title: Tennis

text: Before and during the Open Era, Rod Laver remains the only male player in history to have won the calendar year Grand Slam twice in 1962 and 1969 and also the calendar year Professional Grand Slam in 1967.


title: Tennis

text: Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, and John McEnroe had a fierce rivalry in the late 1970s and early 1980s that propelled "the men's game to new heights of popularity". Connors had a long and prolific career and holds the Open Era men's singles records of 109 titles including eight Grand Slams, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. Borg was regarded by his contemporaries as among the greatest ever, having a calm court demeanor and unrivalled physical conditioning, winning six French Opens and five straight Wimbledon titles, retiring at age 26 when he was still in his prime. McEnroe attained the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, finishing his career with 77 singles and 78 doubles titles; this remains the highest men's combined total of the Open Era.


title: Tennis

text: The Agassi–Sampras rivalry showcased the two best players in the 1990s. Andre Agassi, the first of two male players in history to have achieved a Career Golden Slam in singles tennis (followed by Rafael Nadal), has been called the best service returner in the history of the game. Agassi was the first man to win grand slams on all modern surfaces (hard, grass, and clay court, as previous holders of all grand slam tournaments played in an era of grass and clay only), and is regarded by a number of critics and fellow players to be among the greatest players of all time. Both Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall also won major Pro Slam tournaments on all three surfaces (grass, clay, hard court) Rosewall in 1963 and Laver in 1967. Pete Sampras had a precise and powerful serve, set the record of six consecutive year-end No.1 finishes, and was the first player to break Roy Emerson's record of twelve Grand Slams. Sampras retired with a then-Open era record of fourteen Grand Slam titles which was by far the most among his contemporaries, as the second-most Slams held at the time by another active player was Agassi with seven. Earlier in Sampras' career, the most Grand Slams won up to that point by other active players was eight (jointly held by Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl).


title: Tennis

text: By the early twenty-first century, the "Big Three" of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had dominated. As of 2022, Rafael Nadal holds the record for the most grand slam titles with 22.


title: Tennis

text: As with the men there are frequent discussions about who is the greatest female singles player of all time with Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams being the three players most often nominated.


title: Tennis

text: In March 2012 the Tennis Channel published a combined list of the 100 greatest men and women tennis players of all time. It ranked Steffi Graf as the greatest female player (in 3rd place overall), followed by Martina Navratilova (4th place) and Margaret Court (8th place). The rankings were determined by an international panel.


title: Tennis

text: Sportswriter John Wertheim of Sports Illustrated stated in an article in July 2010 that Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever with the argument that "Head-to-head, on a neutral surface (i.e. hard courts), everyone at their best, I can't help feeling that she crushes the other legends.". In a reaction to this article Yahoo sports blog Busted Racket published a list of the top-10 women's tennis players of all time placing Martina Navratilova in first spot. This top-10 list was similar to the one published in June 2008 by the Bleacher Report who also ranked Martina Navratilova as the top female player of all time.


title: Tennis

text: Steffi Graf is considered by some to be the greatest female player. Billie Jean King said in 1999, "Steffi is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time." Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players. In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press. Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book "The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century", named her as the best female player of the 20th century, directly followed by Martina Navratilova.


title: Tennis

text: "Tennis" magazine selected Martina Navratilova as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005. Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova "arguably, the greatest player of all time." Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, "She's the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived."


title: Tennis

text: In 2018, a Tennis.com panel selected Serena Williams as the greatest female tennis player in the Open Era. In May 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest female tennis player of all time.


title: Tennis

text: In November 2018, Tennis.com polled its readers to choose the greatest women's tennis player of all time and Graf came in first. In July 2020, The Guardian polled its readers to determine the greatest female tennis player of the past 50 years, and Steffi was the clear favorite, picking up nearly twice as many votes as any other player.


title: Tennis

text: In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to simply as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service. The umpire has the right to overrule a line judge or a net judge if the umpire is sure that a clear mistake has been made.


title: Tennis

text: In past tournaments, line judges tasked with calling the serve were sometimes assisted by electronic sensors that beeped to indicate an out-of-bounds serve; one such system was called "Cyclops". Cyclops has since largely been replaced by the Hawk-Eye system. In professional tournaments using this system, players are allowed three unsuccessful appeals per set, plus one additional appeal in the tiebreak to challenge close line calls by means of an electronic review. The US Open, Miami Masters, US Open Series, and World Team Tennis started using this challenge system in 2006 and the Australian Open and Wimbledon introduced the system in 2007. In clay-court matches, such as at the French Open, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left by the ball's impact on the court surface.


title: Tennis

text: The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision if the tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the umpire's decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision. (This would only happen in Davis Cup or Fed Cup matches, not at the World Group level, when a chair umpire from a non-neutral country is in the chair).


title: Tennis

text: In tennis, a junior is a player under 18 who is still legally protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments.


title: Tennis

text: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite, Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors, however, such as Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Gaël Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments.


title: Tennis

text: In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and doubles) into one combined tally. Junior tournaments do not offer prize money except for the Grand Slam tournaments, which are the most prestigious junior events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points, culminating with Grade A.


title: Tennis

text: Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions. To succeed in tennis often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and nurture a junior's growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions.


title: Tennis

text: Muscle strain is one of the most common injuries in tennis. When an isolated large-energy appears during the muscle contraction and at the same time body weight apply huge amount of pressure to the lengthened muscle, muscle strain can occur. Inflammation and bleeding are triggered when muscle strain occurs, which can result in redness, pain and swelling. Overuse is also common in tennis players of all levels. Muscle, cartilage, nerves, bursae, ligaments and tendons may be damaged from overuse. The repetitive use of a particular muscle without time for repair and recovery is the most common cause of injury.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: The Cecil Hotel is an affordable housing complex in Downtown Los Angeles. It opened on December 20, 1924 as a budget hotel. In 2011, the hotel was renamed the Stay On Main. The 14-floor hotel has 700 guest rooms. The hotel has a checkered history, with many suicides and deaths occurring there. Renovations started in 2017 were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the hotel's temporary closure. On December 13, 2021, the Cecil Hotel was reinaugurated as an affordable housing complex.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: The Cecil was built in 1924 by three hoteliers—William Banks Hanner, Charles L. Dix and Robert H. Schops— as a destination for business travelers and tourists. Designed by Loy Lester Smith in the Beaux Arts style, and constructed by W. W. Paden, the hotel cost $1.5 million to complete and boasted an opulent marble lobby with stained-glass windows, potted palms, and alabaster statuary. The three hoteliers invested about $2.5 million in the enterprise, with the knowledge that several similar hotels had been established elsewhere downtown, but within five years of its opening, the United States sank into the Great Depression. Although the hotel flourished as a fashionable destination throughout the 1940s , the decades beyond saw the hotel decline, as the nearby area known as Skid Row became increasingly populated with transients. As many as 10,000 homeless people lived within a four-mile () radius.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In 2011, part of the Cecil Hotel was rebranded as "Stay on Main", with separate reception areas during the day, but with shared facilities and its official website remained "thececilhotel.com".


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In 2014, the hotel was sold to New York City hotelier Richard Born for $30 million, after which another New York-based firm, Simon Baron Development, acquired a 99-year ground lease on the property. In 2016, Matt Baron, president of Simon Baron, said he was committed to the preservation of architecturally or historically significant components of the building, such as the hotel's grand lobby, but his company planned to completely redevelop the interior and fix the "hodgepodge" work that had been done in more recent years. The hotel closed in 2017 for the renovation, but the work was suspended indefinitely when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In February 2017, the Los Angeles City Council voted to deem the Cecil a Historic-Cultural Monument, because it is representative of an early 20th-century American hotel and because of the historic significance of its architect's body of work.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: On December 13, 2021, the Cecil Hotel reopened as an affordable housing complex operated by the Skid Row Housing Trust. The facility will provide affordable living accommodations for 600 low-income residents.In April of 2022, the historic Cecil Hotel room rate advertisement painted on its southern façade was illegally white-washed. Although it is unclear whether the owners, the lessees, or the sub-lessees were responsible for the removal of the protected landmark's signage, it was likely removed to make way for a new mural or billboard. It was reported that artist Matthew Garcia was commissioned to paint a mural on the building. Additionally, an artist's rendering of billboards designed by Found Design for Simon Baron Development and organized by media developer Kevani, in which the project is entitled "The Frames," has been in circulation. Kevani's website indicates that the billboards are "coming soon." The original advertisement had been on the building since at least 1927. It originally read "HOTEL CECIL LOW MONTHLY WEEKLY RATES 700 ROOMS" with monthly later changed to daily. The remains of the first letters can still be seen and this is why the current word "daily" is aligned on the right side unlike the other rows.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: The first documented suicide at the Cecil occurred on the evening of January 22, 1927, when Percy Ormond Cook, 52, shot himself in the head while inside his hotel room after failing to reconcile with his wife and child. The "Los Angeles Times" reported that he was rushed to The Receiving Hospital with a slim chance of survival; death records reveal that he died that same evening. The next reported death occurred in 1931 when a guest, W. K. Norton, died in his room after taking poison capsules. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, more suicides at the Cecil occurred. In 2008, two long-time residents referred to the Cecil as "The Suicide", and it became a popular nickname in social media years later. RoomSpook, a website that tracks hotel deaths, lists at least 13 suicides that happened at the hotel.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In addition to suicides, Cecil's history includes other violent and disturbing happenings. It also became a notorious rendezvous spot for adulterous couples, drug activity, and a common ground for prostitutes.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In 2015, while researching the Cecil Hotel for an article for KCET, researcher Hadley Meares claimed that in 1947, Elizabeth Short, dubbed the Black Dahlia in the media, was rumored to have been seen drinking at Cecil's bar in the days before her notorious and unsolved murder. However, this claim appears to be nothing more than the retelling of a long-forgotten falsehood that first appeared in a 1995 column written by "Los Angeles Times" columnist Steve Harvey. Without verifying the claim, Harvey had quoted Ken Schessler, author of the book, "This is Hollywood", as saying: "On Jan. 11, 1947, just three days before she was murdered, the Black Dahlia was seen in the bar in the Cecil Hotel with a girlfriend and two sailors." Schessler then added, "In fact, the hotel and the bars in the same block, including the Dugout next door, were some of Elizabeth Short's favorite hangouts during the week before she was killed." According to LAPD records, Short was last seen alive at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel on January 9 and was not seen again until her body was discovered in an empty field on January 15. There are no known records of Short ever being at the Cecil Hotel.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In 1964, a retired telemarketer named "Pigeon Goldie" Osgood, who had been a well-known and well-liked long-term resident at the hotel was found dead in her room. She had been raped, stabbed, beaten and her room ransacked. Jacques B. Ehlinger was charged with Osgood's murder because he was seen covered in blood roaming the streets close to the hotel, but was later cleared as a suspect. Her murder remains unsolved.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In the 1980s, the hotel was the temporary residence of serial killer Richard Ramirez, nicknamed the "Night Stalker". Ramirez was a regular presence on the skid row area of Los Angeles and according to a hotel clerk who claims to have spoken to him, Ramirez is rumored to have stayed at the Cecil for a few weeks. Ramirez engaged in most of, if not all of, his killing spree while staying there. He reportedly stripped off his bloody clothes in the alley outside the building before climbing the interior stairs to his residence in his blood-stained underwear. On August 30, 1985, a group of Los Angeles residents spotted him in the street and prevented him from escaping until police arrived to arrest him. In 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders and sentenced to death, although he would ultimately die of cancer in 2013. Another serial killer, Austrian Jack Unterweger, stayed at the Cecil in 1991, possibly because he sought to copy Ramirez's crimes. While there, he strangled and killed at least three prostitutes, crimes he was convicted of in Austria.


title: Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

text: In 2013, the Cecil (by then re-branded as the "Stay on Main" although still maintaining the original Hotel Cecil signs and painted advertisements on its exterior) became the focus of renewed attention when surveillance footage of a young Canadian student, Elisa Lam, behaving erratically in the hotel's elevator, went viral. The video depicts Lam repeatedly pressing the elevator's buttons, walking in and out of the elevator and possibly attempting to hide from someone. It was recorded shortly before her disappearance. After 19 days, her naked body was discovered in a water supply cistern on the hotel roof, following complaints from guests of odd-tasting water and low pressure. How she got into the water tank long remained a mystery. The floor Lam stayed on was one of the floors that did not have security footage, which left uncertainty as to whether her death was a homicide until Lam’s sister had revealed to detectives that Lam had a history of not taking her medication. Among her possessions left at the hotel were several prescription medications, seemingly untouched. Lam had previously been diagnosed with an extreme form of bipolar disorder and was known for displaying similar psychotic behaviour in the past when under-medicated. Police ruled that her erratic behavior on the elevator was caused by a paranoid hallucination, as she had climbed into the tank herself, believing that she was in danger. Police then speculate that perhaps when she entered the tank, the water level was high enough that she could've gotten herself out; but as guests and residents used the tap water, the level could have decreased leaving her trapped in the tank, without a way to get herself out. They also speculate she undressed while in the tank, attempting to remove the clothing weighing her down. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled her death accidental due to drowning, with bipolar disorder being a significant factor.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The fourth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars is designated under the model code E46, which was produced by the German automaker BMW from 1997 to 2006, and was the successor to the E36 3 Series which ceased production in 2000. First introduced in November 1997, the E46 was available in sedan, coupé, convertible, station wagon and hatchback body styles. The latter has been marketed as the 3 Series Compact.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The M3 performance model was introduced in June 2000 with a 2-door coupé body style, followed by the convertible counterpart in April 2001. The M3 is powered by the BMW S54 straight-six engine with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed SMG-II automated manual transmission.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The E46 line-up was phased out starting from late 2004, following the introduction of the E90 3 Series sedans. However, the E46 coupé and convertible body styles remained in production until August 2006.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In 1993, the development programme for the E46 began under the lead of chief engineer Wolfgang Ziebart and head of R&D Wolfgang Reitzle. In late 1993, design work began under the lead of chief designer Chris Bangle and continued into 1995. In May 1995, the general exterior design of the E46 by Erik Goplen of DesignworksUSA was approved and as a result DesignworksUSA was contracted by BMW to work alongside BMW Group's in-house design team to create the exterior bodywork for the 3 Series range in February 1996. The design team put an emphasis on improving aerodynamics and increasing the car's aggressive stance. Design patents were filed in Germany on 16 July 1997 and in the US on 16 January 1998.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: Chris Bangle and Wolfgang Reitzle were responsible through 1995 for the production sedan's exterior, as evident in the 1997 design patent. Production development of the sedan took 24 months following design freeze and was 31 months from executive board styling approval in 1995 to its start of series production in December 1997. Erik Goplen designed the production coupé, convertible and station wagon during between 1996 and 1997. The E46 sedan was unveiled via press release on 11 November 1997 and was launched on the market at the end of April 1998 with customer deliveries.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The body shell of the E46 was claimed by BMW to be 70% more rigid than its E36 predecessor. Aluminium was used for an increased quantity of suspension components, in order to decrease unsprung mass. However, with a curb weight of , the E46 328ci is heavier than the E36 equivalent.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In tune with BMW's core values regarding handling dynamics, the E46 was initially available with a rear-wheel drive layout and a 50/50 weight distribution. All-wheel drive, which was last available in the 3 Series in 1991, was reintroduced for the E46 on the 325xi, 330xi and 330xd models.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The electronic components in the E46 are more integrated than previous generations of 3 Series, including the use of a CAN bus system. Drivetrain information (such as engine, transmission and stability control) is communicated using the CAN bus. Vehicle electronics (such as the radio, navigation, television and telecommunications) can communicate to each other via the K-bus.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The E46 was the first 3 Series to be available with an engine using Valvetronic (variable valve lift). Various electronic features were also introduced to the 3 Series in the E46 generation, including satellite navigation, electronic brake-force distribution, rain-sensing wipers and LED tail-lights.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The E46 was produced in Germany (Leipzig, Munich and Regensburg) and in South Africa (Rosslyn). Local assembly of complete knock-down (CKD) kits was used for cars sold in China, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand and Russia.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The shorter three-door hatchback version of the E46 was marketed as the BMW 3 Series Compact. The exterior styling has several differences to the rest of the E46 3 Series range, notably the distinctive headlights and tail-lights. Mechanically, the Compact shares many elements with the rest of the E46 range, however the steering rack has a faster ratio.<ref name="www.rac.co.uk E46/5"></ref>


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: Factory specifications are listed below. Coupe and convertible models were badged as "Ci (petrol) or Cd (diesel)", and all-wheel drive models were badged as "Xi (petrol) or Xd (diesel)".


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The E46 M3, first introduced in October 2000, was available with the 3.2-litre S54 M-tuned engine. It was available in coupé and convertible body styles.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The M3's S54 engine has a redline of 8,000 rpm. As with most M engines, the S54 has 6 individual throttle bodies, in this case electronically operated (drive-by-wire throttle). The transmission options for the M3 were a 6-speed manual or the 6-speed "SMG-II" automated manual transmission.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In order for the M3 GTR race car to compete in the American Le Mans Series, BMW produced 10 examples of the "M3 GTR Straßen Version" (street version) in 2001. As per the race M3 GTR, the roadgoing Version was powered by the BMW P60B40 4.0 L V8 engine which was slightly detuned and generated a maximum power output of at 7,000 rpm. Power was delivered to the rear wheels via a race type 6-speed dual clutch sequential transmission with M locking differential. The engine featured dry sump lubrication as its racing counterpart and bigger radiators.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The stiffer chassis and suspension system were a carryover from the race version. The car was lowered further than a standard M3 and featured additional strut braces between the firewall and strut towers as well as between the right shock towers. The redesigned front and rear fascias and the rear wing optimised aerodynamics.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The roof, the hood, the rear wing and front and rear fascias were made from carbon-fibre in order to reduce weight. Notable changes made to the interior included leather Recaro bucket seats, removal of rear seats and special M3 GTR sill plates.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: M3 CSL, CSL stands for " Coupe Sport Leichtbau " means Coupe Sport Lightweight and the spec is to do the weight reduction such as the original roof, door panel, center console were replaced with the carbon fiber.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The Performance Package was an option sold in North America, which is commonly referred to by its order code in the United States, ZHP (the order code in Canada was ZAM). It was available for 330i sedans from model years 2003 to 2005, and available for 330ci coupés and convertibles from 2004 to 2006. It included various aesthetic changes over the regular 3 series, as well as functional and mechanical enhancements.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: The ZHP was equipped with sportier camshafts and revised engine tuning to increase power output from as well as a shorter final drive gear ratio, and a corresponding increase in redline from 6,500 rpm to 6,800 rpm. Suspension was modified over the standard suspension with firmer springs and dampers, larger anti-roll bars, stronger front control arm ball joints, a lower ride height, heavy duty steering rack, and slightly more negative camber. "Car and Driver" magazine track-tested the car, which recorded a 0– acceleration time of 5.6 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 14.3 seconds.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In some parts of the United States, BMW sold a version of the 325i which met the super ultra low emission vehicle (SULEV) emissions standards. California, New York, and Massachusetts received the SULEV E46's in 2003, and Vermont in 2004. They utilised a variant of the M54 engine named the BMW M56. The M56 meets SULEV standards, as well as partial zero emission vehicle (PZEV) and zero evaporative emissions requirements. The M56 is claimed to have identical power output as its M54 counterpart.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In September 2001, the facelift (LCI) versions of the sedan and Touring were released for the 2002 model year.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In March 2003, the facelift (LCI) versions of the coupe and convertible models (except M3) were released for the 2004 model year.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: Andy Priaulx won the 2004 European Touring Car Championship season and 2005 World Touring Car Championship season championships driving a 320i. Franz Engstler won the 2006 Asian Touring Car Championship season in a 320i.


title: BMW 3 Series (E46)

text: In the United States, the National Auto Sport Association and BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA) have organized a "Spec E46" amateur racing series. The Spec E46 cars are built to a standard with limited modifications, to create a level playing field and increased competition between drivers. By mid-2020, Spec E46 had become one of BMW CCA's three largest racing classes.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series "Glee" (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recognition for her roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films, such as "Best in Show" (2000), "A Mighty Wind" (2003) and "For Your Consideration" (2006).


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch had a recurring role in the sitcom "Two and a Half Men" (2004–2014), for which she received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award, as well as recurring roles in the drama series "The L Word" (2005–2009), the police drama series "Criminal Minds" (2006–2020), the drama series "The Good Fight" (2017–present), and the period comedy series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (2017–present), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award. From 2013 to 2020, Lynch hosted the game show "Hollywood Game Night", which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch has had roles in numerous mainstream comedy films, such as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005), "" (2006), "Role Models" (2008), "Paul" (2011), and "The Three Stooges" (2012). She has lent her voice to numerous animated films, including "Space Chimps" (2008), "" (2009), "Shrek Forever After" (2010), "Rio" (2011), the "Wreck-It Ralph" film franchise (2012-2018), "Escape from Planet Earth" (2013), and "UglyDolls" (2019).


title: Jane Lynch

text: She is also known for her stage work including her role in Nora Ephron's off-Broadway play "Love, Loss, and What I Wore" in 2009. She made her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in the revival of "Annie" in 2013. She returned to Broadway as Mrs. Brice in another revival, "Funny Girl" in 2022.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2013, Lynch received the 2,505th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the television category, located at 6640 Hollywood Blvd. Among her numerous accolades, Lynch has received five Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Jane Marie Lynch was born on July 14, 1960 in Evergreen Park, Illinois, and raised in Dolton, Illinois, the daughter of a banker father, Frank Joseph Lynch, and a homemaker-secretary mother, Eileen Lynch (née Carney). Her father was of Irish descent, his parents having come from Sonnagh, near Charlestown and Culduff, Killasser, near Swinford both in County Mayo respectively, and her mother was of Irish and Swedish ancestry. She was raised in a Catholic family and attended Thornridge High School. Lynch graduated from Illinois State University in 1982 with a theater degree.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch spent 15 years in Chicago, acting in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and, at the time of her audition, was one of only two women picked to join The Second City comedy troupe. She then continued to hone her comical and improvisational skills at Annoyance Theater, playing Carol Brady in the theater's "The Real Live Brady Bunch". Andy Richter played Mike Brady in the New York shows. He and Lynch became very good friends.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch got her start in films in 1988, playing a small role in the film "Vice Versa". In 1993, she had a secondary role as a doctor alongside Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive". She also appeared, that same year, as a reporter in "Fatal Instinct".


title: Jane Lynch

text: During the 1990s, she made numerous television commercials, including one for Frosted Flakes for an adult audience, directed by Christopher Guest. A few years later, Guest would remember Lynch, as he chose actors for his 2000 dog show mockumentary, "Best in Show." Lynch played Christy Cummings, a butch lesbian personal dog handler to trophy wife Sheri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge). From there, she became a staple actress in Guest's casts, appearing in the director's "A Mighty Wind" (2003) as porn actress-turned-folk singer Laurie Bohner and in "For Your Consideration" (2006) as an entertainment reporter.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Audiences and critics took notice of Lynch for her turn in Judd Apatow's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." She told "Fresh Air's" Terry Gross that the role was originally intended for a man but also that, at the urging of Steve Carell's wife Nancy Walls, was offered to Lynch instead. From there, she took supporting roles in a series of films including "Role Models," "," "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "," "Space Chimps," "The Rocker," "The Hammer," "Another Cinderella Story," "," "Wreck-It Ralph," and "Spring Breakdown."


title: Jane Lynch

text: In "Adventures of Power," a comedy about air-drumming released in 2008, Lynch reunited with Michael McKean, her former co-star from "For Your Consideration," in the role of Aunt Joanie and starring alongside Ari Gold, Adrian Grenier, Chiu Chi Ling, and Shoshannah Stern. In a role similar to that of her contributions as Sue Sylvester on the Fox musical comedy-drama series "Glee," Lynch's role as the encouraging Aunt Joanie to Power, a young musician who plays the air drums because he never had access to musical instruments, promotes the initiative to support music education.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In "Julie and Julia," she portrayed Dorothy McWilliams, Julia Child's sister. "Entertainment Weekly" dedicated an article on its website to the possibility of her performance receiving an Academy Award nomination. However, she was not nominated.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch has appeared in many television series, including "The X-Files," "L.A. Law," "Judging Amy," "The West Wing," "7th Heaven," "Glee," "Desperate Housewives", "Friends", "NewsRadio", "Married With Children", "3rd Rock From The Sun", "Dawson's Creek", "Felicity", "Arrested Development", "Lovespring International", "Two and a Half Men", "Veronica Mars", "Weeds", "Boston Legal", "L Word", "Criminal Minds", "Help Me Help You", "Gilmore Girls", "New Adventures of Old Christine", "Psych", "Monk", "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", "The King of Queens" and "Frasier". She also starred with John Hannah and William Fichtner in 2002's "MDs" and has appeared in the crime drama "Criminal Minds" as Spencer Reid's schizophrenic mother.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2008 she narrated "Out & Proud in Chicago", a documentary which tells about LGBT life in Chicago from the Civil War to 2008 through the stories of 20 everyday Chicagoans, from age 30 to age 80.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Beginning in 2009, Lynch appeared as a regular cast member of the Fox series "Glee." The role echoed previous guest appearances in "The X-Files" and "Veronica Mars," being her third time cast as a harsh high school teacher. She won glowing reviews for her role as the aggressive cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester. Mary McNamara of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "Lynch alone makes "Glee" worth watching." Before her work with "Glee," she was a series regular on the Starz comedy "Party Down." Though the series was renewed for a second season, Lynch would not be returning, due to her work on "Glee."


title: Jane Lynch

text: Even in "Glee"s early days, Lynch continued to pursue other projects. Lynch hosted "Saturday Night Live" on October 9, 2010; the news of her hosting was accidentally broken to her by her "Glee" boss, Ryan Murphy, by text message. Lynch had also guest-starred on the Nickelodeon comedy "iCarly" as Pam Puckett, Sam Puckett's mother, in the episode "iSam's Mom."


title: Jane Lynch

text: Beginning on July 11, 2013, Lynch hosted the NBC game show "Hollywood Game Night." The show had two teams made up of members of the public (civilians) and celebrities competing in various party games, with a chance for the civilians to take home up to $25,000.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch was the co-host of the NBC special "New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" on December 31, 2013, alongside Carson Daly, host of "The Voice."


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2015, Lynch guest-starred in the television series "Girl Meets World" in the episode "Girl Meets Farkle's Choice".


title: Jane Lynch

text: In March 2013, Lynch was announced as executive producer of comedy web series "Dropping the Soap". Lynch starred in the series and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. The series premiered on Dekkoo and was made available on digital platforms including Amazon Video.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Also in 2017, Lynch guest-starred in Episode 7 of "Marvelous Mrs Maisel" as popular but dislikeable comic Sophie Lennon. Lynch returned in the role for two episodes at the end of the second season.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In May 2020, it was reported that Lynch will appear in a recurring role on the Netflix comedy series, "Space Force".


title: Jane Lynch

text: On July 8, 2020, it was reported by Vulture, that Lynch would host a revival of "The Weakest Link" on NBC. The show debuted on September 29, 2020.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch wrote and starred in the award-winning play "Oh Sister, My Sister." Originally produced in 1998, the play kicked off the "Lesbians in Theater" program at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in 2004.


title: Jane Lynch

text: She starred in Comcast's XFinity ads, mainly with two different laptops and two different colored Persian cats. She also stars in LG Corp.'s Text Ed campaign to educate drivers about the dangers of texting while driving.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch's first experience hosting an awards show was in 2010 when she hosted the 2010 VH1 DoSomething Awards. It was announced that she will be hosting the 2011 VH1 DoSomething Awards, airing on VH1 on August 18. Lynch hosted the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18, 2011, only the third woman in Emmy history to host the awards show solo. According to the edition of September 19 of "The Hollywood Reporter," Lynch hosting the Emmys did not help ratings, as viewing was down 8% year over year and eight million fewer people watched the Emmys than watched Michael Vick's return to Atlanta on "Sunday Night Football" on NBC (21.5 million for Eagles-Falcons, 13.5 million for the Emmys).


title: Jane Lynch

text: An autobiography written by Lynch, titled "Happy Accidents," was published in the fall of 2011 by Hyperion Voice. Lynch was inspired to write the book after reflecting upon the successes of her past year and wishing she could have told her more anxious, younger self to not worry as much. The memoir also includes detail about her years as an alcoholic and her success in battling this addiction. Lynch is openly lesbian and married Lara Embry in 2010. A self-proclaimed animal lover, Lynch has four rescue dogs. She has recorded a PSA for PETA encouraging the adoption of shelter animals, and she sponsors an annual adoption event at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. She was the commencement speaker for Smith College's class of 2012 where she received an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In March 2012, Lynch was featured with Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Colfer and Brad Pitt in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, "'8'" – a staged re-enactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage – as Maggie Gallagher. The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch made her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in "Annie" for a limited engagement lasting from May 15 to July 14, 2013. She took the place of Katie Finneran.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2014, Lynch joined the Ban Bossy campaign as a spokesperson advocating leadership roles for girls.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2015, Lynch debuted "See Jane Sing," a cabaret show in which she sings along with Kate Flannery from "The Office" and Tim Davis from ABC's "Boy Band," accompanied by the Tony Guerrero Quintet. The show continues to tour around the country. In 2016, Lynch released "A Swingin' Little Christmas", a nostalgic Christmas album featuring the See Jane Sing ensemble and released on Lynch's own KitschTone Records label. The album received substantial airplay around the country and landed on the Billboard AC Chart's Top 10. In 2017, Lynch recorded a Christmas single with actor Dick Van Dyke. The song was composed and produced by Tony Guerrero and was released by KitschTone Records.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2020, Lynch directed her first two TV commercials for the production company STORY, and joined its roster of commercial directors.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In October 2021, she was cast in the Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" as Rosie Brice. Her stint ran from opening on April 24, 2022, to an expected August 14, 2022 conclusion.


title: Jane Lynch

text: In 2022, Lynch was named honorary "mayor of Funner", the putative location of Harrah's Resort Southern California. In this role, Lynch promotes the resort, including its additional vegan food options and non-alcoholic beverages as Lynch does not eat animal products nor drink alcohol.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Jane married Lara Embry, on May 31, 2010, in Sunderland, Massachusetts. In June 2013, Lynch announced that they were divorcing. Their divorce was finalized in January 2014.


title: Jane Lynch

text: Lynch is deaf in her right ear. She speculated to Craig Ferguson on a July 19, 2013 broadcast of "The Late Late Show" that the deafness was most likely caused by having had a high fever as an infant.


title: Jane Lynch

text: For playing Sue Sylvester in "Glee", she won a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, TCA Award, Satellite Award, and People's Choice Award. Lynch has received five Primetime Emmy Awards from twelve nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards from six nominations, and a Golden Globe Award from two nominations.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend has written more than 100 songs for 12 of the Who's studio albums. These include concept albums, the rock operas "Tommy" (1969) and "Quadrophenia" (1973), plus popular rock radio staples such as "Who's Next" (1972); as well as dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilation albums such as "Odds & Sods" (1974). He has also written more than 100 songs that have appeared on his solo albums, as well as radio jingles and television theme songs.


title: Pete Townshend

text: While known primarily as a guitarist, Townshend also plays keyboards, banjo, accordion, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin, violin, synthesiser, bass guitar, and drums; he is self-taught on all of these instruments and plays on his own solo albums, several Who albums, and as a guest contributor to an array of other artists' recordings.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend has also contributed to and authored many newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts, and he has collaborated as a lyricist and composer for many other musical acts. Due to his aggressive playing style and innovative songwriting techniques, Townshend's works with the Who and in other projects have earned him critical acclaim.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1983, Townshend received the Brit Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 1990 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who. Townshend was ranked No. 3 in Dave Marsh's 1994 list of Best Guitarists in "The New Book of Rock Lists". In 2001, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as a member of the Who; and in 2008 he received Kennedy Center Honors. He was ranked No. 10 in Gibson.com's 2011 list of the top 50 guitarists, and No. 10 in "Rolling Stone"s updated 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He and Roger Daltrey received The George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on 21 May 2016.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend was born in Chiswick, west London, at the Chiswick Hospital, Netheravon Road. He came from a musical family: his father, Cliff Townshend, was a professional alto saxophonist in the Royal Air Force's dance band the Squadronaires and his mother, Betty (née Dennis), was a singer with the Sydney Torch and Les Douglass Orchestras. The Townshends had a volatile marriage, as both drank heavily and possessed fiery tempers. Cliff Townshend was often away from his family touring with his band while Betty carried on affairs with other men. The two split when Townshend was a toddler and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother Emma Dennis, whom Pete later described as "clinically insane". The two-year separation ended when Cliff and Betty purchased a house together on Woodgrange Avenue in middle-class Acton, and the young Pete was happily reunited with his parents. His neighbourhood was one-third Polish, and a devout Jewish family upstairs shared their housing with them and cooking with them—many of his father's closest friends were Jewish.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend says he did not have many friends growing up, so he spent much of his boyhood reading adventure novels like "Gulliver's Travels" and "Treasure Island". He enjoyed his family's frequent excursions to the seaside and the Isle of Man. It was on one of these trips in the summer of 1956 that he repeatedly watched the 1956 film "Rock Around the Clock", sparking his fascination with American rock and roll. Not long thereafter, he went to see Bill Haley perform in London, Townshend's first concert. At the time, he did not see himself pursuing a career as a professional musician; instead, he wanted to become a journalist.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Upon passing the eleven-plus exam, Townshend was enrolled at Acton County Grammar School. At Acton County, he was frequently bullied because he had a large nose, an experience that profoundly affected him. His grandmother Emma purchased his first guitar for Christmas in 1956, an inexpensive Spanish model. Though his father taught him a couple of chords, Townshend was largely self-taught on the instrument and never learned to read music. Townshend and school friend John Entwistle formed a short-lived trad jazz group, the Confederates, featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns. The Confederates played gigs at the Congo Club, a youth club run by the Acton Congregational Church, and covered Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, and Lonnie Donegan. However, both became influenced by the increasing popularity of rock 'n' roll, with Townshend particularly admiring Cliff Richard's debut single, "Move It". Townshend left the Confederates after getting into a fight with the group's drummer, Chris Sherwin, and purchased a "reasonably good Czechoslovakian guitar" at his mother's antique shop.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend's brothers Paul and Simon were born in 1957 and 1960, respectively. Lacking the requisite grades to attend university, Pete was faced with the decision of art school, music school, or getting a job. He ultimately chose to study graphic design at Ealing Art College, enrolling in 1961. At Ealing, Townshend studied alongside future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Notable artists and designers gave lectures at the college such as auto-destructive art pioneer Gustav Metzger. Townshend dropped out in 1964 to focus on music full-time.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In late 1961, Entwistle joined the Detours, a skiffle/rock and roll band, led by Roger Daltrey. The new bass player then suggested Townshend join as an additional guitarist. In the early days of the Detours, the band's repertoire consisted of instrumentals by the Shadows and the Ventures, as well as pop and trad jazz covers. Their lineup coalesced around Roger Daltrey on lead guitar, Townshend on rhythm guitar, Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom on drums, and Colin Dawson as vocalist. Daltrey was considered the leader of the group and, according to Townshend, "ran things the way he wanted them." Dawson quit in 1962 after arguing too much with Daltrey, who subsequently moved to lead vocalist. As a result, Townshend, with Entwistle's encouragement, became the sole guitarist. Through Townshend's mother, the group obtained a management contract with local promoter Robert Druce, who started booking the band as a support act for bands including Screaming Lord Sutch, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, Shane Fenton and the Fentones, and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. In 1963, Townshend's father arranged an amateur recording of "It Was You", the first song his son ever wrote. The Detours became aware of a group of the same name in February 1964, forcing them to change their name. Townshend's roommate Richard Barnes came up with "The Who", and Daltrey decided it was the best choice.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Not long after the name change, drummer Doug Sandom was replaced by Keith Moon, who had been drumming semi-professionally with the Beachcombers for several years. The band was soon taken on by a mod publicist named Peter Meaden who convinced them to change their name to the High Numbers to give the band more of a mod feel. After bringing out one failed single ("I'm the Face/Zoot Suit"), they dropped Meaden and were signed on by two new managers, Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, who had paired up with the intention of finding new talent and creating a documentary about them. The band anguished over a name that all felt represented the band best, and dropped the High Numbers name, reverting to the Who. In June 1964, during a performance at the Railway Tavern, Townshend accidentally broke the top of his guitar on the low ceiling and proceeded to destroy the entire instrument. The on-stage destruction of instruments soon became a regular part of the Who's live shows.


title: Pete Townshend

text: With the assistance of Lambert, the Who caught the ear of American record producer Shel Talmy, who had the band signed to a record contract. Townshend wrote a song, "I Can't Explain", as a deliberate sound-alike of the Kinks, another group Talmy produced. Released as a single in January 1965, "I Can't Explain" was the Who's first hit, reaching number eight on the British charts. A follow-up single ("Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"), credited to both Townshend and Daltrey, also reached the top 10 in the UK. However, it was the release of the Who's third single, "My Generation", in November that, according to Who biographer Mark Wilkerson, "cemented their reputation as a hard-nosed band who reflected the feelings of thousands of pissed-off adolescents at the time." The Townshend-penned single reached number two on the UK charts, becoming the Who's biggest hit. The song and its famous line "I hope I die before I get old" was "very much about trying to find a place in society", Townshend stated in an interview with David Fricke.


title: Pete Townshend

text: To capitalise on their recent single success, the Who's debut album "My Generation" ("The Who Sings My Generation" in the US) was released in late 1965, containing original material written by Townshend and several James Brown covers that Daltrey favoured. Townshend continued to write several successful singles for the band, including "Pictures of Lily", "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", and "Happy Jack". Lambert encouraged Townshend to write longer pieces of music for the next album, which became "A Quick One, While He's Away". The album was subsequently titled "A Quick One" and reached No. 4 in the charts upon its release in December 1966. In their stage shows, Townshend developed a guitar stunt in which he would swing his right arm against the guitar strings in a style reminiscent of the vanes of a windmill. He developed this style after watching Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards warm up before a show.


title: Pete Townshend

text: The Who commenced their first US tour on 22 March 1967. Townshend took to trashing his hotel suites, though not to the extent of his bandmate Moon. He also began experimenting with LSD, though stopped taking the drug after receiving a potent hit after the Monterey Pop Festival on 18 June. Released in December, their next album was "The Who Sell Out"—a concept album based on pirate radio, which had been instrumental in raising the Who's popularity. It included several humorous jingles and mock commercials between songs, and the Who's biggest US single, "I Can See for Miles". Despite the success of "I Can See for Miles", which reached No. 9 on the American charts, Townshend was surprised it was not an even bigger hit, as he considered it the best song he had written up to that point.


title: Pete Townshend

text: By 1968, Townshend became interested in the teachings of Meher Baba. He began to develop a musical piece about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who would experience sensations musically. The piece would explore the tenets of Baba's philosophy. The result was the rock opera "Tommy", released on 23 May 1969 to critical and commercial success. In support of "Tommy", the Who launched a tour that included a memorable appearance at the Woodstock Festival on 17 August. While the Who were playing, Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman jumped the stage to complain about the arrest of John Sinclair. Townshend promptly knocked him offstage with his guitar, shouting, "Fuck off my fucking stage!"


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1970, the Who released "Live at Leeds", which several music critics cite as the best live album of all time. Townshend began writing material for another rock opera. Dubbed "Lifehouse", it was designed to be a multi-media project that symbolised the relationship between a musician and his audience. The rest of the band were confused by its convoluted plot and simply wanted another album. Townshend began to feel alienated, and the project was abandoned after he suffered a nervous breakdown. Much of the material intended for "Lifehouse" was released as a traditional studio album, "Who's Next". It became a commercial smash, reaching number one in the UK, and spawned two successful hit singles, "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", that featured pioneering use of the synthesizer. "Baba O'Riley" in particular was written as Townshend's ode to his two heroes at the time, Meher Baba and composer Terry Riley.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend began writing songs for another rock opera in 1973. He decided it would explore the mod subculture and its clashes with Rockers in the early 1960s in the UK. Entitled "Quadrophenia", it was the only Who album written entirely by Townshend, and he produced the album as well due to the souring of relations with Lambert. It was released in November, and became their highest charting cross-Atlantic success, reaching No. 2 in the UK and US. "NME" reviewer Charles Shaar Murray called it "prime cut Who" and "the most rewarding musical experience of the year." On tour, the band played the album along to pre-recorded backing tapes, causing much friction. The tapes malfunctioned during a performance in Newcastle, prompting Townshend to drag soundman Bob Pridden onstage, scream at him and kick over all the amplifiers, partially destroying the malfunctioning tapes. On 14 April 1974, Townshend played his first solo concert, a benefit to raise funds for a London community centre.


title: Pete Townshend

text: A film version of "Tommy" was directed by Ken Russell, and starred Roger Daltrey in the title role, Ann-Margret as his mother, and Oliver Reed as his step-father, with cameos by Tina Turner, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and other rock notables; the film premiered on 18 March 1975. Townshend was nominated for an Academy Award for scoring and adapting the music in the film. "The Who by Numbers" came out in November of that year and peaked at No. 7 in the UK and 8 in the US. It featured introspective songs, often with a negative slant. The album spawned one hit single, "Squeeze Box", that was written after Townshend learned how to play the accordion. After a 1976 tour, Townshend took a year-long break from the band to focus on spending time with his family.


title: Pete Townshend

text: The Who continues despite the deaths of two of the original members (Keith Moon in 1978 and John Entwistle in 2002). The band is regarded by many rock critics as one of the best live bands from the 1960s to the 2000s. The Who continues to perform critically acclaimed sets into the 21st century, including highly regarded performances at The Concert For New York City in 2001, the 2004 Isle of Wight Festival, Live 8 in 2005, and the 2007 Glastonbury Festival.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend remained the primary songwriter and leader of the group, writing over 100 songs which appeared on the band's eleven studio albums. Among his creations is the rock opera "Quadrophenia". Townshend revisited album-length storytelling throughout his career and remains associated with the rock opera form. Many studio recordings also feature Townshend on piano or keyboards, though keyboard-heavy tracks increasingly featured guest artists in the studio, such as Nicky Hopkins, John Bundrick, or Chris Stainton.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend is one of the key figures in the development of feedback in rock guitar. When asked who first used feedback, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore said:


title: Pete Townshend

text: Many rock guitarists have cited Townshend as an influence, among them Slash, Alex Lifeson, and Steve Jones.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In addition to his work with the Who, Townshend has been sporadically active as a solo recording artist. Between 1969 and 1971 Townshend, along with other devotees to Meher Baba, recorded a trio of albums devoted to his teachings: "Happy Birthday", "I Am", and "With Love". In response to bootlegging of these, he compiled his personal highlights (and "Evolution", a collaboration with Ronnie Lane), and released his first major-label solo title, 1972's "Who Came First". It was a moderate success and featured demos of Who songs as well as a showcase of his acoustic guitar talents. He collaborated with the Faces' bassist and fellow Meher Baba devotee Ronnie Lane on a duet album (1977's "Rough Mix"). In 1979 Townshend produced and performed guitar on the novelty single "Peppermint Lump" by Angie on Stiff Records, featuring 11-year-old Angela Porter on lead vocals.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend made several solo appearances during the 1970s, two of which were captured on record: Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert in January 1973 (which Townshend organized to revive Clapton's career after the latter's heroin addiction), and the Paul McCartney-sponsored Concerts for the People of Kampuchea in December 1979. The commercially available video of the Kampuchea concert shows the two rock icons duelling and clowning through Rockestra mega-band versions of "Lucille", "Let It Be", and "Rockestra Theme"; Townshend closes the proceedings with a characteristic split-legged leap.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend's solo breakthrough, following the death of Who drummer Keith Moon, was the 1980 release "Empty Glass", which included the top-10 single "Let My Love Open the Door", and lesser singles "A Little Is Enough" and "Rough Boys". This release was followed in 1982 by "All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes", which included the popular radio track "Slit Skirts". While not a huge commercial success, noted music critic Timothy Duggan listed it as "Townshend's most honest and introspective work since Quadrophenia." Through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s Townshend would again experiment with the rock opera and related formats, releasing several story-based albums including "" (1985), "" (1989), and "Psychoderelict" (1993).


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend also got the chance to play with his hero Hank Marvin for Paul McCartney's "Rockestra" sessions, along with other rock musicians such as David Gilmour, John Bonham, and Ronnie Lane.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend has also recorded several concert albums, including one featuring a supergroup he assembled called Deep End, with David Gilmour on guitar, who performed just three concerts and a television show session for "The Tube", to raise money for his Double-O charity, supporting drug addicts. In 1993 he and Des McAnuff wrote and directed the Broadway adaptation of the Who album "Tommy", as well as a less successful based on his solo album "The Iron Man", based upon the book by Ted Hughes. McAnuff and Townshend later co-produced the animated film "The Iron Giant", also based on the Hughes story.


title: Pete Townshend

text: A production described as a Townshend rock opera and titled "The Boy Who Heard Music" debuted as part of Vassar College's Powerhouse Summer Theater program in July 2007.


title: Pete Townshend

text: On 2 September 2017 in Lenox, Massachusetts, Townshend embarked with fellow singer and musician Billy Idol, tenor Alfie Boe, and an orchestra on a short (5-date) "Classic Quadrophenia" US tour which ended on 16 September 2017 in Los Angeles, California.


title: Pete Townshend

text: From the mid-1990s through the present, Townshend has participated in a series of tours with the surviving members of the Who, including a 2002 tour that continued despite Entwistle's death.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In February 2006, a major world tour by the Who was announced to promote their first new album since 1982. Townshend published a semi-autobiographical story "The Boy Who Heard Music" as a serial on a blog beginning in September 2005. The blog closed in October 2006, as noted on Townshend's website. It is now owned by a different user and does not relate to Townshend's work in any way. On 25 February 2006, he announced the issue of a mini-opera inspired by the novella for June 2006. In October 2006 the Who released their first album in 24 years, "Endless Wire".


title: Pete Townshend

text: The Who performed at the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show on 7 February 2010, playing a medley of songs that included "Pinball Wizard", "Who Are You", "Baba O'Riley", "See Me, Feel Me", and "Won't Get Fooled Again". In 2012, the Who announced they would tour the rock opera "Quadrophenia".


title: Pete Townshend

text: The Who were the final performers at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London, performing a medley of "Baba O'Riley", "See Me, Feel Me", and "My Generation".


title: Pete Townshend

text: On 22 March 2018, Townshend stated that a new Who album should feature original songs by Roger Daltrey as well as him. That album, simply titled "Who," was released on 6 December 2019. It was the band's second album as a duo, and their first in thirteen years.


title: Pete Townshend

text: "The Age of Anxiety", formerly "Floss The Musical", is the name given to a work-in-progress by Townshend. The musical has been a work in progress at least since 2009 with an original estimated release of 2011. On 24 January 2012 Townshend sold the rights to all of his back catalog and much of his future work including "Floss The Musical" if it is ever completed. He summarized the work in an interview with Sirius Satellite Radio published February 2010. In a 2015 interview Townshend stated that the work was intended to be an art installation. In March 2019 it was announced that a work entitled "The Age of Anxiety" would be published as a novel, with an opera to follow.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend was born ten days after Nazi Germany surrendered in the Second World War and grew up in the shadow of reconstruction in and around London. According to Townshend, postwar trauma was the driving force behind the rock music revolution in the UK. "Trauma is passed from generation to generation", he said, "I've unwittingly inherited what my father experienced." Townshend notes that growing up in this period produced the narrative that runs through his music of a boy lost in the stresses and pressures of postwar life. In his autobiography, he wrote:


title: Pete Townshend

text: Although he grew up in a household with jazz musicians, Townshend absorbed many of his ideas about performance and rock music themes during art school. Townshend's roommate at Ealing Art College, Tom Wright, had a large record collection, and Townshend listened to and became influenced by R&B and rock & roll artists like Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Booker T. & the MGs, Little Walter, and Chuck Berry. He was also strongly influenced by cellist Malcolm Cecil, who often damaged his cello during performances, along with Gustav Metzger, pioneer of auto-destructive art. In light of these influences, guitar smashing became not just an expression of youthful angst, but also a means of conveying ideas through musical performance. "We advanced a new concept", he writes. "Destruction is art when set to music."


title: Pete Townshend

text: Throughout his solo career and his career with the Who, Townshend has played a large variety of guitars – mostly various Fender, Gibson, and Rickenbacker models. He has also used Guild, Takamine and Gibson J-200 acoustic models, with the J-200 providing his signature recorded acoustic sound in such songs as "Pinball Wizard".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In the early days with the Who, Townshend played an Emile Grimshaw SS De Luxe and 6-string and 12-string Rickenbacker semi-hollow electric guitars primarily (particularly the Rose-Morris UK-imported models with special f-holes). When the excited audience responded enthusiastically after he accidentally broke the head off his guitar on a low ceiling during a concert at the Railway Hotel pub in Wealdstone, west London, he incorporated the eventual smashing of his instrument into the band's performances. However, as instrument-smashing became increasingly integrated into the Who's concert sets, he switched to more durable and resilient (and, importantly, cheaper) guitars for smashing, such as the Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster and various Danelectro models. On the Who's "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" appearance in 1967, Townshend used a Vox Cheetah guitar, which he only used for that performance; the guitar was destroyed by Townshend and Moon's drum explosion. In the late 1960s, Townshend began playing Gibson SG Special models almost exclusively. He used this guitar at the Woodstock and Isle of Wight shows in 1969 and 1970, as well as the "Live at Leeds" performance in 1970.


title: Pete Townshend

text: By 1970 Gibson changed the design of the SG Special which Townshend had been using previously, and he began using other guitars. For much of the 1970s, he used a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, some with only two mini-humbucker pick-ups and others modified with a third pick-up in the "middle position" (a DiMarzio Superdistortion / Dual Sound). He can be seen using several of these guitars in the documentary "The Kids Are Alright", although in the studio he often played a '59 Gretsch 6120 guitar (given to him by Joe Walsh), most notably on the albums "Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia".


title: Pete Townshend

text: During the 1980s, Townshend mainly used Fenders, Rickenbackers and Telecaster-style models built for him by Schecter and various other luthiers. Since the late-1980s, Townshend has used the Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster, with Lace Sensor pick-ups, both in the studio and on tour. Some of his Stratocaster guitars feature a Fishman PowerBridge piezo pick-up system to simulate acoustic guitar tones. This piezo system is controlled by an extra volume control behind the guitar's bridge.


title: Pete Townshend

text: During the Who's 1989 Tour Townshend played a Rickenbacker guitar that was ironically smashed accidentally when he tripped over it. Instead of throwing the smashed parts away, Townshend reassembled the pieces as a sculpture. The sculpture was featured at the "Rock Stars, Cars And Guitars 2" exhibit during the summer of 2009 at The Henry Ford museum.


title: Pete Townshend

text: There are several Gibson Pete Townshend signature guitars, such as the Pete Townshend SG, the Pete Townshend J-200, and three different Pete Townshend Les Paul Deluxes. The SG was clearly marked as a Pete Townshend limited edition model and came with a special case and certificate of authenticity, signed by Townshend himself. There has also been a Pete Townshend signature Rickenbacker limited edition guitar of the model 1998, which was his main 6-string guitar in the Who's early days. The run featured 250 guitars which were made between July 1987 – March 1988, and according to Rickenbacker CEO John Hall, the entire run sold out before serious advertising could be done.


title: Pete Townshend

text: He also used the Gibson ES-335, one of which he donated to the Hard Rock Cafe. Townshend also used a Gibson EDS-1275 double-neck very briefly circa late 1967, and both a Harmony Sovereign H1270 and a Fender Electric XII for the studio sessions for "Tommy" for the 12-string guitar parts. He also occasionally used Fender Jazzmasters on stage in 1967 and 1968 and in the studio for "Tommy".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 2006 Townshend had a pedalboard designed by long-time gear guru Pete Cornish. The board apparently comprises a compressor, an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal, as well as a T-Rex Replica delay pedal.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Over the years, Townshend has used many types of amplifier, including Vox, Selmer, Fender, Marshall, and Hiwatt, sticking to using Hiwatt amps for most of four decades. Around the time of "Who's Next", he used a tweed Fender Bandmaster amp (also given to him by Joe Walsh in 1970), which he also used for "Quadrophenia" and "The Who by Numbers". While recording "Face Dances" and the collaborative album "Rough Mix", Townshend made use of a Peavey Vintage 4×10 amplifier in the studio. Since 1989, his rig consisted of four Fender Vibro-King stacks and a Hiwatt head driving two custom made 2×12" Hiwatt/Mesa Boogie speaker cabinets. However, since 2006, he has only three Vibro-King stacks, one of which is a backup.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend figured prominently in the development of what is widely known in rock circles as the "Marshall stack". He ordered several speaker cabinets that contained eight 12" speakers in a housing standing nearly six feet in height with the top half of the cabinet slanted slightly upward. These were too heavy to move easily, so Jim Marshall cut the massive speaker cabinet in half, at the suggestion of Townshend, with each cabinet containing four 12-inch speakers. One of the cabinets had half of the speaker baffle slanted upwards and Marshall made these two cabinets stackable. The Marshall stack was born, and Townshend used these as well as Hiwatt stacks.


title: Pete Townshend

text: He has always regarded his instruments as being merely tools of the trade and has, in latter years, kept his most prized instruments well away from the concert stage. These instruments include a few vintage and reissue Rickenbackers, the Gretsch 6120, an original 1952 Fender Telecaster, Gibson Custom Shop's artist limited edition reissues of Townshend's Les Paul DeLuxe models 1, 3 and 9 as well his signature SG Special reissue.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend played keyboards on several Who songs. On "Who's Next", he began to work with analogue synthesizers, using the ARP 2600 model that he first encountered at Cambridge University. He had this to say about the instrument: "I like synthesizers because they bring into my hands things that aren't in my hands: the sound of an orchestra, French horns, strings. There are gadgets on synthesizers that enable one to become a virtuoso on the keyboard. You can play something slowly and you press a switch and it plays it back at double speed. Whereas on the guitar you're stuck with as fast as you can play and I don't play fast, I just play hard. So when it goes to playing something fast I go to the synth."


title: Pete Townshend

text: The synths Townshend was referring to included the EMS VCS3 and ARP 2600, some of which modified a Lowrey TBO Berkshire organ. Current photos of his home studio also show an ARP 2500. Townshend was featured in ARP promotional materials in the early 1970s.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Since the late 1980s Townshend has predominantly used Synclavier Digital Audio systems for keyboard composition, particularly solo albums and projects. He currently owns three systems, one large Synclavier 9600 Tapeless Studio system, originally installed in his riverside Oceanic Studio, later transferred to a seagoing barge moored alongside the studio on the River Thames, and currently based in his home studio. He also uses a special adapted smaller Synclavier 3200 system which can be transported, enabling him to carry on working away from his main studio. This 3200 system was modified to be of similar specification to the 9600, including the addition internally of FM voices, stereo Poly voices and with the large VPK keyboard. This is the only Synclavier 3200 system of this specification in existence, custom-designed and built for Townshend by Steve Hills. The third system Townshend owns is one of the first Synclavier II systems ever built. The ORK (original smaller) keyboard of which is on display in his company's head office alongside a pink Vespa scooter.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Although known for his musical compositions and musicianship, Townshend has been extensively involved in the literary world for more than three decades, writing newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts.


title: Pete Townshend

text: An early example of Townshend's writing came in August 1970 with the first of nine installments of "The Pete Townshend Page", a monthly column written by Townshend for the British music paper "Melody Maker". The column provided Townshend's perspective on an array of subjects, such as the media and the state of US concert halls and public address systems, as well as providing valuable insight into Townshend's mindset during the evolution of his "Lifehouse" project.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend also wrote three sizeable essays for "Rolling Stone" magazine, the first of which appeared in November 1970. In Love With Meher Baba described Townshend's spiritual leanings. "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy", a blow-by-blow account of the Who compilation album of the same name, followed in December 1971. The third article, "The Punk Meets the Godmother", appeared in November 1977.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Also in 1977, Townshend founded Eel Pie Publishing, which specialised in children's titles, music books, and several Meher Baba-related publications. He also opened a bookstore named Magic Bus (after the popular Who song) in London. "The Story of Tommy", a book written by Townshend and his art school friend Richard Barnes (now the Who's official biographer) about the writing of Townshend's 1969 rock opera and the making of the 1975 Ken Russell-directed film, was published by Eel Pie the same year.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In July 1983, Townshend took a position as an acquisitions editor for London publisher Faber and Faber. Notable projects included editing Animals frontman Eric Burdon's autobiography, Charles Shaar Murray's award-winning "Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop", Brian Eno and Russell Mills's "More Dark Than Shark", and working with Prince Charles on a volume of his collected speeches. Townshend commissioned Dave Rimmer's "Like Punk Never Happened", and was commissioning editor for radical playwright Steven Berkoff.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Two years after joining Faber and Faber, Townshend decided to publish a book of his own. "Horse's Neck", issued in May 1985, was a collection of short stories he'd written between 1979 and 1984, tackling subjects such as childhood, stardom and spirituality. As a result of his position with Faber and Faber, Townshend developed friendships with both Nobel prize-winning author of "Lord of the Flies", Sir William Golding, and British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. His friendship with Hughes led to Townshend's musical interpretation of Hughes's children's story "The Iron Man", six years later, as "", released in 1989.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend has written several scripts spanning the breadth of his career, including numerous drafts of his elusive "Lifehouse" project, the last of which, co-written with radio playwright Jeff Young, was published in 1999. In 1978, Townshend wrote a script for "Fish Shop", a play commissioned but not completed by London Weekend Television, and in mid-1984 he wrote a script for "" which led to a short film.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1989 Townshend began work on a novel entitled "Ray High & The Glass Household", a draft of which was later submitted to his editor. While the original novel remains unpublished, elements from this story were used in Townshend's 1993 solo album "Psychoderelict". In 1993, Townshend authored another book, "The Who's Tommy", a chronicle of the development of the award-winning Broadway version of his rock opera.


title: Pete Townshend

text: The opening of his personal website and his commerce site Eelpie.com, both in 2000, gave Townshend another outlet for literary work. (Eelpie.com was closed down in 2010.) Several of Townshend's essays have been posted online, including "Meher Baba—The Silent Master: My Own Silence" in 2001, and "A "Different" Bomb", an indictment of the child pornography industry, the following year.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In September 2005, Townshend began posting a novella online entitled "The Boy Who Heard Music" as background for a musical of the same name. He posted a chapter each week until it was completed, and novella was available to read at his website for several months. Like "Psychoderelict", it was yet another extrapolation of "Lifehouse" and "Ray High & The Glass Household".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1997 Townshend signed a deal with Little, Brown and Company publishing to write his autobiography, reportedly titled "Pete Townshend: Who He?" Townshend's creative vagaries and conceptual machinations have been chronicled by Larry David Smith in his book "The Minstrel's Dilemma" (Praeger 1999). After a lengthy delay, Townshend's autobiography, now titled "Who I Am", was released 8 October 2012. The book ranked in the top 5 of "The New York Times" best seller list in October 2012.


title: Pete Townshend

text: On 5 March 2019, Townshend announced that his debut novel, titled "The Age of Anxiety", would be published on 5 November 2019 by Hodder & Stoughton imprint Coronet. Townshend called the work an "extended meditation on manic genius and the dark art of creativity." The novel will be accompanied by an opera, which is currently in development, with an art installation to follow.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1967 Townshend had begun to explore spirituality. Townshend swiftly absorbed all of Meher Baba's writings that he could find; by April 1968, he announced himself Baba's disciple. At about this time, Townshend, who had been searching the past two years for a basis for a rock opera, created a story inspired by the teachings of Baba and other writings and expressing the enlightenment he believed that he had received from them, which ultimately became "Tommy".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In interviews Townshend was more open about his beliefs, penning an article on Baba for "Rolling Stone" magazine in 1970 and stating that following Baba's teachings, he was opposed to the use of all psychedelic drugs, making him one of the first rock stars with counterculture credibility to turn against their use.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend met Karen Astley, daughter of film composer Edwin Astley, while in art school. They married on 20 May 1968 and moved into a three-bedroom townhouse in Twickenham in outer south-west London that overlooked the Thames. They have three children: Emma (born 1969), who is a gardening columnist, Aminta (born 1971), who works in film production, and Joseph (born 1989), who studied graphic design at Central St. Martins.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend and his wife separated in 1994. He has since been in a romantic relationship with arranger and musician Rachel Fuller, whom he secretly married in 2016. Townshend lived at The Wick, Richmond, London, England, but sold the house in August 2021 for more than £15 million. He also owns a house in Churt, Surrey, and in 2010 purchased a lease of part of the National Trust property Ashdown House in Oxfordshire. According to "The Sunday Times" Rich List his assets were worth £40 million as of 2009.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In a 1989 interview with radio host Timothy White, Townshend apparently acknowledged his bisexuality, referencing the song "Rough Boys" on his 1980 album, "Empty Glass". He called the song a "coming out, an acknowledgment of the fact that I'd had a gay life, and that I understood what gay sex was about." However, in a 1994 interview for "Playboy", he said, "I did an interview about it, saying that 'Rough Boys' was about being gay, and in the interview I also talked about my 'gay life', which—I meant—was actually about the friends I've had who are gay. So the interviewer kind of dotted the t's and crossed the i's and assumed that this was a coming out, which it wasn't at all." Townshend later wrote in his 2012 autobiography "Who I Am" that he is "probably bisexual". Townshend also stated that he once felt sexually attracted to the Rolling Stones lead singer, Mick Jagger.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend accepted a caution from the Metropolitan Police (the Met) as part of Operation Ore, a major investigation on child pornography conducted in 2002–2003. The Met stated that "it was established that Mr Townshend was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images". Townshend was on a sex offenders register for five years, beginning in 2003, after admitting he had used his credit card to access a child pornography website. Townshend claimed he accessed the images as research in a campaign against child sexual abuse – specifically, to prove that British banks were complicit in channelling the profits from paedophile rings. Authorities could not prove that the website accessed by Townshend involved children, and no incriminating evidence was found on his personal computer.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend suffers from partial deafness and tinnitus, likely the result of noise-induced hearing loss from his extensive exposure to loud music. The Who were renowned as a very loud band in their live performances; some particular incidents include a Who concert at the Charlton Athletic Football Club, London, on 31 May 1976 that was listed as the "Loudest Concert Ever" by the Guinness Book of Records, where the volume level was measured at 126 decibels 32 metres from the stage. Townshend has also attributed the start of his hearing loss to Keith Moon's famous exploding drum set during the Who's 1967 appearance on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1989, Townshend gave the initial funding to allow the formation of the non-profit hearing advocacy group H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). After the Who performed at half-time at Super Bowl XLIV, Townshend stated that he is concerned that his tinnitus has grown to such a point that he might be forced to discontinue performing with the band altogether. He told "Rolling Stone", "If my hearing is going to be a problem, we're not delaying shows. We're "finished". I can't really see any way around the issue." Neil Young introduced him to an audiologist who suggested he use an in-ear monitor, and although they cancelled their spring 2010 touring schedule, Townshend used the device at their one remaining London concert on 30 March 2010, to ascertain the feasibility of Townshend continuing to perform with the Who.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In March 2011, Roger Daltrey said in an interview with the BBC that Townshend had recently experienced gradual but severe hearing loss and was now trying to save what remained of his hearing: "Pete's having terrible trouble with his hearing. He's got really, really bad problems with it...not tinnitus, it's deterioration and he's seriously now worried about actually losing his hearing".


title: Pete Townshend

text: Referring to that, in July 2011, Townshend wrote at his blog: "My hearing is actually better than ever because after a feedback scare at the indigO2 in December 2008 I am taking good care of it. I have computer systems in my studio that have helped me do my engineering work on the forthcoming Quadrophenia release. I have had assistance from younger forensic engineers and mastering engineers to help me clean up the high frequencies that are out of my range. The same computer systems work wonderfully well on stage, proving to be perfect for me when the Who performed at the Super Bowl and doing Quadrophenia for TCT at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010. I'm 66, I don't have perfect hearing, and if I listen to loud music or go to gigs I do tend to get tinnitus".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1998, Townshend was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the UK Labour Party. He refused to let Michael Moore use "Won't Get Fooled Again" in "Fahrenheit 9/11", saying that he watched "Bowling for Columbine" and was not convinced. In 1961 while in art school, Townshend joined the Young Communist League and was a prominent figure in their 1966 "Trend" recruitment campaign. In a 1974 "Penthouse" interview he stated that he recognised in practice he was a capitalist who was rewarded well for his work, but that his ideals were communist.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In a widely reported 2012 interview with ABC, Townshend described himself jokingly as being "a bit of a neocon" stating that, "I like the idea of America as the world's police force. Then we don't have to do it. You guys sort it out."


title: Pete Townshend

text: In a 2019 interview with "The Times", Townshend revealed he was in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union, stating, "I'm a Remainer, he [Roger Daltrey] is a Brexiteer. I believe in God, he doesn't."


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend has woven a long history of involvement with various charities and other philanthropic efforts throughout his career, both as a solo artist and with the Who. His first solo concert, for example, was a 1974 benefit show which was organised to raise funds for the Camden Square Community Play Centre.


title: Pete Townshend

text: The earliest public example of Townshend's involvement with charitable causes was in 1968, when Townshend donated the use of his former Wardour Street apartment to the Meher Baba Association. The following year, the association was moved to another Townshend-owned apartment, the Eccleston Square former residence of his wife Karen. Townshend sat on a committee which oversaw the operation and finances of the centre. "The committee sees to it that it is open a couple of days a week, and keeps the bills paid and the library full", he wrote in a 1970 "Rolling Stone" article.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1969 and 1972, Townshend produced two limited-release albums, "Happy Birthday" and "I Am", for the London-based Baba association. This led to 1972's "Who Came First", a more widespread release, 15 percent of the revenue of which went to the Baba association. A further limited release, "With Love", was released in 1976. A limited-edition boxed set of all three limited releases on CD, "Avatar", was released in 2000, with all profits going to the Avatar Meher Baba Trust in India, which provided funds to a dispensary, school, hospital and pilgrimage centre.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In July 1976, Townshend opened Meher Baba Oceanic, a London activity centre for Baba followers, which featured film dubbing and editing facilities, a cinema and a recording studio. In addition, the centre served as a regular meeting place for Baba followers. Townshend offered very economical (reportedly £1 per night) lodging for American followers who needed an overnight stay on their pilgrimages to India. Townshend wrote in a 1977 "Rolling Stone" article: Townshend also embarked on a project dedicated to the collection, restoration and maintenance of Meher Baba-related films. The project was known as MEFA, or Meher Baba European Film Archive.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend has been an active champion of children's charities. The debut of Townshend's stage version of "Tommy" took place at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse in July 1992. The show was earmarked as a benefit for the London-based Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation, an organisation which helps children with autism and intellectual disability.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend performed at a 1995 benefit organised by Paul Simon at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theatre for the Children's Health Fund. The following year, Townshend performed at a benefit for the annual Bridge School Benefit, a California facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments, with concerts organised by Neil and Pegi Young. In 1997, Townshend established a relationship with Maryville Academy, a Chicago area children's charity. Between 1997 and 2002, Townshend played five benefit shows for Maryville Academy, raising at least $1,600,000. His 1998 album "A Benefit for Maryville Academy" was made to support their activities and proceeds from the sales of his release were donated to them.


title: Pete Townshend

text: As a member of the Who, Townshend has also performed a series of concerts, beginning in 2000 to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK, which raised several million pounds. In 2005, Townshend performed at New York's Gotham Hall for Samsung's Four Seasons of Hope, an annual children's charity fundraiser. In the same year, he donated a smashed guitar to the Pediatric Epilepsy Project.


title: Pete Townshend

text: On 4 November 2011, Roger Daltrey and Townshend launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, to be funded by the Who's charity Who Cares. The launch, followed on 5 November by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant and Dave Grohl.


title: Pete Townshend

text: The "large clinic" Townshend was referring to was a drug treatment facility in London that he and drug rehabilitation experimenter, Meg Patterson, had devised, but the plan failed to come to fruition. Two early 1979 concerts by the Who raised £20,000 for Patterson's Pharmakon Clinic in Sussex.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Further examples of Townshend's drug rehabilitation activism took place in the form of a 1984 benefit concert (incidentally the first live performance of Manchester band the Stone Roses), an article he wrote a few days later for Britain's "Mail on Sunday" urging better care for the nation's growing number of drug addicts, and the formation of a charitable organisation, Double-O Charities, to raise funds for the causes he'd recently championed. Townshend also personally sold fund-raising anti-heroin T-shirts at a series of UK Bruce Springsteen concerts and reportedly financed a trip for former Clash drummer Topper Headon to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment. Townshend's 1985–86 band, Deep End, played two benefits at Brixton Academy in 1985 for Double-O Charities.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1979 Townshend donated his services to the human rights organisation Amnesty International when he performed three songs for its benefit show "The Secret Policeman's Ball" – performances that were released on record and seen in the film of the show. Townshend's acoustic performances of three of his songs ("Pinball Wizard", "Drowned", and "Won't Get Fooled Again") were subsequently cited as forerunners and inspiration for the "unplugged" phenomenon in the 1990s.


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend had been invited to perform for Amnesty by Martin Lewis, the producer of "The Secret Policeman's Ball", who stated later that Townshend's participation had been the key to his securing the subsequent participation for Amnesty (in the 1981 sequel show) of Sting, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins and Bob Geldof. Other performers inspired to support Amnesty International in future "Secret Policeman's Ball" shows and other benefits because of Townshend's early commitment to the organisation include Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, David Gilmour and U2's lead singer Bono who in 1986 told "Rolling Stone" magazine: "I saw "The Secret Policeman's Ball" and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..."


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1968 Townshend helped assemble a band called Thunderclap Newman consisting of three musicians he knew: pianist Andy Newman (an old art school friend), drummer John "Speedy" Keen (who had written "Armenia City in the Sky" for the Who to record for their 1967 album "The Who Sell Out") and teenage guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (later to join Wings). Townshend produced the band and played bass on their recordings under the tongue-in-cheek pseudonym "Bijou Drains". Their first recording was the single "Something in the Air", which became a number one hit in the UK and a substantial hit elsewhere in the world. Following this success, Townshend produced their sole album, "Hollywood Dream".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1971 Townshend, along with Keith Moon and Ronnie Lane, backed Mike Heron (of the Incredible String Band) on one song "Warm Heart Pastry" from Heron's first solo LP, "Smiling Men with Bad Reputations". On the album notes, they are listed as "Tommy and the Bijoux".


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 1984 Townshend contributed lyrics to the track "I'm the Answer" on his brother Simon's debut solo album, "Sweet Sound".


title: Pete Townshend

text: Townshend shares songwriting credit on two songs ("Love on the Air" and "All Lovers Are Deranged") on Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's 1984 solo album "About Face".


title: Pete Townshend

text: Through much of 2005, Townshend recorded and performed alongside his girlfriend Rachel Fuller, a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter.


title: Pete Townshend

text: In 2006 Townshend opened a website for implementation of The Lifehouse Method based on his 1971 "Lifehouse" concept. This website was in collaboration with composer Lawrence Ball and software developer David Snowden, with instrumentation by Steve Hills. Applicants at the website could input data to compose a musical "portrait" which the musical team could then develop into larger compositions for a planned concert or series of concerts.


title: Alluri Sitarama Raju

text: Alluri Sitarama Raju (4 July 1897 or 1898 – 7 May 1924) was an Indian revolutionary, who waged an armed campaign against the British colonial rule in India. Born in present-day Andhra Pradesh, he was involved in opposing the British in response to the 1882 Madras Forest Act which restricted the free movement of Adivasis in their forest habitats, and prevented them from practicing their traditional form of agriculture called podu. Rising discontent towards the British led to the Rampa Rebellion of 1922, in which Alluri played the major role as its leader. Mustering combined forces of Adivasis, farmers and other sympathizers to the cause, he engaged in guerilla campaigns against the British in the border regions of then Madras Presidency, now parts of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam. He was given the epithet""Manyam Veerudu"" () by the local villagers for his heroic exploits.


title: Alluri Sitarama Raju

text: Harnessing widespread discontent of the Indian people towards the British colonial authorities in the backdrop of the non-cooperation movement, Alluri led his forces in guerilla campaigns against the colonial rulers with an aim to expell them from the Eastern Ghats region. During this period, he led numerous raids on imperial police stations to acquire firearms for his under-equipped forces; after each raid on a station, he would leave behind a letter written by him informing the police about the details of his plunder, including the details of the weaponry he parted away with, and dared them to stop him if they can. Police stations in the areas of Annavaram, Addateegala, Chintapalle, Dammanapalli, Krishna Devi Peta, Rampachodavaram, Rajavommangi, and Narsipatnam were all targeted by his forces, which resulted in significant police casualties.


title: Alluri Sitarama Raju

text: In response to these raids, and to quell the rebellion; the British colonial authorities undertook a nearly two-year long manhunt for Alluri, resulting in expenditures reaching over ₹4 million rupees then. Eventually in 1924, he was trapped by the British at the village of Koyyuru in the Chintapalle forests. There, he was captured, tied to a tree and summarily executed by a firing squad. His final resting place lies in the village of Krishnadevipeta.


title: Alluri Sitarama Raju

text: Alluri Sitarama Raju was born in a Telugu speaking family, in the current state of Andhra Pradesh, India. His father, Venkata Rama Raju, was a professional photographer, who settled in the town of Rajamundry for his vocation, and his mother, Surya Narayanamma was a pious homemaker.


title: Alluri Sitarama Raju

text: His date of birth is disputed, with some sources reporting it as 4 July 1897, and others as 4 July 1898. Details of his place of birth vary, as an official report suggests he was born in Bhimavaram, with several other sources citing it to be the village of Mogallu in West Godavari District. New reports suggest the village of Pandrangi in Bheemunipatnam is his precise place of birth.


title: Alluri Sitarama Raju

text: Venkata Rama Raju was a free spirited man with immense self respect, and great love for freedom. He once chided a young Rama Raju, for practicing the then prevalent custom of Indian people saluting the Europeans, acknowledging their superiority. He died when his son was eight.