title: Snake

text: When swimming, the waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is generated by pushing their body against the water, resulting in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic versus terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the motion (moving backwards with forward-moving waves).


title: Snake

text: Most often employed by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers) when the snake must move in an environment that lacks irregularities to push against (rendering lateral undulation impossible), such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune, sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar "rolling" motion. This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than of the cost for a lizard to move the same distance. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with the sand being hot.


title: Snake

text: When push-points are absent, but there is not enough space to use sidewinding because of lateral constraints, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina locomotion. In this mode, the snake braces the posterior portion of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the posterior is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of locomotion is slow and very demanding, up to seven times the cost of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the necessity of using active muscular effort to brace against the tunnel walls.


title: Snake

text: The movement of snakes in arboreal habitats has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of locomotion depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina locomotion on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'.


title: Snake

text: Gliding snakes ("Chrysopelea") of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in midair.


title: Snake

text: The slowest mode of snake locomotion is rectilinear locomotion, which is also the only one where the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of locomotion and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.


title: Snake

text: Snakes do not ordinarily prey on humans. Unless startled or injured, most snakes prefer to avoid contact and will not attack humans. With the exception of large constrictors, nonvenomous snakes are not a threat to humans. The bite of a nonvenomous snake is usually harmless; their teeth are not adapted for tearing or inflicting a deep puncture wound, but rather grabbing and holding. Although the possibility of infection and tissue damage is present in the bite of a nonvenomous snake, venomous snakes present far greater hazard to humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists snakebite under the "other neglected conditions" category.


title: Snake

text: Documented deaths resulting from snake bites are uncommon. Nonfatal bites from venomous snakes may result in the need for amputation of a limb or part thereof. Of the roughly 725 species of venomous snakes worldwide, only 250 are able to kill a human with one bite. Australia averages only one fatal snake bite per year. In India, 250,000 snakebites are recorded in a single year, with as many as 50,000 recorded initial deaths. The WHO estimates that on the order of 100,000 people die each year as a result of snake bites, and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites annually.


title: Snake

text: The treatment for a snakebite is as variable as the bite itself. The most common and effective method is through antivenom (or antivenin), a serum made from the venom of the snake. Some antivenom is species-specific (monovalent) while some is made for use with multiple species in mind (polyvalent). In the United States for example, all species of venomous snakes are pit vipers, with the exception of the coral snake. To produce antivenom, a mixture of the venoms of the different species of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths is injected into the body of a horse in ever-increasing dosages until the horse is immunized. Blood is then extracted from the immunized horse. The serum is separated and further purified and freeze-dried. It is reconstituted with sterile water and becomes antivenom. For this reason, people who are allergic to horses are more likely to have an allergic reaction to antivenom. Antivenom for the more dangerous species (such as mambas, taipans, and cobras) is made in a similar manner in India, South Africa, and Australia, although these antivenoms are species-specific.


title: Snake

text: In some parts of the world, especially in India, snake charming is a roadside show performed by a charmer. In such a show, the snake charmer carries a basket containing a snake that he seemingly charms by playing tunes with his flutelike musical instrument, to which the snake responds. The snake is in fact responding to the movement of the flute, not the sound it makes, as snakes lack external ears (though they do have internal ears).


title: Snake

text: The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in India technically prohibits snake charming on the grounds of reducing animal cruelty. Other types of snake charmers use a snake and mongoose show, where the two animals have a mock fight; however, this is not very common, as the animals may be seriously injured or killed. Snake charming as a profession is dying out in India because of competition from modern forms of entertainment and environment laws proscribing the practice. Many Indians have never seen snake charming and it is becoming a folktale of the past.


title: Snake

text: The "Irulas" tribe of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India have been hunter-gatherers in the hot, dry plains forests, and have practiced the art of snake catching for generations. They have a vast knowledge of snakes in the field. They generally catch the snakes with the help of a simple stick. Earlier, the "Irulas" caught thousands of snakes for the snake-skin industry. After the complete ban of the snake-skin industry in India and protection of all snakes under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, they formed the Irula Snake Catcher's Cooperative and switched to catching snakes for removal of venom, releasing them in the wild after four extractions. The venom so collected is used for producing life-saving antivenom, biomedical research and for other medicinal products. The "Irulas" are also known to eat some of the snakes they catch and are very useful in rat extermination in the villages.


title: Snake

text: Despite the existence of snake charmers, there have also been professional snake catchers or wranglers. Modern-day snake trapping involves a herpetologist using a long stick with a V- shaped end. Some television show hosts, like Bill Haast, Austin Stevens, Steve Irwin, and Jeff Corwin, prefer to catch them using bare hands.


title: Snake

text: Although snakes are not commonly thought of as food, their consumption is acceptable in some cultures and may even be considered a delicacy. Snake soup is popular in Cantonese cuisine, consumed by locals in the autumn to warm their bodies. Western cultures document the consumption of snakes only under extreme circumstances of hunger, with the exception of cooked rattlesnake meat, which is commonly consumed in Texas and parts of the Midwestern United States.


title: Snake

text: In Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, drinking the blood of a snake—particularly the cobra—is believed to increase sexual virility. When possible, the blood is drained while the cobra is still alive, and it is usually mixed with some form of liquor to improve the taste.


title: Snake

text: The use of snakes in alcohol is accepted in some Asian countries. In such cases, one or more snakes are left to steep in a jar or container of liquor, as this is claimed to make the liquor stronger (as well as more expensive). One example of this is the Habu snake, which is sometimes placed in the Okinawan liqueur "Habushu" (ブ酒), also known as "Habu Sake".


title: Snake

text: Snake wine (蛇酒) is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. First recorded as being consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty, this drink is considered an important curative and is believed to reinvigorate a person according to traditional Chinese medicine.


title: Snake

text: In the Western world, some snakes are kept as pets, especially docile species such as the ball python and corn snake. To meet the demand, a captive breeding industry has developed. Snakes bred in captivity are considered preferable to specimens caught in the wild and tend to make better pets. Compared with more traditional types of companion animal, snakes can be very low-maintenance pets; they require minimal space, as most common species do not exceed in length, and can be fed relatively infrequently—usually once every five to 14 days. Certain snakes have a lifespan of more than 40 years if given proper care.


title: Snake

text: In ancient Mesopotamia, Nirah, the messenger god of Ištaran, was represented as a serpent on "kudurrus", or boundary stones. Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC. The horned viper ("Cerastes cerastes") appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus and is invoked in Assyrian texts as a magical protective entity. A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC). This creature, known in Akkadian as the "mušḫuššu", meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu, but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.


title: Snake

text: In Egyptian history, the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was worshipped as one of the gods and was also used for sinister purposes: murder of an adversary and ritual suicide (Cleopatra). The ouroboros was a well-known ancient Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced", a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun. In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians and chapter 136 of the "Pistis Sophia", an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth". In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.


title: Snake

text: In the Bible, King Nahash of Ammon, whose name means "Snake", is depicted very negatively, as a particularly cruel and despicable enemy of the ancient Hebrews.


title: Snake

text: The ancient Greeks used the Gorgoneion, a depiction of a hideous face with serpents for hair, as an apotropaic symbol to ward off evil. In a Greek myth described by Pseudo-Apollodorus in his "Bibliotheca", Medusa was a Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze turned all those who looked at her to stone and was slain by the hero Perseus. In the Roman poet Ovid's "Metamorphoses", Medusa is said to have once been a beautiful priestess of Athena, whom Athena turned into a serpent-haired monster after she was raped by the god Poseidon in Athena's temple. In another myth referenced by the Boeotian poet Hesiod and described in detail by Pseudo-Apollodorus, the hero Heracles is said to have slain the Lernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna.


title: Snake

text: The legendary account of the foundation of Thebes mentioned a monster snake guarding the spring from which the new settlement was to draw its water. In fighting and killing the snake, the companions of the founder Cadmus all perished – leading to the term "Cadmean victory" (i.e. a victory involving one's own ruin).


title: Snake

text: Three medical symbols involving snakes that are still used today are Bowl of Hygieia, symbolizing pharmacy, and the Caduceus and Rod of Asclepius, which are symbols denoting medicine in general.


title: Snake

text: One of the etymologies proposed for the common female first name "Linda" is that it might derive from Old German "Lindi" or "Linda", meaning a serpent.


title: Snake

text: India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes. Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk). The cobra is seen on the neck of Shiva and Vishnu is depicted often as sleeping on a seven-headed snake or within the coils of a serpent. There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called "Nagraj" (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility. There is a Hindu festival called Nag Panchami each year on which day snakes are venerated and prayed to. See also "Nāga".


title: Snake

text: In India there is another mythology about snakes. Commonly known in Hindi as "Ichchhadhari" snakes. Such snakes can take the form of any living creature, but prefer human form. These mythical snakes possess a valuable gem called "Mani", which is more brilliant than diamond. There are many stories in India about greedy people trying to possess this gem and ending up getting killed.


title: Snake

text: Many ancient Peruvian cultures worshipped nature. They emphasized animals and often depicted snakes in their art.


title: Snake

text: Snakes are used in Hinduism as a part of ritual worship. In the annual Nag Panchami festival, participants worship either live cobras or images of Nāgas. Lord Shiva is depicted in most images with a snake coiled around his neck. Puranic literature includes various stories associated with snakes, for example Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. Other notable snakes in Hinduism are Vasuki, Takshaka, Karkotaka, and Pingala. The term "Nāga" is used to refer to entities that take the form of large snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism.


title: Snake

text: Snakes have been widely revered in many cultures, such as in ancient Greece where the serpent was seen as a healer. Asclepius carried a serpent wound around his wand, a symbol seen today on many ambulances. In Judaism, the snake of brass is also a symbol of healing, of one's life being saved from imminent death.


title: Snake

text: In religious terms, the snake and jaguar were arguably the most important animals in ancient Mesoamerica. "In states of ecstasy, lords dance a serpent dance; great descending snakes adorn and support buildings from Chichen Itza to Tenochtitlan, and the Nahuatl word "coatl" meaning serpent or twin, forms part of primary deities such as Mixcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, and Coatlicue." In the Maya and Aztec calendars, the fifth day of the week was known as Snake Day.


title: Snake

text: In some parts of Christianity, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is compared to saving one's life through beholding the Nehushtan (serpent of brass). Snake handlers use snakes as an integral part of church worship, to demonstrate their faith in divine protection. However, more commonly in Christianity, the serpent has been depicted as a representative of evil and sly plotting, as seen in the description in Genesis of a snake tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. Saint Patrick is purported to have expelled all snakes from Ireland while converting the country to Christianity in the 5th century, thus explaining the absence of snakes there.


title: Snake

text: In Christianity and Judaism, the snake makes its infamous appearance in the first book of the Bible when a serpent appears before Adam and Eve and tempts them with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The snake returns in the Book of Exodus when Moses turns his staff into a snake as a sign of God's power, and later when he makes the Nehushtan, a bronze snake on a pole that when looked at cured the people of bites from the snakes that plagued them in the desert. The serpent makes its final appearance symbolizing Satan in the Book of Revelation: "And he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."


title: Snake

text: In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. Additionally, snakes are sometimes associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft.


title: Snake

text: Several compounds from snake venoms are being researched as potential treatments or preventatives for pain, cancers, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, hemophilia, and hypertension, and to control bleeding (e.g. during surgery).


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Virgil van Dijk (born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Considered one of the best defenders in the world, Van Dijk is known for his strength, leadership and aerial ability. He is the only defender to win UEFA Men's Player of the Year, and has finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Men's Player.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: After beginning his professional career with Groningen, Van Dijk moved to Celtic in 2013. With Celtic he won the Scottish Premiership and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons with the club, and won the Scottish League Cup in the second. In 2015, he joined Southampton before signing for Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million, a then-world-record transfer fee for a defender. With Liverpool, Van Dijk reached back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter. He was also named PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in his first full season. Van Dijk later won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and helped end the club's 30-year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk represented the Netherlands at under-19 and under-21 levels. He made his senior international debut for the Netherlands in 2015 and assumed full captaincy of the national team in March 2018. The following year, Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League, where they finished runners-up. He also represented the side at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk was born in Breda to a Dutch father and a Surinamese mother. Growing up he would play football wherever he could – on the streets, in concrete cages, and eventually Saturday morning matches. He combined his time playing at the Willem II academy with a part-time job as a dishwasher. Having previously and unsuccessfully featured as a right-back, Van Dijk was shifted into a central defensive position in 2008, aged 17, after he grew in height by around 18 centimetres. Despite the positional shift and Van Dijk's physical growth, Willem II's reserve manager at the time Edwin Hermans believed he had "too many limitations" which prevented him from breaking into the first team. In 2010, he was scouted by former Dutch international Martin Koeman, who was working for FC Groningen at the time, and he ended up completing a free transfer to the club in the same year.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk initially struggled to break into Groningen's first team with club staff believing he was "overtired" after extensive playing time with Willem II's academy and reserve sides. He made his professional debut for the club on 1 May 2011, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Petter Andersson during a 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag. On 29 May, and against the same opposition, he made his first start for Groningen and scored his first professional goals, netting twice in a 5–1 win in a UEFA Europa League play-off match.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: During the 2011–12 Eredivisie season, Van Dijk made 23 league appearances for the Eredivisie team, and scored his first regular-season goal during the club's 6–0 victory over Feyenoord on 30 October 2011. He suffered a personal setback during the campaign, however, as soon after his 20th birthday he was admitted to hospital with peritonitis and kidney poisoning. Van Dijk later revealed that he had been close to dying as a result of the medical emergency and that the hospital had even gone so far as to ask him to sign a "sort of will" in the event of his passing.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: He did, however, return to Groningen and continued to impress the following season. At the end of the campaign, and with Van Dijk having "outgrown" the club, he was offered to a number of bigger Eredivisie clubs, including Ajax, all of which elected not to sign him.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 21 June 2013, Van Dijk signed with Celtic for a fee of around £2.6 million, on a four-year deal including a 10% selling-on fee for Groningen. He made his debut on 17 August, replacing Efe Ambrose for the final 13 minutes of a 2–0 Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium. A week later, he made his first start, in a 2–2 draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Celtic Park. On 9 November, Van Dijk scored his first Celtic goals, heading one in each half of a 4–1 win against Ross County. After a solo run, he scored the only goal of a victory over St Johnstone on 26 December.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk scored again on 26 January 2014, in a 4–0 win versus Hibernian for Celtic's 11th consecutive league win. On 25 February, he was sent off after 13 minutes of an eventual 2–1 loss at Aberdeen, for a professional foul on Peter Pawlett; it was Celtic's first defeat of the season. With Celtic having already won the league, Van Dijk netted again on 7 May to put his team 3–1 up away to St Johnstone, in an eventual 3–3 draw. He was one of three Celtic players named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year. Van Dijk was nominated for the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award, but lost out to fellow Celtic player Kris Commons.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 22 July 2014, Van Dijk and Teemu Pukki each scored twice in a 4–0 home win over KR in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, putting their team into the next round 5–0 on aggregate. His first goal of the Premiership season came on 9 November, finishing from Stefan Johansen's last-minute corner for a 2–1 win at Aberdeen. Three weeks later, Van Dijk scored the first and last goals of Celtic's 4–0 win versus Heart of Midlothian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. Four days after that, his sixth goal of the season was enough for victory in a home match against Glasgow neighbours Partick Thistle.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk was again on target on 21 January 2015, opening a 4–0 home win over Motherwell. On 26 February, he was sent off in the 36th minute against Inter Milan for a foul on Mauro Icardi, as Celtic lost 1–0 on the night, 4–3 on aggregate in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League. He was again sent off on 8 March in the Cup quarter-final away to Dundee United at Tannadice Park, receiving a red card after eleven minutes for a confrontation with Calum Butcher. His suspension for the following week's Scottish League Cup Final was overturned on appeal, as was that of Paul Paton, who was sent off when mistaken for Butcher. Van Dijk played the full 90 minutes of the final at Hampden Park, which Celtic won 2–0. On 18 March, Celtic's third consecutive match against Dundee United, Van Dijk scored in the last minute to confirm a 4–0 win in a Cup replay.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 19 April, Celtic contested the Cup semi-final against Inverness at Hampden, and Van Dijk opened the scoring with a free kick. After the dismissal of goalkeeper Craig Gordon, Celtic fell 3–2, ending their chance of a treble. Three days later, again from a free kick, he confirmed a 2–1 win away to Dundee. His team again won the league, and Van Dijk was included in the league's Team of the Season for the second consecutive campaign. He was again shortlisted for the PFA Scotland Players' Player award, but lost out to another teammate, this time Stefan Johansen.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk was reportedly "considering his future" in Glasgow after Celtic were knocked out of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League in the qualifying rounds to Malmö of Sweden.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 1 September 2015, Van Dijk signed a five-year contract with Premier League club Southampton, managed by Ronald Koeman, for a reported £13 million transfer fee.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: He made his debut for Southampton on 12 September in a 0–0 draw against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. Two weeks later, Van Dijk marked his third Premier League appearance with his first goal for the club, which came in the form of a header in the 11th minute to put Southampton in front, following a set-piece from James Ward-Prowse in a 3–1 home win over Swansea City. On 7 May 2016, Van Dijk signed a new six-year contract with the Saints.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 22 January 2017, he was named team captain of Southampton, after the departure of José Fonte. On the same day, he suffered an ankle injury against Leicester City. This ruled him out of the 2017 EFL Cup Final, which Southampton lost to Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: After a successful 2016–17 season at Southampton, Van Dijk was subject to interest from Liverpool, who apologised to Southampton for an illegal approach for the player after having reportedly made clear his interest in a move to Liverpool. On 7 August 2017, Van Dijk handed in a transfer request to Southampton and released a statement along with it, emphasising his wish to join a different club in the transfer window.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk remained with Southampton for the start of the 2017–18 season and made his first appearance since being injured in January, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 victory at Crystal Palace on 26 September. He made what turned out to be his final appearance for Southampton on 13 December 2017, in a 4–1 home defeat to Leicester. It was also his last appearance in any of Southampton's matchday squads, as he was omitted from the squad for the rest of his tenure at the club in light of speculation surrounding his future.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 27 December 2017, it was announced that Van Dijk would join Liverpool when the winter transfer window opened on 1 January 2018 for a reported fee of £75 million. Former club Celtic would receive 10% of Van Dijk's transfer fee, due to a sell-on clause placed in his Southampton contract. Southampton claimed the undisclosed transfer fee would constitute a world record fee in football for a defender.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: He made his debut for Liverpool on 5 January in the third round of the FA Cup and scored the winning goal with a late header in a 2–1 victory against local rivals Everton. In doing so, he became the first player since Bill White in 1901 to score on his debut in the Merseyside derby. Van Dijk and Dejan Lovren built a strong partnership at the heart of Liverpool's defence, with the Dutchman being credited for improving Liverpool's previous defensive issues.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk was included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, despite playing just half of the season in the Champions League, with the "UEFA Technical Observers" saying: "Van Dijk arrived at Anfield and provided composure and stability in the competition's knockout stages." Van Dijk played the full 90 minutes in the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, which Liverpool lost 1–3. Van Dijk played 22 games in all competitions in his first season with the club, scoring once.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 20 August 2018, Van Dijk was voted man of the match by BBC Sport and Sky Sports for his performance in a 2–0 win over Crystal Palace. Van Dijk received the Liverpool Player of the Month award for his performances in August. On 2 December, Van Dijk was awarded an assist for the winning goal in a derby match against city rivals Everton. Liverpool won 1–0 thanks to Divock Origi's 96th-minute goal, set up by a Van Dijk volley and a subsequent error from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The Dutchman was ultimately awarded the PFA Player of the Month for November 2018. On 21 December, Van Dijk scored his first goal in the Premier League for Liverpool in a 2–0 away win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Dutchman continued his impressive form in the 2018–19 season by winning the Premier League Player of the Month prize for December 2018.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 27 February 2019, Van Dijk scored twice in a 5–0 win against Watford. The following month, he scored once - his first goal in the Champions League for the club - and assisted another in a 3–1 win over Bayern Munich. In doing so, he became the first player since Craig Bellamy in 2007 to score and assist a goal for Liverpool in a knock-out stage match away from home in the competition.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 20 April, he was one of six players nominated for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award alongside teammate Sadio Mané. Four days later, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year alongside Liverpool teammates, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mané and Andrew Robertson. On 28 April 2019, he was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year. Following Liverpool's 2–0 victory over Tottenham in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final on 1 June, Van Dijk was named UEFA's man of the match.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: In August 2019, Van Dijk won UEFA player of the year award. On 2 September 2019, he was shortlisted in the final three of the best FIFA football awards. On 23 September 2019, he was voted runner up in The Best FIFA Men's Player and into the FIFA FIFpro Men's World 11. In October 2019, Van Dijk was shortlisted as one in 30 football players for the Ballon d'Or. At the event in December, he finished runner-up behind Lionel Messi. On 21 December 2019, after missing the semi-final of the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup with illness, Van Dijk played in the final against Flamengo with Liverpool winning the trophy for the first time in the club’s history.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk received further recognition following the turn of the year, when he was named in the 2019 UEFA Team of the Year. On 19 January 2020, Van Dijk scored his first North-West Derby goal against Manchester United in Liverpool’s 2–0 win at Anfield in the Premier League.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Over the course of the 2019–20 domestic campaign, Van Dijk started and completed every minute for Liverpool.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 12 September 2020, Van Dijk scored a headed goal against Leeds United on the opening day of the new season.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 17 October, he was substituted in the sixth minute of the Merseyside derby after a challenge from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. On the following day, it was announced that he had suffered an ACL injury in his right knee and would undergo surgery. Van Dijk was expected to be out from six to twelve months. On 30 October it was announced that the surgery on his injuries had been successful. Dutch national team coach Frank de Boer had hoped that Van Dijk would be able to make his return before UEFA Euro 2020, Van Dijk however decided that he should continue his rehabilitation so he could start the next season fully fit.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk made his first appearance in over nine months on 29 July 2021, coming on as a second-half substitute in a pre-season friendly against Hertha BSC. On 13 August 2021, Van Dijk signed a new four-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2025. His first goal for Liverpool in over 14 months came against his former club Southampton, when he hit a volley from a corner.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: On 29 October 2022, Liverpool lost 2–1 at home to Leeds United which was Van Dijk's first home defeat at Anfield in the Premier League after 70 games since joining the club in January 2018.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk made his full international debut for Netherlands on 10 October 2015, in a 2–1 victory away from home against Kazakhstan in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: He was awarded the captaincy of his country by manager Ronald Koeman on 22 March 2018, and his first match as captain was a 1–0 home friendly defeat by England the next day. On 26 March, he scored his first international goal to conclude a 3–0 win over European champions Portugal at the Stade de Genève. On 13 October, he scored in a 3–0 win over 2014 World Cup champions Germany in the UEFA Nations League. More importantly, he scored the equaliser in the next match with Germany, after assistant coach Dwight Lodeweges sent him a small paper note during a break, with the request to play forward in the last minutes of the game. The goal enabled the Netherlands to win the group phase of the Nations League. He later captained his country to the final which they lost 1–0 against Portugal.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: In May 2021, Van Dijk ruled himself out of playing in the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 to have enough time to recover after a long-term injury since October 2020.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk is a physically strong, right-footed centre-back, who usually features on the left-hand side of central defence, although he can also play as a right-sided centre-back. He is gifted with pace, good technique, and an eye for goal, and is an effective set-piece taker. Regarding his ability, former Celtic teammate Kris Commons commented that Van Dijk was "comfortable on the ball", also noting that "He had good technique and a wonderful right foot. He was good on set-pieces, some of the free-kicks he scored for Celtic are absolute wonders. He could read the game well. He had an aura about him, a confidence, because I think he knew he was good."


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Neil McGuinness, senior scout at Celtic when Van Dijk was signed, called him "everything you would want if you could create a profile of the ideal central defender", praising him as a "very smooth ball-playing defender" who possesses aerial prowess, skills from dead ball situations, and "strong leadership qualities", while commenting that since his move to England, he is "more tactically aware now [...] his anticipation and timing has improved and he is a lot more of an all-rounder". McGuinness believes Van Dijk's "biggest problem" is that he "can switch off when the game is comfortable". In 2018, Steve Douglas of "The Globe and Mail" described Van Dijk with the following words: "Powerful in the air, measured with the ball at his feet, quick, and with superb positional sense, van Dijk ["sic"] has it all." Dario Pergolizzi also described Van Dijk as a good marker in 2019.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: In a 2019 interview with "Marca", when Lionel Messi was asked why Van Dijk was so difficult to beat, the Argentine responded: "He is a defender who knows how to judge his timing and wait for the right moment to challenge or jockey [the attacker]. He is very fast and big, but he has a lot of agility for his height. He is fast because of its [sic] great stride, and he is impressive both in defence and attack because he scores lots of goals." That same year, Paul Merson described Van Dijk as "the best in the world, and I think by a long way, as a defensive centre-half."


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: In 2022, Erling Haaland named Van Dijk the best defender he has played against, calling him "fast, strong and 'bad' smart", as well as praising his timing.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk features as the cover star of the champions edition of EA Sports' "FIFA" video game "FIFA 20". He is endorsed by sportswear company Nike.


title: Virgil van Dijk

text: Van Dijk commonly uses only his first name on the kit. According to his uncle Steven, this is because of a family feud with his father, Ron van Dijk, who abandoned his family during Virgil's childhood. Virgil is married to childhood sweetheart, Rike Nooitgedagt, and they have four children. Van Dijk has Chinese ancestry. Hellen Fo Sieeuw, his mother, is of part-Chinese descent. The Chinese surname 'Fo Sieeuw' derives from the given name of his maternal great-grandfather, Chin Fo Sieeuw (陈火秀), who emigrated from Guangdong to Suriname around 1920.


title: That '70s Show

text: That '70s Show is an American television period teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979.


title: That '70s Show

text: The main teenage cast members were Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, and Lisa Robin Kelly. The main adult cast members were Debra Jo Rupp, Kurtwood Smith, Don Stark, Tommy Chong, and Tanya Roberts.


title: That '70s Show

text: In 1999, the show was remade for the ITV network in the United Kingdom as "Days Like These" using almost verbatim scripts with minor changes to cultural references.


title: That '70s Show

text: The show was set in May 1976 in the August 23, 1998, premiere. After 12 episodes, the series transitioned to 1977. The 23rd episode, "Grandma's Dead", was also set in 1976, because it was supposed to be the season finale of season 1. The show remained in 1977 for the next two seasons. Near the end of the third season, the series transitioned to 1978 until early in the sixth season. The remaining episodes took place in 1979, and the series finale abruptly ends during a New Year's Eve party as the characters reach "one" during a countdown to January 1, 1980. After the credits roll, the license plate from Eric's Vista Cruiser is shown with the year "80", indicating that the 1980s have begun.


title: That '70s Show

text: The character of Eric Forman was written out of the series at the end of the seventh season, as Topher Grace wanted to move on with his career. Ashton Kutcher switched to a recurring guest role when he also chose to depart following the seventh season. However, Kelso had not been written out yet, so to give better closure to the character, Kutcher appeared in the first four episodes of the eighth season (credited as a special guest star). Both Grace and Kutcher would eventually return for the series finale, although the former was uncredited. Tommy Chong (who began reappearing by late season 7 after a long absence) became a regular again to help fill Kelso's role as the dimwit of the group. Eric was supposed to be replaced by his new friend Charlie, played by Bret Harrison, as an "innocent character", who proved fairly popular with audiences, but the character was killed off after Harrison was offered a lead role in the series "The Loop". Another new character named Randy Pearson, played by Josh Meyers (brother of "Late Night" host Seth Meyers), was introduced to take the place of both Eric and, to a lesser extent, Charlie. Another new character, Samantha, a stripper played by Jud Tylor, was added as Hyde's wife for nine episodes. The location of the show's introductory theme song was changed from the Vista Cruiser to the circle.


title: That '70s Show

text: The eighth season was announced as the final season of the show on January 17, 2006, and "That '70s Finale" was filmed a month later on February 17, 2006, first airing on May 18, 2006.


title: That '70s Show

text: However, due to song-rights refusals (including The Who's Pete Townshend) and Fox Network's deeming "Feelin' All Right" less than memorable, co-creator Bonnie Turner suggested that the show should be titled "That '70s Show", after hearing an audience member saying "I loved that show about the '70s." It was at that point where it ultimately became the official title for the show.


title: That '70s Show

text: The show addressed social issues of the 1970s such as sexual attitudes, generational conflict, the economic hardships of the 1970s recession, mistrust of the American government by blue-collar workers, and underage drinking/teenage drug use. The series also highlighted developments in fashion trends, the entertainment industry, including the television remote ("the clicker"), reruns, VCR, and cable TV; the video games "Pong" and "Space Invaders"; the cassette tape and Disco; "MAD" magazine; and Eric's obsession with "Star Wars". The show has been compared to "Happy Days", which was similarly set 20 years before the time in which it aired.


title: That '70s Show

text: Beginning with season 5, each episode in the series is named after a song by a rock band that was famous in the 1970s: Led Zeppelin (season 5), The Who (Season 6), The Rolling Stones (season 7), and Queen (season 8, except for the finale, titled "That '70s Finale").


title: That '70s Show

text: In the circle, a group of characters, usually the teenagers, sit in a circle (generally in Eric's basement, though occasionally elsewhere), as the camera pans, stopping at each character as they speak. It was usually apparent that the characters are under the influence of marijuana. Thick clouds of smoke, frequent coughing and an extreme wide-angle lens added to the "drug-induced" feel, although the audience never saw anyone actually smoking the plant. Also, no visible cannabis-related paraphernalia were seen, such as bongs or joint papers. Characters never spoke the word "marijuana" while in the circle (except in one episode "Reefer Madness"), often referring to it as "stuff" or a "stash". In the episode "Bye-Bye Basement", Theo (Leo's cousin) refers to "weed"; in "The Relapse", Kelso tells Fez that the concrete wall behind the gym is used mostly for "smoking weed and beating up freshmen;" in "Ski Trip" Kitty asks Eric why he is taking so much oregano to Jackie's ski lodge; in "Eric's Burger Job", Kelso blames his "roach clip" when the water bed pops on which he is sitting at a party; in two episodes ("That Wrestling Show" and "Hyde Moves In"), Eric and Hyde can be seen wearing shirts with the words "Cannabis sativa" written on a Campbell's soup can; and in "The Pill", Red, referring to Kelso, exclaims, "That kid's on dope!" A gimmick related to the circle and the marijuana smoking was Eric watching the kitchen wall moving erratically, although this technique was also used to show that Eric was drunk.


title: That '70s Show

text: As the series progressed, the circle became one of the series' recurring features. The only four episodes where the whole gang is in the circle are "Class Picture", "I'm A Boy", "Substitute", and in the series finale. During the eighth and final season, the circle sans smoke replaced the Vista Cruiser as the setting of the opening credits.


title: That '70s Show

text: Many of the show's episodes featured Eric and the rest of the kids in or around Eric's "Aztec Gold" 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, handed down to Eric by Red. For the first seven seasons of the show, the show's introduction showed the cast inside the Vista Cruiser. The particular station wagon was bought by Wilmer Valderrama at the show's conclusion from Carsey-Werner for "no more than" US$500.


title: That '70s Show

text: In one of the show's major running gags, Red often threatens to punish Eric with many variations of the catchphrase, "my foot in your ass" or more generally "kicking your ass." For example, in "Kitty and Eric's Night Out", Red mistakenly thinks Eric offended Kitty, so Red says, "I swear I'll kick his ass!" In "Eric's Hot Cousin", Eric tries to get out of something by claiming he's sleepwalking and Red says, "And I'm about to be sleep-kicking your ass", and, in "Prank Day", when Red gets covered in oatmeal, Eric tries to explain that it was just a prank that had gone "horribly, horribly wrong" Red says, "Well, I have a prank, too. One where my foot "doesn't" plow through your ass. Let's hope it doesn't go horribly, horribly wrong!" Several of the running gags were shown in edited clips for the series finale.


title: That '70s Show

text: "That '70s Show" was released on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment at an increment of two seasons per year between 2004 and 2008 and a complete series release on October 14, 2008. Mill Creek Entertainment released all eight seasons between 2011–2013 and released a complete series set on May 14, 2013. On March 6, 2012, Mill Creek released the first season on Blu-ray and season two on October 16, 2012. On November 3, 2015, Mill Creek Entertainment released "That '70s Show The Complete Series" on Blu-ray 1080p, featuring all 200 episodes from the series, presented digitally remastered in High Definition from the original film negatives for optimum sound and video quality and for superior home entertainment Blu-ray presentation with remastered 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound and 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio.


title: That '70s Show

text: Several prominent songs from the decade can be heard on the series, and two soundtracks were released in 1999. The first is a collection of funk, soul, and disco, called "That '70s Album (Jammin')". The second is a collection of album-oriented rock songs, called "That '70s Album (Rockin')". AllMusic gave both albums 3 out of 5 stars in their reviews.


title: That '70s Show

text: "That '80s Show" was a similar decade-based show which, despite having a similar name, show structure, and many of the same writers and production staff, was not a direct spin-off, with the characters and story lines never crossing paths. It was created because of "That '70s Show"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s popularity at the time.


title: That '70s Show

text: In October 2021, Netflix announced a spin-off of the series, titled "That '90s Show", with Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp reprising their roles as Red and Kitty Forman, respectively. It will be produced by The Carsey-Werner Company, with Gregg Mettler serving as showrunner and Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner, their daughter Lindsay Turner, Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, Smith and Rupp as executive producers. In May 2022, Netflix announced that Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama—who played Eric Forman, Jackie Burkhart, Michael Kelso, Donna Pinciotti, and Fez, respectively—will appear as guests in the new series. It is set to premiere on Netflix in January 2023.


title: That '70s Show

text: Over the course of its run, the series was a consistent performer for Fox, becoming one of their flagship shows. Its eight seasons, consisting of 200 episodes, made it Fox's second-longest-running live-action sitcom ever behind "Married... with Children", though "That '70s Show" did not have the same ratings success, despite surviving cancellation.


title: That '70s Show

text: As of April 2020, the show went in syndication on FX, Freeform, Comedy Central, TeenNick, Pop, NickMom, IFC, Nick at Nite and TV Land. It can currently be seen on Laff.


title: That '70s Show

text: Over the course of its run, the series was nominated for a substantial number of awards, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards. The only win for the series at this event came in 1999, when Melina Root was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series for "That Disco Episode". Additionally, the show was nominated for a large number of Teen Choice Awards, with both Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderrama winning on three occasions.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in "The Libertine" (2004) and "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He portrayed George Wickham in "Pride & Prejudice" (2005), Lieutenant Kurt Kotler in "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2008), Albert, Prince Consort in "The Young Victoria" (2009), psychologist Oliver Baumer in "Starred Up" (2013), CIA operative Peter Quinn in the political thriller series "Homeland" (2012–2017), Vasily Stalin in "The Death of Stalin" (2017), Theo van Gogh in "At Eternity's Gate" (2018), and Ernest Donovan in the series "Strange Angel" (2018-2019).


title: Rupert Friend

text: In the early 2020s, Friend began collaborating with director Wes Anderson, starting with a cameo in "The French Dispatch" (2021), followed by roles in Anderson's upcoming film "Asteroid City" and Netflix project "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar". In 2022, he starred as disgraced British politician James Whitehouse in the series "Anatomy of a Scandal" and featured in the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" as the Grand Inquisitor.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend is director, screenwriter and/or producer of two award winning short films: "The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of the Suicide Brothers" (2008) and "Steve" (2010). He wrote lyrics for the Kairos 4Tet 2013 album "Everything We Hold".


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend was born in Cambridge. He grew up in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, and attended The Marlborough School in Woodstock. Friend received his professional acting training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Originally, Friend wanted to be an archaeologist and travel around the world after seeing "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" in 1989, but scrapped the idea after realizing that the occupation was perhaps not as exciting as Indiana Jones's adventures had led him to believe. Instead, he turned to acting, in which he was inspired by Marlon Brando who played Vito Corleone, and Daniel Day-Lewis, whom he described as his childhood hero.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend played three minor roles in a stage production of "The Laramie Project" when he was in his third year in drama school, and was spotted by a casting director. He made his acting debut as Billy Downs opposite Johnny Depp in the 2004 film "The Libertine", for which he was named "outstanding new talent" at the 2005 Satellite Awards. He later stated that working with Depp so early in his career was a great lesson in film-acting. In 2005, Friend had his first starring role as Ludovic Meyer in the film adaption of "Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont", in which he starred opposite Joan Plowright. In the same year, he portrayed George Wickham in Joe Wright's version of "Pride & Prejudice".


title: Rupert Friend

text: Aged 22, Friend was offered a screentest for the part of James Bond after Pierce Brosnan stepped down from the role. He refused, because he felt he lacked the life experience necessary to play the role of Bond.


title: Rupert Friend

text: In 2009, Friend starred in the film "Chéri", playing the title character opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. He joined the cast of "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" as Kurt Kotler, a lieutenant in Nazi Germany. In 2010, Friend played Albert, Prince Consort in "The" "Young Victoria". Graham King, producer of "Young Victoria", invited Friend to test for the lead role because he remembered his performance in "Pride & Prejudice". His portrayal of Albert received acclaim, especially for his attention to detail and throrough preparation for the role. Friend said that the real challenge had been to find a way to portray the darker sides of an essentially good man like Albert, in order to give depth to the character. Around this time, a critic called Friend one of Britain's finest young actors.


title: Rupert Friend

text: In 2010, Friend made his stage debut as Mitchell in the UK premiere of "The Little Dog Laughed". He followed this with Dennis Potter's "Brimstone and Treacle", in which he played the lead character to good reviews. He starred in the film "The Kid", based on the novel by Kevin Lewis. As the film involves boxing, he trained to improve his physical and psychological shape. Criticial reception of "The Kid" overall was less than favourable. He also starred in a French film called "Lullaby for Pi", playing a singer called Sam. In 2011, he played Thomas Anders, the protagonist of the film "5 Days of War," which did not receive great reviews .


title: Rupert Friend

text: By 2012, Friend felt dissatisfied with his career and rethought his overall approach to his work and selecting his projects. He has dismissed reports in the media that at that time he considered giving up acting entirely.


title: Rupert Friend

text: In 2013, he played the prison psychologist Oliver Baumer in the film "Starred Up". His performance was applauded by critics and nominated for a BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, he starred as Agent 47 in "", a film based on the "Hitman" video game franchise, replacing Paul Walker. In order to play the role, he had to shave all his hair. He performed most of his own stunts. The production team sent him copies of all the "Hitman" games to familiarize himself with the character. However, Friend who calls himself a technophobe, was only able to walk his avatar in circles and soon gave up. The film received mixed reviews. In 2015, Friend provided narration for Nick Knight's folk horror fashion film, "The Face of a Dying Dog".


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend gained worldwide recognition as CIA operative and assassin Peter Quinn in the acclaimed political thriller series "Homeland" (2012–2017), his first role in a television-series. Introduced in season two as a supporting character, his role became significantly more important as of season three. His performance received widespread acclaim and he was nominated for three awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series in 2013. When his character Peter Quinn died in season six, Friend's departure from the series was mourned by the press and fans.


title: Rupert Friend

text: After his involvement in "Homeland" ended in 2017, Friend acted in a number of comedies. In a 2014 interview he had already said that he also wanted to explore the 'farcical side' to his acting. He was offered the lead role in Paul Feig's "A Simple Favor", but turned it down to play a funny smaller part in the film instead. He was described as displaying "serious comedic chops" in Armando Iannucci's "The Death of Stalin," where he played Stalin's son Vasily"."


title: Rupert Friend

text: He was asked by director and painter Julian Schnabel to play Theo van Gogh in "At Eternity's Gate (2018)", an award-winning biopic about Vincent van Gogh who was played by Willem Dafoe. Friend played the role of the mysterious Ernest Donovan in the series "Strange Angel" from 2018 to 2019; his performance was praised as being 'of amusing weirdness and a creepy-crawly intensity'.


title: Rupert Friend

text: In 2018 Friend performed a new audio drama by John Patrick Shanley, "Last Night in the Garden I Saw You", which featured Michelle Williams. The following year, Friend was asked by screenwriter David Koepp to narrate the audiobook of his debut novel "Cold Storage". He voiced the character of Peter Hardy in the 2019 Gimlet scripted podcast "Motherhacker".


title: Rupert Friend

text: In the early 2020s, Friend joined the group of actors regularly working with director Wes Anderson. The collaboration started with a cameo appearance as an actor playing a drill-sergeant in "The French Dispatch" (2021), and continued with a more substantial role in the upcoming film "Asteroid City". He will play a leading role in Anderson's Netflix project "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," which began filming in 2022. This film is based on the stories by Roald Dahl, whom Friend has described as a hero of his.


title: Rupert Friend

text: In 2021, after his success portraying a spy in "Homeland", Friend was once again mentioned as the possible next James Bond when Daniel Craig gave up the role. He played a lead role in the 2021 horror film "Separation", which got largely negative reviews although Friend's performance as a single father did receive praise. The science fiction film "Infinite" (2021) in which he played the character Barton alongside Mark Wahlberg, was listed as one of the worst films of 2021.


title: Rupert Friend

text: The following year, Friend played network boss Wilson Sikorsy in Tim Kirkby's film "Last Looks" (2022), which got positive reviews. He starred opposite Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery as James Whitehouse, a British politician on trial for rape, in the Netflix mini-series "Anatomy of a Scandal". Friend initially turned down the role twice, because he did not feel enough affinity with the privileged Whitehouse. He was only persuaded to take on the part when director S.J. Clarkson challenged him to find a way to portray the humanity of the character. His acting was generally praised, with the series itself getting mixed reviews from critics.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend featured as the Grand Inquisitor in Disney+'s series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (2022), an experience he said he enjoyed and would like to repeat. The role was physically demanding: the Grand Inquisitor's armour weighed 45 pounds and every day of shooting it took a team of makeup artists four hours to apply the makeup and prosthetics required for the role.


title: Rupert Friend

text: He will portray one of the main characters in the comedy series "High Desert," with Patricia Arquette and Matt Dillon (in production). In February 2022, it was announced that Friend would play a lead role in Zack Snyder's science fiction film "Rebel Moon;" he withdrew from the project because of scheduling problems. He will be part of the QCode musical podcast series "Cupid", planned for release in the summer of 2022.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend’s work as a stage actor has been praised but he prefers film and television. In his own words, he 'would not like to do the same thing over and over again every night'. Initially, he was also reluctant to take on roles in longer running television shows; at first, he turned down the chance to audition for "Homeland".


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend has stated that he believes imagination is an actor's most important tool. He does extensive background research on his characters. For his role as Prince Albert in "The Young Victoria" he did historical research to get a better understanding of the character. He learned to ride a horse, walk, talk, play the piano and even write like Albert would have done. In his final "Homeland" season"," his character Peter Quinn is recovering from a stroke and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In preparation for the role, Friend spoke with veterans and medical specialists to help him portray these conditions realistically and with respect.


title: Rupert Friend

text: In 2008, Friend and Tom Mison wrote, produced and starred in a short film called "The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of the Suicide Brothers". The film won Best Short at the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival (2010). He founded his own production company called Beat Pictures, and he made his directorial debut with a short film in 2010 called "Steve", starring Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Tom Mison. In addition to directing, he wrote and produced the film, which was later included in the 2012 compilation "Stars in Shorts." "Steve" won Friend the Rhode Island Film Festival Crystal Image Award, and was nominated for the Santa Barbara Film Festival Bruce Corwin Award for Best Short Film.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Plans for Friend to write, direct and star in a feature-length road movie about confidence tricksters called "Barton & Charlie & Checco & Bill" were mentioned in the media in 2014–2015, but the project did not materialise. In 2018, plans were announced for the feature film "Cornerman" about boxing trainer Cus D'Amato, with Friend to write and direct and Bruce Willis playing D'Amato.


title: Rupert Friend

text: Friend was asked by Adam Waldmann, the leader of the jazz ensemble Kairos 4tet, to write the lyrics for a track on their 2011 album "Statement of Intent", and was then asked to contribute lyrics for their 2013 album "Everything We Hold", which received positive reviews. His lyrics were sung by Marc O'Reilly, Omar Lye-Fook and Emilia Martensson.


title: Rupert Friend

text: From 2005 to 2010, Friend dated English actress Keira Knightley, whom he met when filming "Pride & Prejudice". He met American athlete and actress Aimee Mullins in 2013, and they became engaged in December 2014. Friend and Mullins were married on 1 May 2016.


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat, and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with differing personnel.


title: Boney M.

text: The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and is known for international hits including "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker", "Belfast", "Sunny", "Rasputin", "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and "Rivers of Babylon".


title: Boney M.

text: German singer-songwriter Frank Farian recorded the dance track "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in December 1974. Farian sang the repeated line "Do you do you wanna bump?" in a deep voice (entirely studio created) as well as performing the high falsetto chorus. When the record was released as a single, it was credited to "Boney M.". Farian had created this pseudonym for himself after watching the Australian television detective series "Boney", whose main character was named Napoleon Bonaparte. Farian said:


title: Boney M.

text: After a slow start, the song became a hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was then that Farian decided to hire performers to create a troupe for TV appearances. Farian found model-turned-singer Maizie Williams (originally from Montserrat), Bobby Farrell, a male exotic dancer from Aruba, singer Marcia Barrett from Jamaica who brought in Liz Mitchell, also from Jamaica and a former member of the Les Humphries Singers.


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M.'s first album, "Take the Heat off Me", was released in 1976. It contained tracks that Marcia Barrett had already recorded with Farian, including the title track and "Lovin' or Leavin'", both of which were previously recorded in German by another Farian act, Gilla. As Maizie Williams' voice was not considered suitable for recording purposes by Farian, and a try-out with Bobby Farrell performing "No Woman No Cry" did not work, Farian decided to use only Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett along with his own studio-enhanced voice to create the Boney M. sound.


title: Boney M.

text: The album's commercial performance was initially lukewarm. However, the group rigorously toured discos, clubs, and even country fairs to earn a reputation for themselves. The group's big break came when, at the end of summer 1976, German television producer Michael 'Mike' Leckebusch (of Radio Bremen) requested them for his show "Musikladen". Boney M. appeared on the live music show on 18 September 1976, after 10:00 p.m. and in their daring stage costumes, where they performed the song "Daddy Cool". The song quickly went to no.1 in Germany, with the album following the success of the single. Another single, "Sunny" (a cover of the 1966 Bobby Hebb song) gave the group their second no.1 hit. The group's popularity had also grown throughout Europe, with "Daddy Cool" reaching no.1 in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France, and Austria. Both singles were also Top 10 hits in the UK, which would become one of their biggest markets.


title: Boney M.

text: In 1977, Boney M. released their second album, "Love for Sale", which contained the hits "Ma Baker" and "Belfast". The group embarked on their first major concert tours with a live band of musicians called 'The Black Beauty Circus' (given their name after Maizie Williams' first band, 'Black Beautiful People'). "Love for Sale" was certified Gold a year after its release in the UK. Both singles from the album reached no.1 in Germany and the UK Top 10.


title: Boney M.

text: 1978 was the group's biggest year. They released a new double A-sided single, "Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring", which was a hit all over Europe, reaching No. 1 in several countries as well as becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time in the UK. It also became their most successful single in the United States, peaking at No. 30 on the U.S. pop singles chart. Following this came their biggest-selling album, "Nightflight to Venus", which spawned further hit singles with "Rasputin" and "Painter Man". Continuing with their success, they released "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord", which was the 1978 Christmas number one single in the United Kingdom and became another of the biggest selling singles of all time there. Also during 1978, Boney M. made a much-publicized promotional visit to the Soviet Union, one of the very few Western acts along with Elton John to do so, although tracks like "Rasputin" were not released in the Soviet Union due to their lyrics.


title: Boney M.

text: While it had never been a secret that Bobby Farrell never sang on the group's records (Farian did the male vocals in the studio), in 1978 it became public knowledge that Maizie Williams did not sing on the studio recordings either, since "her voice wasn't suited for this kind of music" as Farian stated in an interview with German teen magazine "Bravo". Since this had become common practice within the disco genre of the late 1970s, few people cared – unlike when Farian repeated the practice to much more severe backlash with Milli Vanilli in the late 1980s. While only two of Boney M.'s official members actually contributed to the band's records, all four members of the group, including Williams and Farrell, performed the vocals live at Boney M. concerts. The band's live sound was also augmented by several backing vocalists, which served to mitigate any vocal deficiencies the group may have had compared with the studio productions.


title: Boney M.

text: 1979 saw Boney M. release a brand new single, "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday", which became another Top 10 hit across Europe. Later in the year they released their fourth album, "Oceans of Fantasy", containing two hit singles – "Gotta Go Home"/"El Lute" and "I'm Born Again"/"Bahama Mama". The album also included a "Lead" and "Backing Vocals" credit for the first time. "Oceans of Fantasy" reached no.1 in the UK and was certified Platinum, though their run of Top 10 singles had now ended with "Gotta Go Home" peaking at no.12 and "I'm Born Again" peaking at 35.


title: Boney M.

text: In 1980, Boney M. released a greatest hits album, "The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits", which also contained two new songs, "My Friend Jack" and "I See a Boat on the River". It made the No. 1 spot in the UK, reaching Gold status within six weeks of release, though it was their last big-selling album in the UK.


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M.'s fifth album had been scheduled for release in November 1980 but the recording sessions dragged on all through 1981. When "Boonoonoonoos" was finally released by the end of that year, Bobby Farrell was fired from the group due to his unreliability. While still a healthy seller in continental Europe, "Boonoonoonoos" failed to crack the UK Top 100 after three consecutive No. 1 albums, and Farrell's departure left the group unable to promote it. Following this, the group released a "Christmas Album".


title: Boney M.

text: Reggie Tsiboe was hired to replace Farrell as the new male member of Boney M. in 1982 but the singles "The Carnival Is Over" and "Jambo" fared poorly, and the group's seventh album "Ten Thousand Lightyears", issued in 1984, marked another commercial low point peaking at number 23 in the German album charts. The group, however, returned to the German Top 20 in the autumn of 1984 with "Kalimba de Luna" (a Top 10 hit in France) and "Happy Song" (a cover of a song by Italian Italo-disco band Baby's Gang), the latter seeing Bobby Farrell return to the group. Both songs were carbon-copies of the original Italian hits by Tony Esposito and Baby's Gang respectively.


title: Boney M.

text: By 1985, Farian clearly began losing interest in the group, and their final and eighth studio album "Eye Dance" was widely regarded as uninspired and disappointing. After celebrating Boney M.'s 10th anniversary in early 1986, the group officially disbanded after the release of the commercially unsuccessful single "Young, Free and Single" which peaked at No.48.


title: Boney M.

text: From this point, different versions of the group were formed by members, some with cooperation of Farian, others without (for example by independently obtaining the rights to use the Boney M. name in a different country). One version began touring in the first half of 1987 with Marilyn Scharbaai (Carrilho) taking Liz Mitchell's place. Mitchell returned for a second leg of the tour late 1987, and Marcia Barrett soon left the band. At the same time, Bobby Farrell had set up a deal for a new Boney M. album to be recorded without Farian in Belgium. When Farrell failed to show up for either recording or tour, and Maizie Williams had never sung on record, the album ended up being released as Liz Mitchell's first solo album "No One Will Force You". Mitchell and Williams completed a tour during 1987–88, adding singer Celena Duncan and Ron Gale as replacements for Barrett and Farrell. Carol Grey later replaced Celena Duncan and Curt De Daran later replaced Ron Gale.


title: Boney M.

text: In October 1988, the classic Boney M. line-up reunited without producer Frank Farian for the album "Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88" but tensions ran high between the members, and Liz Mitchell left in the spring of 1989 to be replaced by Madeleine Davis. While Mitchell promoted her solo album, the group recorded the single "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", without Farian's knowledge or approval. Threatened with legal action by the producer over the use of the Boney M. name, the single was subsequently withdrawn and Farian issued "Stories" with his own new Boney M. line-up featuring Liz Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two new members, Sharon Stevens and Patty Onoyewenjo, "Stories" peaked at number 11 in the Swiss charts. A second remix album "Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '89 – Volume II" was released but fared poorly.


title: Boney M.

text: 1992 saw a renewed interest in Boney M.'s music with the "Boney M. Megamix" single returning the group to the UK Top 10 for the first time since 1980, and a subsequent Greatest Hits album reaching the UK Top 20 in 1993. While Marcia Barrett, now residing in Florida, was battling cancer and unable to perform, Boney M. toured the world with a line-up of Liz Mitchell, Carol Grey, Patricia Lorna Foster and Curt Dee Daran (replaced by Tony Ashcroft in 1994). They released the single "Papa Chico" but failed to chart. Maizie Williams assembled her own Boney M. with an ever-changing line-up. Bobby Farrell also toured with varying trios of female performers.


title: Boney M.

text: Liz Mitchell was touring the world with her line-up of Boney M., which is the only line-up officially supported by Farian (the court ruling of 1990 stated that all four members are entitled to perform their own Boney M. shows). Bobby Farrell and Liz Mitchell have released solo albums containing their own re-recordings of Boney M.'s classic hits. Maizie Williams released her first solo album in 2006 and her own single version of Boney M.'s "Sunny". In 2007 her rendition of 'Daddy Cool' with Melo-M hit the number one spot in the Latvian (LMK) Charts. Marcia Barrett has released two solo albums with a third scheduled for release in 2010.


title: Boney M.

text: As recounted in his 1988 book "Touching the Void", the British climber Joe Simpson was subsequently to find the catchy tune of "Brown Girl in the Ring" haunting him in the final hours of his struggle to survive the descent of Siula Grande in the Andes, and the song was later used in the 2003 film of "Touching the Void" made by Kevin Macdonald. Simpson recalls: "I remember thinking, bloody hell, I'm going to die to Boney M".


title: Boney M.

text: A musical based on the music of Boney M., "Daddy Cool", opened in London in August 2006 to mixed reviews and sluggish ticket sales, causing it to close in February 2007. From April to July 2007, the show played in a mobile theatre in Berlin, which was specially designed for it.


title: Boney M.

text: In April 2007, Australian pop singer Peter Wilson released a song co-written by Frank Farian entitled "Doin' Fine". It is described as "paying tribute to the sound of Boney M." and features the famous string arrangement from their first number 1 hit, "Daddy Cool".


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M. (featuring Marcia Barrett) made a live appearance at the 37th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which took place on 23 November 2006 in Panaji, the state capital of Goa, India. The group is also popular in the Vietnamese diaspora, and was featured in Thuy Nga music productions.


title: Boney M.

text: In the UK, a new album of their greatest hits, entitled "The Magic of Boney M." was released via BMG on 27 November 2006. Special additions to this release were a Mousse T. remix of "Sunny" and a brand new song from 2006, featuring Liz Mitchell, entitled "A Moment of Love".


title: Boney M.

text: On 10 April 2007, Boney M.'s first four albums were reissued on compact disc with bonus tracks, this time also in the United States (the first time these were available to the U.S. music market since their original releases in the 1970s).


title: Boney M.

text: In September 2007, Boney M.'s last four original albums, "Boonoonoonoos", "Ten Thousand Lightyears, Kalimba de Luna - 16 Happy Songs" and "Eye Dance" were reissued on compact disc in Europe and the United States, all including bonus tracks. In November 2007, a new Christmas compilation was scheduled for release as well as the DVD "Fantastic Boney M. – On Stage and on the Road" featuring a live performance recorded in Vienna on 1 November 1977 (the DVD cover erroneously states it to be a live show from Hamburg), and a film from the band's 1981 visit to Jamaica (made to promote the "Boonoonoonoos" album that year).


title: Boney M.

text: Bobby Farrell's Boney M. performed a concert at the Amphi in Ra'anana, Israel, in May 2007. On 28 June 2007 Boney M. featuring Matthew Felsenfeld and Liz Mitchell performed at the Oktiabrsky concert hall in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2007, Maizie Williams' Boney M. line-up performed live at the Royal Albert Hall, UK, to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa, performing her own renditions of "Brown Girl in the Ring" and "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday".


title: Boney M.

text: The legal rights to the name "Boney M." have been a matter of controversy, and even court cases, between the former members of the band and producer Frank Farian ever since the late 1980s. Farian, the man who in effect created the group, has continued to work with Liz Mitchell and her line-up all through the 1990s and 2000s. In January 2007, Zanillya Farrell (daughter of Bobby Farrell) and Yasmina Ayad-Saban (ex-wife of Farrell) renewed the trademark to the name Boney M. in Germany for a 10-year period.


title: Boney M.

text: In January 2009, Farian released the single "Felicidad America (Obama Obama)", a version of the 1980 Boney M. song "Felicidad (Margherita)" with new lyrics about newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama. The song was recorded with two new vocalists, and credited to "Boney M. feat. Sherita O. & Yulee B."


title: Boney M.

text: In July 2010, Maizie Williams headlined a Boney M. performance at Ramallah's Cultural Palace, in the West Bank, as part of the Palestine International Festival. The band played "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker" and "Brown Girl in the Ring", but refrained from playing "Rivers of Babylon", rumored to be at the event organizers' request because of its description of the Jewish yearning for Zion.


title: Boney M.

text: Bobby Farrell died at the age of 61 from heart failure on 30 December 2010. His agent said Farrell was complaining of breathing problems after performing with his band the evening before. Farrell lived in Amsterdam until his death. His final performance was in Saint Petersburg, Russia (the city where Rasputin first became famous): Farrell died in a hotel room there .


title: Boney M.

text: Maizie Williams' line-up of Boney M. toured Australia in June 2014. They sang at Guilfest, Guildford, UK, on 20 July 2014, and Watchet Live music festival UK, on 24 August 2014.


title: Boney M.

text: In March 2015, Farian released "Diamonds", a 3CD box celebrating the 40th anniversary of Boney M. It contained re-mastered versions of the original hit singles or of previously unreleased versions, a remix disc and the new digital single "Song of Joy" featuring Liz Mitchell. A major DVD set was also released.


title: Boney M.

text: In February 2017, they performed at the closing ceremony of Patras Carnival in Patras, Greece. At the end of 2017 the album "World Music for Christmas" was released along with the single and video "Like Diamonds in the Sky" featuring Liz Mitchell, based on El Cóndor Pasa.


title: Boney M.

text: In 2021, a remix of "Rasputin" by house music producer and Kiss FM DJ Kevin Christie was released by Sony Music's Ministry of Sound label. Credited to Majestic & Boney M (with the former being the DJ alias of Christie), the record reached number 11 on the UK singles chart and was released with a video featuring Bimini Bon-Boulash from RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In December 2021, Mitchell was one of the contributors to the Channel 5 music show "Britain's Biggest 70s Hits" alongside other musicians from the era like Dean Friedman and Barry Blue, and radio presenters like David Hamilton.


title: Boney M.

text: In 1978, "Rivers of Babylon", a cover of a track by The Melodians with lyrics partly based on Psalm 137 and partly on Psalm 19, became (at the time) the second highest-selling single of all time in the UK. After remaining at No.1 for five weeks, "Rivers of Babylon" began dropping down the chart, at which point the B-side "Brown Girl in the Ring" was given extensive radio airplay, and the single ascended to No. 2. The single spent six months in the UK Top 40, including 19 weeks in the Top 10. It eventually sold over two million copies, the second single to do so, and is still one of only seven to achieve this feat. (see List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom)


title: Boney M.

text: The group achieved a second UK million-seller with their version of the calypso classic "Mary's Boy Child", released as a medley "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord", which was previously a million-seller for Harry Belafonte. The single sold over 1.8 million copies, 1.6 million of which were in the four weeks the song was at No.1 in December 1978.


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M. are the only artists to appear twice in the top 11 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in seventh place and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" at number 11. They are also one of six artists to sell a million copies with two singles in the same year.


title: Boney M.

text: Compared to other best-selling artists of the 1970s like ABBA, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees, the Boney M. discography is quite unusual – while the greater part of the band's back catalogue has been remixed, remade, remodeled and reissued all through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s by producer Frank Farian and record company BMG-Ariola (now Sony Music), most of the original 7" and 12" versions issued on vinyl in the 1970s and early 1980s remained unavailable on CD until 2007, where they were released on various different compilations, most notably the 2007 remasters of their albums, "The Collection" (2008), the "Ultimate Boney M." series (2008), "Let It All Be Music: The Party Album" (2009), "Hit Story" (2010) and "Diamonds" (2015). Some of these CDs were compiled by Frank Eberlein, who had also been interviewed on a fansite called "Fantastic Boney M." about the compiling process.


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M. was hugely popular in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, although the song "Rasputin" was banned by the Soviet authorities during the group's concert in Moscow in December 1978. The song has been used in several movies and television shows, including "Johnny English Strikes Again" and the Doctor Who special "The Power of the Doctor", in which The Master dances to the song while disguised as Rasputin himself.


title: Boney M.

text: In the Soviet film "Repentance" (1984, released 1987), "Sunny" is played at a party of high-ranked communist officials. "Sunny" is played during a few parts of the successful Korean film of the same name, "Sunny".


title: Boney M.

text: During the 2002 presidential election campaign of South Korea, then-candidate Roh Moo-hyun, who eventually won the presidency at that event, took "Bahama Mama" to promote his aim of positive political reform.


title: Boney M.

text: The 2005 Chinese film "Shanghai Dreams" features a scene depicting a rural Chinese disco in 1983, with teenagers dancing to "Rivers of Babylon" and "Gotta Go Home".


title: Boney M.

text: In the 2008 Kazakh film "Tulpan", the tractor driver Boni continually plays a cassette of "Rivers of Babylon", an example of his fascination for all things Western.


title: Boney M.

text: In the 2008 Chinese film "Cheung Gong 7 hou" (English title: "CJ7"), "Sunny" is a vital part of the soundtrack. "Sunny" is the theme song of the 2011 Taiwanese drama, "Sunny Girl". The song has also appeared in "The Umbrella Academy" and "Boogie Nights".


title: Boney M.

text: Boney M. was immensely popular in India through the 1970s and 1980s. Liz Mitchell recalled her visits to India in the 1980s in a 2015 interview with Hindustan Times: "It was amazing. We’ve had the most-wonderful tours here. We even went out shopping to so many places. We met several Bollywood stars and had dinners with them."


title: RM (rapper)

text: Kim Nam-joon (; born September 12, 1994), known professionally as RM (formerly Rap Monster), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the leader of the South Korean boy band BTS.


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM released his first solo mixtape, "RM", in 2015. In 2018, he released his second mixtape, "Mono", which peaked at number 26 on the US "Billboard" 200 and became the highest-charting album by a Korean soloist in chart history. He has also collaborated with artists such as Wale, Younha, Warren G, Gaeko, Krizz Kaliko, MFBTY, Fall Out Boy, Primary, Lil Nas X, Erykah Badu, and Anderson .Paak.


title: RM (rapper)

text: Kim Nam-joon () was born on September 12, 1994, in Dongjak District, Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Ilsan District, Goyang, where his family moved when he was aged four or five. The elder of two siblings, he has a younger sister. As a child, RM largely learned English by watching the American sitcom "Friends" with his mother. As a student, he actively wrote poetry and often received awards for his writing. He posted his work to an online poetry website for roughly one year, where he received moderate attention. As a result, RM expressed interest in pursuing a literary career but later decided against it. When he was twelve years old, he studied in New Zealand for four months.


title: RM (rapper)

text: At age 11, in fifth grade, RM became interested in hip-hop music after hearing Epik High's "Fly". Finding that the song had provided him comfort, he decided to look further into the genre. He was introduced to the music of American rapper Eminem by his school teacher, which first sparked RM's interest in lyricism. He would print out lyrics that he felt were "cool" and shared them with friends. RM began songwriting at that time, stating that his poetry became lyrics when it combined with music. In 2007, as a first-year middle school student, he began rapping in local amateur hip-hop circles, creating his first self-composed recording with the program Adobe Audition (then called Cool Edit) and later participating in his first concert in 2008. RM became more active in the underground Korean hip-hop scene under the moniker Runch Randa, releasing a number of tracks and collaborations with other underground rappers such as Zico.


title: RM (rapper)

text: In school, RM had an IQ of 148 and scored in the top 1% of the nation in the university entrance examinations for language, math, foreign language and social studies. Because his parents had been strongly opposed to his interest in a musical career due to his academic achievements, RM initially decided to set music aside to focus on his studies. He eventually convinced his mother to allow him to be a rapper, asking her if "she wanted to have a son who was a first-place rapper, or a 5,000th-place student".


title: RM (rapper)

text: In March 2019, after graduating from Global Cyber University with a degree in Broadcasting and Entertainment, RM enrolled at Hanyang Cyber University's Master of Business Administration program in Advertising and Media.


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM selected the name "Rap Monster" during his time as an idol trainee. The name derives from the lyrics of a song he wrote, inspired by San E's "Rap Genius". The lyrics contained a segment where San E declares he should be called a "rap monster" as he "raps non-stop". He adopted the stage name because he felt it was "cool". RM has described himself as having a love-hate relationship with the name, feeling that it was not selected for being of "incredible value" to him.


title: RM (rapper)

text: He formally changed his stage name to "RM" in November 2017, as he determined that "Rap Monster" was no longer representative of who he was or the music that he creates. In an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" in 2019, RM stated that the name "could symbolize many things" and "could have more spectrums to it." One meaning that has been suggested is "Real Me".


title: RM (rapper)

text: In 2009, RM auditioned for Big Deal Records, passing the first round along with Samuel Seo but failing the second round after forgetting lyrics. However, following the audition, rapper Sleepy exchanged contact information with RM, whom he later mentioned to Big Hit Entertainment producer Pdogg. In 2010, Sleepy contacted RM, encouraging him to audition for Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk. Bang offered RM, then aged 16, a spot at the record label, which he accepted immediately and without his parents' knowledge. Bang and Pdogg soon began forming a hip hop group that would eventually become the idol group BTS.


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM trained for three years with fellow rapper Min Yoon-gi and dancer Jung Ho-seok, later known as Suga and J-Hope, respectively. During this three-year trainee period, RM performed on five pre-debut tracks credited to BTS in 2010 and 2011. He also worked as a songwriter for girl group Glam and helped pen their debut single "Party (XXO)", a pro-LGBTQ song that was praised by "Billboard" as "one of the most forward-thinking songs out of a K-pop girl group in the past decade." On June 13, 2013, RM made his debut with BTS and has since produced and written lyrics for many tracks on their albums. On August 29, 2013, RM performed the intro track to BTS' first extended play (EP) "O!RUL8,2?", which was released as a trailer ahead of the EP's September 11 release, marking his first solo after debuting.


title: RM (rapper)

text: On August 5, 2014, Big Hit Entertainment released a trailer for BTS' first studio album "Dark & Wild", which was set to be released on August 20. The rap track, officially credited to BTS as "Intro: What Am I to You?", was a solo performed by RM. Through reality television show "American Hustle Life", which was used to produce "Dark & Wild", RM formed a working relationship with Warren G, who offered to write BTS a beat. In an interview with Korean magazine "Hip Hop Playa," Warren G stated that he had befriended BTS through the program and had kept in touch with the band after they returned to South Korea. On March 4, 2015, RM released a single with Warren G entitled, "P.D.D (Please Don't Die)" ahead of his first solo mixtape "RM" following an offer by Warren G to collaborate. The track reflected how RM felt towards those who hated and criticized him at the time, which he used to find very upsetting. That same March, RM collaborated with hip hop project group MFBTY, EE and Dino J on the song "Bucku Bucku". He featured in the song's music video and also had a cameo appearance in a music video for another song by MFBTY, "Bang Diggy Bang Bang". RM had first formed a lasting working relationship with MFBTY member Tiger JK after meeting and expressing admiration for him on a TV show in 2013, when Tiger JK was promoting his song "The Cure".


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM was cast as a regular on the Korean variety program "Problematic Men", where cast members were given a variety of puzzles and problems to solve and work through by discussing their own thoughts and experiences. The program began airing on February 26, 2015; however, RM left the show after 22 episodes due to BTS' 2015 .


title: RM (rapper)

text: On March 17, 2015, RM released his first solo mixtape, "RM", which ranked 48th on "Spin"'s "50 Best Hip Hop Albums of 2015". The mixtape addressed a variety of topics, such as RM's past on the track "Voice" and the idea that "you're you and I'm me" in the track "Do You". When discussing the track "God Rap", RM described himself as an atheist, believing that only he could determine his fate. The production process for the mixtape lasted around four or five months, with RM working on it in between BTS' activities. The following year, RM recalled that he had largely written about the negative emotions he had been carrying, such as anger and rage, but stated that the songs are not "100% under [his] sovereignty" and that he felt many parts of the mixtape were "immature". He also added that he hoped his next mixtape to be something he worked on by himself. Following "RM"'s release, he featured along with Kwon Jin-ah on Primary's "U" that April. In August, RM collaborated with Marvel for "Fantastic Four"'s soundtrack in Korea, releasing the digital single, "Fantastic" featuring Mandy Ventrice through Melon, Genie, Naver Music and other music platforms. In August 2016, vocal duo Homme released a single titled "Dilemma", which was co-produced by RM and Bang Si-hyuk.


title: RM (rapper)

text: In March 2017, RM collaborated with American rapper Wale on a special socially-charged track called "Change", released as a free digital download along with an accompanying music video filmed two weeks prior to the track's release. The pair first formed a relationship over Twitter, with Wale reaching out to RM in 2016, having seen RM's cover of his track "Illest Bitch". RM decided on the topic of "Change", saying that though the two rappers were extremely different, their commonality lay in the fact that both America and South Korea had their political and social situations and that both of them wanted the world to change for the better. One month later, RM featured on the track "Gajah" with Gaeko of Dynamic Duo. In December, RM collaborated on a remix of Fall Out Boy's song "Champion". The track reached number 18 on "Billboard"'s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and helped RM reach number 46 on the Emerging Artists Chart for the week of January 8, 2018. On December 27, RM made history as the first K-pop artist to chart on the Rock Digital Songs chart, placing at number two.


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM released his second mixtape, "Mono", which he referred to as a "playlist", on October 23, 2018. He became the first Korean artist to rank number one on the Emerging Artists Chart in the United States with its release. The playlist was well-received by critics, who praised RM for laying "his deep insecurities bare on songs like 'Tokyo' and 'Seoul'". The track "Seoul" was produced by British electropop duo Honne, who first discovered RM after seeing him recommend their music on Twitter and eventually met him in Seoul following one of their concerts. In November, RM also collaborated with Tiger JK on his last and final album under the stage name Drunken Tiger, featuring on the track "Timeless". Tiger JK originally expected RM's lyrics to contain self-praise, which was the trend of rap at the time; RM instead wrote lyrics about leaving behind the historical meaning of Drunken Tiger's name.


title: RM (rapper)

text: On March 25, 2019, Honne announced that RM would feature on their remake of "Crying Over You" alongside singer BEKA, which was released on March 27. Honne originally released "Crying Over You" with BEKA in 2018. The song was originally slated for a January 2019 release but postponed due to "unforeseen circumstances". Chinese singer Bibi Zhou was added to the Chinese release, appearing with RM and replacing BEKA. The same day, Big Hit Entertainment released the song "Persona" as a trailer for BTS' EP "", performed as a solo by RM. Persona debuted at number 17 on "Billboard"'s YouTube Song Chart. Three months later, on July 24, 2019, RM featured on the fourth official remix of Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," entitled "Seoul Town Road", in which he "infuse[d]...his English-language verse with a surprisingly good Southern twang". On December 29, it was announced that RM would feature on Younha's track "Winter Flower", released on January 6, 2020. RM also featured on "Don't", the lead single of Korean singer eAeon's second solo album released on April 30, 2021.


title: RM (rapper)

text: During BTS' ninth anniversary celebrations in June 2022, RM announced that the band members would be devoting more attention to individual music endeavors going forward and that future projects would be released as commercial albums, complete with promotional activities, instead of as free or unpromoted mixtapes. He subsequently appeared as a featured artist on the single "Sexy Nukim" by alt-K-pop group Balming Tiger in September, and released his debut solo studio album, "Indigo", led by the single "Wild Flower", on December 2.


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM is a baritone. In 2017, American hip-hop magazine "XXL" included him in its list of "10 Korean Rappers You Should Know", with writer Peter A. Berry stating that "Rap Monster rarely fails to live up to his name". Berry described RM as "one of the region's most dexterous rappers, capable of switching flows effortlessly as he glides across an array of diverse instrumentals". Crystal Tai of the "South China Morning Post" noted that RM has "received much praise for his natural flow and lyrics". Speaking about RM's work, Noiseys Bianca Mendez wrote that "he's got some "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" [by Kanye West] in him, but he's closer to...Earl Sweatshirt and Chance the Rapper in spirit, and that's exciting". In January 2020, he was promoted from associate to a full member of the Korea Music Copyright Association.


title: RM (rapper)

text: In a survey conducted by Gallup Korea, RM ranked as the 12th most preferred idol of the year for 2018. He ranked 11th in 2019. In 2018, RM was awarded the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit by the President of South Korea, along with the other members of BTS, for his contributions to spreading Korean culture. In July 2021, he and the members of BTS were appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture by President Moon Jae-in to help "lead the global agenda for future generations, such as sustainable growth" and "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and global standing" in the international community.


title: RM (rapper)

text: Since 2018, RM has lived in Hannam-dong, Seoul, South Korea with his bandmates. In November 2019, he bought a property in the Yongsan District of Seoul for ₩4.9 billion, selling it one year later for ₩5.8 billion. In June 2021, it was revealed that he bought another home in Hannam-dong worth US$5.7 million.


title: RM (rapper)

text: RM underwent septoplasty for his nasal septum deviation in 2018, and he went on a temporary hiatus from band activities while recovering from the operation.