title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam entered Seattle's London Bridge Studios in March 1991 to record its debut album, "Ten". McCready said that ""Ten" was mostly Stone and Jeff; me and Eddie were along for the ride at that time." Krusen left the band in May 1991 after checking himself into rehabilitation for alcoholism; he was replaced by Matt Chamberlain, who had previously played with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. After playing only a handful of shows, one of which was filmed for the "Alive" video, Chamberlain left to join the "Saturday Night Live" band. Chamberlain suggested Dave Abbruzzese as his replacement. Abbruzzese joined the group and played the rest of Pearl Jam's live shows supporting "Ten".


title: Pearl Jam

text: Released on August 27, 1991, "Ten" (named after Mookie Blaylock's jersey number) contained eleven tracks dealing with dark subjects like depression, suicide, loneliness, and murder. "Ten"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s musical style, influenced by classic rock, combined an "expansive harmonic vocabulary" with an anthemic sound. The album was slow to sell, but by the second half of 1992 it became a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on the "Billboard" charts. "Ten" produced the hit singles "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Jeremy". Originally interpreted as an anthem by many, Vedder later revealed that "Alive" tells the semi-autobiographical tale of a son discovering that his father is actually his stepfather, while his mother's grief turns her to sexually embrace her son, who strongly resembles the biological father. In this lyric, even though Vedder originally looked at "being alive as a curse," as the sadness the speaker in the song suggests, "...But as fans quickly turned the title phrase into a self-empowering anthem," particularly at Pearl Jam concerts, Vedder said, "they lifted the curse. The audience changed the meaning for me," he told VH1 Storytellers in 2006.


title: Pearl Jam

text: The song "Jeremy" and its accompanying video were inspired by a true story in which a high school student shot himself in front of his classmates. "Ten" stayed on the "Billboard" charts for nearly five years, and has gone on to become one of the highest-selling rock records ever, going 13× platinum.


title: Pearl Jam

text: With the success of "Ten", Pearl Jam became a key member of the Seattle grunge explosion, along with Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. The band was criticized in the music press; British music magazine "NME" said that Pearl Jam was "trying to steal money from young alternative kids' pockets." Nirvana's Kurt Cobain angrily attacked Pearl Jam, claiming the band were commercial sellouts, and argued "Ten" was not a true alternative album because it had so many prominent guitar leads. Cobain later reconciled with Vedder, and they reportedly were on amicable terms before Cobain's death in 1994.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam toured relentlessly in support of "Ten". Ament stated that "essentially "Ten" was just an excuse to tour," adding, "We told the record company, 'We know we can be a great band, so let's just get the opportunity to get out and play.'" The band's manager, Kelly Curtis, stated, "Once people came and saw them live, this lightbulb would go on. Doing their first tour, you kind of knew it was happening and there was no stopping it." Early on in Pearl Jam's career, the band became known for its intense live performances. Looking back at this time, Vedder said that "playing music and then getting a shot at making a record and at having an audience and stuff, it's just like an untamed force...But it didn't come from jock mentality. It came from just being let out of the gates."


title: Pearl Jam

text: In 1992, Pearl Jam made television appearances on "Saturday Night Live" and "MTV Unplugged" and took a slot on that summer's Lollapalooza tour with Ministry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Soundgarden, among others. The band contributed two songs to the of the 1992 Cameron Crowe film "Singles": "State of Love and Trust" and "Breath". Ament, Gossard and Vedder appeared in "Singles" under the name "Citizen Dick"; their parts were filmed when Pearl Jam was known as Mookie Blaylock.


title: Pearl Jam

text: The band members grew uncomfortable with their success, with much of the burden of Pearl Jam's popularity falling on frontman Vedder. While Pearl Jam received four awards at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards for its video for "Jeremy", including Video of the Year and Best Group Video, the band refused to make a video for "Black" in spite of pressure from the label. This action began a trend of the band refusing to make videos for its songs. Vedder felt that the concept of music videos robbed listeners from creating their own interpretations of the song, stating that "Before music videos first came out, you'd listen to a song with headphones on, sitting in a beanbag chair with your eyes closed, and you'd come up with your own visions, these things that came from within. Then all of a sudden, sometimes even the first time you heard a song, it was with these visual images attached, and it robbed you of any form of self-expression."


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam headed into the studio in early 1993 facing the challenge of following up the commercial success of its debut. McCready said, "The band was blown up pretty big and everything was pretty crazy." Released on October 19, 1993, Pearl Jam's second album, "Vs.", sold 950,378 copies in its first week of release and outperformed all other entries in the "Billboard" top ten that week combined. The album set the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week of release, which it held until broken by Garth Brooks' 1998 album, "Double Live". "Vs." included the singles "Go", "Daughter", "Animal", and "Dissident". Paul Evans of "Rolling Stone" said, "Few American bands have arrived more clearly talented than this one did with "Ten"; and "Vs." tops even that debut." He added, "Like Jim Morrison and Pete Townshend, Vedder makes a forte of his psychological-mythic explorations... As guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready paint dense and slashing backdrops, he invites us into a drama of experiment and strife." The band decided, beginning with the release of "Vs.", to scale back its commercial efforts. The members declined to produce any more music videos after the massive success of "Jeremy" and opted for fewer interviews and television appearances. Industry insiders compared Pearl Jam's tour that year to the touring habits of Led Zeppelin, in that the band "ignored the press and took its music directly to the fans." During the Vs. Tour, the band set a cap on ticket prices in an attempt to thwart scalpers.


title: Pearl Jam

text: By 1994, Pearl Jam was "fighting on all fronts", as its manager described the band at the time. Reporter Chuck Philips broke a series of stories showing that Ticketmaster was gouging Pearl Jam's customers. Pearl Jam was outraged when, after it played a pair of charity benefit shows in Chicago, Illinois, it discovered that ticket vendor Ticketmaster had added a service charge to the tickets. Pearl Jam was committed to keeping their concert ticket prices down but Fred Rosen of Ticketmaster refused to waive the service charge. Since Ticketmaster controlled most major venues, the band was forced to create from scratch its own outdoor stadiums in rural areas in order to perform. Pearl Jam's efforts to organize a tour without the ticket giant collapsed, which Pearl Jam said was evidence of Ticketmaster's monopoly. An analysis of journalist Chuck Philips' investigative series in a well known legal monograph concluded that it was hard to imagine a legitimate reason for Ticketmaster's exclusive contracts with venues and contracts to cover such a lengthy period of time. The authors said, "The pervasiveness of Ticketmaster's exclusive agreements, coupled with their excessive duration and the manner in which they are procured, supported a finding that Ticketmaster had engaged in anticompetitive conduct under section 2 of the Sherman Act."


title: Pearl Jam

text: The United States Department of Justice was investigating the company's practices at the time and asked the band to create a memorandum of its experiences with the company. Band members Gossard and Ament testified at a subcommittee investigation on June 30, 1994, in Washington, D.C. Pearl Jam alleged that Ticketmaster used anti-competitive and monopolistic practices to gouge fans. After Pearl Jam's testimony before Congress, Congressman Dingell (D-Mich.) wrote a bill requiring full disclosure to prevent Ticketmaster from burying escalating service fees. Pearl Jam's manager said he was gratified that Congress recognized the problem as a national issue.


title: Pearl Jam

text: The band eventually canceled its 1994 summer tour in protest. After the Justice Department dropped the case, Pearl Jam continued to boycott Ticketmaster, refusing to play venues that had contracts with the company. The band tried to work around Ticketmaster's exclusive contracts by hosting charities and benefits at major venues, because the exclusive contracts often contained a clause allowing charity event promoters to sell their own tickets. Music critic Jim DeRogatis noted that along with the Ticketmaster debacle, "the band has refused to release singles or make videos; it has demanded that its albums be released on vinyl; and it wants to be more like its '60s heroes, The Who, releasing two or three albums a year." He also stated that sources said that most of the band's third album "Vitalogy" was completed by early 1994, but that either a forced delay by Epic or the battle with Ticketmaster was to blame for the delay.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam wrote and recorded while touring behind "Vs." and the majority of the tracks for "Vitalogy" were recorded during breaks on the tour. Tensions within the band had dramatically increased by this time. Producer Brendan O'Brien said, ""Vitalogy" was a little strained. I'm being polite—there was some imploding going on." After Pearl Jam finished the recording of "Vitalogy", drummer Dave Abbruzzese was fired. The band cited political differences between Abbruzzese and the other members; for example, Abbruzzese disagreed with the Ticketmaster boycott. He was replaced by Jack Irons, who had connected Vedder to the rest of the band some four years prior. Irons made his debut with the band at Neil Young's 1994 Bridge School Benefit, but he was not officially announced as the band's new drummer until its 1995 "Self-Pollution" satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half-hour-long pirate broadcast out of Seattle which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it.


title: Pearl Jam

text: "Vitalogy" was released first on November 22, 1994, on vinyl and then two weeks later on December 6, 1994, on CD and cassette. The CD became the second-fastest-selling in history, with more than 877,000 units sold in its first week. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that "thanks to its stripped-down, lean production, "Vitalogy" stands as Pearl Jam's most original and uncompromising album." Many of the songs on the album appear to be inspired by the pressures of fame. The song "Spin the Black Circle", an homage to vinyl records, won a Grammy Award in 1996 for Best Hard Rock Performance. "Vitalogy" also included the songs "Not for You", "Corduroy", "Better Man", and "Immortality". "Better Man" (), a song originally written and performed by Vedder while in Bad Radio, reached number one on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock chart, spending a total of eight weeks there. Considered a "blatantly great pop song" by producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam was reluctant to record it and had initially rejected it from "Vs." due to its accessibility.


title: Pearl Jam

text: The band continued its boycott against Ticketmaster during its 1995 tour for "Vitalogy", but was surprised that virtually no other bands joined in. Pearl Jam's initiative to play only at non-Ticketmaster venues effectively, with a few exceptions, prevented it from playing shows in the United States for the next three years. Ament later said, "We were so hardheaded about the 1995 tour. Had to prove we could tour on our own, and it pretty much killed us, killed our career." In the same year Pearl Jam backed Neil Young, whom the band had noted as an influence, on his album "Mirror Ball". Contractual obligations prevented the use of the band's name anywhere on the album, but the members were all credited individually in the album's liner notes. Two songs from the sessions were left off "Mirror Ball": "I Got Id" and "Long Road". These two tracks were released separately by Pearl Jam in the form of the 1995 EP, "Merkin Ball".


title: Pearl Jam

text: Following the round of touring for "Vitalogy", the band went into the studio to record its follow-up, "No Code". Vedder said, "Making "No Code" was all about gaining perspective." Released in 1996, "No Code" was seen as a deliberate break from the band's sound since "Ten", favoring experimental ballads and noisy garage rockers. David Browne of "Entertainment Weekly" stated that ""No Code" displays a wider range of moods and instrumentation than on any previous Pearl Jam album." The lyrical themes on the album deal with issues of self-examination, with Ament stating, "In some ways, it's like the band's story. It's about growing up." Although the album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" charts, it quickly fell down the charts. "No Code" included the singles "Who You Are" (), "Hail, Hail", and "Off He Goes". As with "Vitalogy", very little touring was done to promote "No Code" because of the band's refusal to play in Ticketmaster's venue areas. A European tour took place in the fall of 1996. Gossard stated that there was "a lot of stress associated with trying to tour at that time" and that "it was growing more and more difficult to be excited about being part of the band."


title: Pearl Jam

text: Following the short tour for "No Code", the band went into the studio in 1997 to record its follow-up. The sessions for the band's fifth album represented more of a team effort among all members of the group, with Ament stating that "everybody really got a little bit of their say on the record...because of that, everybody feels like they're an integral part of the band." On February 3, 1998, Pearl Jam released its fifth album, "Yield". The album was cited as a return to the band's early, straightforward rock sound. Tom Sinclair of "Entertainment Weekly" stated that the band has "turned in an intermittently affecting album that veers between fiery garage rock and rootsy, acoustic-based ruminations. Perhaps mindful of their position as the last alt-rock ambassadors with any degree of clout, they've come up with their most cohesive album since their 1991 debut, "Ten"." Lyrically, "Yield" continued with the more contemplative type of writing found on "No Code", with Vedder saying, "What was rage in the past has become reflection." "Yield" debuted at number two on the "Billboard" charts, but like "No Code" soon began dropping down the charts. It included the singles "Given to Fly" and "Wishlist". The band hired comic book artist Todd McFarlane to create an animated video for the song "Do the Evolution" from the album, its first music video since 1992. A documentary detailing the making of "Yield", "Single Video Theory", was released on VHS and DVD later that year.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In April 1998, Pearl Jam once again changed drummers. Jack Irons left the band due to dissatisfaction with touring and was replaced with former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron on an initially temporary basis, but he soon became a permanent replacement for Irons. Pearl Jam's 1998 Yield Tour in North America marked the band's return to full-scale touring. The band's anti-trust lawsuit against Ticketmaster had proven to be unsuccessful and hindered live tours. Many fans had complained about the difficulty in obtaining tickets and the use of non-Ticketmaster venues, which were judged to be out-of-the-way and impersonal. For this tour and future tours, Pearl Jam once again began using Ticketmaster in order to "better accommodate concertgoers." The 1998 summer tour was a big success, and after it was completed the band released "Live on Two Legs", a live album which featured select performances from the tour.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded "Last Kiss", a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. It was recorded during a soundcheck and released on the band's 1998 fan club Christmas single. The following year, the cover was put into heavy rotation across the country. By popular demand, the cover was released to the public as a single in 1999, with all of the proceeds going to the aid of refugees of the Kosovo War. The band also decided to include the song on the 1999 charity compilation album, "". "Last Kiss" peaked at number two on the "Billboard" charts and became the band's highest-charting single.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Following its full-scale tour in support of "Yield", the band took a short break, but then reconvened toward the end of 1999 and commenced work on a new album. On May 16, 2000, Pearl Jam released its sixth studio album, "Binaural". It was drummer Matt Cameron's studio recording debut with the band. The title is a reference to the binaural recording techniques that were utilized on several tracks by producer Tchad Blake, known for his use of the technique. "Binaural" was the first album since the band's debut not produced by Brendan O'Brien, although O'Brien was called in later to remix several tracks. Gossard stated that the band members "were ready for a change." Jon Pareles of "Rolling Stone" said, "Apparently as tired of grunge as everyone except Creed fans, Pearl Jam delve elsewhere." He added, "The album reflects both Pearl Jam's longstanding curse of self-importance and a renewed willingness to be experimental or just plain odd." The album is lyrically darker than the band's previous album "Yield", with Gossard describing the lyrics as "pretty sombre." "Binaural" included the singles "Nothing as It Seems", one of the songs featuring binaural recording, and "Light Years". The album sold just over 700,000 copies and became the first Pearl Jam studio album to fail to reach platinum status.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam decided to record every show on its 2000 Binaural Tour professionally, after noting the desire of fans to own a copy of the shows they attended and the popularity of bootleg recordings. The band had been open in the past about allowing fans to make amateur recordings, and these "official bootlegs" were an attempt to provide a more affordable and better quality product for fans. Pearl Jam originally intended to release them to only fan club members, but the band's record contract prevented it from doing so. Pearl Jam released all of the albums in record stores as well as through its fan club. The band released 72 live albums in 2000 and 2001, and twice set a record for most albums to debut in the "Billboard" 200 at the same time.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam's 2000 European tour ended in tragedy on June 30, with an accident at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Nine fans were crushed underfoot and suffocated to death as the crowd rushed to the front. After numerous requests for the crowd to step back, the band stopped playing and tried to calm the crowd when the musicians realized what was happening, but it was already too late. The two remaining dates of the tour were canceled and members of the band contemplated retiring after this event.


title: Pearl Jam

text: A month after the European tour concluded, the band embarked on its two-leg 2000 North American tour. On performing after the Roskilde tragedy, Vedder said that "playing, facing crowds, being together—it enabled us to start processing it." On October 22, 2000, the band played the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, celebrating the tenth anniversary of its first live performance as a band. Vedder took the opportunity to thank the many people who had helped the band come together and make it to ten years. He noted that "I would never do this accepting a Grammy or something." After concluding the Binaural Tour, the band released "Touring Band 2000" the following year. The DVD featured select performances from the North American legs of the tour.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Following the events of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Vedder and McCready were joined by Neil Young to perform the song "Long Road" from the "Merkin Ball" EP at the "" benefit concert. The concert, which aired on September 21, 2001, raised money for the victims and their families.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam commenced work on a new album following a year-long break after its full-scale tour in support of "Binaural". McCready described the recording environment as "a pretty positive one" and "very intense and spiritual." Regarding the time period when the lyrics were being written, Vedder said, "There's been a lot of mortality...It's a weird time to be writing. Roskilde changed the shape of us as people, and our filter for seeing the world changed." Pearl Jam released its seventh album, "Riot Act", on November 12, 2002. It included the singles "I Am Mine" and "Save You". The album featured a much more folk-based and experimental sound, evident in the presence of B3 organist Boom Gaspar on songs such as "Love Boat Captain". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said ""Riot Act" is the album that Pearl Jam has been wanting to make since "Vitalogy"—a muscular art rock record, one that still hits hard but that is filled with ragged edges and odd detours." The track entitled "Arc" was recorded as a vocal tribute to the nine people who died at the Roskilde Festival in June 2000. Vedder only performed this song nine times on the 2003 tour, and the band left the track off all released bootlegs.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In 2003, the band embarked on its Riot Act Tour, which included tours in Australia and North America. The band continued its official bootleg program, making every concert from the tour available in CD form through its official website. A total of six bootlegs were made available in record stores: Perth, Tokyo, State College, Pennsylvania, two shows from Madison Square Garden, and Mansfield, Massachusetts. At many shows during the 2003 North American tour, Vedder performed "Riot Act"'s "Bu$hleaguer", a commentary on President George W. Bush, with a rubber mask of Bush, wearing it at the beginning of the song and then hanging it on a mic stand to allow him to sing. The band made news when it was reported that several fans left after Vedder had "impaled" the Bush mask on his mic stand at the band's Denver, Colorado show.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In June 2003, Pearl Jam announced it was officially leaving Epic Records following the end of its contract with the label. The band stated it had "no interest" in signing with another label. The band's first release without a label was the single for "Man of the Hour", in partnership with Amazon.com. Director Tim Burton approached Pearl Jam to request an original song for the soundtrack of his new film, "Big Fish". After screening an early print of the film, Pearl Jam recorded the song for him. "Man of the Hour", which was later nominated for a Golden Globe Award, can be heard in the closing credits of "Big Fish".


title: Pearl Jam

text: The band released "Lost Dogs", a two-disc collection of rarities and B-sides, and "Live at the Garden", a DVD featuring the band's July 8, 2003 concert at Madison Square Garden through Epic Records in November 2003. In 2004, Pearl Jam released the live album, "Live at Benaroya Hall", through a one-album deal with BMG. 2004 marked the first time that Pearl Jam licensed a song for usage in a television show; a snippet of the song "Yellow Ledbetter" was used in the final episode of the television series "Friends". Later that year, Epic released "rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003)", a Pearl Jam greatest hits collection spanning 1991 to 2003. This release marked the end of Pearl Jam's contractual agreement with Epic Records.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam played a show at Easy Street Records in Seattle in April 2005; recordings from the show were compiled for the "Live at Easy Street" album and released exclusively to independent record stores in June 2006. The band embarked on a Canadian cross-country tour in September 2005, kicking off the tour with a fundraising concert in Missoula, Montana for Democratic politician Jon Tester, then playing the Gorge Amphitheater before crossing into Canada. After touring Canada, Pearl Jam proceeded to open a Rolling Stones concert in Pittsburgh, then played two shows at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, before closing the tour with a concert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The official bootlegs for the band's 2005 shows were distributed via Pearl Jam's official website in MP3 form. Pearl Jam also played a benefit concert to raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief on October 5, 2005, at the House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois. On November 22, 2005, Pearl Jam began its first Latin American tour.


title: Pearl Jam

text: The work for Pearl Jam's follow-up to "Riot Act" began after its appearance on the 2004 Vote for Change tour. The time period between the two albums was the longest gap between Pearl Jam's studio albums to date and the new album was its first release for a new label. Clive Davis announced in February 2006 that Pearl Jam had signed with his label, J Records, which like Epic, is part of Sony Music Entertainment (then known as Sony BMG), though J has since folded into RCA Records. The band's eighth studio album, "Pearl Jam", was released on May 2, 2006. A number of critics cited "Pearl Jam" as a return to the band's early sound, and McCready compared the new material to "Vs." in a 2005 interview. Ament said, "The band playing in a room—that came across. There's a kind of immediacy to the record, and that's what we were going for." Chris Willman of "Entertainment Weekly" said that "in a world full of boys sent to do a man's job of rocking, Pearl Jam can still pull off gravitas." Current socio-political issues in the United States are addressed on the album. "World Wide Suicide", a song criticizing the Iraq War and U.S. foreign policy, was released as a single and topped the "Billboard" Modern Rock chart; it was Pearl Jam's first number one on that chart since "Who You Are" in 1996, and first number one on any chart in the United States since 1998 when "Given to Fly" reached number one on the Mainstream Rock chart. "Pearl Jam" also included the singles "Life Wasted" and "Gone".


title: Pearl Jam

text: To support "Pearl Jam", the band embarked on its 2006 world tour. It toured North America, Australia and notably Europe; Pearl Jam had not toured the continent for six years. The North American tour included three two-night stands opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The band served as the headliners for the Leeds and Reading festivals, despite having vowed to never play at a festival again after Roskilde. Vedder started both concerts with an emotional plea to the crowd to look after each other. He commented during the Leeds set that the band's decision to play a festival for the first time after Roskilde had nothing to do with "guts" but with trust in the audience.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In 2007, Pearl Jam recorded a cover of The Who's "Love, Reign o'er Me" for the Mike Binder film, "Reign Over Me"; it was later made available as a music download on the iTunes Music Store. The band embarked on a 13-date European tour, and headlined Lollapalooza in Grant Park, on August 5, 2007. The band released a CD box set in June 2007, entitled "Live at the Gorge 05/06", that documents its shows at The Gorge Amphitheatre, and in September 2007 a concert DVD, entitled "Immagine in Cornice", which documents the band's Italian shows from its 2006 tour was released.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In June 2008, Pearl Jam performed as the headline act at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. The Bonnaroo appearance took place amidst a twelve-date tour in the Eastern United States. In July 2008, the band performed at the VH1 tribute to The Who alongside Foo Fighters, Incubus and The Flaming Lips. In the days prior to Election Day 2008, Pearl Jam digitally released through its official website a free documentary film, entitled "Vote for Change? 2004", which follows the band's time spent on the 2004 Vote for Change tour.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In March 2009, "Ten" was reissued in four editions, featuring such extras as a remastering and remix of the entire album by Brendan O'Brien, a DVD of the band's 1992 appearance on "MTV Unplugged", and an LP of its concert of September 20, 1992 at Magnuson Park in Seattle. It was the first reissue in a planned re-release of Pearl Jam's entire catalog that led up to the band's 20th anniversary in 2011. A Pearl Jam retrospective film directed by Cameron Crowe titled "Pearl Jam Twenty" was also planned to coincide with the anniversary. In 2011, "Vs." and "Vitalogy" were reissued in the spring time in deluxe form.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam began work for the follow-up to "Pearl Jam" in early 2008. In 2009, the band began to build on instrumental and demo tracks written during 2008. The band's ninth studio album, "Backspacer", was its first to be produced by Brendan O'Brien since "Yield". "Backspacer" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard music charts, the band's first album to do so since "No Code" in 1996, and has sold 635,000 copies as of July 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The music on the record features a sound influenced by pop and new wave. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that "prior to "Backspacer", Pearl Jam wouldn't or couldn't have made music this unfettered, unapologetically assured, casual, and, yes, fun." Regarding the lyrics, Vedder said, "I've tried, over the years, to be hopeful in the lyrics, and I think that's going to be easier now." "The Fixer" was chosen as the album's first single. Pearl Jam did not re-sign its record deal with J Records, and the band released the album through its own label Monkeywrench Records in the United States and through Universal Music Group internationally. Pearl Jam reached a deal with Target to be the exclusive big-box store retailer for the album in the United States. The album also saw release through the band's official website, independent record stores, online retailers, and iTunes. In an interview in September 2009 McCready revealed that Pearl Jam was scheduled to finish the "Backspacer" outtakes within six months, and told San Diego radio station KBZT that the band may release an EP in 2010 consisting of those songs, while Vedder instead suggested that the songs may be used for the band's next studio album.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In August 2009, Pearl Jam headlined the Virgin Festival, the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, and played five shows in Europe and three in North America. In October 2009, Pearl Jam headlined the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Later in October on Halloween night, the band played in what was the last performance at the Philadelphia Spectrum. An additional leg consisting of a tour of Oceania took place afterwards. In May 2010, the band embarked on a month-long tour starting with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The tour headed to the East Coast and ended May 21, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York. A European tour took place in June and July 2010, where the band performed in Northern Ireland for the first time at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. In late October 2010, Pearl Jam performed at the 24th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. A live album, titled "Live on Ten Legs", was released on January 17, 2011. It is a compilation of live tracks from their 2003 to 2010 world tours, and is a follow-up to "Live on Two Legs", which consisted of songs recorded during their 1998 North American tour.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In March 2011, bassist Jeff Ament told Billboard that the band had 25 songs and they'd be heading into the studio in April to begin recording the follow-up to "Backspacer". On May 16, 2011, the band confirmed that they would play the Labor Day weekend at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin, followed by ten shows in Canada.


title: Pearl Jam

text: On September 8, 2011, the band released a new song titled "Olé". On November 18, the band released "Toronto 9.11.11"—a free live album available through the launch of Google Music. On November 21, 2011, as part of their PJ20 World Tour, Pearl Jam visited Costa Rica for the first time to a 30,000 crowd of fans at the National Stadium. The following month, the band announced a tour of Europe, which started in June 2012.


title: Pearl Jam

text: On July 11, 2013, the band announced that their tenth studio album "Lightning Bolt" would be released internationally on October 14, 2013, and on the next day in the United States, along with releasing the first single "Mind Your Manners". The band played a two-leg tour in North America during October and November, followed by headlining the final Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand in 2014. The second single, "Sirens", was released on September 18, 2013. After selling 166,000 copies in its first week, "Lightning Bolt" became Pearl Jam's fifth album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015, the album won the award for Best Recording Package. In November 2015 the band played a nine-date tour of Latin America.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In January 2016, the band announced a tour of the United States and Canada, including appearances at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Bonnaroo. In April 2017, Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony they were inducted by comedian David Letterman. In August 2017, the band announced the release of the live album and concert film "Let's Play Two", from the band's shows at Wrigley Field the previous year.


title: Pearl Jam

text: The band launched a 2018 tour with shows in South America in March 2018, including shows at the Lollapalooza festival events in Brazil, Chile and Argentina, with the latter being cancelled due to heavy rain the night before. followed by performances in Europe and North America. The tour included two shows for homelessness-related charities in the band's hometown of Seattle.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Prior to the first shows of the tour, Pearl Jam released a new song, "Can't Deny Me". In December 2019, Pearl Jam confirmed that they would be touring Europe in the summer of 2020. On January 13, 2020, the band announced that their eleventh studio album, "Gigaton", would be released on March 27, 2020. In conjunction with the release of their eleventh studio album, the band also announced tour dates in North America during March and April 2020. However, the North American leg was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim to reschedule them for a later date. In September 2020, the band confirmed that their "MTV Unplugged" live set would be released on vinyl and CD for the first time the following month.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In May 2021, Pearl Jam announced the release of a digital collection of nearly 200 concerts dating from 2000 to 2013. The collection of 5,404 individual songs, entitled "Deep", is accessible by members of the Pearl Jam Ten Club. On September 18, 2021, the band played their first show since 2018 at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer made his debut as a touring musician with the band.In May 2022, Matt Cameron was forced to miss his first shows in 24 years since joining the band due to testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. Josh Klinghoffer and Richard Stuverud filled in on drums for Cameron.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Compared with the other grunge bands of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam's style is noticeably less heavy and harkens back to the classic rock music of the 1970s. Pearl Jam has cited many punk rock and classic rock bands as influences, including The Who, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Kiss and the Ramones. Pearl Jam's success has been attributed to its sound, which fuses "the riff-heavy stadium rock of the '70s with the grit and anger of '80s post-punk, without ever neglecting hooks and choruses." Gossard's rhythm guitar style is known for its sense of beat and groove, while McCready's lead guitar style, influenced by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, has been described as "feel-oriented" and "rootsy."


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam has broadened its musical range with subsequent releases. As he had more influence on the band's sound, Vedder sought to make the band's musical output less catchy. He said, "I felt that with more popularity, we were going to be crushed, our heads were going to pop like grapes." By 1994's "Vitalogy", the band began to incorporate more punk influences into its music. The band's 1996 album, "No Code", was a deliberate break from the musical style of "Ten". The songs on the album featured elements of garage rock, worldbeat, and experimentalism. After "Yield" in 1998, which was somewhat of a return to the straightforward rock approach of the band's early work, they dabbled with experimental art rock on the "Binaural" album of 2000, and with folk rock elements on the 2002 "Riot Act" album. The band's 2006 album, "Pearl Jam", was cited as a return to their early sound. Their 2009 album, "Backspacer", contains elements of pop and new wave.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Critic Jim DeRogatis describes Vedder's vocals as a "Jim Morrison-like vocal growl." Greg Prato of AllMusic said, "With his hard-hitting and often confessional lyrical style and Jim Morrison-esque baritone, Vedder also became one of the most copied lead singers in all of rock." Vedder's lyrical topics range from personal ("Alive", "Better Man") to social and political concerns ("Even Flow", "World Wide Suicide"). His lyrics have often invoked the use of storytelling and have included themes of freedom, individualism, and sympathy for troubled individuals. When the band started, Gossard and McCready were clearly designated as rhythm and lead guitarists, respectively. The dynamic began to change when Vedder started to play more rhythm guitar during the "Vitalogy" era. McCready said in 2006, "Even though there are three guitars, I think there's maybe more room now. Stone will pull back and play a two-note line and Ed will do a power chord thing, and I fit into all that."


title: Pearl Jam

text: While Nirvana had brought grunge to the mainstream in the early 1990s with "Nevermind", Pearl Jam's debut "Ten" outsold it in the United States, and the band became "the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s" according to AllMusic. Pearl Jam has been described as "modern rock radio's most influential stylists – the workmanlike midtempo chug of songs like "Alive" and "Even Flow" just melodic enough to get moshers singing along." The band inspired and influenced a number of bands, including Silverchair, Puddle of Mudd and The Strokes. The band has also been credited for inspiring the indie rock scene of 90s-era urban Pakistan, that has since evolved into a rich rock music culture in the country.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam were ranked at number 8 by "Rolling Stone" magazine in its "Top Ten Live Acts of all Time" issue. Pearl Jam has been praised for its rejection of rock star excess and its insistence on backing causes it believes in. Music critic Jim DeRogatis said in the aftermath of the band's battle with Ticketmaster that it "proved that a rock band which isn't greed heads can play stadiums and not milk the audience for every last dime... it indicated that idealism in rock 'n' roll is not the sole province of those '60s bands enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Eric Weisbard of "Spin" said in 2001, "The group that was once accused of being synthetic grunge now seem as organic and principled a rock band as exists." In a 2005 "USA Today" reader's poll, Pearl Jam was voted the greatest American rock band of all time. In April 2006, Pearl Jam was awarded the prize for "Best Live Act" in "Esquire"'s Esky Music Awards. The blurb called Pearl Jam "the rare superstars who still play as though each show could be their last." Pearl Jam's fanbase following has been compared to that of the Grateful Dead's, with "Rolling Stone" magazine stating that Pearl Jam "toured incessantly and became one of rock's great arena acts, attracting a fanatical, Grateful Dead-like cult following with marathon, true-believer shows in the vanishing spirit of Bruce Springsteen, the Who and U2."


title: Pearl Jam

text: When asked about Pearl Jam's legacy in a 2000 interview, Vedder said, "I think at some point along the way we began feeling we wanted to give people something to believe in because we all had bands that gave that to us when we needed something to believe in. That was the big challenge for us after the first record and the response to it. The goal immediately became how do we continue to be musicians and grow and survive in view of all this... The answers weren't always easy, but I think we found a way." Their 1992 MTV Unplugged performance was ranked second in "Rolling Stone"'s list of its 15 Best Episodes.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Throughout its career, Pearl Jam has promoted wider social and political issues, from pro-abortion rights sentiments to opposition to George W. Bush's presidency. Vedder acts as the band's spokesman on these issues. The band has promoted an array of causes, including awareness of Crohn's disease, which Mike McCready suffers from, Ticketmaster venue monopolization and the environment and wildlife protection, among others. Guitarist Stone Gossard has been active in environmental pursuits, and has been an advocate of Pearl Jam's carbon neutral policy, offsetting the band's environmental impact. Vedder has advocated for the release of the West Memphis 3 for years and Damien Echols, a member of the three, shares a writing credit for the song "Army Reserve" (from "Pearl Jam").


title: Pearl Jam

text: The band, and especially frontman Eddie Vedder, have been vocal supporters of the abortion rights movement. In 1992, "Spin" printed an article by Vedder, entitled "Reclamation", which detailed his views on abortion. In an "MTV Unplugged" concert the same year, Vedder stood on a stool and wrote "PRO-CHOICE!" on his arm in protest when the band performed the song "Porch". The band are members of a number of abortion rights organizations, including Choice USA and Voters for Choice.


title: Pearl Jam

text: As members of Rock the Vote and Vote for Change, the band has encouraged voter registration and participation in United States elections. Vedder was outspoken in support of Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 2000, and Pearl Jam played a series of concerts on the Vote for Change tour in October 2004, supporting the candidacy of John Kerry for U.S. president. In a "Rolling Stone" feature showcasing the Vote for Change tour's performers, Vedder told the magazine, "I supported Ralph Nader in 2000, but it's a time of crisis. We have to get a new administration in."


title: Pearl Jam

text: In 2006, the members of Pearl Jam founded the non-profit organization Vitalogy Foundation. Named after their third studio album, the foundation supports non-profit organizations working in the fields of community health, the environment, arts, education and social change.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Vedder sometimes comments on politics between songs, often to criticize U.S. foreign policy, and a number of his songs, including "Bu$hleaguer" and "World Wide Suicide", are openly critical of the Bush administration. At Lollapalooza 2007, Vedder spoke out against BP Amoco dumping effluent in Lake Michigan, and at the end of "Daughter", he sang the lyrics "George Bush leave this world alone/George Bush find yourself another home". In the beginning of the second encore Vedder invited Iraq war veteran Tomas Young, the subject of the documentary "Body of War", onto the stage to urge an end to the war. Young in turn introduced Ben Harper, who contributed vocals to "No More" and "Rockin' in the Free World". The band later discovered that some of the Bush-related lyrics were excised from the AT&T webcast of the event, and questioned whether that constitutes censorship. AT&T later apologized and blamed the censorship on contractor Davie Brown Entertainment.


title: Pearl Jam

text: Pearl Jam has performed numerous benefit concerts in aid of charities and causes. For example, the band headlined a Seattle concert in 2001 to support the United Nations' efforts to combat world hunger. The band added a date at the Chicago House of Blues to its 2005 tour to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina; the concert proceeds were donated to Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and the Jazz Foundation of America.


title: Pearl Jam

text: In 2011, Pearl Jam was named 2011 Planet Defenders by Rock The Earth for their environmental activism and their large-scale efforts to decrease their own carbon emissions.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heisman Trophy and the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship as a senior. He was selected by the Bengals first overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.


title: Joe Burrow

text: After an injury-shortened rookie season, Burrow rebounded in his second year by leading the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990 – ending the longest active drought in the four major North American sports – and an appearance in Super Bowl LVI.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Burrow was born in Ames, Iowa, on December 10, 1996, the son of Robin and Jim Burrow. Jim is a former football player and coach whose career lasted over 40 years. Burrow was born in Ames when his father was on the coaching staff at Iowa State University. According to a 2019 "Sports Illustrated" story, "The Burrow athletic lineage dates back nearly a century." In the 1940s, his paternal grandmother set a Mississippi state high school record with an 82-point game in basketball. His paternal grandfather played basketball at Mississippi State; his uncle, John Burrow, played football at Ole Miss; and two older brothers also played football at Nebraska.


title: Joe Burrow

text: He attended the 2002 Rose Bowl at age five, as his father was an assistant coach for the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Not long after, he began playing in youth football leagues. Unlike his father, uncle, and brothers, who all played on defense, Burrow started out as a quarterback, because his first youth team had no one else who could play the position. The Burrow family moved to North Dakota in 2003 when his father was hired as the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State University in Fargo. One day, while Jim was visiting his office, future Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos commented that the seven-year-old Joe had a future in football. The Burrows spent two years in Fargo before Jim accepted the defensive coordinator position at Ohio University in Athens.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Burrow attended Athens High School (2011–14) in The Plains, Ohio, leading the school to three straight playoff appearances and the school's first seven playoff victories in school history. During his career, he passed for 11,416 yards with 157 passing touchdowns and rushed for 2,067 yards with 27 rushing touchdowns. He was awarded the state's Mr. Football Award and Gatorade Player of the Year award as a senior in 2014. He and his Bulldog teammates went 14–1 that season. He was also a standout basketball player, and was named first-team all-state at point guard his senior year. Burrow was rated as a four-star football recruit, and was the eighth-highest ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015, according to the 247Sports Composite. He committed to Ohio State to play football on May 27, 2014.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In December 2019, the Athens City School District school board unanimously approved a measure to rename the school's football stadium in honor of Burrow.


title: Joe Burrow

text: After redshirting his first year at Ohio State in 2015, Burrow spent the next two years as a backup to J. T. Barrett, during which he played in 10 games, completing 29 of 39 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Realizing that Dwayne Haskins would be named starting quarterback at Ohio State, Burrow transferred to Louisiana State University (LSU) on May 20, 2018. Burrow had graduated from Ohio State in three years with a degree in consumer and family financial services, and would be immediately eligible as a graduate transfer.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In his first year at LSU, Burrow was named the starting quarterback as a redshirt junior in 2018. In an early season road trip to then-No. 7 Auburn, Burrow threw for 249 yards and a touchdown en route to a 22–21 win. He was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week following the victory. He again earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors following a 292-yard, three-touchdown performance against Ole Miss two weeks later. Burrow helped lead the Tigers to a 10–3 record, including a win over UCF in the Fiesta Bowl, and a No. 6 ranking in the final AP Poll. Burrow finished the season with 2,894 yards passing, 16 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He added 399 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Burrow was again named LSU's starting quarterback heading into his redshirt senior season in 2019. In the Tigers' season opener against Georgia Southern, Burrow threw for 278 yards and five touchdowns in a 55–3 win, and was later named SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week (with Tua Tagovailoa). In a Week 2 road trip to ninth-ranked Texas, Burrow threw for 471 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception in a 45–38 win. His 471 yards were the second-most in school history and the most since Rohan Davey's 528 against Alabama in 2001. He was named Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and SEC Offensive Player of the Week following the performance. Burrow earned his third SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors on September 21 during LSU's game against Vanderbilt. He threw for 398 yards and a school-record six passing touchdowns in the Tigers' 66–38 win. He became the first LSU quarterback to throw for over 350 yards in three consecutive games.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In a 42–6 win over Utah State, Burrow threw for 344 yards and five touchdowns, and became the first Tiger quarterback to throw for 300-plus yards in four consecutive games. The streak came to an end the next week against seventh-ranked Florida, but Burrow's 293 yards and three touchdown passes helped lead the Tigers to another win, 42–28. The next week, in LSU's seventh game of the season, Burrow eclipsed the LSU single-season passing touchdowns record of 28 when he added four more in a win against Mississippi State. In their next game, Burrow led LSU against ninth-ranked Auburn and LSU defeated another top 10 opponent, as Burrow's 321-yard, two-total-touchdowns performance set a new school record of eight career 300-yard games.


title: Joe Burrow

text: When LSU played Alabama on November 9, the two schools were ranked higher than they had been since they had played in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game; LSU was ranked second and Alabama third when the season's inaugural College Football Playoff rankings had been released the prior week. The game would also feature two leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy in Burrow and Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Burrow and the Tigers came away victorious in a 46–41 shootout. Burrow passed for 393 yards and three touchdowns in the game, and was again named Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, sharing the latter with teammate Clyde Edwards-Helaire.


title: Joe Burrow

text: The following week against Ole Miss, Burrow threw for 489 yards and five touchdown passes, and his single-season passing yards surpassed the LSU record set by Rohan Davey in 2001. Burrow also set an LSU record for consecutive completed passes with 17 during the game. On November 30, Burrow and LSU secured an undefeated regular season with a 50–7 win over Texas A&M, in which Burrow threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns. During the game, he broke the SEC record for single-season passing yards – previously set by Kentucky's Tim Couch – and tied the conference record for single-season touchdowns (which had been set by Missouri's Drew Lock). Burrow took sole possession of the SEC single-season touchdown record the following week in the SEC Championship Game, throwing for four touchdowns in LSU's 37–10 win over Georgia that secured the Tigers' place in the College Football Playoff.


title: Joe Burrow

text: On December 14, 2019, Burrow was awarded the 2019 Heisman Trophy, receiving 1,846 more votes than runner-up Jalen Hurts. It was the largest victory margin in the history of the award, and Burrow received the greatest-ever share of available points. Burrow's Heisman acceptance speech referred to the rampant poverty and food insecurity affecting his hometown; shortly after his speech, the Athens County food bank was the recipient of $450,000 in donations. Other awards he won that year include the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Lombardi Award, and Manning Award.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In LSU's College Football Playoff semifinal game against fourth-ranked Oklahoma in the 2019 Peach Bowl, Burrow threw for seven touchdowns during the first half of the contest and had a total of 493 passing yards – along with scoring a rushing touchdown – in a 63–28 victory for the Tigers. Burrow's eight total touchdowns were all scored within the first 35 minutes


title: Joe Burrow

text: In the 2020 National Championship Game against Clemson, Burrow threw for 463 yards with six total touchdowns, five of which were passing, which led LSU to a 42–25 victory and him being named the game's offensive MVP. He finished his 2019 season with 60 passing touchdowns, which broke the single-season FBS record previously set by Colt Brennan's 58 in 2006. (This record has since fallen to Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky, who threw for 62 touchdowns in 2021.) Burrow also set a FBS single-season record with 65 total touchdowns (which would be tied by Zappe in 2021). His 5,671 passing yards is now tied (with Case Keenum in 2009) for fourth-most in an FBS season. His passer rating of 202 for the season was also a record until it was surpassed by Mac Jones in 2020. Several sportswriters deemed the season to be the greatest ever by a college quarterback.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Burrow was one of 58 players invited to the 2020 NFL Draft, where he was selected first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was the third-consecutive Heisman-winning quarterback to be selected first overall, following Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Burrow signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $36.1 million, on July 31, 2020.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Prior to the season, Burrow was considered the favorite to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Burrow was the only rookie quarterback from his draft class to start on opening week. In his debut, Burrow threw for 193 passing yards and an interception, while adding 46 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in a 16–13 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers. During the next game against the Cleveland Browns, Burrow threw his first career passing touchdown, a 23-yard pass to tight end C. J. Uzomah. Although the Bengals lost the game, 35–30, he attempted 61 passes, completing 37 of them for 316 yards and three touchdowns, which broke the NFL record for most completions by a rookie quarterback in a single game. Two weeks later, Burrow earned his first career win by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also became the first rookie quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards in three straight games.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In a Week 7 game against the Browns, Burrow had 406 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and one interception in a 37–34 loss. He became the first rookie in NFL history with at least 400 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown in a single game, and had completed more passes (221) than any other player in NFL history during their first eight games. In the second half of a Week 11 game against the Washington Football Team, Burrow was hit low while throwing a pass and subsequently tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee, among other damage to his PCL and meniscus. He was later placed on injured reserve, ending his rookie season.


title: Joe Burrow

text: On September 6, the Bengals confirmed Burrow had completed his rehab and would start Week 1. Burrow returned from his injury and helped lead the Bengals to a 2–1 start. In Week 4, Burrow completed 25 of 32 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns in a 24–21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16, Burrow completed 37 of 46 passes, threw for a career-high 525 yards, while also throwing four touchdowns without an interception, for a career-high 143.2 passer rating in the 41–21 win. Burrow's 525 yards were the fourth most passing yards in a game in NFL history, and broke Boomer Esiason's franchise record for most passing yards in a game as a result. The victory in this game was Cincinnati's ninth of the year, clinching the first winning record for the team since the 2015 season, and put the Bengals in first place of the AFC North. Burrow was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week as a result of his performance.


title: Joe Burrow

text: The next week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Burrow threw for 446 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions in the 34–31 win. The win helped the Bengals clinch the AFC North and a playoff berth for the first time since 2015. Burrow finished the season playing in 16 games with 4,611 passing yards and 34 passing touchdowns, both franchise records. He also led the league in completion percentage (70.4%) and yards per pass attempt (8.9), but also led the league in sacks taken.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In his playoff debut, Burrow threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns in the 26–19 win against the Las Vegas Raiders in the , ending the Bengals' playoff win drought that had been active since the 1990 season. During the against the top-seeded Tennessee Titans, Burrow threw for 348 yards and an interception in the 19–16 win, which was the first time in franchise history the Bengals won a playoff game on the road. The victory occurred despite Burrow being sacked nine times, tying Warren Moon in 1993 for the most times sacked in a playoff game and becoming the most-sacked quarterback to win a playoff game. In the against the Kansas City Chiefs, Burrow threw for 250 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and helped the Bengals overcome a 21–3 deficit to win 27–24 in overtime. The 18-point comeback was tied with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006 for the largest in a conference championship. With the victory, the Bengals reached Super Bowl LVI, their first appearance since Super Bowl XXIII in 1988. In the Super Bowl, Burrow threw for 263 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked 7 times, ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Rams 23–20. Burrow set a playoff record for most times sacked in a single postseason, being sacked 19 times, surpassing the previous record set by Wade Wilson in 1987, with 14.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Burrow committed a career-high five turnovers, which included losing a fumble and throwing four interceptions, along with being sacked seven times in the 23–20 overtime loss. The next week against the Atlanta Falcons, Burrow finished the game throwing with 481 yards. The game was Burrow's fifth game with over 400 passing yards, setting an NFL record for the most 400-yard games in a player's first three seasons. It was also his second game with over 500 yards of offense and four touchdowns, making him the first player to accomplish this multiple times. Burrow was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week as a result of his performance.


title: Joe Burrow

text: After signing his rookie contract with the Bengals, Burrow stated that he planned to save all of his contract money and instead live through income received from endorsements.


title: Joe Burrow

text: Burrow is an avid fan of Kid Cudi, often listening to his music prior to Bengals games. On Cudi's "Entergalactic" album, a bonus track was named after Burrow.


title: Joe Burrow

text: In the wake of the "Roe v. Wade" being overturned in June 2022, Burrow spoke out on Instagram in favor of abortion rights in the United States.


title: Richard Burton

text: Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable performance of Hamlet in 1964. He was called "the natural successor to Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. A heavy drinker, Burton's perceived failure to live up to those expectations disappointed some critics and colleagues and added to his image as a great performer who had wasted his talent. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation.


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor. In the mid-1960s, Burton ascended into the ranks of the top box office stars. By the late 1960s, Burton was one of the highest-paid actors in the world, receiving fees of $1 million or more plus a share of the gross receipts. Burton remained closely associated in the public consciousness with his second wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. The couple's turbulent relationship, in which they were married twice and divorced twice, was rarely out of the news.


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr. on 10 November 1925 in a house at 2 Dan-y-bont in Pontrhydyfen, Glamorgan, Wales. He was the twelfth of thirteen children born into the Welsh-speaking family of Richard Walter Jenkins Sr. (1876–1957), and Edith Maude Jenkins (née Thomas; 1883–1927). Jenkins Sr., called Daddy Ni by the family, was a coal miner, while his mother worked as a barmaid at a pub called the Miner's Arms in the village of Pontrhydyfen, where she met and married her husband. According to biographer Melvyn Bragg, Richard is quoted saying that Daddy Ni was a "twelve-pints-a-day man" who sometimes went off on drinking and gambling sprees for weeks, and that "he looked very much like me". He remembered his mother to be "a very strong woman" and "a religious soul with fair hair and a beautiful face".


title: Richard Burton

text: Richard was barely two years old when his mother died on 31 October, six days after the birth of Graham, the family's thirteenth child. Edith's death was a result of postpartum infections; Richard believed it occurred because of "hygiene neglect". According to biographer Michael Munn, Edith "was fastidiously clean", but that her exposure to the dust from the coal mines resulted in her death. Following Edith's death, Richard's elder sister Cecilia, whom he affectionately addressed as "Cis", and her husband Elfed James, also a miner, took him under their care. Richard lived with Cis, Elfed and their two daughters, Marian and Rhianon, in their three bedroom terraced cottage on 73 Caradoc Street, Taibach, a suburban district in Port Talbot, which Bragg describes as "a tough steel town, English-speaking, grind and grime".


title: Richard Burton

text: Richard remained forever grateful and loving to Cis throughout his life, later going on to say: "When my mother died she, my sister, had become my mother, and more mother to me than any mother could ever have been ... I was immensely proud of her ... she felt all tragedies except her own". Daddy Ni would occasionally visit the homes of his grown daughters but was otherwise absent. Another important figure in Richard's early life was Ifor, his brother, 19 years his senior. A miner and rugby union player, Ifor "ruled the household with the proverbial firm hand". He was also responsible for nurturing a passion for rugby in young Richard. Although Richard also played cricket, tennis, and table tennis, biographer Bragg notes rugby union football to be his greatest interest. On rugby, Richard said he "would rather have played for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park than Hamlet at The Old Vic". The Welsh rugby union centre, Bleddyn Williams believed Richard "had distinct possibilities as a player".


title: Richard Burton

text: From the age of five to eight, Richard was educated at the Eastern Primary School while he attended the Boys' segment of the same school from eight to twelve years old. He took a scholarship exam for admission into Port Talbot Secondary School in March 1937 and passed it. Biographer Hollis Alpert notes that both Daddy Ni and Ifor considered Richard's education to be "of paramount importance" and planned to send him to the University of Oxford. Richard became the first member of his family to go to secondary school. He displayed an excellent speaking and singing voice since childhood, even winning an eisteddfod prize as a boy soprano. During his tenure at Port Talbot Secondary School, Richard also showed immense interest in reading poetry as well as English and Welsh literature. He earned pocket money by running messages, hauling horse manure, and delivering newspapers.


title: Richard Burton

text: Richard was bolstered by winning the Eisteddfod Prize and wanted to repeat his success. He chose to sing Sir Arthur Sullivan's "Orpheus with his Lute" (1866), which biographer Alpert thought "a difficult composition". He requested the help of his schoolmaster, Philip Burton, but his voice cracked during their practice sessions. This incident marked the beginning of his association with Philip. Philip later recalled, "His voice was tough to begin with but with constant practice it became memorably beautiful." Richard made his first foray into theatre with a minor role in his school's production of the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw's "The Apple Cart". He decided to leave school by the end of 1941 and work as a miner as Elfed was not fit, owing to illness. He worked for the local wartime Co-operative committee, handing out supplies in exchange for war-time ration-coupons. He also simultaneously considered other professions for his future, including boxing, religion and singing. It was also during this period that Richard took up smoking and drinking despite being underage.


title: Richard Burton

text: When he joined the Port Talbot Squadron 499 of the Air Training Corps section of the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a cadet, he re-encountered Philip, who was the squadron commander. He also joined the Taibach Youth Centre, a youth drama group founded by Meredith Jones and led by Leo Lloyd, a steel worker and avid amateur thespian, who taught him the fundamentals of acting. Richard played the role of an escaped convict in Lloyd's play, "The Bishop's Candlesticks", an adaptation of a section of Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables". The entire play did not have any dialogues, but Alpert noted that Richard "mimed his role". Philip gave him a part in a radio documentary/adaptation of his play for BBC Radio, "Youth at the Helm" (1942). Seeing the talent Richard possessed, both Jones and Philip re-admitted him to school on 5 October 1942. Philip tutored his charge intensely in school subjects, and also worked at developing the youth's acting voice, including outdoor voice drills which improved his projection. Richard called the experience "the most hardworking and painful period" in his life. Philip called Richard "my son to all intents and purposes. I was committed to him", while Burton later wrote of Philip, "I owe him everything".


title: Richard Burton

text: In autumn of 1943, Philip planned to adopt Richard, but was not able to do so as he was 20 days too young to be 21 years older than his ward, a legal requirement. As a result, Richard became Philip's legal ward and changed his surname to "Richard Burton", after Philip's own surname, by means of deed poll, which Richard's father accepted. It was also in 1943 that Richard qualified for admission into a university after excelling in the School Certificate Examination. Philip requested Richard to study at Exeter College, Oxford as a part of a six-month scholarship programme offered by the RAF for qualified cadets prior to active service.


title: Richard Burton

text: In 1943, Burton played Professor Henry Higgins in a school production of another Shaw play directed by Philip, "Pygmalion". The role won him favourable reviews and caught the attention of the dramatist, Emlyn Williams, who offered Burton a small role of the lead character's elder brother, Glan, in his play "The Druid's Rest". The play debuted at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool on 22 November 1943, and later premiered in St Martin's Theatre, London in January 1944. Burton thought the role was "a nothing part" and that he "hardly spoke at all". He was paid ten pounds a week for playing the role (), which was "three times what the miners got". Alpert states that the play garnered mixed critical reviews, but James Redfern of the "New Statesman" took notice of Burton's performance and wrote: "In a wretched part, Richard Burton showed exceptional ability." Burton noted that single sentence from Redfern changed his life.


title: Richard Burton

text: During his tenure at Exeter College of Oxford University, Burton featured as "the complicated sex-driven puritan" Angelo in the Oxford University Dramatic Society's 1944 production of William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure". The play was directed by Burton's English literature professor, Nevill Coghill, and was performed at the college in the presence of additional contributors to West End theatre including John Gielgud, Terence Rattigan and Binkie Beaumont. On Burton's performance, fellow actor and friend, Robert Hardy recalled, "There were moments when he totally commanded the audience by this stillness. And the voice which would sing like a violin and with a bass that could shake the floor." Gielgud appreciated Burton's performance and Beaumont, who knew about Burton's work in "The Druid's Rest", suggested that he "look him up" after completing his service in the RAF if he still wanted to pursue acting as a profession.


title: Richard Burton

text: In late 1944, Burton successfully completed his six-month scholarship at Exeter College, Oxford, and went to the RAF classification examinations held in Torquay to train as a pilot. He was disqualified for pilot training because his eyesight was below par, and was classified as a navigator trainee. He served the RAF as navigator for three years, during which he performed an assignment as Aircraftman 1st Class in a Wiltshire-based RAF Hospital and was posted to the RAF base in Carberry, Manitoba, Canada to work as an instructor. Burton's habits of drinking and smoking increased during this period; he was involved in a brief casual affair with actress Eleanor Summerfield. Burton was cast in an uncredited and unnamed role of a bombing officer by BBC Third Programme in a 1946 radio adaptation of "In Parenthesis", an epic poem of the First World War by David Jones. Burton was discharged from the RAF on 16 December 1947.


title: Richard Burton

text: In 1948, Burton moved to London to make contact with H. M. Tennent Ltd., where he again met Beaumont, who put him under a contract of £500 per year (£10 a week). Daphne Rye, the casting director for H. M. Tennent Ltd., offered Burton rooms on the top floor of her house in Pelham Crescent, London as a place for him to stay. Rye cast Burton in a minor role as a young officer, Mr. Hicks, in "Castle Anna" (1948), a drama set in Ireland.


title: Richard Burton

text: While touring with the cast and crew members of Wynyard Browne's "Dark Summer", Burton was called by Emlyn Williams for a screen test for his film, "The Last Days of Dolwyn" (1949). Burton performed the screen test for the role of Gareth, which Williams wrote especially for him, and was subsequently selected when Williams sent him a telegram that quoted a line from "The Corn Is Green" "You have won the scholarship." This led to Burton making his mainstream film debut. Filming took place during the summer and early autumn months of 1948. It was on the sets of this film that Burton was introduced by Williams to Sybil Williams, whom he married on 5 February 1949 at a register office in Kensington. "The Last Days of Dolwyn" opened to generally positive critical reviews. Burton was praised for his "acting fire, manly bearing and good looks" and film critic Philip French of "The Guardian" called it an "impressive movie debut". After marrying Sybil, Burton moved to his new address at 6 Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead NW3, where he lived from 1949 to 1956.


title: Richard Burton

text: Pleased with the feedback Burton received for his performance in "The Last Days of Dolwyn", the film's co-producer Alexander Korda offered him a contract at a stipend of £100 a week (), which he signed. The contract enabled Korda to lend Burton to films produced by other companies. Throughout the late 1940s and early 50s, Burton acted in small parts in various British films such as "Now Barabbas" (1949) with Richard Greene and Kathleen Harrison, "The Woman with No Name" (1950) opposite Phyllis Calvert, and "Waterfront" (1950) with Harrison. Burton had a bigger part as Robert Hammond, a spy for a newspaper editor in "Green Grow the Rushes" (1951) alongside Honor Blackman. His performance in "Now Barabbas" received positive feedback from critics. C. A. Lejeune of "The Observer" believed Burton had "all the qualities of a leading man that the British film industry badly needs at this juncture: youth, good looks, a photogenic face, obviously alert intelligence and a trick of getting the maximum effort with the minimum of fuss." For "The Woman With No Name", a critic from "The New York Times" thought Burton "merely adequate" in his role of the Norwegian aviator, Nick Chamerd. Biographer Bragg states the reviews for Burton's performance in "Waterfront" were "not bad", and that "Green Grow the Rushes" was a box office bomb.


title: Richard Burton

text: Rye recommended Richard to director Peter Glenville for the part of Hephaestion in Rattigan's play about Alexander the Great, "Adventure Story", in 1949. The play was directed by Glenville and starred the then up-and-coming actor Paul Scofield as the titular character. Glenville, however, rejected him as he felt that Burton was too short compared to Scofield. Rye came to the rescue again by sending Burton to audition for a role in "The Lady's Not for Burning", a play by Christopher Fry and directed by Gielgud. The lead roles were played by Gielgud himself, and Pamela Brown, while Burton played a supporting role as Richard alongside the then-relatively unknown actress Claire Bloom. Gielgud was initially uncertain about selecting Burton and asked him to come back the following day to repeat his audition. Burton got the part the second time he auditioned for the role. He was paid £15 a week for the part, which was five more than what Beaumont was paying him. After getting the part, he pushed for a raise in his salary from £10 to £30 a week with Williams' assistance, in addition to the £100 Korda paid him; Beaumont accepted it after much persuasion. Bloom was impressed with Burton's natural way of acting, noting that "he just was" and went further by saying "He was recognisably a star, a fact he didn't question."


title: Richard Burton

text: The play opened at the Globe Theatre in May 1949 and had a successful run in London for a year. Writer and journalist Samantha Ellis of "The Guardian", in her overview of the play, thought critics found Burton to be "most authentic" for his role. Gielgud took the play to Broadway in the United States, where it opened at the Royale Theatre on 8 November 1950. Theatre critic Brooks Atkinson appreciated the performances and praised the play's "hard glitter of wit and skepticism", while describing Fry as precocious with "a touch of genius". The play ran on Broadway until 17 March 1951, and received the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for the Best Foreign Play of 1951. Burton received the Theatre World Award for his performance, his first major award.


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton went on to feature in two more plays by Fry "The Boy With A Cart" and "A Phoenix Too Frequent". The former opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in February 1950, while the latter premiered at the Dolphin Theatre, Brighton the following month. Gielgud, who also directed "The Boy With A Cart", said that Burton's role in the play "was one of the most beautiful performances" he had ever seen. During its month-long run, Anthony Quayle, who was on the lookout for a young actor to star as Prince Hal in his adaptations of "Henry IV, Part I" and "Henry IV, Part 2" as a part of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre season for the Festival of Britain, came to see the play and as soon as he beheld Burton, he found his man and got his agreement to play the parts. Both plays opened in 1951 at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon to mixed reviews, but Burton received acclaim for his role as Prince Hal, with many critics dubbing him "the next Laurence Olivier". Theatre critic Kenneth Tynan said of his performance, "His playing of Prince Hal turned interested speculation to awe almost as soon as he started to speak; in the first intermission local critics stood agape in the lobbies." He was also praised by Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall after both saw the play. Bacall later said of him: "He was just marvellous [...] Bogie loved him. We all did." Burton celebrated his success by buying his first car, a Standard Flying Fourteen, and enjoyed a drink with Bogart at a pub called The Dirty Duck. Philip too was happy with the progress his ward made and that he felt "proud, humble, and awed by god's mysterious ways".


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton went on to perform in "Henry V" as the titular character, and played Ferdinand in "The Tempest" as a part of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre season as well. Neither role was overwhelmingly received by the critics, with a reviewer saying "he lacked inches" as Henry V. Olivier defended Burton by retaliating that he too received the same kind of review by the same critic for the same role. His last play in 1951 was as a musician named Orphée in Jean Anouilh's "Eurydice" opposite Dorothy McGuire and fellow Welsh actor Hugh Griffith. The play, retitled as "Legend of Lovers", opened in the Plymouth Theatre, New York City and ran for only a week, but critics were kind to Burton, with Bob Francis of "Billboard" magazine finding him "excellent as the self-tortured young accordionist".


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton began 1952 by starring alongside Noel Willman in the title role of Emmanuel Roblès adventure "Montserrat", which opened on 8 April at the Lyric Hammersmith. The play only ran for six weeks but Burton once again won praises from critics. According to Bragg, some of the critics who watched the performance considered it to be Burton's "most convincing role" till then. Tynan lauded Burton's role of Captain Montserrat, noting that he played it "with a variousness which is amazing when you consider that it is really little more than a protracted exposition of smouldering dismay".


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton successfully made the transition to Hollywood on the recommendation of film director George Cukor when he was given the lead role in the Gothic romance film, "My Cousin Rachel" (1952) opposite Olivia de Havilland. Darryl F. Zanuck, co-founder of 20th Century Fox, negotiated a deal with Korda to loan Burton to the company for three films as well as pay Burton a total of $150,000 ($50,000 per film). De Havilland did not get along well with Burton during filming, calling him "a coarse-grained man with a coarse-grained charm and a talent not completely developed, and a coarse-grained which makes him not like anyone else". One of Burton's friends opined it may have been because of Burton's making remarks to her that she did not find in good taste.


title: Richard Burton

text: While shooting ""My Cousin Rachel,"" Burton was offered the role of Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar" (1953) by the production company, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), but Burton refused it to avoid schedule conflicts. The role subsequently went to Marlon Brando for which he earned a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, "My Cousin Rachel" is about a man who suspects his rich cousin was murdered by his wife in order to inherit his wealth, but ends up falling in love with her, despite his suspicions. Upon release, the film was a decent grosser at the box office, and Burton's performance received mostly excellent reviews. Bosley Crowther, writing for "The New York Times", appreciated Burton's emotional performance, describing it as "most fetching"; he called him "the perfect hero of Miss du Maurier's tale". The "Los Angeles Daily News" reviewer stated "young Burton registers with an intense performance that stamps him as an actor of great potential". Conversely, a critic from the "Los Angeles Examiner" labelled Burton as "terribly, terribly tweedy". The film earned Burton the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor and his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.


title: Richard Burton

text: The year 1953 marked an important turning point in Burton's career. He arrived in Hollywood at a time when the studio system was struggling. The rise of television was drawing viewers away and the studios looked to new stars and film technologies to tempt viewers back to cinemas. He first appeared in the war film "The Desert Rats" with James Mason, playing an English captain in the North African campaign during World War II who takes charge of a hopelessly out-numbered Australian unit against the indomitable German field marshal, Erwin Rommel, who was portrayed by Mason. The film received generally good reviews from critics in London, although they complained the British contribution to the campaign had been minimised. The critic from "Variety" magazine thought Burton was "excellent" while "The New York Times" reviewer noted his "electric portrayal of the hero" made the film look "more than a plain, cavalier apology". Burton and Sybil became good friends with Mason and his wife Pamela Mason, and stayed at their residence until Burton returned home to the UK in June 1953 in order to play Prince Hamlet as a part of The Old Vic 1953–54 season. This was to be the first time in his career he took up the role.


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton's second and final film of the year was in the Biblical epic historical drama, "The Robe", notable for being the first ever motion picture to be made in CinemaScope. He replaced Tyrone Power, who was originally cast in the role of Marcellus Gallio, a noble but decadent Roman military tribune in command of the detachment of Roman soldiers that were involved in crucifying Jesus Christ. Haunted by nightmares of the crucifixion, he is eventually led to his own conversion. Marcellus' Greek slave Demetrius (played by Victor Mature) guides him as a spiritual teacher, and his wife Diana (played by Jean Simmons) follows his lead. The film set a trend for Biblical epics such as "Ben-Hur" (1959). Based on Lloyd C. Douglas' 1942 historical novel of the same name, "The Robe" was well received at the time of its release, but contemporary reviews have been less favourable. "Variety" magazine termed the performances of the lead cast "effective" and complemented the fight sequences between Burton and Jeff Morrow. Crowther believed that Burton was "stalwart, spirited and stern" as Marcellus. Jonathan Rosenbaum of the "Chicago Reader" called "The Robe" "pious claptrap". The film was a commercial success, grossing $17 million against a $5 million budget, and Burton received his second Best Actor nomination at the 26th Academy Awards.


title: Richard Burton

text: Bolstered by "The Robe"s box office collections, Zanuck offered Burton a seven-year, seven-picture $1 million contract (), but he politely turned it down as he was planning to head home to portray "Hamlet" at The Old Vic. Zanuck threatened to force Burton into cutting the deal, but the duo managed to come to a compromise when Burton agreed to a less binding contract, also for seven years and seven films at $1 million, that would begin only after he returned from his stint at The Old Vic's 1953–54 season.


title: Richard Burton

text: The incident spread like wildfire and his decision to walk out on a million dollar contract for a stipend of £150 a week at The Old Vic was met with both appreciation and surprise. Bragg believed Burton defied the studio system with this act when it would have been tantamount to unemployment for him. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper considered Burton's success in his first three films in Hollywood to be "the most exciting success story since Gregory Peck's contracts of ten years back".


title: Richard Burton

text: At a party held at Simmons' residence in Bel Air, Los Angeles to celebrate the success of "The Robe", Burton met Elizabeth Taylor for the first time. Taylor, who at the time was married to actor Michael Wilding and was pregnant with their first child, recalled her first impression of Burton being "rather full of himself. I seem to remember that he never stopped talking, and I had given him the cold fish eye." Hamlet was a challenge that both terrified and attracted him, as it was a role many of his peers in the British theatre had undertaken, including Gielgud and Olivier. He shared his anxiety with de Havilland whilst coming to terms with her. Bogart too, didn't make it easy for him when he retorted: "I never knew a man who played "Hamlet" who didn't die broke."


title: Richard Burton

text: Notwithstanding, Burton began his thirty-nine-week tenure at The Old Vic by rehearsing for "Hamlet" in July 1953, with Philip providing expert coaching on how to make Hamlet's character match Burton's dynamic acting style. Burton reunited with Bloom, who played Ophelia. "Hamlet" opened at the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland in September 1953 as part of The Old Vic season during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play and Burton's Hamlet were, on the whole, well received, with critics describing his interpretation of the character as "moody, virile and baleful" and that he had "dash, attack and verve". Burton's Hamlet was quite popular with the young audience, who came to watch the play in numbers as they were quite taken with the aggressiveness with which he portrayed the role. Burton also received appreciation from Winston Churchill. Gielgud was not too happy with Burton's Hamlet and asked him while both were backstage: "Shall I go ahead and wait until you're better?... ah, I mean ready?" Burton picked up the hint and infused some of Gielgud's traits to his own in later performances as Hamlet. A greater success followed in the form of the Roman General Gaius Marcius Coriolanus in "Coriolanus". At first, Burton refused to play Coriolanus as he didn't like the character's initial disdain for the poor and the downtrodden. Michael Benthall, who was renowned for his association with Tyrone Guthrie in a 1944 production of "Hamlet", sought Philip's help to entice Burton into accepting it. Philip convinced Burton by making him realise that it was Coriolanus' "lack of ambivalence" which made him an admirable character. Burton received even better reviews for Coriolanus than Hamlet. Hardy thought Burton's Hamlet was "too strong" but that "His Coriolanus is quite easily the best I've ever seen." Olivier too agreed it was the greatest Coriolanus he had ever seen till then.


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton's other roles for the season were Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night", Caliban in "The Tempest" and Philip of Cognac in "King John". All five of Burton's plays were directed by Benthall; three of those plays featured Bloom. While Belch was considered "disappointing", owing to Burton's not putting on the proper make-up for the part, his reviews for Caliban and Philip of Cognac were positive. Alpert believed Burton's presence made the 1953–54 season of The Old Vic a commercial success. Burton was an ardent admirer of poet Dylan Thomas since his boyhood days. On the poet's death on 9 November 1953, he wrote an essay about him and took the time to do a 1954 BBC Radio play on one of his final works, "Under Milk Wood", where he voiced the First Voice in an all-Welsh cast. The entire cast of the radio play, including Burton, did their roles free of charge. Burton reprised his role in the play's 1972 film adaptation with Taylor. Burton was also involved in narrating Lindsay Anderson's short documentary film about The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, "Thursday's Children" (1954).


title: Richard Burton

text: After The Old Vic season ended, Burton's contract with Fox required him to do three more films. The first was "Prince of Players" (1955), where he was cast as the 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, who was John Wilkes Booth's brother. Maggie McNamara played Edwin's wife, Mary Devlin Booth. Philip thought the script was "a disgrace" to Burton's name. The film's director Philip Dunne observed, "He hadn't mastered yet the tricks of the great movie stars, such as Gary Cooper, who knew them all. The personal magnetism Richard had on the sound stage didn't come through the camera." This was one aspect that troubled Richard throughout his career on celluloid. The film flopped at the box office and has since been described as "the first flop in CinemaScope". Crowther, however, lauded Burton's scenes where he performed Shakespeare plays such as Richard III.


title: Richard Burton

text: Shortly after the release of "Prince of Players", Burton met director Robert Rossen, who was well known at the time for his Academy Award-winning film, "All the King's Men" (1949). Rossen planned to cast Burton in "Alexander the Great" (1956) as the eponymous character. Burton accepted Rossen's offer after the director reassured him he had been studying the Macedonian king for two years to make sure the film was historically accurate. Burton was loaned by Fox to the film's production company United Artists, which paid him a fee of $100,000 (). "Alexander the Great" was made mostly in Spain during February 1955 and July 1955 on a budget of $6 million. The film reunited Burton with Bloom and it was also the first film he made with her. Bloom played the role of Barsine, the daughter of Artabazos II of Phrygia, and one of Alexander's three wives. Fredric March, Danielle Darrieux, Stanley Baker, Michael Hordern and William Squire were respectively cast as Philip II of Macedon, Olympias, Attalus, Demosthenes and Aeschines.


title: Richard Burton

text: After the completion of "Alexander the Great", Burton had high hopes for a favourable reception of the "intelligent epic", and went back to complete his next assignment for Fox, Jean Negulesco's "The Rains of Ranchipur" (1955). In this remake of Fox's own 1939 film "The Rains Came", Burton played a Hindu doctor, Rama Safti, who falls in love with Lady Edwina Esketh (Lana Turner), an invitee of the Maharani of the fictional town of Ranchipur. Burton faced the same troubles with playing character roles as before with Belch. "The Rains of Ranchipur" released on 16 December 1955, three months before "Alexander the Great" rolled out on 28 March 1956. Contrary to Burton's expectations, both the films were critical and commercial failures, and he rued his decision to act in them. "Time" magazine critic derided "The Rains of Ranchipur" and even went as far as to say Richard was hardly noticeable in the film. A. H. Weiler of "The New York Times", however, called Burton's rendering of Alexander "serious and impassioned".


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton returned to The Old Vic to perform "Henry V" for a second time. The Benthall-directed production opened in December 1955 to glowing reviews and was a much-needed triumph for Burton. Tynan made it official by famously saying Burton was now "the next successor to Olivier". The reviewer from "The Times" began by pointing out the deficiencies in Burton's previous rendition of the character in 1951 before stating:


title: Richard Burton

text: Mr. Burton's progress as an actor is such that already he is able to make good all the lacks of a few short years ago ... what was greatly metallic has been transformed into a steely strength which becomes the martial ring and hard brilliance of the patriotic verse. There now appears a romantic sense of a high kingly mission and the clear cognisance of the capacity to fulfil it ... the whole performance — a mostly satisfying one — is firmly under the control of the imagination.


title: Richard Burton

text: In January 1956, the "London Evening Standard" honoured Burton by presenting to him its Theatre Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Henry V. His success in and as Henry V led him to be called the "Welsh Wizard". "Henry V" was followed by Benthall's adaptation of "Othello" in February 1956, where he alternated on successive openings between the roles of Othello and Iago with John Neville. As Othello, Burton received both praise for his dynamism and criticism with being less poetical with his dialogues, while he was acclaimed as Iago.


title: Richard Burton

text: Burton's stay at The Old Vic was cut short when he was approached by the Italian neorealist director Roberto Rossellini for Fox's "Sea Wife" (1957), a drama set in World War II about a nun and three men marooned on an island after the ship they travel on is torpedoed by a U-boat. Joan Collins, who played the nun, was his co-star. Burton's role was that of an RAF officer who develops romantic feelings for the nun. Rossellini was informed by Zanuck not to have any kissing scenes between Burton and Collins, which Rossellini found unnatural; this led to him walking out of the film and being replaced by Bob McNaught, one of the executive producers. According to Collins, Burton had a "take-the-money-and-run attitude" toward the film. "Sea Wife" was not a successful venture, with biographer Munn observing that his salary was the only positive feature that came from the film. Philip saw it and said he was "ashamed" that it added another insult to injury in Burton's career.


title: Richard Burton

text: After "Sea Wife", Burton next appeared as the British Army Captain Jim Leith in Nicholas Ray's "Bitter Victory" (1957). Burton admired Ray's "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955) and was excited about working with him, but unfortunately despite positive feedback, "Bitter Victory" tanked as well. By mid-1957, Burton had no further offers in his kitty. He could not return to the UK because of his self-imposed exile from taxation, and his fortunes in film were dwindling. It was then that film producer and screenwriter Milton Sperling offered Burton to star alongside Helen Hayes and Susan Strasberg in Patricia Moyes' adaptation of Jean Anouilh's play, "Time Remembered" ("Léocadia" in the original French version). Sensing an opportunity for a career resurgence, Burton readily agreed to do the role of Prince Albert, who falls in love with a milliner named Amanda (Strasberg). It was on 10 September 1957, a day before he left for New York, that Sybil gave birth to their first child, Kate Burton. "Time Remembered" was well received on its opening nights at Broadway's Morosco Theatre and also at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. The play went on to have a good run of 248 performances for six months. Burton received his first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination while Hayes won her second Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Burton's mother, The Duchess of Pont-Au-Bronc.


title: Richard Burton

text: In 1958, Burton appeared with Yvonne Furneaux in DuPont Show of the Month's 90-minute television adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic novel "Wuthering Heights" as Heathcliff. The film, directed by Daniel Petrie, aired on 9 May 1958 on CBS with Burton garnering plaudits from both the critics and Philip, who thought he was "magnificent" in it.