title: Lamar Odom

text: On February 18, 2014, Odom signed with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia of the Spanish League and the Euroleague on a two-month deal with an option to extend it for the remainder of the season. A month later, he returned to the United States due to a back injury after his personal doctors in New York ruled him unfit to play out his contract. He appeared in just two games for Baskonia.


title: Lamar Odom

text: On April 16, 2014, Odom signed with the New York Knicks for the remainder of the 2013–14 season, but did not appear in the team's season finale. The Knicks finished with a 37–45 win–loss record and missed the playoffs. On July 11, 2014, he was waived by the Knicks.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom planned to enter the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) in early 2018, but concluded that he was not fit enough. In December 2018, he joined Philippine club Mighty Sports, which was set to play in the 30th Dubai International Basketball Tournament on February 1–9, 2019. The roster included fellow imports Justin Brownlee and Randolph Morris, together with local amateur, former professional and Fil-Am basketball players.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom considered his Dubai stint to be preparation for his re-entry to professional basketball, particularly in the Big3, a US-based 3x3 basketball league founded by rapper Ice Cube. He was named a co-captain of the Enemies squad, but struggled in his first game before he was deactivated for the 2019 season by the Big3.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom played for the U.S. national team on the 2004 Olympic team in Athens, averaging 9.3 ppg while helping the U.S. to a bronze medal. He was invited to play for the FIBA World Championships for 2006 but declined the invitation because of the death of his son and in 2007 because of a shoulder injury.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom joined the 2010 FIBA World Championship team in Istanbul, Turkey, where the U.S. won win gold for the first time since 1994. Odom, being one of the elder statesmen on a young U.S. squad, served as a mentor for many of the younger players and even played out of position at center for the tournament. He led the U.S. in rebounds and finished the FIBA championships with double-doubles in the semi-final and championship games while becoming the first player in history to win both an NBA championship and FIBA gold in the same year.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom was renowned for the impact his positive personality had on his teams. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak called him "the most popular player in our locker room". Odom valued the concept of a team and played unselfishly, and was content deferring to teammates while playing a supporting role. Standing at , he was still adept at dribbling the ball and directing the offense, and could also rebound proficiently as a small forward. He was able to score as a post player, on mid-range jumpers, as well as from outside. He could start a fast break with an outlet pass, finish it with a layup, or simply drive from coast to coast for a dunk. Though he was a reserve on the Lakers championship teams, he typically finished games in place of starter Andrew Bynum.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom had three children, Destiny (b. 1998), Lamar Jr. (b. 2002) and Jayden (2005–2006) with former girlfriend Liza Morales. On June 29, 2006, 6½-month-old Jayden died from sudden infant death syndrome while sleeping in his crib in New York. At the time, Odom was already in town for the funeral of an aunt. Odom developed a relationship with his father, who became drug-free; however, he remains closer to his high school coach, Jerry DeGregorio, who he calls [his] "white dad". DeGregorio is the godfather to Destiny and Lamar Jr.


title: Lamar Odom

text: In September 2009, Odom married Khloé Kardashian after a month of dating. He had met her at a party for Lakers teammate Artest. Their wedding was featured on the E! reality-based series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", in which she stars. Odom became a fixture on the show and a household name to millions who were not already familiar with him as a basketball player. In December 2010, E! announced another spinoff from the series featuring Odom, Kardashian, and his two children from his previous relationship. The series, titled "Khloé & Lamar", debuted on April 10, 2011. Soon thereafter, Odom almost opted out of the show as the filming wore him down. The series was canceled in 2012 after two seasons.


title: Lamar Odom

text: On August 30, 2013, Odom was arrested on charges of driving under the influence (DUI). After the arrest, he refused to submit to a chemical test. Almost a week earlier, gossip websites had alleged that Odom had been abusing drugs, which prompted worried tweets from former teammates and coaches. On December 9, Odom pleaded no contest to the DUI charges and accepted a sentence of three years' probation and three months of alcohol abuse treatment. On December 13, after months of speculated separation, Kardashian filed for divorce from Odom and for legal restoration of her last name. Divorce papers were signed by both parties in July 2015; however, the divorce did not receive final approval from a judge before being dismissed by request in October 2015.


title: Lamar Odom

text: On October 13, 2015, Odom was hospitalized after being discovered unconscious at the Love Ranch, a legal brothel in Crystal, Nevada. Odom visited the ranch seeking the company of Cherry Ryder and Madison Montag. Odom, who had used cocaine in the days prior to his medical emergency, suffered kidney failure, several heart attacks, and 12 strokes. He became comatose and was placed on life support in a hospital in Las Vegas before regaining consciousness. He was transferred from Las Vegas to a Los Angeles hospital by medical transport. In the aftermath of the incident, Kardashian withdrew her request for a divorce; she stated that she had not reconciled with Odom, but wished to assist him in making medical decisions during his recovery.


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom's recovery went well. On January 8, 2016, Odom's paternal aunt JaNean Mercer told "Us Weekly" that "the former NBA star is on the road to recovery after finally leaving the hospital earlier in the week." She said "Lamar continues to make remarkable strides." In early 2016, Khloé Kardashian said "I'm just there to support and care for him. But he is doing amazing." On May 26, 2016, Kardashian filed for divorce again, and their divorce was finalized in December 2016. In 2017, Odom spoke publicly about his health struggles, his cocaine addiction, and his recovery from that addiction. He called himself a "walking miracle" who had "cheated death", and acknowledged that his past drug use had made "the end of [his basketball] career come along a little faster".


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom has his own music and film production company, Rich Soil Entertainment. He appeared in a Taco Bell commercial with Charles Barkley during Super Bowl XLIV. Additionally, Odom made a cameo on the second season of the HBO television series "Entourage".


title: Lamar Odom

text: Odom is noted for his fondness for candy. Wrigley made a replica of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy out of candy in celebration of the Lakers' victory in the 2009 Finals, and Odom's name is featured on the base.


title: Lamar Odom

text: In 2015, Odom was #1 on the Google Trends list for living people, which measures the highest spikes in search traffic over a sustained period compared to the previous year.


title: Lamar Odom

text: In November 2019, Odom announced his engagement to Sabrina Parr, a health and lifestyle coach. On November 5, 2020, Parr confirmed that their engagement had been called off.


title: Lamar Odom

text: On June 11, 2021, Odom participated in an exhibition boxing match with singer/rapper Aaron Carter. He knocked Carter out in the second round. On October 2, 2021, Odom defeated Jennifer Lopez's ex-husband Ojani Noa in a celebrity boxing match.


title: SAP

text: SAP SE (; ) is a German multinational software company based in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg. It develops enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. The company is the world's leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor. SAP is the largest non-American software company by revenue, the world's third-largest publicly traded software company by revenue, and the second largest German company by market capitalization. Apart from ERP software the company also sells database software and technology (particularly its own brands), cloud engineered systems, and other ERP software products, such as human capital management (HCM) software, customer relationship management (CRM) software (also known as customer experience), enterprise performance management (EPM) software, product lifecycle management (PLM) software, supplier relationship management (SRM) software, supply chain management (SCM) software, business technology platform (BTP) software and programming environment SAP AppGyver for business.


title: SAP

text: Historical references include Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing, SAP AG and SAP SE.


title: SAP

text: Founded in 1972 as a private partnership named ' (; SAP GbR), which in 1981 fully became ' (SAP GmbH) after a five-year transition period beginning in 1976. In 2005 it further restructured itself as SAP AG. Since 7 July 2014, its corporate structure is that of a pan-European "societas Europaea" (SE); as such, its former German corporate identity is now a subsidiary, SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG"."


title: SAP

text: SAP is headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with regional offices in 180 countries. The company has over 425,000 customers in over 180 countries and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.


title: SAP

text: When Xerox exited the computer hardware manufacturing industry in 1971, it asked IBM to migrate its business systems to IBM technology. As part of IBM's compensation for the migration, IBM was given the rights to the Scientific Data Systems (SDS)/SAPE software, reportedly for a contract credit of $80,000.


title: SAP

text: Five IBM engineers from the AI department (Dietmar Hopp, Klaus Tschira, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, and Claus Wellenreuther, all from Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg) were working on an enterprise-wide system based on this software, only to be told that it would no longer be necessary. Rather than abandoning the project, they decided to leave IBM Tech and start another company.


title: SAP

text: In June 1972, they founded the SAP ("System Analysis and Program Development" / "SAPD") company, as a private partnership under the German Civil Code.


title: SAP

text: Their first client was the German branch of Imperial Chemical Industries in Östringen, where they developed mainframe programs for payroll and accounting. Instead of storing the data on punch cards mechanically, as IBM did, they stored it locally in the Electronic System while using a common Logical database for all activities of Organization. Therefore, they called their software a real-time system, since there was no need to process the punch cards overnight (for this reason their flagship product carried an R in its name until the late 1990s). This first version was also a standalone software that could be offered to other interested parties.


title: SAP

text: In 1973, the first commercial product was launched. SAP completed its first financial accounting system - RF. This system serves as the cornerstone in the ongoing development of other software modules of the system that will eventually bear the name SAP R/1.


title: SAP

text: This offered a common system for multiple tasks. This permitted the use of a centralized data storage, improving the maintenance of data. From a technical point of view, therefore, a database was necessary.


title: SAP

text: In 1976, SAP GmbH Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung ("Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing") was founded as a sales and support subsidiary. Five years later, the private partnership was dissolved and its rights were passed on to SAP GmbH.


title: SAP

text: The headquarters moved the following year to Walldorf, Germany. Three years later, in 1979, SAP launched SAP R/2, expanding the capabilities of the system to other areas, such as material management and production planning. In 1981, SAP brought a re-designed product to market. However, SAP R/2 did not improve until the period between 1985 and 1990. SAP released the new SAP R/3 in 1992. SAP developed and released several versions of R/3 through 1995. By the mid-1990s, SAP followed the trend from mainframe computing to client–server architectures. The development of SAP's internet strategy with mySAP.com redesigned the concept of business processes (integration via Internet). As a result, R/3 was replaced with the introduction of SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) 5.0 in 2004. Architectural changes were also made to support an enterprise service architecture to transition customers to a services-oriented architecture. The latest version, SAP ERP 6.0, was released in 2006. SAP ERP 6.0 has since then been updated through SAP enhancement packs, the most recent: SAP enhancement package 8 for SAP ERP 6.0 in 2016.


title: SAP

text: In August 1988, SAP GmbH became SAP AG, and public trading started on 4 November 1988. Shares were listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges. In 1995, SAP was included in the German stock index DAX and, on 22 September 2003, SAP was included in the STOXX Europe 50.


title: SAP

text: The company's official name became "SAP AG" (a public limited company) after the 2005 annual general meeting.


title: SAP

text: On 21 May 2014, SAP AG announced during the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on the same day, 99% of the shareholder votes approved the conversion of legal form to a European stock corporation (Societas Europaea, SE) and at the same time, elected the first supervisory board of SAP SE. The conversion of the company's legal form would take place upon entry in the commercial register, expected to be in July 2014.


title: SAP

text: On 7 July 2014, SAP announced it had changed its legal form to a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE). As a result, its German subsidiary was renamed to SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG. the conversion cost the company approximately €4 million.


title: SAP

text: Since 2012, SAP has and acquired several companies that sell cloud-based products, with several multi-billion-dollar acquisitions seen by analysts as an attempt to challenge competitor Oracle. In 2016 SAP bought Concur Technologies, a provider of cloud-based travel and expense management software, for $8.3 billion, SAP's most expensive purchase to that date. Analysts' reactions to the purchase were mixed, with Thomas Becker of Commerzbank questioning whether Concur was the right choice for SAP, while Credit Suisse called the acquisition an "aggressive" move.


title: SAP

text: In 2014, IBM and SAP began a partnership to sell cloud-based services. Likewise, in 2015, SAP also partnered with HPE to provide secure hybrid cloud-based services running the SAP platform. Both HPE and IBM provide infrastructure services to SAP, and SAP runs its SAP HANA cloud solution on top. SAP has announced additional partnerships with Microsoft in order to give customers tools for data visualization, as well as improved mobile applications.


title: SAP

text: SAP exceeded its revenue projections due to the expansion in its cloud business and the success of SAP HANA. The growth can also be partially attributed to the acquisitions of Concur and Fieldglass. Since 2017, SAP is a founding member of the EU Cloud Code of Conduct. Since May 2021 SAP has listed selected Cloud Service adherent to the EU Cloud Code of Conduct as one of the first Cloud Service Providers.


title: SAP

text: The company announced plans in 2016 to invest heavily into technology relating to Internet of things (IoT) as part of a strategy to capitalize on the growth in that market. For that purpose, €2 billion is planned for investment in relevant sectors by the end of 2020. SAP will also launch a new product line called SAP IoT, which "will combine large amounts of data from things connected to the Internet with machine learning and SAP's real-time database S/4 HANA."


title: SAP

text: On 29 January 2019, SAP announced plans to cut approximately 4,000 positions at the company in a strategic plan to shift to more modern cloud-based technologies such as blockchain, quantum computing, machine learning, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence.


title: SAP

text: On 13 April 2021, SAP announced the formation of the joint venture SAP Fioneer, a dedicated Financial Services Industry (FSI) Unit between SAP and investment company Dediq GmbH. Dediq GmbH has invested over 500 million euros in the newly formed unit and received an 80 percent share in return. SAP brought its products, organizational units and the sales network into the business and holds 20 percent of the shares.


title: SAP

text: For the fiscal year 2017, SAP reported earnings of €4 billion, with an annual revenue of €23.5 billion, an increase of 6.3% over the previous fiscal cycle. SAP's shares traded at over US$105 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$128 billion in December 2018. This made SAP the most valuable company in Germany.


title: SAP

text: , SAP is the world's fourth-largest software and programming company. The corporation operates in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America.


title: SAP

text: SAP focuses on 25 industries and six industry sectors: process industries, discrete industries, consumer industries, service industries, financial services and public services. It offers integrated product sets for large enterprises, mid-sized companies and small businesses.


title: SAP

text: SAP partners include Global Services Partners with cross-industry multinational consulting capabilities, SAP University Alliances, Global Software Partners providing integrated products that complement SAP Business Suite solutions, and Global Technology Partners providing user companies with a wide range of products to support SAP technology, including vendors of hardware, database, storage systems, networks, and mobile computing technology.


title: SAP

text: Extensions partners are companies which provide functionality that complements SAP product capabilities. Their products are certified, sold, and supported by SAP. These partner companies include Adobe, CA Technologies, GK Software, Tricentis, Hewlett-Packard, IDS Scheer, Mendix, OpenText, Knoa Software, and BackOffice Associates.


title: SAP

text: SAP has also partnered with Apple to work on the mobile experience for SAP enterprise customers. As part of the partnership, a new SAP HANA Cloud Platform SDK would be delivered exclusively for iOS. As a result, developers can build applications based on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the iPhone and iPad devices. The partnership was announced in May 2016.


title: SAP

text: In 2019, SAP announced a three-year partnership "Embrace" with Microsoft that should allow its clients to move their business process into the cloud, although significant portions of that partnership were reduced to two years. SAP teams up on cloud sales with Microsoft


title: SAP

text: In 2020 SAP announced that together with Wipro it will co-develop and market "solutions for the retail and fashion industry."


title: SAP

text: SAP uses a two-tier structure of boards, with an executive board and a supervisory board. In October 2019, Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein were appointed as co-CEOs of SAP. In April 2020, it was announced that Jennifer Morgan will leave SAP and Christian Klein will continue to operate as the sole CEO, citing that the current environment of the COVID-19 recession requires "companies to take swift, determined action which is best supported by a very clear leadership structure".


title: SAP

text: The majority of the company's employees are in Germany and United States. About 20,000 employees are based in Germany and about 19,311 employees are based in the United States.


title: SAP

text: In 2022, 45 employee representatives were elected to the SAP SE Works Council, including 15 candidates from the Ver.di and IG Metall trade union lists. They represent 17,000 employees of Germany.


title: SAP

text: Headquarters is responsible for overall management as well as core engineering activities related to product development. Worldwide customer support is not provided by the field organizations but by a unified organization called Active Global Support (AGS).


title: SAP

text: SAP Labs are research and development locations that develop and improve SAP core products. SAP Labs are strategically located in high-tech clusters around the globe.


title: SAP

text: The four most prominent labs of SAP SE are located in Germany, Japan, Israel and the US. Labs Walldorf was founded in 1972 and became SAP's primary location. At the beginning, the focus of SAP's expansion was entering highly developed IT markets; in 1993, Palo Alto became a part of SAP Labs. Aiming to acquire talented employees, SAP opened another lab in Bangalore in 2003.


title: SAP

text: Among the latest SAP Labs are labs in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. All three labs have been established in 2016. The lab in India as of 2016 is SAP's largest outside Germany.


title: SAP

text: In order to manage SAP Labs, SAP Labs Network (SLN) was created. SLN is a global unit that manages regional Labs and shares best business practices. It coordinates and distributes development projects among individual SAP Labs locations, accelerates product delivery, gives SAP full access to talent, and drives SAP corporate strategy regarding innovation and business growth.


title: SAP

text: SAP has donated several millions of dollars to a variety of global health causes including the Product Red campaign and the Global Fund. In addition, SAP has distributed free software in South Africa as part of an effort towards developing future markets there. The company also encourages employees to volunteer through social sabbaticals, sending teams of people to different countries to aid non-profits. SAP employees have volunteered in China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.


title: SAP

text: In 2021, SAP admitted in a United States court that it exported software to firms in Iran, contrary to US sanctions against Iran, which led to a fine of $8 million.


title: SAP

text: In February 2019, SAP was accused of 'improper conduct' linked to state contracts in Kenya and Tanzania. An anonymous whistle-blower claims, through a firm of attorneys, that SAP used Twenty Third Century Systems (TTCS) to bribe officials at the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to win a US$6.6 million enterprise resource planning software tender that involved the provision of software licenses and services.


title: SAP

text: In July 2017, allegations were made that SAP had been involved in business transactions with the controversial and politically influential Gupta family in South Africa. SAP was accused of paying CAD House, a Gupta-controlled company, R100 million in order to secure a Transnet deal. SAP denied the allegations, claiming that the money was paid as "an extension of the sales force", despite CAD House having no prior SAP experience.


title: SAP

text: As a consequence of the allegations, SAP launched an investigation that led to four of its South African managers being placed on administrative leave along with the seizure of their mobile phones and computers. Claas Kuehnemann was named as acting managing director for Africa while the investigation continued.


title: SAP

text: On 26 October 2017, SAP announced that it had voluntarily reported itself to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a possible violation of US law, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), related to the South African bribery allegations. SAP's own investigation, conducted by law firm Baker McKenzie, revealed that SAP had paid $7.7 million in commissions to third-parties linked to the Gupta family while securing contracts worth $48 million with Transnet and Eskom.


title: SAP

text: Since May 2015, the company has dealt with a series of high-profile bribery investigations, including one that led to them paying $3.9 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges over a former executive's scheme to bribe Panama government officials in order to win lucrative technology contracts.


title: SAP

text: In 2018, and in an ongoing court battle, Teradata accused SAP of IP theft and fraudulent behaviour. In 2021, in the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, additional claims were made of questionable behaviour with regards to SAP's funding of researchers at the University of Mannheim - who were in effect paid by SAP to investigate competitors technology. In a later article, Der Spiegel magazine maintained that SAP had been neglectful in maintaining strict governance for years.


title: SAP

text: In June 2022 the German business magazine Manager Magazin published an article stating the management style of the leadership might be responsible for an increased compliance risk.


title: SAP

text: In May 2022, multiple claims were made of bullying and sexual harassment within the company, with many cases of unwanted advances by senior male managers on female colleagues. When complaints were made or information made available, HR were found to be unhelpful or hostile. For example, in one case a female employee was groped by a male manager in Sydney while at a company event, but he was never brought to account. In another case, a female employee was sexually targeted by a manager and asked to keep her web camera on during the day. She then complained and was placed under "performance management" - a pre-cursor to being asked to leave the company. Several female executives, including the Co-CEO left the company, adding to concerns that women were negatively treated, despite SAP then hiring several other senior women from Microsoft. One employee claimed she was made redundant because she lobbied for more diversity at SAP.


title: Jeanne Tripplehorn

text: Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, acting in several plays throughout the early 1990s, including Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters" on Broadway. Her film career began with the role of a police psychologist in the erotic thriller "Basic Instinct" (1992). Her other film roles include "The Firm" (1993), "Waterworld" (1995) and "Sliding Doors" (1998). On television, she starred as Barbara Henrickson on the HBO drama series "Big Love" (2006–2011) and as Dr. Alex Blake on the CBS police drama "Criminal Minds" (2012–2014), and she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the 2009 HBO movie "Grey Gardens".


title: Jeanne Tripplehorn

text: Tripplehorn was born on June 10, 1963, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Suzanne Ferguson and Tom Tripplehorn, who was once a guitarist with Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. She graduated from Edison High School in 1981 and spent one semester studying at the University of Tulsa. She performed on the local television shows "Creature Feature" (1982–83) and "Night Shift" (1983). She also worked part-time, then full-time on local rock radio station KMOD for several years before leaving for Juilliard. She then attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of "Group 19" (1986–1990), which also included Laura Linney.


title: Jeanne Tripplehorn

text: Tripplehorn began her career on stage. She appeared Off-Broadway in John Patrick Shanley's "The Big Funk" in 1990, then co-starred with Val Kilmer in a 1993 production of John Ford's 1630s play "'Tis Pity She's a Whore". She has also been on Broadway in Anton Chekov's "Three Sisters" opposite Amy Irving and Lili Taylor. In 1992, she made her film debut, in a supporting role in the erotic thriller "Basic Instinct". The following year, she appeared as Abby McDeere opposite Tom Cruise in "The Firm" and in 1995 had another lead role alongside Kevin Costner in "Waterworld". As lead actress, she starred in the 1997 box-office bomb "'Til There Was You". The next few years she had supporting roles in small films, including "Office Killer", "Monument Ave.", and "Sliding Doors"; and in 1999 appeared opposite Hugh Grant in the British romantic comedy "Mickey Blue Eyes". She was cast opposite Madonna in the 2002 film "Swept Away".


title: Jeanne Tripplehorn

text: In 2006, Tripplehorn was cast in a leading role as Barbara Henrickson in the HBO drama series "Big Love", opposite Bill Paxton, regarded as the most successful role of her career. In 2009, she played Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the HBO movie "Grey Gardens". She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for this performance. In 2011, she appeared in "Five", a movie on the Lifetime television network. In July 2012, Tripplehorn joined the cast of CBS procedural "Criminal Minds" in season eight, replacing Paget Brewster's character Emily Prentiss. She received a six-figure salary per episode of "Criminal Minds". She left the series after two seasons and Jennifer Love Hewitt replaced her as a new agent.


title: Jeanne Tripplehorn

text: Tripplehorn has appeared in the independent films "Little Pink House" (2017), with Catherine Keener, and "Gloria Bell" (2018), starring Julianne Moore. In 2020, she returned to television in the Hulu miniseries "Mrs. America" opposite Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Rose Byrne, Tracey Ullman and Margo Martindale. She was later cast in a recurring role in the HBO period drama series "The Gilded Age" starring Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon.


title: Jeanne Tripplehorn

text: Tripplehorn had a relationship with actor Ben Stiller between 1990 and 1996. She married actor Leland Orser in 2000. They have a son.


title: Breast

text: The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues.


title: Breast

text: In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secretes milk to feed infants. Subcutaneous fat covers and envelops a network of ducts that converge on the nipple, and these tissues give the breast its size and shape. At the ends of the ducts are lobules, or clusters of alveoli, where milk is produced and stored in response to hormonal signals. During pregnancy, the breast responds to a complex interaction of hormones, including estrogens, progesterone, and prolactin, that mediate the completion of its development, namely lobuloalveolar maturation, in preparation of lactation and breastfeeding.


title: Breast

text: Humans are the only animals with permanent breasts. At puberty, estrogens, in conjunction with growth hormone, cause permanent breast growth in female humans. This happens only to a much lesser extent in other primates—breast development in other primates generally only occurs with pregnancy. Along with their major function in providing nutrition for infants, female breasts have social and sexual characteristics. Breasts have been featured in ancient and modern sculpture, art, and photography. They can figure prominently in the perception of a woman's body and sexual attractiveness. A number of cultures associate breasts with sexuality and tend to regard bare breasts in public as immodest or indecent. Breasts, especially the nipples, are an erogenous zone.


title: Breast

text: The English word "breast" derives from the Old English word ('breast, bosom') from Proto-Germanic (breast), from the Proto-Indo-European base "" (to swell, to sprout). The "breast" spelling conforms to the Scottish and North English dialectal pronunciations. The "Merriam-Webster Dictionary" states that "Middle English , [comes] from Old English ; akin to Old High German ..., Old Irish [belly], [and] Russian "; the first known usage of the term was before the 12th century.


title: Breast

text: A large number of colloquial terms for breasts are used in English, ranging from fairly polite terms to vulgar or slang. Some vulgar slang expressions may be considered to be derogatory or sexist to women.


title: Breast

text: Humans are the only mammals whose breasts become permanently enlarged after sexual maturity (known in humans as puberty). The reason for this evolutionary change was unknown. Several hypotheses have been put forward:


title: Breast

text: A link has been proposed to processes for synthesizing the endogenous steroid hormone precursor dehydroepiandrosterone which takes place in fat rich regions of the body like the buttocks and breasts. These contributed to human brain development and played a part in increasing brain size. Breast enlargement may for this purpose may have occurred as early as "Homo ergaster" (1.7–1.4 MYA). Other breast formation hypotheses may have then taken over as principal drivers.


title: Breast

text: It has been suggested by zoologists Avishag and Amotz Zahavi that the size of the human breasts can be explained by the handicap theory of sexual dimorphism. This would see the explanation for larger breasts as them being an honest display of the women's health and ability to grow and carry them in her life. Prospective mates can then evaluate the genes of a potential mate for their ability to sustain her health even with the additional energy demanding burden she is carrying.


title: Breast

text: The zoologist Desmond Morris describes a sociobiological approach in his popular science book "The Naked Ape". He suggests, by making comparisons with the other primates, that breasts evolved to replace swelling buttocks as a sex signal, of ovulation. He notes how humans have, relatively speaking, large penises as well as large breasts. Furthermore, early humans adopted bipedalism and face-to-face coitus. He therefore suggested enlarged sexual signals helped maintain the bond between a mated male and female even though they performed different duties and therefore were separated for lengths of time.


title: Breast

text: The study "The Evolution of the Human Breast" (2001) proposed that the rounded shape of a woman's breast evolved to prevent the sucking infant offspring from suffocating while feeding at the teat; that is, because of the human infant's small jaw, which did not project from the face to reach the nipple, he or she might block the nostrils against the mother's breast if it were of a flatter form (cf. common chimpanzee). Theoretically, as the human jaw receded into the face, the woman's body compensated with round breasts.


title: Breast

text: Ashley Montague (1965) proposed that breasts came about as an adaptation for infant feeding for a different reason as early human ancestors adopted bipedalism and the loss of body hair. Human upright stance meant infants must be carried at the hip or shoulder instead of on the back as in the apes. This gives the infant less opportunity to find the nipple or the purchase to cling on to the mother's body hair. The mobility of the nipple on a large breast in most human females gives the infant more ability to find grasp it and feed.


title: Breast

text: Other suggestions include simply that permanent breasts attracted mates, that "pendulous" breasts gave infants something to cling to, or that permanent breasts shared the function of a camel's hump, to store fat as an energy reserve.


title: Breast

text: In women, the breasts overlie the pectoralis major muscles and extend on average from the level of the second rib to the level of the sixth rib in the front of the rib cage; thus, the breasts cover much of the chest area and the chest walls. At the front of the chest, the breast tissue can extend from the clavicle (collarbone) to the middle of the sternum (breastbone). At the sides of the chest, the breast tissue can extend into the axilla (armpit), and can reach as far to the back as the latissimus dorsi muscle, extending from the lower back to the humerus bone (the bone of the upper arm). As a mammary gland, the breast is composed of differing layers of tissue, predominantly two types: adipose tissue; and glandular tissue, which affects the lactation functions of the breasts.


title: Breast

text: Morphologically the breast is tear-shaped. The superficial tissue layer (superficial fascia) is separated from the skin by 0.5–2.5 cm of subcutaneous fat (adipose tissue). The suspensory Cooper's ligaments are fibrous-tissue prolongations that radiate from the superficial fascia to the skin envelope. The female adult breast contains 14–18 irregular lactiferous lobes that converge at the nipple. The 2.0–4.5 mm milk ducts are immediately surrounded with dense connective tissue that support the glands. Milk exits the breast through the nipple, which is surrounded by a pigmented area of skin called the areola. The size of the areola can vary widely among women. The areola contains modified sweat glands known as Montgomery's glands. These glands secrete oily fluid that lubricate and protect the nipple during breastfeeding. Volatile compounds in these secretions may also serve as an olfactory stimulus for the newborn's appetite.


title: Breast

text: The dimensions and weight of the breast vary widely among women. A small-to-medium-sized breast weighs 500 grams (1.1 pounds) or less, and a large breast can weigh approximately 750 to 1,000 grams (1.7 to 2.2 pounds) or more. The tissue composition ratios of the breast also vary among women. Some women's breasts have a higher proportion of glandular tissue than of adipose or connective tissues. The fat-to-connective-tissue ratio determines the density or firmness of the breast. During a woman's life, her breasts change size, shape, and weight due to hormonal changes during puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause.


title: Breast

text: The breast is an apocrine gland that produces the milk used to feed an infant. The nipple of the breast is surrounded by the areola (nipple-areola complex). The areola has many sebaceous glands, and the skin color varies from pink to dark brown. The basic units of the breast are the terminal duct lobular units (TDLUs), which produce the fatty breast milk. They give the breast its offspring-feeding functions as a mammary gland. They are distributed throughout the body of the breast. Approximately two-thirds of the lactiferous tissue is within 30 mm of the base of the nipple. The terminal lactiferous ducts drain the milk from TDLUs into 4–18 lactiferous ducts, which drain to the nipple. The milk-glands-to-fat ratio is 2:1 in a lactating woman, and 1:1 in a non-lactating woman. In addition to the milk glands, the breast is also composed of connective tissues (collagen, elastin), white fat, and the suspensory Cooper's ligaments. Sensation in the breast is provided by the peripheral nervous system innervation by means of the front (anterior) and side (lateral) cutaneous branches of the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth intercostal nerves. The T-4 nerve (Thoracic spinal nerve 4), which innervates the dermatomic area, supplies sensation to the nipple-areola complex.


title: Breast

text: Approximately 75% of the lymph from the breast travels to the axillary lymph nodes on the same side of the body, whilst 25% of the lymph travels to the parasternal nodes (beside the sternum bone). A small amount of remaining lymph travels to the other breast and to the abdominal lymph nodes. The subareolar region has a lymphatic plexus known as the "subareolar plexus of Sappey". The axillary lymph nodes include the pectoral (chest), subscapular (under the scapula), and humeral (humerus-bone area) lymph-node groups, which drain to the central axillary lymph nodes and to the apical axillary lymph nodes. The lymphatic drainage of the breasts is especially relevant to oncology because breast cancer is common to the mammary gland, and cancer cells can metastasize (break away) from a tumour and be dispersed to other parts of the body by means of the lymphatic system.


title: Breast

text: The morphologic variations in the size, shape, volume, tissue density, pectoral locale, and spacing of the breasts determine their natural shape, appearance, and position on a woman's chest. Breast size and other characteristics do not predict the fat-to-milk-gland ratio or the potential for the woman to nurse an infant. The size and the shape of the breasts are influenced by normal-life hormonal changes (thelarche, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause) and medical conditions (e.g. virginal breast hypertrophy). The shape of the breasts is naturally determined by the support of the suspensory Cooper's ligaments, the underlying muscle and bone structures of the chest, and by the skin envelope. The suspensory ligaments sustain the breast from the clavicle (collarbone) and the clavico-pectoral fascia (collarbone and chest) by traversing and encompassing the fat and milk-gland tissues. The breast is positioned, affixed to, and supported upon the chest wall, while its shape is established and maintained by the skin envelope. In most women, one breast is slightly larger than the other. More obvious and persistent asymmetry in breast size occurs in up to 25% of women.


title: Breast

text: While it is a common belief that breastfeeding causes breasts to sag, researchers have found that a woman's breasts sag due to four key factors: cigarette smoking, number of pregnancies, gravity, and weight loss or gain.


title: Breast

text: The base of each breast is attached to the chest by the deep fascia over the pectoralis major muscles. The space between the breast and the pectoralis major muscle, called retromammary space, gives mobility to the breast.


title: Breast

text: The chest (thoracic cavity) progressively slopes outwards from the thoracic inlet (atop the breastbone) and above to the lowest ribs that support the breasts. The inframammary fold, where the lower portion of the breast meets the chest, is an anatomic feature created by the adherence of the breast skin and the underlying connective tissues of the chest; the IMF is the lower-most extent of the anatomic breast. Normal breast tissue typically has a texture that feels nodular or granular, to an extent that varies considerably from woman to woman.


title: Breast

text: The breasts are principally composed of adipose, glandular, and connective tissues. Because these tissues have hormone receptors, their sizes and volumes fluctuate according to the hormonal changes particular to thelarche (sprouting of breasts), menstruation (egg production), pregnancy (reproduction), lactation (feeding of offspring), and menopause (end of menstruation).


title: Breast

text: The morphological structure of the human breast is identical in males and females until puberty. For pubescent girls in thelarche (the breast-development stage), the female sex hormones (principally estrogens) in conjunction with growth hormone promote the sprouting, growth, and development of the breasts. During this time, the mammary glands grow in size and volume and begin resting on the chest. These development stages of secondary sex characteristics (breasts, pubic hair, etc.) are illustrated in the five-stage Tanner Scale.


title: Breast

text: During thelarche the developing breasts are sometimes of unequal size, and usually the left breast is slightly larger. This condition of asymmetry is transitory and statistically normal in female physical and sexual development. Medical conditions can cause overdevelopment (e.g., virginal breast hypertrophy, macromastia) or underdevelopment (e.g., tuberous breast deformity, micromastia) in girls and women.


title: Breast

text: Approximately two years after the onset of puberty (a girl's first menstrual cycle), estrogen and growth hormone stimulate the development and growth of the glandular fat and suspensory tissues that compose the breast. This continues for approximately four years until the final shape of the breast (size, volume, density) is established at about the age of 21. Mammoplasia (breast enlargement) in girls begins at puberty, unlike all other primates in which breasts enlarge only during lactation.


title: Breast

text: During the menstrual cycle, the breasts are enlarged by premenstrual water retention and temporary growth.


title: Breast

text: The breasts reach full maturity only when a woman's first pregnancy occurs. Changes to the breasts are among the first signs of pregnancy. The breasts become larger, the nipple-areola complex becomes larger and darker, the Montgomery's glands enlarge, and veins sometimes become more visible. Breast tenderness during pregnancy is common, especially during the first trimester. By mid-pregnancy, the breast is physiologically capable of lactation and some women can express colostrum, a form of breast milk.


title: Breast

text: Pregnancy causes elevated levels of the hormone prolactin, which has a key role in the production of milk. However, milk production is blocked by the hormones progesterone and estrogen until after delivery, when progesterone and estrogen levels plummet.


title: Breast

text: At menopause, breast atrophy occurs. The breasts can decrease in size when the levels of circulating estrogen decline. The adipose tissue and milk glands also begin to wither. The breasts can also become enlarged from adverse side effects of combined oral contraceptive pills. The size of the breasts can also increase and decrease in response to weight fluctuations. Physical changes to the breasts are often recorded in the stretch marks of the skin envelope; they can serve as historical indicators of the increments and the decrements of the size and volume of a woman's breasts throughout the course of her life.


title: Breast

text: The primary function of the breasts, as mammary glands, is the nourishing of an infant with breast milk. Milk is produced in milk-secreting cells in the alveoli. When the breasts are stimulated by the suckling of her baby, the mother's brain secretes oxytocin. High levels of oxytocin trigger the contraction of muscle cells surrounding the alveoli, causing milk to flow along the ducts that connect the alveoli to the nipple.


title: Breast

text: Full-term newborns have an instinct and a need to suck on a nipple, and breastfed babies nurse for both nutrition and for comfort. Breast milk provides all necessary nutrients for the first six months of life, and then remains an important source of nutrition, alongside solid foods, until at least one or two years of age.


title: Breast

text: The breast is susceptible to numerous benign and malignant conditions. The most frequent benign conditions are puerperal mastitis, fibrocystic breast changes and mastalgia.


title: Breast

text: Lactation unrelated to pregnancy is known as galactorrhea. It can be caused by certain drugs (such as antipsychotic medications), extreme physical stress, or endocrine disorders. Lactation in newborns is caused by hormones from the mother that crossed into the baby's bloodstream during pregnancy.


title: Breast

text: Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death among women and it is one of the leading causes of death among women. Factors that appear to be implicated in decreasing the risk of breast cancer are regular breast examinations by health care professionals, regular mammograms, self-examination of breasts, healthy diet, exercise to decrease excess body fat, and breastfeeding.


title: Breast

text: Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. Normally, males produce lower levels of estrogens and higher levels of androgens, namely testosterone, which suppress the effects of estrogens in developing excessive breast tissue.


title: Breast

text: In boys and men, abnormal breast development is manifested as gynecomastia, the consequence of a biochemical imbalance between the normal levels of estrogen and testosterone in the male body. Around 70% of boys temporarily develop breast tissue during adolescence.


title: Breast

text: The condition usually resolves by itself within two years. When male lactation occurs, it is considered a symptom of a disorder of the pituitary gland.


title: Breast

text: Plastic surgery can be performed to augment or reduce the size of breasts, or reconstruct the breast in cases of deformative disease, such as breast cancer. Breast augmentation and breast lift (mastopexy) procedures are done only for cosmetic reasons, whereas breast reduction is sometimes medically indicated.


title: Breast

text: In cases where a woman's breasts are severely asymmetrical, surgery can be performed to either enlarge the smaller breast, reduce the size of the larger breast, or both.


title: Breast

text: Breast augmentation surgery generally does not interfere with future ability to breastfeed. Breast reduction surgery more frequently leads to decreased sensation in the nipple-areola complex, and to low milk supply in women who choose to breastfeed. Implants can interfere with mammography (breast x-rays images).


title: Breast

text: In Christian iconography, some works of art depict women with their breasts in their hands or on a platter, signifying that they died as a martyr by having their breasts severed; one example of this is Saint Agatha of Sicily.


title: Breast

text: Femen is a feminist activist group which uses topless protests as part of their campaigns against sex tourism religious institutions, sexism, and homophobia. Femen activists have been regularly detained by police in response to their protests.


title: Breast

text: There is a long history of female breasts being used by comedians as a subject for comedy fodder (e.g., British comic Benny Hill's burlesque/slapstick routines).


title: Breast

text: In European pre-historic societies, sculptures of female figures with pronounced or highly exaggerated breasts were common. A typical example is the so-called Venus of Willendorf, one of many Paleolithic Venus figurines with ample hips and bosom. Artifacts such as bowls, rock carvings and sacred statues with breasts have been recorded from 15,000 BC up to late antiquity all across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.


title: Breast

text: Many female deities representing love and fertility were associated with breasts and breast milk. Figures of the Phoenician goddess Astarte were represented as pillars studded with breasts. Isis, an Egyptian goddess who represented, among many other things, ideal motherhood, was often portrayed as suckling pharaohs, thereby confirming their divine status as rulers. Even certain male deities representing regeneration and fertility were occasionally depicted with breast-like appendices, such as the river god Hapy who was considered to be responsible for the annual overflowing of the Nile.


title: Breast

text: Female breasts were also prominent in Minoan art in the form of the famous Snake Goddess statuettes, and a few other pieces, though most female breasts are covered. In Ancient Greece there were several cults worshipping the "Kourotrophos", the suckling mother, represented by goddesses such as Gaia, Hera and Artemis. The worship of deities symbolized by the female breast in Greece became less common during the first millennium. The popular adoration of female goddesses decreased significantly during the rise of the Greek city states, a legacy which was passed on to the later Roman Empire.


title: Breast

text: During the middle of the first millennium BC, Greek culture experienced a gradual change in the perception of female breasts. Women in art were covered in clothing from the neck down, including female goddesses like Athena, the patron of Athens who represented heroic endeavor. There were exceptions: Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was more frequently portrayed fully nude, though in postures that were intended to portray shyness or modesty, a portrayal that has been compared to modern pin ups by historian Marilyn Yalom. Although nude men were depicted standing upright, most depictions of female nudity in Greek art occurred "usually with drapery near at hand and with a forward-bending, self-protecting posture". A popular legend at the time was of the Amazons, a tribe of fierce female warriors who socialized with men only for procreation and even removed one breast to become better warriors (the idea being that the right breast would interfere with the operation of a bow and arrow). The legend was a popular motif in art during Greek and Roman antiquity and served as an antithetical cautionary tale.


title: Breast

text: Many women regard their breasts as important to their sexual attractiveness, as a sign of femininity that is important to their sense of self. A woman with smaller breasts may regard her breasts as less attractive.


title: Breast

text: Because breasts are mostly fatty tissue, their shape can—within limits—be molded by clothing, such as foundation garments. Bras are commonly worn by about 90% of Western women, and are often worn for support. The social norm in most Western cultures is to cover breasts in public, though the extent of coverage varies depending on the social context. Some religions ascribe a special status to the female breast, either in formal teachings or through symbolism. Islam forbids free women from exposing their breasts in public.


title: Breast

text: Many cultures, including Western cultures in North America, associate breasts with sexuality and tend to regard bare breasts as immodest or indecent. In some cultures, like the Himba in northern Namibia, bare-breasted women are normal. In some African cultures, for example, the thigh is regarded as highly sexualised and never exposed in public, but breast exposure is not taboo. In a few Western countries and regions female toplessness at a beach is acceptable, although it may not be acceptable in the town center.


title: Breast

text: Social attitudes and laws regarding breastfeeding in public vary widely. In many countries, breastfeeding in public is common, legally protected, and generally not regarded as an issue. However, even though the practice may be legal or socially accepted, some mothers may nevertheless be reluctant to expose a breast in public to breastfeed due to actual or potential objections by other people, negative comments, or harassment. It is estimated that around 63% of mothers across the world have publicly breast-fed. Bare-breasted women are legal and culturally acceptable at public beaches in Australia and much of Europe. Filmmaker Lina Esco made a film entitled "Free the Nipple", which is about "...laws against female toplessness or restrictions on images of female, but not male, nipples", which Esco states is an example of sexism in society.


title: Breast

text: In some cultures, breasts play a role in human sexual activity. In Western culture, breasts have a "...hallowed sexual status, arguably more fetishized than either sex's genitalia". Breasts and especially the nipples are among the various human erogenous zones. They are sensitive to the touch as they have many nerve endings; and it is common to press or massage them with hands or orally before or during sexual activity. During sexual arousal, breast size increases, venous patterns across the breasts become more visible, and nipples harden. Compared to other primates, human breasts are proportionately large throughout adult females' lives. Some writers have suggested that they may have evolved as a visual signal of sexual maturity and fertility.


title: Breast

text: Many people regard bare female breasts to be aesthetically pleasing or erotic, and they can elicit heightened sexual desires in men in many cultures. In the ancient Indian work the "Kama Sutra", light scratching of the breasts with nails and biting with teeth are considered erotic. Some people show a sexual interest in female breasts distinct from that of the person, which may be regarded as a breast fetish. A number of Western fashions include clothing which accentuate the breasts, such as the use of push-up bras and decollete (plunging neckline) gowns and blouses which show cleavage. While U.S. culture prefers breasts that are youthful and upright, some cultures venerate women with drooping breasts, indicating mothering and the wisdom of experience.


title: Breast

text: Research conducted at the Victoria University of Wellington showed that breasts are often the first thing men look at, and for a longer time than other body parts. The writers of the study had initially speculated that the reason for this is due to endocrinology with larger breasts indicating higher levels of estrogen and a sign of greater fertility, but the researchers said that "Men may be looking more often at the breasts because they are simply aesthetically pleasing, regardless of the size."


title: Breast

text: Some women report achieving an orgasm from nipple stimulation, but this is rare. Research suggests that the orgasms are genital orgasms, and may also be directly linked to "the genital area of the brain". In these cases, it seems that sensation from the nipples travels to the same part of the brain as sensations from the vagina, clitoris and cervix. Nipple stimulation may trigger uterine contractions, which then produce a sensation in the genital area of the brain.


title: Breast

text: There are many mountains named after the breast because they resemble it in appearance and so are objects of religious and ancestral veneration as a fertility symbol and of well-being. In Asia, there was "Breast Mountain", which had a cave where the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Da Mo) spent much time in meditation. Other such breast mountains are Mount Elgon on the Uganda–Kenya border; and the Maiden Paps in Scotland; the ('Maiden's breast mountains') in Talim Island, Philippines, the twin hills known as the Paps of Anu ( or 'the breasts of Anu'), near Killarney in Ireland; the 2,086 m high or in the , Spain; in Thailand, in Puerto Rico; and the Breasts of Aphrodite in Mykonos, among many others. In the United States, the Teton Range is named after the French word for 'nipple'.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of ELO, including "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "Hold On Tight".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne was born in Birmingham and became interested in music during his youth, being heavily inspired by the Beatles. He began his music career in 1963 as a member of the Andicaps, leaving the group a year later to join the Chads. From 1966 to 1970, Lynne was a founding member and principal songwriter for the Idle Race, a group which also featured Roy Wood. In 1970, Lynne accepted Wood's offer to join the Move, with Lynne contributing heavily to the band's last two albums. Later that year, Lynne and Wood disbanded the Move to form the band ELO, which was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Following Wood's departure from ELO in 1972, Lynne assumed sole leadership of the band and wrote, arranged, and produced virtually all of its subsequent records.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album "Out of the Blue" (1977). Two ELO albums reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired "Discovery" (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album "Time" (1981). Lynne produced all fifteen ELO singles that rose to the Top 10 record charts in the UK. After ELO's original disbandment in 1986, Lynne released two solo albums: "Armchair Theatre" (1990) and "Long Wave" (2012). Additionally, he began producing various artists. In 1988, under the pseudonyms Otis Wilbury and Clayton Wilbury, he co-founded the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. In the 1990s, Lynne co-produced the Beatles' "Anthology" reunion singles from John Lennon demos, "Free as a Bird" (1995) and "Real Love" (1996). In 2014, Lynne reformed ELO and resumed concert touring under the name "Jeff Lynne's ELO".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Outside of ELO, Lynne's producing credits include the UK or US Top 10 albums "Cloud Nine" (Harrison, 1987), "Mystery Girl" (Orbison, 1989), "Full Moon Fever" (Petty, 1989), "Into the Great Wide Open" (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1991), "Flaming Pie" (Paul McCartney, 1997), and "Get Up!" (Bryan Adams, 2015). In 2014, Lynne received a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars, and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame the following year. He received three Ivor Novello Awards, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. In 2017, Lynne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ELO, and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 Birthday Honours.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne was born in Erdington, Birmingham, to Nancy and Philip Lynne and grew up in Shard End, Birmingham, England, where he attended Alderlea Boys' Secondary School. As a native of Birmingham, he still has his Brummie accent. His father bought him his first guitar, an acoustic instrument, for £2. He was still playing it in 2012. In 1963, he formed a group with Robert Reader and David Walsh using little more than Spanish guitars and cheap electrical instruments. They were originally named the Rockin' Hellcats, then the Handicaps and finally the Andicaps. They practised at Shard End Community Centre and performed weekly. However, in 1964, Robert Reader and David Walsh left the band and Lynne brought in replacements. At the end of 1964, Lynne decided to leave the band to replace Mick Adkins of the local band "the Chads".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Some time in or after 1965, he acquired his first item of studio recording equipment, a Bang & Olufsen 'Beocord 2000 De Luxe' stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder, which allowed multi-tracking between left and right channels. He says it "taught me how to be a producer". In 1966, Lynne joined the line-up of the Nightriders as guitarist, having responded to an advertisement in the "Birmingham Evening Mail".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: The band soon changed their name to the Idle Race. Despite recording two critically acclaimed albums with the band and producing the second, success eluded him. In 1970, Lynne accepted an offer from friend Roy Wood to join the line-up of the more successful band the Move.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne contributed many songs to the Move's last two albums while formulating, with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan, a band built around a fusion of rock and classical music – a project which would eventually become the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). The original idea was that both bands would exist in tandem. Bevan has, however, since suggested that Lynne had little interest in the Move, stating: "The only reason Jeff Lynne ever joined the Move was to form a new band. He was never interested in being a part of the Move."


title: Jeff Lynne

text: The band's eponymous first album was released in December 1971, featuring heavy contributions from Lynne and Wood and producing the band's debut single "10538 Overture". Problems led to Wood's departure from ELO in 1972 (forming the band Wizzard later that year), a year after the release of the band's first album, leaving Lynne as the band's dominant creative force. Thereafter followed a succession of band personnel changes and increasingly popular albums: "ELO 2" (1973) and "On the Third Day" (also 1973), "Eldorado" (1974) and "Face the Music" (1975). By "A New World Record" (1976), Lynne had almost developed the roots of the group into a more complex and unique pop-rock sound mixed with studio strings, layered vocals, and tight, catchy pop singles. Lynne's now almost complete creative dominance as producer, songwriter, arranger, lead singer and guitarist could make ELO appear to be an almost solo effort. However, the ELO sound and the focus of Lynne's writing was also shaped by Louis Clark's and Richard Tandy's co-arranging, under Lynne's direction (especially the large string sections in addition to ELO's own string trio), and Bev Bevan's drumming, while Richard Tandy's integration of the piano, Moog, harmonium, and Mellotron, with more novel keyboard technology, gave Lynne's songs a more symphonic sound. Bassist Kelly Groucutt's distinctive voice mixed with Lynne's to produce the classic ELO harmonic vocal sound.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: The pinnacle of ELO's chart success and worldwide popularity was the expansive double album "Out of the Blue" (1977), which was largely conceived in a Swiss chalet during a two-week writing marathon. The band's 1978 world tour featured an elaborate "space ship" set and laser light show. In order to recreate the complex instrumental textures of their albums, the band used pre-recorded supplemental backing tracks in live performances. Although that practice has now become commonplace, it caused considerable derision in the press of the time. Lynne has often stated that he prefers the creative environment of the studio to the rigours and tedium of touring. Lynne followed up the success of "Out of the Blue" with "Discovery" (1979), which held No. 1 in the UK for 5 weeks. The album is primarily associated with its two disco-flavoured singles ("Shine a Little Love" and "Last Train to London") and with the title's word play on "disco" and "very". However, the remaining seven non-disco tracks on the album reflected Lynne's range as a pop-rock songwriter, including a heavy, mid-tempo rock anthem ("Don't Bring Me Down") that, despite its use of a drum loop, could be considered the antithesis of disco. Lynne later recalled his forays into dance music: "I love the force of disco. I love the freedom it gave me to make different rhythms across it. I enjoyed that really steady driving beat. Just steady as a rock. I’ve always liked that simplicity in the bass drum."


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In 1979, Lynne rejected an offer for ELO to headline the Knebworth Concert in the UK, allowing Led Zeppelin to headline instead. In the absence of any touring to support "Discovery", Lynne had time to contribute five tracks to the soundtrack for the 1980 film musical "Xanadu". The score yielded three Top 20 singles for ELO in both the UK and the US: "I'm Alive" (UK No. 20, US No. 16), "All Over The World" (UK No. 11, US No. 13), and the title track "Xanadu", featuring Olivia Newton-John joining ELO on lead vocals, which reached number one in the UK (US No. 8). Nevertheless, Lynne was not closely involved with the development of the film, and his material consequently had only superficial attachment to the plot. "Xanadu" performed weakly at the box office (although it later has experienced popularity as a cult favourite). Lynne subsequently disavowed his limited contribution to the project.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne took the band in a somewhat different direction with the science-fiction themed album "Time" (1981), reaching number one for two weeks in the UK, producing the second Top 3 single in less than two years. The strings were still featured, but with heavily synthesised textures. Following a marginally successful tour, Lynne kept this general approach with "Secret Messages" (1983) and a final contractually-obligated ELO album "Balance of Power" (1986). Lynne discusses the contractually-obligated nature of the final albums on the short interview included with the 'Zoom' DVD. ELO now had only three remaining official members (Lynne, Bevan and Tandy), and Lynne began devoting more time to producing. During his time in the Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne did manage to release a few recordings under his own name. In 1976, Lynne covered the Beatles songs "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Nowhere Man" for "All This and World War II". In 1977, Lynne released his first solo single, the disco-flavoured "Doin' That Crazy Thing"/"Goin' Down to Rio". Despite ELO's high-profile at that time, it received little airplay and failed to chart.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In 1984, Lynne and Tandy contributed two original songs "Video!" and "Let It Run" to the film "Electric Dreams" (they also provided a third song, "Sooner Or Later", which was released as the b-side of "Video!"). Lynne also wrote the song "The Story of Me," which was recorded by the Everly Brothers on their comeback album "EB84". Even before the official end of ELO, Lynne began his move toward focusing almost exclusively on studio production work. Lynne produced and wrote the 1983 top-40 hit "Slipping Away" for Dave Edmunds and played on sessions (with Tandy) for Edmunds's album, "Information". Lynne also produced six tracks on Edmunds's follow-up album in 1984, "Riff Raff". In contrast to the dense, boomy, baroque sound of ELO, Lynne's post-ELO studio work has tended toward more minimal, acoustic instrumentation and a sparse, "organic" quality that generally favours light room ambience and colouration over artificial reverb, especially on vocals. Lynne's recordings also often feature the jangling compressed acoustic guitar sound pioneered by Roger McGuinn and a heavily gated snare drum sound.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: During the 1980s and 1990s, Lynne collaborated on various projects with former members of the Beatles. The band had been a major influence on Lynne since the release of their debut album, "Please Please Me," in 1963, and continued to influence him throughout the remainder of their career, ending with their break-up in 1970.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In 1968, while performing with The Idle Race, Lynne and the other members of the band were invited to a Beatles session at Abbey Road Studios. While there, he met the Beatles during the making of "The White Album", witnessing the band making it together. He spent an hour at the session, before going back to the sessions with the Idle Race. Years later, he admitted that being in the same room "caused me not to sleep for, like, three days." The original aim of Electric Light Orchestra was to take up "where the Beatles had left off, and to present it on stage." John Lennon praised the group, calling them the "sons of the Beatles" on a radio station when discussing the group's 1973 single "Showdown" on the New York radio station WNEW.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Critics often compared Electric Light Orchestra to The Beatles, and they were often criticised for "ripping off" the band. Lynne admitted that he "was very influenced by the Beatles' sound of '68 and '69. That has obviously been a big influence on the way [he] looked at songwriting" and said that being compared with The Beatles was the "ultimate compliment".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne's Beatles influence was clearly evident in his ELO work, and the connection to the Beatles was strengthened when Lynne produced George Harrison's "Cloud Nine." The latter was a successful comeback album for Harrison, released in 1987, featuring the popular singles "Got My Mind Set on You", "When We Was Fab" (appearing in the video) and "This Is Love", the last two of which were co-written by Lynne. Lynne's association with Harrison led to the 1988 formation of the Traveling Wilburys, a studio "supergroup" that also included Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison and resulted in two albums ("Vol. 1" and "Vol. 3"), both produced by Harrison and Lynne. In 1988, Lynne also worked on Orbison's album "Mystery Girl", co-writing and producing Orbison's last major hit, "You Got It", plus two other tracks on that album. For "Rock On!", the final Del Shannon album, Lynne co-wrote "Walk Away" and finished off several tracks after Shannon's death.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In 1989, Lynne co-produced "Full Moon Fever" by Tom Petty, which included the hit singles "Free Fallin'", "I Won't Back Down" and "Runnin' Down a Dream", all co-written by Lynne. This album and "Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1" received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year in 1989. The Traveling Wilburys won a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal" that year. Lynne's song "One Way Love" was released as a single by Agnetha Fältskog and appeared on her second post-ABBA album, "Eyes of a Woman". Lynne co-wrote and produced the track "Let It Shine" for Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson's first solo album in 1988. Lynne also contributed three tracks to an album by Duane Eddy and "Falling in Love" on "Land of Dreams" for Randy Newman.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In 1990, Lynne collaborated on the Wilburys' follow up "Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3" and released his first solo album "Armchair Theatre". The album featured Harrison and Tandy and included the singles "Every Little Thing" and "Lift Me Up". It received some positive critical attention but little commercial success. Lynne also provided the song "Wild Times" to the motion picture soundtrack "" in 1991. In 1991, Lynne returned to the studio with Petty, co-writing and producing the album "Into the Great Wide Open" for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which featured the singles "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open". The following year he produced two songs on Roy Orbison's posthumous album "King of Hearts", including the single "I Drove All Night".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In February 1994, Lynne worked with the three surviving Beatles on the "Anthology" album series. At Harrison's request, Lynne was brought in to assist in reevaluating John Lennon's original studio material. The songs "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were created by digitally processing Lennon's demos for the songs and overdubbing the three surviving band members to form a virtual Beatles reunion that the band had mutually eschewed during Lennon's lifetime. Lynne has also produced records for Ringo Starr and worked on Paul McCartney's Grammy-nominated album "Flaming Pie".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne's work in the 1990s also includes production of a 1993 album for singer-songwriter Julianna Raye titled "Something Peculiar" and production or songwriting contributions to albums by Roger McGuinn ("Back from Rio") and Joe Cocker ("Night Calls"), songs by Aerosmith ("Lizard Love"), Tom Jones ("Lift Me Up"), Bonnie Tyler ("Time Mends a Broken Heart"), the film "Still Crazy", Hank Marvin ("Wonderful Land" and "Nivram"), Et Moi ("Drole De Vie") and the Tandy Morgan Band ("Action"). In 1996, Lynne was officially recognised by his peers when he was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Contributions to British Music" for a second time.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In the year 2000, Lynne reactivated ELO and released the retrospective box set "Flashback", containing many newly finished, previously unreleased tracks. The following year Lynne debuted the first new ELO album in fifteen years, "Zoom". The album featured guest appearances by Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Richard Tandy, with Lynne multi-tracking a majority of the instruments and vocals. The album received positive reviews but had no hit singles. It was marketed as a "return to the classic ELO sound" in an attempt to connect with a loyal body of fans and to jump-start a planned concert tour (with Lynne and Tandy as the only returning original ELO members). While a live performance was taped at CBS Television City over two consecutive nights and shown on PBS (with subsequent DVD release), the tour itself was cancelled.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Earlier in 2001, Lynne began working with George Harrison on what would turn out to be Harrison's final album, "Brainwashed". After Harrison's death from cancer on 29 November 2001, Lynne returned to the studio in 2002 to help finish the uncompleted album. Lynne was heavily involved in the memorial "Concert for George", held at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002, which also featured Traveling Wilburys member Petty. Lynne sang the lead vocal on "The Inner Light", "I Want to Tell You" and "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", and subsequently produced the Surround Sound audio mix for the "Concert for George" DVD, released in November 2003, which later received a Grammy. Lynne reunited in 2006 with Petty to produce the latter's third solo release, "Highway Companion". In 2004, Lynne and Petty inducted Harrison into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then played "Handle with Care" with Dhani Harrison, also "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" adding Prince, Steve Winwood, and others.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In a Reuters article on 23 April 2009, Lynne said that he had been working on the follow-up to his 1990 solo debut album "Armchair Theatre" with a possible tentative release date of "later this year". He also produced four tracks on Regina Spektor's fifth album "Far", released 23 June 2009.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In a March 2010 interview with the "Daily Express" newspaper, Lynne confirmed he was working on a new album with Joe Walsh and simultaneously "writing a couple of albums under his own name, though he won't tell us in which musical direction he's heading." Lynne contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" for the tribute album "", which was released on 6 September 2011. On 31 December 2011, Brian Williams reported on NBC New Year's Eve with Carson Daly that "2012 releases will include rare new work from Jeff Lynne."


title: Jeff Lynne

text: In 2012, Walsh released his "Analog Man" album which was produced by Lynne. Lynne's second solo album, a covers album titled "Long Wave", was released on 8 October 2012. A greatest hits collection of re-recorded ELO songs by Lynne titled "" was also released under the ELO moniker on the same day. Lynne suggested that a new album with original material may be released during 2013. In 2012, Lynne and Tandy teamed up at Lynne's Bungalow Palace home studios to record a live set of ELO's songs. This was broadcast on TV as part of the "Mr. Blue Sky" documentary. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 9 February 2014, Lynne performed George Harrison's "Something" with Joe Walsh and Dhani Harrison on "", as well as "Hey Bulldog" from the "Yellow Submarine soundtrack", while accompanying Dave Grohl, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show". On 5 March 2014, Lynne received an honorary doctorate degree from Birmingham City University. He also mentioned he was working with Bryan Adams on new material. On 14 September 2014, Jeff Lynne and his touring band, under the name Jeff Lynne's ELO, played a public concert for the first time in over 25 years, headlining at the Radio 2 festival in Hyde Park, London. Never particularly enthusiastic for live performance even in his younger days, Lynne has called this event "easily the best concert I've ever been involved with".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 8 February 2015, Lynne appeared at the Grammy Awards, playing "Evil Woman" and "Mr. Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 10 September 2015, Lynne's website announced he had signed a contract to deliver an album of new ELO music for Columbia Records marking the first time in 14 years new ELO music would be released. On 24 September 2015, "When I Was a Boy", the first single from "Alone in the Universe" was released on the internet with a music video scheduled not long after. The album was released on 13 November 2015 and was followed by promotional shows including the first ELO shows in the United States in 30 years. A 2016 European tour was scheduled, with Dublin, Amsterdam and Zurich being some of the locations toured. Notably, the Dublin concert was delayed by a week due to medical advice given to Lynne. In September, 2016, shortly after the European dates, ELO played 3 shows at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, with full orchestra and fireworks. Jeff Lynne's ELO also played two concerts at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on 16 and 18 September 2016 respectively.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 24 June 2017, Lynne performed at Wembley Stadium to a crowd of 60,000, playing a 24-song setlist including 'Xanadu', 'Do Ya' and 'Twilight'. The concert was released on DVD and CD, under the title "Wembley or Bust".


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 2 August 2018, Lynne and his band Jeff Lynne's ELO began a 10-city tour of North America which included Oakland, California and Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Rosemont, Illinois, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia and Toronto.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 12 September 2018, Jeff Lynne's ELO began a tour throughout Europe including dates in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Mannheim, Vienna, Amsterdam, Nottingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, Leeds, London, Liverpool, Dublin, and Belfast.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: On 26 September 2019, Jeff Lynne's ELO announced a new album, called "From Out of Nowhere", which was subsequently released on 1 November of the same year. The album was accompanied by the release of an eponymous single which premiered on BBC Radio 2 that same day. The album went to number 1 on the British charts.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne was married to his first wife Rosemary from 1972 to 1977, and then to Sandi Kapelson, with whom he has two daughters, in 1979. He is a fan of Birmingham City F.C.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: Lynne was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music.


title: Jeff Lynne

text: See also: The Idle Race discography, the Move discography, Electric Light Orchestra discography, Traveling Wilburys discography


title: Fernando Torres

text: Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, Torres came to be nicknamed El Niño ('The Kid'). In his prime, he was praised for his pace, accurate finishing, and proficiency in heading. In 2008, he finished third for the Ballon d'Or and in 2008 and 2009 he was named in the FIFA World XI.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad. He made his first-team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club with 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Torres joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007, after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season to score more than 20 league goals in a season. The most prolific goalscoring spell of his career, he became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals. During this period, 2007—2010, Torres was often regarded as the best striker in the world.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres left Liverpool in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a British record transfer fee of £50 million, which made him the most expensive Spanish player in history. At Chelsea, Torres won the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, though his goalscoring rate and performances drastically declined. Torres joined Serie A club AC Milan on a two-year loan prior to the 2013–14 season, and signed permanently in January 2015. In the same month, he agreed to rejoin Atlético Madrid on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season, before signing permamently for the club in July 2016. Torres won the 2017-18 UEFA Europa League before he signed for Japanese club Sagan Tosu in July 2018, retiring from football after the 2018-19 season.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres is a Spanish international and made his debut against Portugal in 2003. He has been capped over 100 times and is his country's third-highest goalscorer of all-time. With Spain, he has participated in six major tournaments: UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012, and the 2014 World Cup. Spain won the three tournaments from 2008 to 2012, with Torres scoring in the finals of both Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. He scored the winning goal in the 2008 European Championship, and won the Golden Boot for highest goalscorer in 2012.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Born in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Torres became interested in football as a child and joined his first team, Parque 84, at age five. His grandfather was not a passionate football fan, but took pride in being an Atlético Madrid supporter, and Torres inherited his love for the club.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres began playing football as a goalkeeper, the position his brother played in. At age seven, however, he started playing regularly as a striker in an indoor league for the neighbourhood club, Mario's Holanda, using the characters from the anime "Captain Tsubasa" as inspiration. Three years later, aged 10, he progressed to an 11-side team, Rayo 13. He scored 55 goals in a season and was one of three Rayo 13 players to earn a trial with Atlético. He impressed the scouts and joined the club's youth system at age 11 in 1995.


title: Fernando Torres

text: After progressing through the ranks, Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético sent an under-15 team to compete in the Nike Cup, in Spain and Europe, to play against youth teams from other clubs; Atlético won the tournament. He was later voted the best player in Europe for the age group. In 1999, at the age of 15, Torres signed his first professional contract with Atlético. He spent his first year playing in the youth team and participated in the Honor Division when he was 16. The 2000–01 season had started poorly, as Torres suffered from a cracked shinbone which kept him out of play until December. Torres trained with the first team to get prepared for pre-season, but eventually made his debut on 27 May 2001, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, against Leganés. One week later, he scored his first goal for the club, against Albacete, and the season finished with Atlético narrowly missing out on promotion to La Liga.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Atlético were promoted to La Liga at the end of the 2001–02 season, although Torres did not perform well in the season, as he netted only 6 times in 36 appearances in the Segunda División. Torres' first season in La Liga, 2002–03, was better, however, as he scored 13 goals in 29 appearances, with Atlético finishing in 11th place. In July 2003, soon after his takeover of the club, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had a £28 million bid for Torres rejected by Atlético's board of directors. In the 2003–04 season, his second in La Liga, Torres made further strides, scoring 19 league goals in 35 appearances, meaning he finished as the joint third-highest scorer in the league.<ref name="Statistics: top scorers: 2003/2004"></ref> At age 19, Torres was named Atlético's captain. Atlético narrowly missed out on qualification for the UEFA Cup, but by finishing in seventh place in the 2003–04 season, they qualified for the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, giving Torres a first taste of a competition at the European level. He scored two goals in the two fourth round matches against OFK Beograd, with one coming in each leg. Atlético reached the final, but lost 3–1 on a penalty shoot-out to Villarreal following a 2–2 draw on aggregate. FA Premier League champions Chelsea were believed to be interested in signing Torres during the summer of 2005, but Atlético club president Enrique Cerezo said that they had "no chance" of signing him. Cerezo later said in January 2006 that the club was willing to listen to offers for Torres, and Torres claimed Newcastle United of the FA Premier League had made a bid to sign him in March.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres stated after the 2006 FIFA World Cup that he had turned down an offer to join Chelsea at the end of the 2005–06 season. He scored 14 league goals in the 2006–07 season. The English media reported that he was the main transfer target of FA Premier League club Liverpool, but Cerezo stated, "We've received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player." Days later, however, new reports suggested Atlético had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres; the fee was rumoured to be £25 million with Luis García moving to Atlético in a separate transfer deal. On 30 June, Atlético announced a deal to sign Diego Forlán from Villarreal, in what was seen as a move to replace Torres before his departure became official. On 2 July, it was reported that Torres had cut short a vacation to fly back to Madrid to finalise the move to Liverpool. The following day, Torres passed a medical at Liverpool's Melwood training ground. He held a press conference in Madrid on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético fans, before completing his move to Liverpool on a six-year contract. The transfer fee was the highest in Liverpool's history. In March 2008, manager Rafael Benítez stated in an interview with "The Times" that Torres was acquired for around £20 million, although this figure takes into account García's move to Atlético.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres made his competitive debut for Liverpool against Aston Villa in a 2–1 win on 11 August 2007. He made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League four days past his first performance in a 1–0 victory over Toulouse, after coming on as a 79th minute substitute. His first Premier League goal came on his Anfield debut on 19 August 2007, in the 16th minute in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea. His first hat-trick came in a 4–2 victory over Reading in the League Cup on 25 September 2007, with all of his goals coming in the second half. His first goals in the Champions League came on his third appearance in the competition as Liverpool beat Porto 4–1 on 28 November 2007, as he scored twice.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres was named the Premier League Player of the Month for February 2008, during which he scored four goals in four appearances, including a hat-trick against Middlesbrough on 23 February 2008. This hat-trick and another in a 4–0 victory over West Ham United on 5 March 2008 meant he became the first Liverpool player since Jack Balmer in November 1946 to score a hat-trick in successive home matches. Later in March, after he scored a 47th-minute header against Reading at Anfield, he became the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season to score 20 league goals in a season. In April, he scored another Champions League goal, this time against Arsenal in the quarter-final second leg, as Liverpool advanced to the semi-final. This goal took him onto 29 goals for the 2007–08 season in all competitions, eclipsing Michael Owen's personal record for goals in a season. On 11 April 2008, it was announced Torres had made a six-man shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, which was eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. The Spanish international was also nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award, which was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. In May, he finished second to Ronaldo for the FWA Footballer of the Year award.


title: Fernando Torres

text: On 4 May 2008, Torres scored a 57th-minute winner against Manchester City, which equalled the consecutive Anfield league goal record of eight games set by Roger Hunt. After scoring his 24th league goal in the final game of the season, a 2–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, he set a new record for the most prolific foreign goal scorer in a debut season in England, eclipsing Ruud van Nistelrooy's 23 goals. He ended the season in joint second place with Emmanuel Adebayor in the race for the Premier League golden boot.<ref name="Statistics: top scorers: 2007/2008"></ref> Torres was subject to media speculation that Chelsea were willing to pay £50 million to sign him, but Torres responded by saying it would be "many years" before he left Liverpool. Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks also negated the idea of a transfer, saying he would not allow Torres to leave the club at any price.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres made a scoring start to the 2008–09 Premier League season with a 25-yard shot into the bottom right-hand corner away at Sunderland, which was the only goal in a 1–0 win on 16 August 2008. He suffered a hamstring tear in a 0–0 draw against Aston Villa, which would keep him out for two to three weeks. Torres made his return in a 2–1 victory against Marseille in the Champions League and went on to score two goals in the Merseyside derby against Everton on 27 September 2008 to give Liverpool a 2–0 win. He followed this up with another two goals the following weekend against Manchester City in a 3–2 win away at the City of Manchester Stadium as Liverpool came back from a two-goal deficit. The first of these was the thousandth Liverpool goal to be scored in the Premier League. Torres picked up a hamstring injury during a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, meaning he was likely to miss three games for Liverpool. On 22 October 2008, Liverpool played Torres' former club Atlético in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, but his injury meant he missed out on the game. Atlético president Enrique Cerezo had given him a VIP invitation to watch the game, but he declined this to continue his rehabilitation from injury in Merseyside. He was named in the FIFPro World XI team for the 2007–08 season on 27 October 2008.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres made his return for Liverpool on 8 November 2008 after coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute in a 3–0 victory against West Bromwich Albion. He said he would be interested in returning to former club Atlético eventually, saying, "I don't know if I will retire there, but I would like to go back and finish some things that are left to do." He was ruled out of action for two to three weeks following Liverpool's 1–0 victory over Marseille in the Champions League in November, where he picked up a hamstring strain, which was later extended to at least four weeks by specialists. He was named on the shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in December, and eventually came in third place behind Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Torres returned to action on 3 January 2009 as a substitute with a goal in the 2–0 win over Preston North End, his first in the FA Cup. He scored two late goals for Liverpool to secure a 2–0 victory over Chelsea on 1 February 2009. Despite having spent a year and a half at the club, Torres was chosen as number 50 in "The Times"'s list of "The 50 greatest Liverpool players", reinforcing the impact he had made at Liverpool in such a short period of time.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres faced his old rivals Real Madrid on 10 March 2009 in the Champions League last 16 and due to an ankle injury, he had a painkilling injection before the game to enable him to play. He scored the first goal of the game, which ended as a 4–0 victory, meaning Liverpool progressed to the quarter-finals 5–0 on aggregate. Four days later, he lined up against Manchester United at Old Trafford and he scored the equaliser in a game that finished as a 4–1 victory. His goal celebration at Old Trafford endeared him to Liverpool fans when he held out his hand to United fans – making the "five times" gesture –


title: Fernando Torres

text: signifying Liverpool's five Champions League titles (to United's three). He was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the second season running in April 2009. Torres scored his 50th goal for Liverpool on 24 May 2009 against Tottenham on the final day of the 2008–09 season, his 84th appearance.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Following the end of the season, Torres agreed a new contract with Liverpool, which he signed on 14 August. By signing, Torres had the option of a one-year extension after the contract's expiration in 2013. Torres scored two goals in a 3–2 win over West Ham United on 19 September 2009, a result that took Liverpool to third in the Premier League. One week later, he scored his first hat-trick of the 2009–10 Premier League season in a 6–1 victory over Hull City at Anfield. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for September, after scoring five goals during the month and becoming the Premier League's top goalscorer. On 25 October 2009, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 victory for Liverpool over Manchester United, after which Rafael Benítez praised Torres' performance, saying, "We were waiting for that final pass. When it came we knew he would score." Torres was named in the FIFPro World XI for the second successive season in December 2009.<ref name="FIFA/FIFPRO World XI announced"></ref> His stoppage-time winning goal against Aston Villa on 29 December 2009 made him the fastest Liverpool player ever to score 50 league goals. He was substituted on 65 minutes in a 1–1 draw with Birmingham City on 4 April 2010, which Benítez justified by saying Torres was "exhausted". Torres made his last appearance of the season scoring twice in a 4–1 victory over Benfica in the Europa League on 8 April 2010, and it was announced on 18 April that he would miss the rest of the season to undergo knee surgery. This meant that Torres finished the season with 22 goals in 32 games in all competitions, finishing as Liverpool's top scorer for the second time.


title: Fernando Torres

text: Following Roy Hodgson's appointment as Liverpool manager, Hodgson stated that Torres would not be sold by the club, saying, "He is not for sale and we don't welcome any offers for him. We want to keep him." Hodgson dismissed reports Torres was set to leave Liverpool by saying, "He has told us that he is looking forward to Monday, to getting back to work and looking forward to playing for Liverpool next season. That is what I know so other reports, I would suggest, are erroneous." Torres stated his commitment to Liverpool on 3 August: "My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed."


title: Fernando Torres

text: Torres made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season in the opening match, a 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 14 August 2010, entering the game as a substitute in the 74th minute. He scored his first goal of the season with the winner in a 1–0 victory over West Brom on 29 August 2010, his 50th goal at Anfield in all competitions. Torres scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory at home to Blackburn Rovers on 24 October 2010, his first goal since August. He scored his final goals for Liverpool in a 3–0 win away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 22 January 2011.