lyrics of the song to reflect the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student murdered because of his sexuality.

Gaga attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four service members of the United States Armed Forces (Mike Almy, David Hall, Katie Miller and Stacy Vasquez), all of whom, under the United States military's "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, had been prohibited from serving openly because of their sexuality. In addition, Gaga wore a dress fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal to the awards ceremony. Gaga wished that the dress, more widely known as the "meat dress", was interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community adding that "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones." She later released three videos on YouTube videos urging her fans to contact their Senators in an effort to overturn the policy. In late September 2010 she spoke at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's "4the14K" Rally in Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine. The name of the rally signified the number – an estimated 14,000 – of service members discharged under the DADT policy at the time. During her remarks, she urged members of the U.S. Senate (and in particular, moderate Republican Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) to vote in favor of legislation that would repeal the DADT policy. Following this event, editors of ''The Advocate'' commented that she had become "the real fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians, one that Barack Obama had promised to be.

Gaga appeared at Europride, a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, held in Rome in June 2011. In a nearly twenty-minute speech, she criticized the intolerant state of gay rights in many European countries and described homosexuals as "revolutionaries of love" before performing acoustic renderings of "Born This Way" and "The Edge of Glory" in front of thousands at the Circus Maximus. She stated that "Today and every day we fight for freedom. We fight for justice. We beckon for compassion, understanding and above all we want full equality now". Gaga revealed that she is often questioned why she dedicates herself to "gayspeak" and "how gay" she is, to which, she told the audience: "Why is this question, why is this issue so important? My answer is: I am a child of diversity, I am one with my generation, I feel a moral obligation as a woman, or a man, to exercise my revolutionary potential and make the world a better place." She then joked: "On a gay scale from 1 to 10, I'm a Judy Garland fucking 42."

Discography

''The Fame'' (2008)

''The Fame Monster'' (2009)

''Born This Way'' (2011)

Filmography

''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden'' (2011)

''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' (2011)

Concert tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009–10) (canceled)

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

Further reading

Monster Anthems (2011) by Robert Christgau

External links

Slide show ''Vanity Fair''

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