title: Benin

text: The French government outlawed the capture and sale of slaves. Previous slaveowners sought to redefine their control over slaves as control over land, tenants, and lineage members. This provoked a struggle among Dahomeans, "concentrated in the period from 1895 to 1920, for the redistribution of control over land and labor. Villages sought to redefine boundaries of lands and fishing preserves. Religious disputes scarcely veiled the factional struggles over control of land and commerce which underlay them. Factions struggled for the leadership of great families".


title: Benin

text: In 1958, France granted autonomy to the Republic of Dahomey, and full independence on 1 August 1960 which is celebrated each year as Independence Day, a national holiday. The president who led the country to independence was Hubert Maga.


title: Benin

text: After 1960, there were coups and regime changes, with the figures of Hubert Maga, Sourou Apithy, Justin Ahomadégbé, and Émile Derlin Zinsou dominating; the first 3 each represented a different area and ethnicity of the country. These 3 agreed to form a Presidential Council after violence marred the 1970 elections.


title: Benin

text: On 7 May 1972, Maga ceded power to Ahomadégbé. On 26 October 1972, Lt. Col. Mathieu Kérékou overthrew the ruling triumvirate, becoming president and stating that the country would not "burden itself by copying foreign ideology, and wants neither Capitalism, Communism, nor Socialism". On 30 November 1974, he announced that the country was officially Marxist, under control of the Military Council of the Revolution (CMR), which nationalized the petroleum industry and banks. On 30 November 1975, he renamed the country the People's Republic of Benin. The regime of the People's Republic of Benin underwent changes over the course of its existence: a nationalist period (1972-1974); a socialist phase (1974-1982); and a phase involving an opening to Western countries and economic liberalism (1982-1990).


title: Benin

text: In 1974, under the influence of young revolutionaries - the "Ligueurs" - the government embarked on a socialist program: nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy, reform of the education system, establishment of agricultural cooperatives and new local government structures, and a campaign to eradicate "feudal forces" including tribalism. The regime banned opposition activities. Mathieu Kérékou was elected president by the National Revolutionary Assembly in 1980, re-elected in 1984. Establishing relations with China, North Korea, and Libya, he put "nearly all" businesses and economic activities under state control, causing foreign investment in Benin to dry up. Kérékou attempted to reorganize education, pushing his own aphorisms such as "Poverty is not a fatality". The regime financed itself by contracting to take nuclear waste, first from the Soviet Union and later from France.


title: Benin

text: In the 1980s, Benin experienced higher economic growth rates (15.6% in 1982, 4.6% in 1983 and 8.2% in 1984), and the closure of the Nigerian border with Benin led to a drop in customs and tax revenues. The government was no longer able to pay civil servants' salaries. In 1989, riots broke out when the regime did not have enough money to pay its army. The banking system collapsed. Eventually, Kérékou renounced Marxism, and a convention forced Kérékou to release political prisoners and arrange elections. Marxism–Leninism was abolished as the nation's form of government.


title: Benin

text: The country's name was officially changed to the" Republic of Benin" on 1 March 1990, after the newly formed government's constitution was completed.


title: Benin

text: Kérékou lost to Nicéphore Soglo in a 1991 election and became the first President on the African mainland to lose power through an election. Kérékou returned to power after winning the 1996 vote. In 2001, an election resulted in Kérékou winning another term, after which his opponents claimed election irregularities. In 1999, Kérékou issued a national apology for the substantial role that Africans had played in the Atlantic slave trade.


title: Benin

text: Kérékou and former president Soglo did not run in the 2006 elections, as both were barred by the constitution's restrictions on age and total terms of candidates. On 5 March 2006, an election resulted in a runoff between Yayi Boni and Adrien Houngbédji. The runoff election was held on 19 March and was won by Boni, who assumed office on 6 April. Boni was reelected in 2011, taking 53.18% of the vote in the first round—enough to avoid a runoff election. He was the first president to win an election without a runoff since the restoration of democracy in 1991.


title: Benin

text: In the March 2016 presidential elections in which Boni Yayi was barred by the constitution from running for a third term, businessman Patrice Talon won the second round with 65.37% of the vote, defeating investment banker and former Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou. Talon was sworn in on 6 April 2016. Speaking on the same day that the Constitutional Court confirmed the results, Talon said that he would "first and foremost tackle constitutional reform", discussing his plan to limit presidents to a single term of 5 years in order to combat "complacency". He said that he planned to slash the size of the government from 28 to 16 members. In April 2021, President Patrice Talon was re-elected, with more than 86.3% of the votes cast, in Benin's presidential election. The change in election laws resulted in total control of parliament by president Talon's supporters.


title: Benin

text: Its politics take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic in which the President of Benin is both head of state and head of government, within a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the government and the legislature. The judiciary is officially independent of the executive and the legislature, while in practice its independence has been gradually hollowed out by Talon, and the Constitutional Court is headed by his former personal lawyer. The political system is derived from the 1990 Constitution of Benin and the subsequent transition to democracy in 1991.


title: Benin

text: It was ranked 18th out of 52 African countries and scored best in the categories of Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights. In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Benin 53rd out of 169 countries. That place had fallen to 78th by 2016, when Talon took office, and has fallen further to 113th. Benin has been rated equal-88th out of 159 countries in a 2005 analysis of police, business, and political corruption.


title: Benin

text: Its democratic system "has eroded" since President Talon took office. In 2018 his government introduced new rules for fielding candidates and raised the cost of registering. The electoral commission, packed with Talon's allies, barred all opposition parties from the parliamentary election in 2019, resulting in a parliament made up entirely of supporters of Talon. That parliament subsequently changed election laws such that presidential candidates need to have the approval of at least 10% of Benin's MPs and mayors. As parliament and most mayors' offices are controlled by Talon, he has control over who can run for president. These changes have drawn condemnation from international observers and led to the United States government partially terminating development assistance to the country.


title: Benin

text: Benin is divided into 12 departments (French: "départements") which are subdivided into 77 communes. In 1999, the previous 6 departments were each split into 2 halves, forming the later 12.


title: Benin

text: The majority of Benin's 11,485,000 inhabitants live in the south of the country. The life expectancy is 62 years. About 42 African ethnic groups live in this country, including the Yoruba in the southeast (migrated from Nigeria in the 12th century); the Dendi in the north-central area (who came from Mali in the 16th century); the Bariba and the Fula in the northeast; the Betammaribe and the Somba in the Atakora Mountains; the Fon in the area around Abomey in the South Central and the Mina, Xueda, and Aja (who came from Togo) on the coast.


title: Benin

text: Migrations have brought other African nationals to Benin that include Nigerians, Togolese, and Malians. The foreign community includes Lebanese and Indians involved in trade and commerce. The personnel of European embassies and foreign aid missions and of nongovernmental organisations and missionary groups account for a part of the 5,500 European population. A part of the European population consists of Beninese citizens of French ancestry.


title: Benin

text: In the 2013 census, 48.5% of the population of Benin were Christian (25.5% Roman Catholic, 6.7% Celestial Church of Christ, 3.4% Methodist, 12.9% other Christian denominations), 27.7% were Muslim, 11.6% practiced Vodun, 2.6% practiced other local traditional religions, 2.6% practiced other religions, and 5.8% claimed no religious affiliation. A government survey conducted by the Demographic and Health Surveys Program in 2011-2012 indicated that followers of Christianity were 57.5% of the population (with Catholics making up 33.9%, Methodists 3.0%, Celestials 6.2% and other Christians 14.5%), while Muslims were 22.8%.


title: Benin

text: Traditional religions include local animistic religions in the Atakora (Atakora and Donga provinces), and Vodun and Orisha veneration among the Yoruba and Tado peoples in the center and south of the nation. The town of Ouidah on the central coast is the spiritual center of Beninese Vodun.


title: Benin

text: The 2 largest religions are Christianity, followed throughout the south and center of Benin and in Otammari country in the Atakora, and Islam, introduced by the Songhai Empire and Hausa merchants, and followed throughout Alibori, Borgou and Donga provinces, and among the Yoruba (who also follow Christianity). Some continue to hold Vodun and Orisha beliefs and have incorporated the pantheon of Vodun and Orisha into Christianity. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a Muslim sect originating in the 19th century, has a presence in the country.


title: Benin

text: The literacy rate: in 2015 it was estimated to be 38.4% (49.9% for males and 27.3% for females). Benin has achieved universal primary education and half of the children (54%) were enrolled in secondary education in 2013, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.


title: Benin

text: While at a time the education system was not free, Benin has abolished school fees and is carrying out the recommendations of its 2007 Educational Forum. The government has devoted more than 4% of GDP to education since 2009. In 2015, public expenditure on education (all levels) amounted to 4.4% of GDP, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Within this expenditure, Benin devoted a share to tertiary education: 0.97% of GDP.


title: Benin

text: Between 2009 and 2011, the share of people enrolled at university rose from 10% to 12% of the 18"–"25 year age cohort. Student enrollment in tertiary education more than doubled between 2006 and 2011 from 50,225 to 110,181. These statistics encompass not only bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. programmes but also students enrolled in non-degree post-secondary diplomas.


title: Benin

text: The HIV/AIDS rate in Benin was estimated in 2013 at 1.13% of adults aged 15–49 years. Malaria is a problem in Benin, being a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children younger than 5 years.


title: Benin

text: During the 1980s, less than 30% of the country's population had access to primary health care services. Benin's infant mortality rate stood at 203 deaths for every live births. 1 in 3 mothers had access to child health care services. The Bamako Initiative changed that by introducing community-based healthcare reform, resulting in "more efficient and equitable" provision of services. , Benin had the 26th highest rate of maternal mortality in the world. According to a 2013 UNICEF report, 13% of women had undergone female genital mutilation. An approach strategy was extended to all areas of healthcare, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost. Demographic and Health Surveys has surveyed the issue in Benin since 1996.


title: Benin

text: The north–south strip of land in West Africa lies between latitudes 6° and 13°N, and longitudes 0° and 4°E. It is bounded by Togo to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, Nigeria to the east, and the Bight of Benin to the south. The distance from the Niger River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south is about . Although the coastline measures , the country measures about at its widest point. 4 terrestrial ecoregions lie within Benin's borders: Eastern Guinean forests, Nigerian lowland forests, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, and West Sudanian savanna. It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.86/10, ranking it 93rd globally out of 172 countries.


title: Benin

text: Benin shows some variation in elevation and can be divided into 4 areas from the south to the north, starting with the lower-lying, sandy, coastal plain (highest elevation ) which is, at most, wide. It is marshy and dotted with lakes and lagoons communicating with the ocean. Behind the coast lies the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic-covered plateaus of southern Benin (altitude between ), which are split by valleys running north to south along the Couffo, Zou, and Ouémé Rivers.


title: Benin

text: This geography makes it vulnerable to climate change. With the majority of the country living near the coast in lower-lying areas sea level rise could have effects on the economy and population. Northern areas will see additional regions become deserts.


title: Benin

text: An area of flatter land dotted with rocky hills whose altitude reaches extends around Nikki and Save.


title: Benin

text: A range of mountains extends along the northwest border and into Togo; these are the Atacora. The highest point, Mont Sokbaro, is at . Benin has fields, mangroves, and remnants of forests. In the rest of the country, the savanna is covered with thorny scrub and dotted with baobab trees. Some forests line the banks of rivers. In the north and the northwest of Benin, the Reserve du W du Niger and Pendjari National Park has elephants, lions, antelopes, hippos, and monkeys. Pendjari National Park together with the bordering Parks Arli and W in Burkina Faso and Niger are among the strongholds for the endangered West African lion. With an estimated 356 (range: 246–466) lions, W-Arli-Pendjari harbors the largest remaining population of lions in West Africa. Historically Benin has served as habitat for the endangered painted hunting dog, "Lycaon pictus"; this canid is thought to have been locally extirpated.


title: Benin

text: Annual rainfall in the coastal area averages 1300 mm or about 51 inches. Benin has 2 rainy and 2 dry seasons per year. The principal rainy season is from April to late July, with a shorter less intense rainy period from September to November. The main dry season is from December to April, with a cooler dry season from July to September. Temperatures and humidity are higher along the tropical coast. In Cotonou, the average maximum temperature is ; the minimum is .


title: Benin

text: Variations in temperature increase when moving north through savanna and plateau toward the Sahel. A dry wind from the Sahara called the Harmattan blows from December to March, when grass dries up, other vegetation turns reddish brown, and a veil of fine dust hangs over the country, causing the skies to be "overcast". It is also the season when farmers burn brush in the fields.


title: Benin

text: The economy is dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Cotton accounts for 40% of the GDP and roughly 80% of official export receipts.


title: Benin

text: Real GDP growth was estimated at 5.1 and 5.7% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The main driver of growth is the agricultural sector, with cotton being the main export, while services continue to contribute the largest part of GDP mostly because of Benin's geographical location, enabling trade, transportation, transit and tourism activities with its neighboring states. Benin's overall macroeconomic conditions were "positive" in 2017, with a growth rate of around 5.6%. Economic growth was mostly driven by the cotton industry and other cash crops, the Port of Cotonou, and telecommunications. A source of revenue is the Port of Cotonou, and the government is seeking to expand its revenue base. In 2017, Benin imported about $2.8 billion in goods such as rice, meat and poultry, alcoholic beverages, fuel plastic materials, specialized mining and excavating machinery, telecommunications equipment, passenger vehicles, and toiletries and cosmetics. Principal exports are ginned cotton, cotton cake and cotton seeds, cashew, shea butter, cooking oil, and lumber.


title: Benin

text: Access to biocapacity is lower than world average. In 2016, Benin had 0.9 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Benin used 1.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use "slightly under double" as much biocapacity as Benin contains. As a result, Benin is running a biocapacity deficit.


title: Benin

text: In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. Projects to improve the business climate by reforms to the land tenure system, the commercial justice system, and the financial sector were included in Benin's US$307 million Millennium Challenge Account grant signed in February 2006.


title: Benin

text: The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, with Benin benefiting from a G8 debt reduction announced in July 2005, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms. An "insufficient" electrical supply continues to "adversely affect" Benin's economic growth and the government has taken steps to increase domestic power production.


title: Benin

text: While trade unions in Benin represent up to 75% of the formal workforce, the informal economy has been noted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) to contain ongoing problems, including a lack of women's wage equality, the use of child labor, and the continuing issue of forced labor. Benin is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).


title: Benin

text: Cotonou has the country's only seaport and international airport. Benin is connected by 2-lane asphalted roads to its neighboring countries (Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria). Mobile telephone service is available across the country through operators. ADSL connections are available in some areas. Benin is connected to the Internet by way of satellite connections (since 1998) and a single submarine cable SAT-3/WASC (since 2001). Relief of "high price" is expected with the initiation of the Africa Coast to Europe cable in 2011.


title: Benin

text: With the GDP growth rate of 4-5% remaining consistent over 2 decades, poverty has been increasing. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis in Benin, those living under the poverty line have increased from 36.2% in 2011 to 40.1% in 2015.


title: Benin

text: The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is responsible for implementing science policy. The National Directorate of Scientific and Technological Research handles planning and coordination whereas the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research and National Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters each play an advisory role. Financial support comes from Benin's National Fund for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation. The Benin Agency for the Promotion of Research Results and Technological Innovation carries out technology transfer through the development and dissemination of research results. Benin was ranked 128th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 123rd in 2019.


title: Benin

text: The regulatory framework has evolved since 2006 when the a science policy was prepared. This has been updated and complemented by new texts on science and innovation (the year of adoption is between brackets):


title: Benin

text: In 2015, Benin's priority areas for scientific research were: health, education, construction and building materials, transportation and trade, culture, tourism and handicrafts, cotton/textiles, food, energy and climate change.


title: Benin

text: In 2007, Benin counted 1,000 researchers (in headcounts). This corresponds to 115 researchers per million inhabitants. The "main research structures" are the Centre for Scientific and Technical Research, National Institute of Agricultural Research, National Institute for Training and Research in Education, Office of Geological and Mining Research and the Centre for Entomological Research.


title: Benin

text: The University of Abomey-Calavi was selected by the World Bank in 2014 to participate in its Centres of Excellence project, owing to its expertise in applied mathematics. Within this project, the World Bank has loaned $8 million to Benin. The Association of African Universities has received funds to enable it to co-ordinate knowledge-sharing among the 19 universities in West Africa involved in the project.


title: Benin

text: In 2013, the government devoted 2.5% of GDP to public health. In December 2014, 150 volunteer health professionals travelled to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, as part of a joint initiative by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its specialized agency, the West African Health Organisation, to help combat the epidemic. The Ebola epidemic has been a reminder of the underinvestment in West African health systems.


title: Benin

text: The Government of Benin devoted less than 5% of GDP to agricultural development in 2010, while the members of the African Union had agreed to commit at least 10% of GDP to this area in the "Maputo Declaration" of 2003. They reiterated this goal in the "Malabo Declaration" adopted in Equatorial Guinea in 2014. In the latter declaration, they reaffirmed their 'intention to devote 10% of their national budgets to agricultural development and agreed to targets such as doubling agricultural productivity, halving post-harvest loss and bringing stunting down to 10% across Africa'. African leaders meeting in Equatorial Guinea failed to resolve the debate on establishing a common standard of measurement for the 10% target.


title: Benin

text: Benin has the third-highest publication intensity for scientific journals in West Africa, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded. There were 25.5 scientific articles per million inhabitants cataloged in this database in 2014. This compares with 65.0 for the Gambia, 49.6 for Cape Verde, 23.2 for Senegal and 21.9 for Ghana. The volume of publications in this database tripled in Benin between 2005 and 2014 from 86 to 270. Between 2008 and 2014, Benin's "main scientific collaborators" were based in France (529 articles), United States (261), United Kingdom (254), Belgium (198) and Germany (156).


title: Benin

text: Transport in Benin includes road, rail, water and air transportation. Benin possesses a total of 6,787 km of highway, of which 1,357 km are paved. Of the paved highways in the country, there are 10 expressways. This leaves 5,430 km of unpaved road. The Trans-West African Coastal Highway crosses Benin, connecting it to Nigeria to the east, and Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast to the west. When construction in Liberia and Sierra Leone is finished, the highway will continue west to 7 other Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) nations. A paved highway connects Benin northwards to Niger, and through that country to Burkina Faso and Mali to the north-west.


title: Benin

text: Rail transport in Benin consists of of single track, railway. Construction work has commenced on international lines connecting Benin with Niger and Nigeria, with outline plans announced for further connections to Togo and Burkina Faso. Benin will be a participant in the AfricaRail project.


title: Benin

text: Cadjehoun Airport, located at Cotonou, has direct international jet service to Accra, Niamey, Monrovia, Lagos, Ouagadougou, Lomé, and Douala, and other cities in Africa. Direct services link Cotonou to Paris, Brussels, and Istanbul.


title: Benin

text: Beninese literature had an oral tradition before French became the dominant language. Félix Couchoro wrote the first Beninese novel, "L'Esclave" (The Slave), in 1929.


title: Benin

text: Post-independence, native folk music was combined with Ghanaian highlife, French cabaret, American rock, funk and soul, and Congolese rumba.


title: Benin

text: Biennale Benin, continuing the projects of some organizations and artists, started in the country in 2010 as a collaborative event called "Regard Benin". In 2012, the project became a Biennial coordinated by the Consortium, a federation of local associations. The international exhibition and artistic program of the 2012 Biennale Benin are curated by Abdellah Karroum and the Curatorial Delegation.


title: Benin

text: Some Beninese in the south of the country have Akan-based names indicating the day of the week on which they were born. This is due to influence of the Akan people such as the Akwamu and others.


title: Benin

text: Local languages are used as the languages of instruction in elementary schools, with French introduced after years. At the secondary school level, French is the sole language of instruction. Beninese languages are "generally transcribed" with a separate letter for each speech sound (phoneme), rather than using diacritics as in French or digraphs as in English. This includes Beninese Yoruba, which in Nigeria is written with both diacritics and digraphs. For instance, the mid vowels written "é, è, ô, o" in French are written "" in Beninese languages, whereas the consonants are written "ng" and "sh" or "ch" in English are written "ŋ" and "c." Digraphs are used for nasal vowels and the labial-velar consonants "kp" and "gb," as in the name of the Fon language "Fon gbe" , and diacritics are used as tone marks. In French-language publications, a mixture of French and Beninese orthographies may be seen.


title: Benin

text: The cuisine involves fresh meals served with a variety of key sauces. In southern Benin cuisine, an ingredient is corn which has been used to prepare dough which has been served with peanut- or tomato-based sauces. Fish and chicken, beef, goat, and bush rat are consumed. A staple in northern Benin is yams which has been served with sauces mentioned above. The population in the northern provinces use beef and pork meat which is fried in palm or peanut oil or cooked in sauces. Cheese is used in some dishes. Couscous, rice, and beans are eaten, along with fruits such as mangoes, oranges, avocados, bananas, kiwi fruit, and pineapples.


title: Benin

text: Meals are said to be generally light on meat and generous on vegetable fat. Frying in palm or peanut oil is a meat preparation, and smoked fish is prepared in Benin. Grinders are used to prepare corn flour, which is made into a dough and served with sauces. "Chicken on the spit" is a recipe in which chicken is roasted over a fire on wooden sticks. Palm roots are sometimes soaked in a jar with salt water and sliced garlic to tenderize them, then used in dishes. Some people have outdoor mud stoves for cooking.


title: Benin

text: Benin has numerous non-sovereign monarchies within the country, many of them derivative of pre-colonial kingdoms (such as Arda). Non-sovereign monarchs do not have an official, constitutional role, and are largely ceremonial and subservient to political and civil authorities. Despite this, they play an influential role in local political matters within their particular realms and are often courted by Beninese politicians for electoral support. Advocacy groups such as the High Council of Kings of Benin represent the monarchs nationally.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: "Drive My Car" had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won three awards, including Best Screenplay. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with many declaring it the best film of 2021. It was nominated for four awards at the 94th Academy Awards, winning Best International Feature Film, and received numerous other accolades. "Drive My Car" was the first Japanese film to receive a Best Picture nomination.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Stage actor and director Yūsuke Kafuku lives in Tokyo with his wife Oto, a screenwriter who conceives her stories during sex and narrates them to him. He learns his lines by listening to tapes recorded by Oto, while driving his red Saab 900 Turbo. After Yūsuke performs in "Waiting for Godot", Oto introduces him to young television star Kōji Takatsuki. Yūsuke returns home early one day and finds his wife having sex with Kōji, but does not disturb them. After a car crash, Yūsuke discovers he has glaucoma in one eye and must take eyedrops to prevent blindness. One day, Oto asks to have a serious conversation with Yūsuke. After he spends the day driving alone, Yūsuke returns home to find Oto dead from a brain hemorrhage. After the funeral, Yūsuke breaks down while performing the title role in "Uncle Vanya".


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Two years later, Yūsuke accepts a residency in Hiroshima to direct a multilingual production of "Uncle Vanya". The theatre festival requires that he be chauffeured in his own car for insurance reasons, and he eventually bonds with his reserved young driver, Misaki Watari. With the help of dramaturge Gong Yoon-su, Yūsuke casts a diverse group of actors to perform in their native languages. Impressed by Lee Yoo-na, a mute actress who communicates in Korean Sign Language, Yūsuke also unexpectedly casts Kōji as Uncle Vanya.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: After a rehearsal, Kōji invites Yūsuke for a drink, where the young actor pushes against harsh assessments of his character but admits to his unrequited love for Oto. He scolds someone for taking a photo of him. Yoon-su invites Yūsuke and Misaki to dinner with his wife, who is revealed to be Yoo-na. Driving home, Misaki tells Yūsuke about driving her abusive mother for long hours at a young age. They later visit a garbage facility, where Misaki explains that she drove garbage trucks after leaving her hometown when a landslide destroyed her home and killed her mother.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Drinking with Kōji again, Yūsuke reveals that he thinks he can no longer play Vanya himself, and suggests that Kōji's lack of self-control is a personal weakness but a strength as an actor. After Kōji slips away to confront a man taking photos of him, Misaki drives them home. Yūsuke reveals that he and Oto lost their young daughter, who would now be Misaki's age; Oto's gift for telling stories after sex was a bond that helped them both cope. Though he knew of his wife's affairs, Yūsuke believes she still loved him, and Kōji shares one of Oto's stories that Yūsuke never heard in its entirety.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The police interrupt a rehearsal and arrest Kōji, as the man he attacked has died from his injuries. Given two days to consider whether to take over as Vanya or else cancel the production, Yūsuke asks Misaki to take him to her childhood home in Hokkaido. Yūsuke shares his guilt for not coming home to face the discussion Oto wanted to have, which might have allowed him to save her life. Misaki reveals that she escaped the landslide but chose not to pull her mother from the wreckage, receiving a scar on her cheek she has chosen not to have treated. They visit the snowy remains of Misaki's childhood home, and hug as they both confront their shared grief.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Yūsuke assumes the role of Vanya and gives an impassioned performance before a live audience, including Misaki. Yoo-na meaningfully delivers Sonya's final lines: "We shall hear the angels, we shall see the whole sky all in diamonds, we shall see how all earthly evil, all our sufferings, are drowned in the mercy that will fill the whole world. And our life will grow peaceful, tender, sweet as a caress… You've had no joy in your life; but wait, Uncle Vanya, wait… We shall rest." Actors and audience alike are moved by the performace. Some time later, Misaki is living in Korea. Buying groceries, she returns to Yūsuke's red Saab, in which a dog rests. She takes off her surgical mask, revealing that her scar is now barely visible, and drives away.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The film is directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The film was originally set in Busan, South Korea, but was changed to Hiroshima due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Hamaguchi was the co-writer of the filmscript with Takamasa Oe. It is primarily based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami from his 2014 short story collection, "Men Without Women". The script also features elements from Murakami's stories "Scheherazade" and "Kino" (both also part of "Men Without Women"). For the film version, the co-authors were reported by "The New York Times" to have "greatly expanded on the (short) story's central dynamic, which turns on a sexist widowed actor and the much-younger female driver who motors him around in his cherished Saab."


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The original story features a yellow Saab 900 convertible, but it was changed in the film to a red Saab 900 Turbo to visually complement the Hiroshima landscape.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Hamaguchi wished to incorporate the Beatles' song "Drive My Car", which the film and story are named after, however it was too difficult to get permission for its usage. He instead included a string quartet piece by Beethoven, which is directly referenced in Murakami's original story.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Writing for Pitchfork, Quinn Moreland wrote that the soundtrack "possesses a cool remove, mirroring the film's glacial profundity with organic nuance and contemplative improvisation." Vannesa Ague of The Quietus wrote; "Ishibashi creates a narrative within the theme and variations, tracing a musical path that stands on its own." Writing for PopMatters, Jay Honeycomb wrote; "Ishibashi's music washes over you when it comes, allowing the seeds planted by Hamaguchi to germinate and grow without drowning you in sentimentality."


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The original score for "Drive My Car" was composed by musician Eiko Ishibashi. In an interview with Variety, director Hamaguchi said; "Typically, I don't use a lot of music in my films, but hearing the music Ishibashi made was the first time I thought this could work for the film." The soundtrack consists of 12 tracks.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: "Drive My Car" had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or. And it was released in United Kingdom on 19 November 2021 and on 24 November 2021 in the United States.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film were released on July 19, 2022 in the USA as part of the library of The Criterion Collection films.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: , "Drive My Car" has grossed $2.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $12.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $14.7 million.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: In the United States, the film had grossed $944,000 at the time of its Oscar nominations on February 8, 2022. Between then and March 20, it grossed $1.15 million (a 122% increase), for a running total of $2.1 million.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 215 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Drive My Car"s imposing runtime holds a rich, patiently engrossing drama that reckons with self-acceptance and regret." According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 91 out of 100 based on 42 critics, the film received "universal acclaim".


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The film received a positive review from Manohla Dargis in "The New York Times", where she wrote, ""Drive My Car" sneaks up on you, lulling you in with visuals that are as straightforward as the narrative is complex." Writing for "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw gave the film five stars out of five and called it an "engrossing and exalting experience".


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Metacritic reported that "Drive My Car" appeared on over 89 film critics' top-ten lists for 2021, the most of any foreign-language film that year, and ranked first or second on 23 lists.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: Carlos Aguilar found the cinematography of the film to be exceptional, stating that: "Bountiful in subtle imagery from cinematographer Hidetoshi Shinomiya, the film mines majestic visual symbolism from seemingly ordinary occurrences. Take for example a shot of Yûsuke and Misaki's hand through the car's sunroof holding cigarettes as to not let the smoke permeate their sacred mode of transportation—an unspoken communion of respect."


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival where it won three awards including Best Screenplay. Hamaguchi and Oe became the first Japanese individuals to win the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes. At the 79th Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Foreign Language Film.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: It was picked as the Japanese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, making the December 2021 shortlist. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Hamaguchi, Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-screenwriter Takamasa Oe, and Best International Feature Film, winning the latter award. It was the first Japanese film to receive a Best Picture nomination, and Hamaguchi became the third Japanese director nominated for Best Director since Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1965 and Akira Kurosawa in 1985.


title: Drive My Car (film)

text: It became the latest (and the first non-English-language film) of the only six to win Best Picture from all three major U.S. critics groups (LAFCA, NYFCC, NSFC), the other five being "Goodfellas", "Schindler's List", "L.A. Confidential", "The Social Network" and "The Hurt Locker".


title: Raquel Welch

text: She first won attention for her role in "Fantastic Voyage" (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer Film Productions, for whom she made "One Million Years B.C." (1966). Although she had only three lines of dialogue in the film, images of her in the doe-skin bikini became best-selling posters that turned her into an international sex symbol. She later starred in "Bedazzled" (1967), "Bandolero!" (1968), "100 Rifles" (1969), "Myra Breckinridge" (1970) and "Hannie Caulder" (1971). She made several television variety specials.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Through her portrayal of strong female characters, which helped in her breaking the mold of the traditional sex symbol, Welch developed a unique film persona that made her an icon of the 1960s and 1970s. Her rise to stardom in the mid-1960s was partly credited with ending Hollywood's vigorous promotion of the blonde bombshell. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy in 1974 for her performance in "The Three Musketeers". She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Television Film for her performance in the film "Right to Die" (1987). In 1995, Welch was chosen by "Empire" magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History". "Playboy" ranked Welch No.3 on their "100 Sexiest Stars of the Twentieth Century" list.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch was born as Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois. She is the first child of Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father, Armando Tejada, was an aeronautical engineer from La Paz, Bolivia, son of Agustin Tejada and Raquel Urquizo. In 2010 while being interviewed on the talk show "Tavis Smiley", Welch stated, "My father came from a country called Bolivia. He was of Spanish descent." Her cousin, Bolivian politician Lidia Gueiler Tejada, became the first female President of Bolivia and the second female non-royal head of state in the Americas. Welch was named after her paternal grandmother. Her mother, Josephine Hall, was the daughter of architect Emery Stanford Hall and his wife Clara Louise Adams; she was of English ancestry. Welch has a younger brother, James "Jim" Tejada, and had a younger sister, Gayle Tejada.


title: Raquel Welch

text: The family moved from Illinois to San Diego, California, when Welch was two years old. Welch attended the Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church every Sunday with her mother. As a young girl, Welch had the desire to be a performer and entertainer. She began studying ballet at age seven, but after ten years of study, she left the art at seventeen when her instructor told her she did not have the right body type for professional ballet companies. At age 14, she won beauty titles as Miss Photogenic and Miss Contour. While attending La Jolla High School she won the title of Miss La Jolla and the title of Miss San Diegothe Fairest of the Fairat the San Diego County Fair. This long line of beauty contests eventually led to the state title of Maid of California. Her parents divorced when she finished her school years.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch graduated with honors from high school in 1958. Seeking an acting career, Welch entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship, and the following year she married her high school sweetheart, James Welch. She won several parts in local theater productions. In 1959, she played the title role in "The Ramona Pageant", a yearly outdoor play at Hemet, California, which is based on the novel "Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson.


title: Raquel Welch

text: She got a job as a weather forecaster at KFMB, a local San Diego television station. Because her family life and television duties were so demanding she decided to give up her drama classes. After her separation from James Welch, she moved with her two children to Dallas, where she made a "precarious living" as a model for Neiman Marcus and as a cocktail waitress.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch initially intended to move to New York City from Dallas, but moved back to Los Angeles in 1963 and started applying for roles with the movie studios. During this period of time, she met one-time child actor and Hollywood agent Patrick Curtis who became her personal and business manager. They developed a plan to turn Welch into a sex symbol. To avoid typecasting as a Latina, he convinced her to use her husband's last name.


title: Raquel Welch

text: She was cast in small roles in two films, "A House Is Not a Home" (1964) and the musical "Roustabout" (1964), an Elvis Presley film. She also landed small roles on the television series "Bewitched", "McHale's Navy" and "The Virginian" and appeared on the weekly variety series "The Hollywood Palace" as a billboard girl and presenter. She was one of many actresses who auditioned for the role of Mary Ann Summers on the television series "Gilligan's Island".


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch's first featured role was in the beach film "A Swingin' Summer" (1965). That same year, she won the Deb Star while her photo in a "Life" magazine layout called "The End of the Great Girl Drought!" created buzz around town. She was noticed by the wife of producer Saul David, who recommended her to 20th Century Fox, where with the help of Curtis she landed a contract. She agreed to seven-year nonexclusive contract, five pictures over the next five years and two floaters. Studio executives talked about changing her name to "Debbie". They thought "Raquel" would be hard to pronounce. She refused their request. She wanted her real name, so she stuck with "Raquel Welch".


title: Raquel Welch

text: She was cast in a leading role in the sci-fi film "Fantastic Voyage" (1966), in which she portrayed a member of a medical team that is miniaturized and injected into the body of an injured diplomat with the mission to save his life. The film was a hit and made her a star.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Fox Studio loaned Welch to Hammer Studios in Britain where she starred in "One Million Years B.C." (1966), a remake of the Hal Roach film "One Million B.C." (1940). Her only costume was a two-piece deer skin bikini. She was described as "wearing mankind's first bikini" and the fur bikini was described as a "definitive look of the 1960s". "The New York Times" hailed her in its review of the film (which was released in the U.K. in 1966 and in the U.S. in 1967), "a marvelous breathing monument to womankind". One author said, "although she had only three lines in the film, her luscious figure in a fur bikini made her a star and the dream girl of millions of young moviegoers". A publicity still of her in the bikini became a best-selling poster and turned her into an instant pin-up girl. The film raised Welch's stature as a leading sex symbol of the era. In 2011, "Time" listed Welch's "B.C." bikini in the "Top Ten Bikinis in Pop Culture".


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1966, Welch starred with Marcello Mastroianni in the Italian film "Shoot Loud, Louder... I Don't Understand" for Joe E. Levine. The same year, she appeared in the film "Sex Quartet" (1966) as Elena in the segment "Fata Elena". She was the only American in the cast of the anthology film "The Oldest Profession" (1967); her segment was directed by Michael Pfleghar. In Italy, she also appeared in a heist movie for MGM, "The Biggest Bundle of Them All" (1968). It co-starred Edward G. Robinson who said of Welch, "I must say she has quite a body. She has been the product of a good publicity campaign. I hope she lives up to it because a body will only take you so far."


title: Raquel Welch

text: Her first starring vehicle, the British Modesty Blaise-style spy movie "Fathom" (1967), was filmed in Spain for 20th Century Fox. Second unit director Peter Medak said Welch "was at that time quite inexperienced, exactly like one of those American drum majorettes. But she tried very hard and went to see the rushes each day, gradually improving. 'Who's this dumb broad?' people used to say. But I said: 'You wait. I'll bet she makes it.' I liked her very much because she was such a genuine person. And she had a beautiful body which always helps." Welch said her role was "a blown up Barbie doll". Reviewing her performance, the "Los Angeles Times" film critic said that "each new Raquel Welch picture brings further proof that when Maria Montez died they didn't break the mold. Like Maria, Raquel can't act from here to there, but both ladies seem to have been born to be photographed... this sappiest of spy pictures."


title: Raquel Welch

text: At this stage, Welch owed Fox four films, at one a year. She and Curtis also established their own production company, Curtwel. Fox wanted Welch to play Jennifer in their adaptation of "Valley of the Dolls" but she refused, wanting to play the role of Neely O'Hara. The studio was not interested, casting Patty Duke; Sharon Tate played Jennifer North.


title: Raquel Welch

text: In England, she appeared as Lust incarnate in the Peter Cook–Dudley Moore comedy, "Bedazzled" (1967), a Swinging '60s retelling of the Faust legend. It was popular, as was the Western, "Bandolero!" (1968), which was shot in Del Rio, Texas, at the Alamo Village. It co-starred her against James Stewart and Dean Martin. "I think she's going to stack up all right," Stewart said of Welch. "No one is going to shout, 'Wow it's Anne Bancroft all over again'," said Welch of her performance, "but at least I'm not Miss Sexpot running around half naked all the time."


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1968, Welch appeared with Frank Sinatra in the detective film "Lady in Cement", a sequel to the film "Tony Rome" (1967). She played the socialite Kit Forrest, the romantic interest of Tony Rome. Welch said later wittily that she catches the film from time to time and now realizes Kit Forrest was an alcoholic: "I'm watching this movie and I'm thinking, 'What the hell has she got on?' At one point, I had this epiphany: 'Oh, she's an alcoholic!' I didn't know that. How could I miss that?" She reportedly was so smitten with Sinatra she forgot to act: "I think I was just so enamoured with Frank Sinatra, you know. He's hypnotic."


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch starred as a freedom fighter leader in "100 Rifles", a 1969 western directed by Tom Gries and filmed in Almería, Spain. It also starred Jim Brown, Burt Reynolds and Fernando Lamas. The movie provoked publicity and controversy at the time because it included a love scene between Welch and Brown that breached the Hollywood taboo against the onscreen portrayal of interracial intimacy. The film is remembered for the spectacular "Shower Scene" in which Welch distracts the soldiers on the train by taking a shower at a water tower along the tracks. The director, Gries, tried hard to convince Welch to do the scene naked, but she refused. It was one of the many instances Welch resisted going nude on-screen and pushed back for years against producers who wanted her to act or pose nude. In 1969, Welch also starred in the thriller "Flareup" and had a supporting role in the dark comedy "The Magic Christian".


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch's most controversial role came in "Myra Breckinridge" (1970). She took the role as the film's transsexual heroine in an attempt to be taken seriously as an actress. The production was characterized by animosity between Welch and Mae West, who walked out of the film for three days. The film was based on Gore Vidal's controversial bestseller about a man who becomes a woman through surgery. The film's producer Robert Fryer stated: "If a man were going to become a woman, he would want to become the most beautiful woman in the world. He would become Raquel Welch".


title: Raquel Welch

text: Her looks and fame led "Playboy" to dub her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s. Welch presented at the Academy Award ceremony several times during the 1970s due to her popularity. She accepted the Best Supporting Actress Oscar on behalf of fellow actress Goldie Hawn when Hawn could not be there to accept it.


title: Raquel Welch

text: On April 26, 1970, CBS released her television special "Raquel!." On the day of the premiere, the show received a 51% share on the National ARB Ratings and an overnight New York Nielsen rating of 58% share. Also that year Welch acted in "The Beloved," in which she starred and produced and filmed in Cyprus.


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1972, Welch acted in "Kansas City Bomber" and had a cameo in "Bluebeard." In "Kansas City Bomber" Welch played a hardened roller-derby star and single mother who tries to balance her desire for a happy personal life and her dreams of stardom. "Life" dubbed Welch the "hottest thing on wheels" for her role. The production of the film shut down for six weeks after Welch broke her wrist doing some of her own stunts. In the interim, she flew to Budapest and filmed a cameo in "Bluebeard" opposite Richard Burton. Although "Kansas City Bomber" was not considered a critical success, it vividly depicted gender relations in the early 1970s. In a 2012 interview, Welch reflected on the roller derby world depicted in the film: "You have all those women out there, but the men in the front office are really running it. Which I thought was a really nice metaphor for the way a lot of women felt about their lives at that time."


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1975, Welch acted in "The Wild Party". That year in an interview, Welch said she thought she had been "good" in "Kansas City Bomber", "Myra Breckenridge" and "The Last of Sheila" "but being good in a bad movie doesn't do anything for your career."


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1977, Welch acted in "Animal", filmed in France with Jean-Paul Belmondo. That year, she also starred in the British swashbuckling adventure "The Prince and the Pauper".


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1979, for the series "Mork & Mindy", Welch was featured as an alien bounty hunter pursuing Robin Williams in "Mork vs. the Necrotons".


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1981 she starred on Broadway in "Woman of the Year", receiving praise for following Lauren Bacall in the title role.


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1982, Welch acted in the Western television film "The Legend of Walks Far Woman". Around this time, along with Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren, Welch was among the candidates considered for the role of Alexis Carrington on the ABC prime time drama "Dynasty" which began in 1981, before the producers settled on Joan Collins.


title: Raquel Welch

text: She was due to star in a 1982 adaptation of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row", but was abruptly fired by the producers a few weeks into production. The studio claimed she was not living up to her contract, by refusing early-morning rehearsals, and was replaced with Debra Winger. Welch sued MGM for breach of contract. Studio executives claimed in testimony the reason Welch was following through with the trial was because she was an actress over 40 and generally actresses in that age range cannot get roles anymore. Welch's evidence at trial proved there was a conspiracy to falsely blame her for the film's budget problems and delays. The jury sided with Welch and she won a $10.8 million verdict against MGM in 1986.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Despite the win, Welch wished the whole episode never had happened. "I just wanted to clear my reputation and get back to my work, my work in movies", she said. But she was blackballed by the industry and the incident affected her film career on the big screen from that moment on.


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1987 she played in the television drama "Right to Die", in which she turned in a stirring performance as a woman stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease. That year, she flirted with a pop singing career, releasing the dance single "This Girl's Back In Town", which peaked at No. 29 on "Billboard"s dance club chart.


title: Raquel Welch

text: She also starred in the television films "Scandal in a Small Town" (1988), "Trouble in Paradise" (1989), and "Torch Song" (1993).


title: Raquel Welch

text: As a guest, she played Sabrina's flamboyant Aunt Vesta on the American comedy series "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (1996).


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1997, Welch starred on Broadway in "Victor/Victoria", following Julie Andrews and Liza Minnelli in the title role. That year, she also acted in an episode of the comedy series "Seinfeld", entitled "The Summer of George", Welch played a highly temperamental version of herself, assaulting series characters Kramer and Elaine, the former because he fired her from an acting job and the latter because Welch mistakenly thought Elaine was mocking her.


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 2001, she had supporting roles in the comedy films "Legally Blonde" opposite Reese Witherspoon and "Tortilla Soup". In 2002, she starred in the PBS series "American Family", a story about a Mexican American family in East Los Angeles. Her next film was "Forget About It" (2006). She also appeared in "Welcome to The Captain", which premiered on CBS television on February 4, 2008. In 2015 she played a role in "The Ultimate Legacy".


title: Raquel Welch

text: Most recently Welch appeared in a sitcom titled "Date My Dad" (2017) where she reunited with Robert Wagner on screen, four decades after starring together in "The Biggest Bundle of Them All". She acted in "How to Be a Latin Lover" (2017).


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 1974, Welch won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for "The Three Musketeers". She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the television drama "Right to Die" (1987). In 1994, Welch received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2001, she was awarded the Imagen Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for her positive promotion of Americans of Latin heritage throughout her career. In 2012, the Film Society of Lincoln Center presented a special retrospective of the films of Welch at the Walter Reade Theater.


title: Raquel Welch

text: "The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program" book and videos were first released in 1984. The book, written by Welch with photographs by André Weinfeld, includes a hatha yoga fitness program, her views on healthy living and nutrition, as well as beauty and personal style. The Multi-Platinum collection of Fitness and Yoga videos were produced and directed by André Weinfeld. As a businesswoman, Welch succeeded with her signature line of wigs. She also began a jewelry and skincare line, although neither of those ventures compared to the success of her wig collection "HAIRuWEAR".


title: Raquel Welch

text: In January 2007, Welch was selected as the newest face of MAC Cosmetics Beauty Icon series. Her line features several limited-edition makeup shades in glossy black and tiger-print packaging. The tiger print motif of the collection celebrates Welch's feline and sensuous image: "strong and wild, yet sultry and exotic".


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch married her high school sweetheart, James Welch, on May 8, 1959, with whom she had two children, Damon Welch (born November 6, 1959) and Latanne "Tahnee" Welch (born December 26, 1961). James and Raquel Welch separated in 1962 and divorced in 1964; she has retained Welch's last name ever since. She married producer Patrick Curtis in 1967 and divorced him in 1972. In 1980, she married producer André Weinfeld, divorcing him in 1990. Welch wed Richard Palmer, owner of Mulberry Street Pizzeria, in 1999 but then separated from him in 2003 and later divorced. Welch says she will not remarry.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch posed for "Playboy" in 1979, but she never did a fully nude shoot. Hugh Hefner later wrote, "Raquel Welch, one of the last of the classic sex symbols, came from the era when you could be considered the sexiest woman in the world without taking your clothes off. She declined to do complete nudity, and I yielded gracefully. The pictures prove her point." Welch has refused to take all her clothes off on screen or pose naked throughout her career spanning five decades, saying this was the way she was brought up. Tahnee followed her mother's December 1979 example and appeared on the cover of "Playboy" in the November 1995 issue and in a nude pictorial inside it.


title: Raquel Welch

text: While her image in the 1960s was that of a torrid sex temptress, Welch's private life was quite different. Welch once famously said, "What I do on the screen is not to be equated with what I do in my private life. Privately, I am understated and dislike any hoopla". She also admitted, "I was not brought up to be a sex symbol, nor is it in my nature to be one. The fact that I became one is probably the loveliest, most glamorous and fortunate misunderstanding".


title: Raquel Welch

text: At the 1973 Academy Awards, before she announced the Best Actress winner, Welch said: "I hope the winner doesn't have a cause." This comment was a snide remark in reference to Marlon Brando's earlier decision to send Sacheen Littlefeather as an emissary to decline the Best Actor award that he won for his performance in "The Godfather".


title: Raquel Welch

text: In 2014, during an appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor", Welch described herself as being on the conservative side, attributing it to her mother's midwestern values. During the Vietnam War, Welch showed her support for the troops at United Service Organizations (USO) shows.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch helped transform America's feminine ideal into its current state. Her beautiful looks and eroticism made her the definitive 1960s and 1970s sex icon, rather than the blonde bombshell of the late 1950s as typified by Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and others. Welch became a star in the mid-1960s and was exotic, brunette, and smolderingly sexual. Her countless publicity photos helped to popularize her image, dress style, and 1960s and 1970s fashion trends. Welch and other actresses also made big hair popular.


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch is mentioned in the 1971 song, "One's on the Way" by country music legend Loretta Lynn. Welch is also mentioned in The Unknown Stuntman, the theme song to The Fall Guy, starring Lee Majors, who also recorded the song. She is also mentioned in the Al Jarreau song "Love Is Real" from the Grammy-winning 1980 "This Time" album, where Jarreau sings "Raquel and Redford are the tops".


title: Raquel Welch

text: Welch is one of the few actresses, and one of the earliest, who had a lead role in a Western movie. "Hannie Caulder" (1971) was a clear influence on later revenge films. Quentin Tarantino said the film was one of his inspirations for "Kill Bill" (2003).


title: Raquel Welch

text: In the 1994 film "The Shawshank Redemption", the poster that Andy Dufresne had on his prison cell wall at the time of his escape was the famous pinup image of Welch in "One Million Years B.C." Prior to Dufresne's escape being realized, the warden refers to Welch as "Miss Fussy Britches".


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live performances to become a studio-only band, opting to record with a revolving cast of session musicians. "Rolling Stone" has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen played together in a variety of bands from their time together studying at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. They later moved to Los Angeles, gathered a band of musicians, and began recording albums. Their first album, "Can't Buy a Thrill" (1972), established a template for their career, blending elements of rock, jazz, Latin music, R&B, blues and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics. The band enjoyed critical and commercial success through seven studio albums, peaking with their top-selling album "Aja", released in 1977. After the group disbanded in 1981, Becker and Fagen worked sporadically on solo projects through the 1980s, though a cult following remained devoted to the group's work. Since reuniting in 1993, Steely Dan has toured steadily and released two albums of new material, the first of which, "Two Against Nature", earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Their final album of new studio material was 2003's "Everything Must Go", though the band has continued to release compilations, box sets, and live albums on a regular basis. After Becker's death in 2017, Fagen reluctantly continued the group with himself as the sole official member.


title: Steely Dan

text: They have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001. VH1 ranked Steely Dan at No. 82 on their list of the 100 Greatest Musical Artists of All Time. "Rolling Stone" ranked them No. 15 on its list of the 20 greatest duos of all time.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen met in 1967 at Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. As Fagen passed by a café, The Red Balloon, he heard Becker practicing the electric guitar. In an interview, Fagen recounted the experience: "I hear this guy practising, and it sounded very professional and contemporary. It sounded like, you know, like a black person, really." He introduced himself to Becker and asked, "Do you want to be in a band?" Discovering that they enjoyed similar music, the two began writing songs together.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen began playing in local groups. One such group – known as the Don Fagen Jazz Trio, the Bad Rock Group and later the Leather Canary – included future comedy star Chevy Chase on drums. They played covers of songs by The Rolling Stones ("Dandelion"), Moby Grape ("Hey Grandma"), and Willie Dixon ("Spoonful"), as well as some original compositions. Terence Boylan, another Bard musician, remembered that Fagen took readily to the beatnik life while attending college: "They never came out of their room, they stayed up all night. They looked like ghosts—black turtlenecks and skin so white that it looked like yogurt. Absolutely no activity, chain-smoking Lucky Strikes and dope."


title: Steely Dan

text: After Fagen graduated in 1969, the two moved to Brooklyn and tried to peddle their tunes in the Brill Building in midtown Manhattan. Kenny Vance (of Jay and the Americans), who had a production office in the building, took an interest in their music, which led to work on the soundtrack of the low-budget film (featuring Richard Pryor and Robert Downey Sr.) "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat". Becker later said bluntly, "We did it for the money." A series of demos from 1968 to 1971 are available in multiple different releases, not authorized by Becker and Fagen. This collection features approximately 25 tracks and is notable for its sparse arrangements (Fagen plays solo piano on many songs) and lo-fi production, a contrast with Steely Dan's later work. Although some of these songs ("Caves of Altamira", "Brooklyn", "Barrytown") were re-recorded for Steely Dan albums, most were never officially released.


title: Steely Dan

text: In 1970, Gary Katz produced an album by Linda Hoover, "I Mean to Shine", featuring Fagen, Becker, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and including five Becker/Fagen songs. The album was shelved over songwriting licensing issues, but was finally released 52 years later, in 2022.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen joined the touring band of Jay and the Americans for about a year and a half. They were at first paid $100 per show, but partway through their tenure the band's tour manager cut their salaries in half. The group's lead singer, Jay Black, dubbed Becker and Fagen "the Manson and Starkweather of rock 'n' roll", referring to cult leader Charles Manson and spree killer Charles Starkweather.


title: Steely Dan

text: They had little success after moving to Brooklyn, although Barbra Streisand recorded their song "I Mean To Shine" on her 1971 "Barbra Joan Streisand" album. Their fortunes changed when one of Vance's associates, Gary Katz, moved to Los Angeles to become a staff producer for ABC Records. He hired Becker and Fagen as staff songwriters; they flew to California. Katz would produce all their 1970s albums in collaboration with engineer Roger Nichols. Nichols would win six Grammy Awards for his work with the band from the 1970s to 2001.


title: Steely Dan

text: Also realizing that their songs were too complex for other ABC artists, at Katz's suggestion Becker and Fagen formed their own band with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer, and Katz signed them to ABC as recording artists. Fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band after a "revolutionary" steam-powered dildo mentioned in the William S. Burroughs novel "Naked Lunch". Palmer joined as a second lead vocalist because of Fagen's occasional stage fright, his reluctance to sing in front of an audience, and because the label believed that his voice was not "commercial" enough.


title: Steely Dan

text: In 1972, ABC issued Steely Dan's first single, "Dallas", backed with "Sail the Waterway". Distribution of "stock" copies available to the general public was apparently extremely limited; the single sold so poorly that promotional copies are much more readily available than stock copies in today's collectors market. As of 2015, "Dallas" and "Sail the Waterway" are the only officially released Steely Dan tracks that have not been reissued on cassette or compact disc. In an interview (1995), Becker and Fagen called the songs "stinko." "Dallas" was later covered by Poco on their "Head Over Heels" album.


title: Steely Dan

text: "Can't Buy a Thrill", Steely Dan's debut album, was released in 1972. Its hit singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin' In the Years" reached No. 6 and No. 11 respectively on the Billboard singles chart. Along with "Dirty Work" (sung by David Palmer), the songs became staples on radio.


title: Steely Dan

text: Because of Fagen's reluctance to sing live, Palmer handled most of the vocal duties on stage. During the first tour, however, Katz and Becker decided that they preferred Fagen's interpretations of the band's songs, persuading him to take over. Palmer quietly left the group while it recorded its second album; he later co-wrote the No. 2 hit "Jazzman" (1974) with Carole King.


title: Steely Dan

text: Released in 1973, "Countdown to Ecstasy" was not as commercially successful as Steely Dan's first album. Becker and Fagen were unhappy with some of the performances on the record and believed that it sold poorly because it had been recorded hastily on tour. The album's singles were "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School", both of which stayed in the lower half of the Billboard charts (though "My Old School" and—to a lesser extent—"Bodhisattva" became FM Rock staples in time).


title: Steely Dan

text: "Pretzel Logic "was released in early 1974. A diverse set, it includes the group's most successful single, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100), and a note-for-note rendition of Duke Ellington and James "Bubber" Miley's "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo".


title: Steely Dan

text: During the previous album's tour, the band had added vocalist-percussionist Royce Jones, vocalist-keyboardist Michael McDonald, and session drummer Jeff Porcaro. Porcaro played the sole drum track on one song, "Night By Night" on "Pretzel Logic" (Jim Gordon played drums on all the remaining tracks, and he and Porcaro both played on "Parker's Band"), reflecting Steely Dan's increasing reliance on session musicians (including Dean Parks and Rick Derringer). Jeff Porcaro and "Katy Lied" pianist David Paich would go on to form Toto. Striving for perfection, Becker and Fagen sometimes asked musicians to record as many as forty takes of each track.


title: Steely Dan

text: "Pretzel Logic" was the first Steely Dan album to feature Walter Becker on guitar. "Once I met [session musician] Chuck Rainey", he explained, "I felt there really was no need for me to be bringing my bass guitar to the studio anymore".


title: Steely Dan

text: A rift began growing between Becker-Fagen and Steely Dan's other members (particularly Baxter and Hodder), who wanted to tour. Becker and Fagen disliked constant touring and wanted to concentrate solely on writing and recording. The other members gradually left the band, discouraged by this and by their diminishing roles in the studio. However, Dias remained with the group until 1980's "Gaucho" and Michael McDonald contributed vocals until the group's twenty-year hiatus after "Gaucho". Baxter and McDonald went on to join The Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan's last tour performance was on July 5, 1974, a concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen recruited a diverse group of session players for "Katy Lied" (1975), including Porcaro, Paich, and McDonald, as well as guitarist Elliott Randall, jazz saxophonist Phil Woods, saxophonist/bass-guitarist Wilton Felder, percussionist/vibraphonist/keyboardist Victor Feldman, keyboardist (and later producer) Michael Omartian, and guitarist Larry Carlton—Dias, Becker, and Fagen being Steely Dan's only original members. The album went gold on the strength of "Black Friday" and "Bad Sneakers", but Becker and Fagen were so dissatisfied with the album's sound (compromised by a faulty DBX noise reduction system) that they publicly apologized for it (on the album's back cover) and for years refused to listen to it in its final form. "Katy Lied" also included "Doctor Wu" and "Chain Lightning".


title: Steely Dan

text: "The Royal Scam" was released in May 1976. Partly because of Carlton's prominent contributions, it is the band's most guitar-oriented album. It also features performances by session drummer Bernard Purdie. The album sold well in the United States, though without the strength of a hit single. In the UK the single "Haitian Divorce" (Top 20) drove album sales, becoming Steely Dan's first major hit there.


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan's sixth album, the jazz-influenced "Aja, " was released in September 1977. "Aja" reached the Top Five in the U.S. charts within three weeks, winning the Grammy award for "Engineer – Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical." It was also one of the first American LPs to be certified 'platinum' for sales of over 1 million albums.


title: Steely Dan

text: Featuring Michael McDonald's backing vocals, "Peg" (No. 11) was the album's first single, followed by "Josie" (No. 26) and "Deacon Blues" (No. 19). "Aja" solidified Becker's and Fagen's reputations as songwriters and studio perfectionists. It features such jazz and fusion luminaries as guitarists Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour; bassist Chuck Rainey; saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Pete Christlieb, and Tom Scott; drummers Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta and Bernard Purdie; pianist Joe Sample and ex-Miles Davis pianist/vibraphonist Victor Feldman and Grammy award-winning producer/arranger Michael Omartian (piano).


title: Steely Dan

text: Planning to tour in support of "Aja", Steely Dan assembled a live band. Rehearsal ended and the tour was canceled when backing musicians began comparing pay. The album's history was documented in an episode of the TV and DVD series "Classic Albums".


title: Steely Dan

text: After "Aja's "success, Becker and Fagen were asked to write the title track for the movie "FM". The movie was a box-office disaster, but the song was a hit, earning Steely Dan another engineering Grammy award. It was a minor hit in the UK and barely missed the Top 20 in the U.S.A.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen took a break from songwriting for most of 1978 before starting work on "Gaucho". The project would not go smoothly: technical, legal, and personal setbacks delayed the album's release and subsequently led Becker and Fagen to suspend their partnership for over a decade.


title: Steely Dan

text: Misfortune struck early when an assistant engineer accidentally erased most of "The Second Arrangement", a favorite track of Katz and Nichols, which was never recovered. More trouble — this time legal — followed. In March 1979, MCA Records bought ABC, and for much of the next two years Steely Dan could not release an album. Becker and Fagen had planned on leaving ABC for Warner Bros. Records, but MCA claimed ownership of their music, preventing them from changing labels.


title: Steely Dan

text: Turmoil in Becker's personal life also interfered. His girlfriend died of a drug overdose in their Upper West Side apartment, and he was sued for $17 million. Becker settled out of court, but he was shocked by the accusations and by the tabloid press coverage that followed. Soon after, Becker was struck by a taxi while crossing a Manhattan street, shattering his right leg in several places and forcing him to use crutches.


title: Steely Dan

text: Still more legal trouble was to come. Jazz composer Keith Jarrett sued Steely Dan for copyright infringement, claiming that they had based "Gaucho"'s title track on one of his compositions, "Long As You Know You're Living Yours" (Fagen later admitted that he'd loved the song and that it had been a strong influence).


title: Steely Dan

text: "Gaucho" was finally released in November 1980. Despite its tortured history, it was another major success. The album's first single, "Hey Nineteen", reached No. 10 on the pop chart in early 1981, and "Time Out of Mind" (featuring guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits) was a moderate hit in the spring. "My Rival" was featured in John Huston's 1980 film "Phobia". Roger Nichols won a third engineering Grammy award for his work on the album.


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan disbanded in June 1981. Becker moved to Maui, where he became an "avocado rancher and self-styled critic of the contemporary scene." He stopped using drugs, which he had used for most of his career. Meanwhile, Fagen released a solo album, "The Nightfly "(1982), which went platinum in both the U.S. and the UK and yielded the Top-20 hit "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)." In 1988 Fagen wrote the score of "Bright Lights, Big City" and a song for its soundtrack, but otherwise recorded little. He occasionally did production work for other artists, as did Becker. The most prominent of these were two albums Becker produced for the British sophisti-pop group China Crisis, who were strongly influenced by Steely Dan. Becker is listed as an official member of China Crisis on the first of these albums, 1985's "Flaunt the Imperfection", and played keyboards on the band's Top 20 UK hit "Black Man Ray". For the second of the two albums, 1989's "Diary of a Hollow Horse", Becker is only listed as a producer and not as a band member.


title: Steely Dan

text: In 1986 Becker and Fagen performed on "Zazu", an album by former model Rosie Vela produced by Gary Katz. The two rekindled their friendship and held songwriting sessions between 1986 and 1987, leaving the results unfinished. On October 23, 1991, Becker attended a concert by New York Rock and Soul Revue, co-founded by Fagen and producer/singer Libby Titus (who was for many years the partner of Levon Helm of The Band and would later become Fagen's wife), and spontaneously performed with the group.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker produced Fagen's second solo album, "Kamakiriad", in 1993. Fagen conceived the album as a sequel to "The Nightfly".


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen reunited for an American tour to support "Kamakiriad", which sold poorly despite a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. With Becker playing lead and rhythm guitar, the pair assembled a band that included a second keyboard player, second lead guitarist, bassist, drummer, vibraphonist, three female backing singers, and four-piece saxophone section. Among the musicians from the live band, several would continue to work with Steely Dan over the next decade, including bassist Tom Barney and saxophone players Cornelius Bumpus and Chris Potter. During this tour, Fagen introduced himself as "Rick Strauss" and Becker as "Frank Poulenc".


title: Steely Dan

text: The next year, MCA released "Citizen Steely Dan", a boxed set featuring their entire catalog (except their debut single "Dallas"/"Sail The Waterway") on four CDs, plus four extra tracks: "Here at the Western World" (originally released on 1978's "Greatest Hits"), "FM" (1978 single), a 1971 demo of "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" and "Bodhisattva (live)", the latter recorded on a cassette in 1974 and released as a B-side in 1980. That year Becker released his debut solo album, "11 Tracks of Whack", which Fagen co-produced.


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan toured again in support of the boxed set and "Tracks". In 1995 they released a live CD, "Alive in America", compiled from recordings of several 1993 and 1994 concerts. The Art Crimes Tour followed, including dates in the United States, Japan, and their first European shows in 22 years. After this activity, Becker and Fagen returned to the studio to begin work on a new album.


title: Steely Dan

text: In 2000 Steely Dan released their first studio album in 20 years: "Two Against Nature". It won four Grammy Awards: Best Engineered Album – Non-Classical, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal ("Cousin Dupree"), and Album of the Year (despite competition in this category from Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" and Radiohead's "Kid A"). In the summer of 2000, they began another American tour, followed by an international tour later that year. The tour featured guitarist Jon Herington, who would go on to play with the band over the next two decades. The group released the "Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party" DVD, documenting a live-in-the-studio concert performance of popular songs from throughout Steely Dan's career. In March 2001, Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


title: Steely Dan

text: In 2002 during the recording of "Everything Must Go", Becker and Fagen fired their engineer Roger Nichols, who had worked with them for 30 years, without explanation or notification, according to band biographer Brian Sweet's 2018 revision of his book "Reelin' in the Years."


title: Steely Dan

text: In 2003 Steely Dan released "Everything Must Go". In contrast to their earlier work, they had tried to write music that captured a live feel. Becker sang lead vocals on a Steely Dan studio album for the first time ("Slang of Ages" — he had sung lead on his own "Book of Liars" on "Alive in America"). Fewer session musicians played on "Everything Must Go" than had become typical of Steely Dan albums: Becker played bass on every track and lead guitar on five tracks; Fagen added piano, electric piano, organ, synthesizers, and percussion on top of his vocals; touring drummer Keith Carlock played on every track.


title: Steely Dan

text: To complete his "Nightfly" trilogy, Fagen issued "Morph the Cat" in 2006. Steely Dan returned to annual touring that year with the Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan and The Fab-Originees.com Tour. Despite much fluctuation in membership, the live band featured mainstays Herington, Carlock, bassist Freddie Washington, the horn section of Michael Leonhart, Jim Pugh, Roger Rosenberg, and Walt Weiskopf, and backing vocalists Carolyn Leonhart and Cindy Mizelle. The 2007 Heavy Rollers Tour included dates in North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, making it their most expansive tour.


title: Steely Dan

text: The smaller Think Fast Tour followed in 2008, with keyboardist Jim Beard joining the live band. That year Becker released a second album, "Circus Money", produced by Larry Klein and inspired by Jamaican music. In 2009 Steely Dan toured Europe and America extensively in their Left Bank Holiday and Rent Party Tour, alternating between standard one-date concerts at large venues and multi-night theater shows that featured performances of "The Royal Scam", "Aja", or "Gaucho" in their entirety on certain nights. The following year, Fagen formed the touring supergroup Dukes of September Rhythm Revue with McDonald, Boz Scaggs, and members of Steely Dan's live band, whose repertoire included songs by all three songwriters. Longtime studio engineer Roger Nichols died of pancreatic cancer on April 10, 2011. Steely Dan's Shuffle Diplomacy Tour that year included an expanded set list and dates in Australia and New Zealand. Fagen released his fourth album, "Sunken Condos", in 2012. It was his first solo release unrelated to the "Nightfly" trilogy.


title: Steely Dan

text: The Mood Swings: 8 Miles to Pancake Day Tour began in July 2013 and featured an eight-night run at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Jamalot Ever After, their 2014 United States tour, ran from July 2 in Portland, Oregon to September 20 in Port Chester, New York. 2015's Rockabye Gollie Angel Tour included opening act Elvis Costello and the Imposters and dates at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The Dan Who Knew Too Much tour followed in 2016, with Steve Winwood opening. Steely Dan also performed at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with an accompanying orchestra.


title: Steely Dan

text: The band played its final shows with Becker in 2017. In April, they played the 12-date Reelin' In the Chips residency in Las Vegas and Southern California. Becker's final performance came on May 27 at the Greenwich Town Party in Greenwich, Connecticut. Due to illness, Becker did not play Steely Dan's two Classics East and West concerts at Dodger Stadium and Citi Field in July. Fagen embarked on a tour that summer with a new backing band, The Nightflyers.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker died from complications of esophageal cancer on September 3, 2017. In a note released to the media, Fagen remembered his longtime friend and bandmate, and promised to "keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band." After Becker's death, Steely Dan honored commitments to perform a short North American tour in October 2017 and three concert dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland for Bluesfest on a double bill with the Doobie Brothers. The band played its first concert following Becker's death in Thackerville, Oklahoma, on October 13. In tribute to Becker, they performed his solo song "Book of Liars", with Fagen singing the lead vocals, at several concerts on the tour.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker's widow and estate sued Fagen later that year, arguing that the estate should control 50% of the band's shares. Fagen filed a counter suit, arguing that the band had drawn up plans in 1972 stating that band members leaving the band or dying relinquish shares of the band's output to the surviving members. In December, Fagen said that he would rather have retired the Steely Dan name after Becker's death, and would instead have toured with the current iteration of the group under another name, but was persuaded not to by promoters for commercial reasons.


title: Steely Dan

text: In 2018, Steely Dan performed on a summer tour of the United States with The Doobie Brothers as co-headliners. The band also played a nine-show residency at the Beacon Theatre in New York City that October. In February 2019, the band embarked on a tour of Great Britain with Steve Winwood. Guitarist Connor Kennedy of The Nightflyers joined the live band, beginning with a nine-night residency at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas in April 2019.


title: Steely Dan

text: As of September 2021, the legal battle over the band's royalties was still ongoing, with Fagen speculating during an interview that "thousands of lawyers" were probably involved in the dispute.


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan's albums are notable for the characteristically 'warm' and 'dry' production sound, and the sparing use of echo and reverberation.


title: Steely Dan

text: Becker and Fagen favored a distinctly soul-influenced style of backing vocals, which after the first few albums were almost always performed by a female chorus (although Michael McDonald features prominently on several tracks, including the 1975 song "Black Friday" and the 1977 song "Peg"). Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews and Clydie King were the preferred trio for backing vocals on the group's late 1970s albums. Other backing vocalists include Timothy B. Schmit, Tawatha Agee, Carolyn Leonhart, Janice Pendarvis, and Catherine Russell. The band also featured singers like Patti Austin and Valerie Simpson on later projects such as "Gaucho".


title: Steely Dan

text: Horn arrangements have been used on songs from all Steely Dan albums. They typically feature instruments such as trumpets, trombones and saxophones, although they have also used other instruments such as flutes and clarinets. The horn parts occasionally integrate simple synth lines to alter the tone quality of individual horn lines; for example in "Deacon Blues" this was done to "thicken" one of the saxophone lines. On their earlier albums Steely Dan featured guest arrangers and on their later albums the arrangement work is credited to Fagen.


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan is famous for their use of chord sequences and harmonies that explore the area of musical tension between traditional pop sounds and jazz. In particular, they are known for their use of the add 2 chord, a type of added tone chord, which they nicknamed the "mu major". The mu major chord differs from a suspended second (sus2) chord, as suspended chords do not contain the major (or minor) third. In a 1989 interview, Walter Becker explained that the use of the chord developed from trying to enrich the sound of a major chord without making it into a "jazz chord". In the "Steely Dan Songbook", Becker and Donald Fagen state that "inversions of the mu major may be formed in the usual manner with one caveat: the voicing of the second and third scale tones, which is the essence of the chord's appeal, should always occur as a whole tone dissonance." Other common chords used by Steely Dan include slash chords.


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan's lyrical subjects are diverse, but in their basic approach they often create fictional personae that participate in a narrative or situation. The duo have said that in retrospect, most of their albums have a "feel" of either Los Angeles or New York City, the two main cities where Becker and Fagen lived and worked. Characters appear in their songs that evoke these cities. Steely Dan's lyrics are often puzzling to the listener, with the true meaning of the song "uncoded" through repeated listening, and a richer understanding of the references within the lyrics. In the song "Everyone's Gone to the Movies", the line "I know you're used to 16 or more, sorry we only have eight" refers not to the count of some article, but to 8 mm film, which was lower quality than 16 mm or larger formats and often used for pornography, underscoring the illicitness of Mr. LaPage's movie parties.


title: Steely Dan

text: Some have argued that Steely Dan never wrote a genuine love song, instead dealing with personal passion in the guise of a destructive obsession. Many of their songs concern love, but typical of Steely Dan songs is an ironic or disturbing twist in the lyrics that reveals a darker reality. For example, expressed "love" is actually about prostitution ("Pearl of the Quarter"), incest ("Cousin Dupree"), pornography ("Everyone's Gone to the Movies"), or some other socially unacceptable subject. However, some of their demo-era recordings show Fagen and Becker expressing romance, including "This Seat's Been Taken", "Oh, Wow, It's You" and "Come Back Baby".


title: Steely Dan

text: Steely Dan's lyrics contain subtle and encoded references, unusual (and sometimes original) slang expressions, a wide variety of "word games." The obscure and sometimes teasing lyrics have given rise to considerable efforts by fans to explain the "inner meaning" of certain songs. Jazz is a recurring theme, and there are numerous other film, television and literary references and allusions, such as "Home at Last" (from "Aja"), which was inspired by Homer's "Odyssey".


title: Marc Anthony

text: Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin Grammy Award winner, he has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide. Known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads, Anthony has won numerous awards and his achievements have been honored through various recognitions. He was the recipient of the 2009 Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the "2009 CHCI Chair's Lifetime Achievement Award" on September 16, 2009. He holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling tropical/salsa artist and the most number-one albums on the "Billboard" Tropical Albums year-end charts. He is also the artist with the most number one songs on the "Billboard" Latin Tropical Airplay chart with 32 songs.


title: Marc Anthony

text: Marco Antonio Muñiz was born in New York City, the son of Puerto Rican parents. His father, Felipe Muñiz, was a hospital cafeteria worker and musician, and his mother, Guillermina Rivera, was a housewife.


title: Marc Anthony

text: Anthony's parents named him after Mexican singer Marco Antonio Muñiz. Anthony grew up in East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, and is the youngest of eight children. He was raised Roman Catholic.


title: Marc Anthony

text: His musical education began at home, where he learned to sing in both Spanish and English under the guidance of his father, Felipe, himself a professional guitarist. As a child, Anthony listened to a variety of musical genres and performers, including rock, rhythm and blues, pop stars José Feliciano (Puerto Rico), Air Supply (Australia), as well as salsa legends Héctor Lavoe (Puerto Rico), Willie Colón (United States), and Rubén Blades (Panama), among others. According to Anthony, renowned Puerto Rican percussionist and bandleader Tito Puente in particular wielded a profound personal and professional influence throughout his life.


title: Marc Anthony

text: Muñiz began his career as a session vocalist for freestyle music and underground New York house music acts. After changing his name to avoid confusion with his namesake, Anthony worked as a songwriter and backing vocalist for pop acts Menudo and the Latin Rascals. By the early 1990s, Anthony had sold more salsa records than any other performer on the planet, solidifying his position among the most important new salsa artists to emerge in the 1990s. Unlike the more socially conscious New York salsa musicians of the 1960s and 1970s, or the highly produced "romantic" salsa artists of the 1980s, Anthony gained fame performing a salsa style that borrowed more heavily from the African American and urban genres that he listened to growing up, such as rhythm and blues and house.


title: Marc Anthony

text: His first album was a freestyle music record, "Rebel", which debuted in 1988 on Bluedog Records. That same year he wrote and produced "Boy I've Been Told" for fellow freestyle artist Sa-Fire. Then in 1989, he sang backup vocals for Ann-Marie on the freestyle club hit, "With or Without You" produced by Little Louie Vega and Todd Terry. A year later in 1990, with Little Louie Vega and Todd Terry, Marc wrote a duet with Chrissy I-eece, called "You Should Know By Now". In 1992, still working with Todd Terry, he provided vocals for "Love Change", which is on the flip-side of a 12" vinyl released by Elan and The Powermachine titled "Here's Your Hat", production of Todd Terry. At the same time, he collaborated with music producer Little Louie Vega, who featured the singer on many freestyle-flavored club hits "Ride On The Rhythm" and the "When The Night Is Over" album, which featured the freestyle classic "Time." In 1992, Vega and Anthony opened for Latin bandleader Tito Puente at New York's Madison Square Garden. After 1992, he changed his style from freestyle to salsa and other Latin styles.


title: Marc Anthony

text: Anthony was initially reluctant to become a salsa musician; he declined an offer to make an album in this genre when Ralph Mercado, president of RMM Records, asked him. Anthony was in a taxi when he heard Juan Gabriel's hit song, "Hasta Que Te Conocí", which influenced him to change his mind and ask Mercado if he could record it as a salsa tune. Inspired by the music of Tito Puente, Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, and Juan Gabriel, Anthony released his Spanish-language debut, Otra Nota, in 1993. Sing365.com. Retrieved October 1, 2011.</ref> The album also included a cover of Bread's "Make It with You". Subsequent tours throughout the Americas, including an opening slot for Blades, established Anthony as one of the newest stars in salsa. In 1994, he was featured on La India's album "Dicen Que Soy", on the song "Vivir Lo Nuestro".


title: Marc Anthony

text: His 1995 follow-up, "Todo a su tiempo", won Anthony a "Billboard Award" for Hot Tropical Artist of the Year. The album was also nominated for a Grammy with songs like "Te Conozco Bien", "Hasta Ayer", "Nadie Como Ella", "Se Me Sigue Olvidando", "Te Amare", and "Llegaste A Mi". The album has sold more than 800,000 copies and has become established as a gold record in both the United States and in Puerto Rico.


title: Marc Anthony

text: Anthony's next Spanish language album, "Contra La Corriente", was followed by the television special "Marc Anthony: The Concert from Madison Square Garden", broadcast on HBO on Valentine's Day in 2000. The special was nominated for the Music Special of the Year by "TV Guide". The album's song "Y Hubo Alguien" became Anthony's first number-one single on the "Billboard" Hot Latin Tracks and the first by a salsa musician. The album became the first salsa album to enter the English language "Billboard" 200 chart. After an ongoing battle with RMM, he severed ties with Ralph Mercado and left the label in 1999.


title: Marc Anthony

text: "Otra Nota", "Todo a Su Tiempo", and "Contra La Corriente" established him as the top-selling singer in the history of the genre, able to sell out Madison Square Garden and prestigious venues internationally.


title: Marc Anthony

text: Anthony subsequently recorded the duet "No Me Ames" with Jennifer Lopez on her album "On the 6", giving her an assist in her Spanish language crossover attempt. He also recorded a duet "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" with Tina Arena, written by James Horner for the latter's soundtrack for the 1998 swashbuckling movie "The Mask of Zorro".


title: Marc Anthony

text: In 1999, riding the crossover wave of Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias in the Anglophone market, Anthony, working with producers Walter Afanasieff, Cory Rooney, Dan Shea, and Rodney Jerkins, released an English-language, self-titled album with the US Top 5 single "I Need to Know", and the Spanish version, "Dímelo". His song "You Sang To Me" was featured in "Runaway Bride". A dance version was remixed by Dutch producer Rene Van Verseveld. The album debuted at number eight on the "Billboard" album chart, and six weeks later went platinum; it eventually was certified triple platinum. The song "I Need To Know" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.


title: Marc Anthony

text: In 2001, he debuted another salsa album, "Libre", which was certified gold with songs like "Celos", "Este Loco Que Te Mira", and "Viviendo". The album spent 14 weeks at the number-one spot on the "Billboard" Top Latin Albums chart. The year after that, he made another English-language album, "Mended".