title: Rapping

text: The strongest battle rappers will generally perform their rap fully freestyled. This is the most effective form in a battle as the rapper can comment on the other person, whether it be what they look like, or how they talk, or what they wear. It also allows the rapper to reverse a line used to "diss" him or her if they are the second rapper to battle. This is known as a "flip". Jin The Emcee was considered "World Champion" battle rapper in the mid-2000s.


title: Rapping

text: Throughout hip hop's history, new musical styles and genres have developed that contain rapping. Entire genres, such as rap rock and its derivatives rapcore and rap metal (rock/metal/punk with rapped vocals), or hip house have resulted from the fusion of rap and other styles. Many popular music genres with a focus on percussion have contained rapping at some point; be it disco (DJ Hollywood), jazz (Gang Starr), new wave (Blondie), funk (Fatback Band), contemporary R&B (Mary J. Blige), reggaeton (Daddy Yankee), or even Japanese dance music (Soul'd Out). UK garage music has begun to focus increasingly on rappers in a new subgenre called grime which emerged in London in the early 2000s and was pioneered and popularized by the MC Dizzee Rascal. Increased popularity with the music has shown more UK rappers going to America as well as tour there, such as Sway DaSafo possibly signing with Akon's label Konvict. Hyphy is the latest of these spin-offs. It is typified by slowed-down atonal vocals with instrumentals that borrow heavily from the hip-hop scene and lyrics centered on illegal street racing and car culture. Another Oakland, California group, Beltaine's Fire, has recently gained attention for their Celtic fusion sound which blends hip-hop beats with Celtic melodies. Unlike the majority of hip-hop artists, all their music is performed live without samples, synths, or drum machines, drawing comparisons to The Roots and Rage Against the Machine.


title: Rapping

text: Bhangra, a widely popular style of music from Punjab, India has been mixed numerous times with reggae and hip-hop music. The most popular song in this genre in the United States was "Mundian to Bach Ke" or "Beware the Boys" by Panjabi MC and Jay-Z. Although "Mundian To Bach Ke" had been released previously, the mixing with Jay-Z popularized the genre further.


title: Rapping

text: Although the majority of rappers are male, there have been a number of female rap stars, including Lauryn Hill, MC Lyte, Jean Grae, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Eve, Trina, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Khia, M.I.A., CL from 2NE1, Foxy Brown, Iggy Azalea, and Lisa Lopes from TLC. There is also deaf rap artist Signmark.


title: Qilin

text: The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of one-horned beasts. The qilin also appears in the mythologies of other cultures, such as Japanese and Korean mythology, where it is known as the kirin, and Vietnamese mythology, where it is known as the kỳ lân.


title: Qilin

text: Earliest mention of this mythical horned beast is in the poem included in the Classic of Poetry (11th - 7th c. BCE). "Spring and Autumn Annals" mentioned that a "lin" () was captured in the 14th year of Duke Ai of Lu () (481 CE); "Zuo Zhuan" credited Confucius with identifying the "lin" as such.


title: Qilin

text: The bisyllabic form "qilin" ( ~ ), which carries the same generic meaning as "lin" alone, is attested in works dated to the Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE). Q"i" denotes the male and "lin" denotes the female (e.g. in Shuowen Jiezi)


title: Qilin

text: The legendary image of the qilin became associated with the image of the giraffe in the Ming dynasty. The identification of the qilin with giraffes began after Zheng He's 15th-century voyage to East Africa (landing, among other places, in modern-day Somalia). The Ming Dynasty bought giraffes from the Somali merchants along with zebras, incense, and various other exotic animals. Zheng He's fleet brought back two giraffes to Nanjing and they were referred to as "qilins", with meaning giraffe in Somali. The identification of qilin with giraffes has had a lasting influence: even today, the same word is used for the mythical animal and the giraffe in both Korean and Japanese.


title: Qilin

text: Axel Schuessler reconstructs 's Old Chinese pronunciation as *"gərin". Finnish linguist Juha Janhunen tentatively compares *"gərin" to an etymon reconstructed as *"kalimV", denoting "whale"; and represented in the language isolate Nivkh and four different language families Tungusic, Mongolic, Turkic and Samoyedic, wherein *"kalay(ә)ng" means "whale" (in Nenets) and *"kalVyǝ" "mammoth" (in Enets and Nganasan). As even aborigines "vaguely familiar with the underlying real animals" often confuse the whale, mammoth, and unicorn: they conceptualized the mammoth and whale as aquatic, as well as the mammoth and unicorn possessing a single horn; for inland populations, the extant whale "remains... an abstraction, in this respect being no different from the extinct mammoth or the truly mythical unicorn." However, Janhunen cautiously remarks that "[t]he formal and semantic similarity between *"kilin" < *"gilin" ~ *"gïlin" 'unicorn' and *"kalimV" 'whale' (but also Samoyedic *"kalay"- 'mammoth') is sufficient to support, though perhaps not confirm, the hypothesis of an etymological connection", and also notes a possible connection between Old Chinese and Mongolian (*)"kers" ~ (*)"keris" ~ (*)"kiris" "rhinoceros" (Khalkha: ).


title: Qilin

text: Qilin generally have Chinese dragon-like features: similar heads with antlers, eyes with thick eyelashes, manes that always flow upward, and beards. The body is fully or partially scaled and often shaped like an ox, deer, or horse. They are always shown with cloven hooves. While dragons in China (and thus qilin) are also most commonly depicted as golden, qilin may be of any color or even various colors, and can be depicted as bejeweled or exhibiting a jewel-like brilliance.


title: Qilin

text: The qilin is depicted throughout a wide range of Chinese art, sometimes with parts of their bodies on fire.


title: Qilin

text: Legends tell that qilin have appeared in the garden of the legendary Yellow Emperor and in the capital of Emperor Yao; both events bore testimony to the benevolent nature of the rulers. It has also been told that the birth of the great sage Confucius was foretold by the arrival of a qilin.


title: Qilin

text: In modern times, the depictions of qilin have often fused with the Western concept of unicorns. Qilin () is often translated into English as "unicorn", and can sometimes be depicted as having a single horn - although this is misleading, as qilin may also be depicted as having two horns, and a separate word, "one-horned beast" () is used in modern Chinese for "unicorns". A number of different Chinese mythical creatures can be depicted with a single horn, and a qilin, even if depicted with one horn, would be called a "one-horned qilin" in Chinese, not a "unicorn".


title: Qilin

text: Nevertheless, the mythical and etymological connections between the creatures have been noted by various cultural studies and even the Chinese government, which has minted silver, gold, and platinum commemorative coins depicting both archetypal creatures.


title: Qilin

text: Kirin, which has also come to be used as the modern Japanese word for a giraffe, are similar to qilin. Japanese art tends to depict the kirin as more deer-like than in Chinese art. Alternatively, it is depicted as a dragon shaped like a deer, but with an ox's tail instead of a lion's tail. They are also often portrayed as partially unicorn-like in appearance, but with a backwards curving horn.


title: Qilin

text: Girin or kirin () is the Korean form of qilin. It is described as a maned creature with the torso of a deer, an ox tail with the hooves of a horse. The girin were initially depicted as more deer-like, however over time they have transformed into more horse-like. They were one of the four divine creatures along with the dragon, phoenix and turtle. Girin were extensively used in Korean royal and Buddhist arts.


title: Qilin

text: In Thailand, the qilin is known as "" (), and is a member of the pantheon of Thai Himapant forest mythical animals. It is most probable that the Gilen was introduced into the pantheon under the influence of the Tai Yai who came down from Southern China to settle in Siam in ancient times, and the legend was probably incorporated into the Himapant legends of Siam in this manner. The Gilen is a mixture of various animals, which come from differing elemental environments, representing elemental magical forces present within each personified creature. Many of the Himapant animals actually represent gods and devas of the Celestial Realms, and bodhisattvas, who manifest as personifications which represent the true nature of each creature deity through the symbolism of the various body parts amalgamated into the design of the Mythical creature.


title: Qilin

text: In "Phra Aphai Mani", the masterpiece epic poem of Sunthorn Phu, a renowned poet of the 18th century. There is a monster that is Sudsakorn's steed, one of the main characters in the epic. This creature was called ""Ma Nin Mangkorn"" (, "ceylonite dragon horse"), it is depicted as it has diamond fangs, ceylonite scales, and a birthmark on the tongue. It was a mixture of horse, dragon, deer antlers, fish scales, and Phaya Nak tail, with has black sequins all over. Its appearance resembles a qilin.


title: Lori Petty

text: Lori Petty (born October 14, 1963) is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She is noted for her roles in the films "Point Break" (1991), "A League of Their Own" (1992), "Free Willy " (1993), and the title role in "Tank Girl" (1995).


title: Lori Petty

text: Petty joined the Netflix original series "Orange Is the New Black" as Lolly Whitehill as a guest star in the second season, and a recurring character in the third, fourth and seventh seasons.


title: Lori Petty

text: Petty, the eldest of three children, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the daughter of a Pentecostal minister. She graduated from North High School in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1981, and worked for several years in Omaha, Nebraska, as a graphic designer before pursuing acting.


title: Lori Petty

text: Petty got her break starring with Richard Grieco in Fox's "Booker". In 1990, Petty made her film debut as Robin Williams's wannabe fashion designer girlfriend in "Cadillac Man". The following year, Petty played the surfer who taught Keanu Reeves how to surf in the 1991 action thriller "Point Break". In 1992, Petty was featured in "A League of Their Own", opposite Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna.


title: Lori Petty

text: She played the title role in the film adaptation of the British cult comic book "Tank Girl" in 1995. Her other films include "Free Willy", "The Poker House", and "In the Army Now". She also co-starred in the television series "Lush Life" with her friend Karyn Parsons, but it was cancelled after five episodes. She joined the cast of "Brimstone" as the owner of Stone's hotel.


title: Lori Petty

text: Petty also provided the voice of the supervillain Livewire on the Warner Bros. series "", and "The New Batman Adventures". Although she was originally cast as Lt. Lenina Huxley in "Demolition Man", disagreements over the character's direction led producer Joel Silver to recast the role with Sandra Bullock. Petty played the role of "Daddy", an alpha female inmate, in "".


title: Lori Petty

text: She starred in a series of television commercials created by Merkley Newman Harty's Steve Bowen for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's "Go, Baby, Go" advertising campaign in 1998.


title: Lori Petty

text: Petty's directorial debut, "The Poker House"—a film dramatizing her own difficult childhood—won awards at the Los Angeles Film Festival. She narrated the first three books of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series—"One for the Money", "Two for the Dough", and "Three to Get Deadly". C. J. Critt read the unabridged version for Recorded Books. Petty read the abridgments for Simon & Schuster.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley" and "You Better You Bet". He began his solo career in 1973, while still a member of The Who. Since then he has released ten solo studio albums, five compilation albums, and one live album. His solo hits include "Giving It All Away", "Walking the Dog", "Written on the Wind", "Free Me", "Without Your Love" and "Under a Raging Moon".


title: Roger Daltrey

text: The Who are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century and have sold over 100 million records worldwide. As a member of the band, Daltrey received a Lifetime achievement award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. He and Pete Townshend received Kennedy Center Honors in 2008 and The George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on 21 May 2016. Daltrey has also been an actor and film producer, with roles in films, theatre, and television. Planet Rock listeners voted him rock's fifth-greatest voice in 2009, and he was ranked number 61 on "Rolling Stone"s list of the 100 greatest singers of all time in 2010.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey was born on 1 March 1944, in Hammersmith Hospital, East Acton, London, the eldest of three children of Harry and Irene Daltrey. Harry Daltrey was an insurance clerk who was called up to fight in the Second World War, leaving three-month-old Roger and his mother to be evacuated to a farm in Scotland.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey attended Victoria Primary School and then Acton County Grammar School along with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He showed academic promise in the English state school system, placed at the top of his class on the eleven-plus examination that led to his enrolment at Acton County Grammar School.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey made his first guitar, from a block of wood, in 1957, a cherry red Stratocaster replica, and joined a skiffle band called the Detours, who were in need of a lead singer. They told him that he had to bring a guitar, and within a few weeks he showed up with it. When his father bought him an Epiphone guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band and was soon expelled from school for smoking tobacco. Townshend wrote in his autobiography, ""until he was expelled Roger had been a good pupil.""


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Early on, Daltrey was the band's leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise discipline, when needed. According to Townshend, Daltrey "ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives [a hard punch]". Daltrey would explain, later in life, that his harsh approach came from the tough neighbourhood he grew up in, where most arguments and debates were resolved with a fight.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1964, the band discovered another band performing as the Detours and discussed changing their name. Townshend suggested "the Hair" and Townshend's roommate Richard Barnes suggested "The Who". The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying "It's The Who, innit?"


title: Roger Daltrey

text: With the band's first hit single ("I Can't Explain") and record deal in early 1965, Townshend began writing original material and Daltrey's dominance of the band began to decrease.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: The other members of the Who fired Daltrey from the band in late 1965 after he beat up their drummer Keith Moon for supplying illegal drugs to Townshend and Entwistle, causing him to re-examine his methods of dealing with people. A week later, Daltrey was admitted back to the band, but was told he'd be on probation. He promised that there would be no more violent outbursts or assaults. Daltrey recalled, "I thought if I lost the band I was dead. If I didn't stick with the Who, I would be a sheet metal worker for the rest of my life."


title: Roger Daltrey

text: The band's second single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", was a collaboration between Daltrey and Townshend. As Townshend developed into one of rock's most accomplished composers, Daltrey gained a reputation as a singer and front-man. The Who's stage act was energetic, and Daltrey's habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became his signature move. Daltrey's Townshend-inspired stuttering expression of youthful anger, frustration, and arrogance in the band's breakthrough single, "My Generation", captured the revolutionary feeling of the 1960s for many young people around the world and became the band's trademark. Later, his scream near the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again" became a defining moment in rock and roll.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: By 1973, Daltrey was experiencing considerable success with his solo projects and acting roles. While other members of the band worked on recording the music for "Quadrophenia", Daltrey used some of this time to check The Who's financial books. He found they had fallen into disarray under the management of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. Lambert was also Pete Townshend's artistic mentor, and challenging him led to renewed tension within the band. During a filming session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown) Townshend and Daltrey argued over the schedule. Townshend hit Daltrey over the head with his guitar, and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious with a single blow.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: With each of The Who's milestone achievements, "Tommy", "Who's Next", and "Quadrophenia", Daltrey was the face and voice of the band as they defined themselves as the ultimate rebels in a generation of change. When Ken Russell's adaptation of "Tommy" appeared as a feature film in 1975, Daltrey played the lead role, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" and appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine on 10 April 1975. He afterward worked with Russell again, starring as Franz Liszt in "Lisztomania". Daltrey worked with Rick Wakeman on the soundtrack to this film.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: The Who continued after the death of their drummer Keith Moon in 1978, but tension continued to rise as Daltrey felt that new drummer Kenney Jones was the wrong choice. The Who broke up in 1983 when Townshend felt that he was no longer able to write for the band.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: The Who returned in 1989 with their 25th Anniversary Tour, which was also the 20th anniversary of their rock opera "Tommy". The tour featured a large backing band, and guest appearances by Steve Winwood, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins, Elton John, and Billy Idol. In spite of an abdominal hemangioma (later removed by surgery), Daltrey managed to complete the tour.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1996, Pete Townshend was approached to produce "Quadrophenia" for the Prince's Trust concert at Hyde Park, London. Daltrey agreed to help produce a one-off performance. The opera was performed with a large backing band. On the night before the show, Daltrey was struck in the face by a microphone stand swung by Gary Glitter. The accident fractured his eye socket and caused considerable concern that he might not be able to perform safely, but Daltrey donned an eye-patch to cover the bruises and completed the show as scheduled. Afterward, Townshend decided to take the production on tour in 1996–97 as the Who.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: After the success of their "Quadrophenia" tour, the band returned as the Who in a stripped-down, five-piece line-up for tours in 1999–2000. The band continued to work together, making a major impact at the Concert for New York City. After Entwistle's death in June 2002, both Daltrey and Townshend decided to continue with an already planned tour as the Who. Bass player Pino Palladino was chosen to fill Entwistle's place. The band also completed a brief tour in 2004. In 2006, they released their first studio album of new material in twenty-four years, "Endless Wire", leading some fans and critics to say that the much-discussed artistic tension within the Who lay between Daltrey and Townshend. The band completed a world tour in 2006–07 to support this album.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In February 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, headlining as the Who, performed the half-time show at Super Bowl XLIV in front of 105.97 million viewers across the globe. In March 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, along with an extensive backing band, performed "Quadrophenia" at the Royal Albert Hall in London as a tenth anniversary charity benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sang the part of the Godfather and Tom Meighan of Kasabian sang the part of Aceface.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey also wrote a song entitled "Crossroads Now" for the Who. It grew from an onstage jam session in 1999. Another Daltrey song, "Certified Rose", was rehearsed by the Who shortly before the death of John Entwistle. The band had planned on playing it (as well as Townshend's "Real Good Looking Boy") during their 2002 tour, but plans were halted after Entwistle's death. Although it was rumoured that a studio version was recorded during the "Endless Wire" sessions (and may have featured Entwistle's basslines from 2002), Townshend later stated that no such recording was made. A more recent recording of "Certified Rose" was released on Daltrey's 2018 album, "As Long As I Have You".


title: Roger Daltrey

text: "Early Morning Cold Taxi" is a song recorded during "The Who Sell Out" recording sessions in 1967. It was released in 1994 on the "Thirty Years of Maximum R&B" box set. It is credited to Daltrey and Who roadie Dave "Cyrano" Langston.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey has released eight solo studio albums. The first was "Daltrey" in 1973, recorded during a hiatus in the Who's touring schedule. The best-selling single from the album, "Giving It All Away", peaked at No. 5 in the UK and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The inner sleeve photography showed a "trompe-l'œil" in reference to the Narcissus myth, as Daltrey's reflection in the water differs from his real appearance. He also released a single in 1973, "Thinking", with "There is Love" as the B-side. The British release, with considerable airplay of "Giving It All Away" (first lines "I paid all my dues so I picked up my shoes, I got up and walked away") coincided with news reports of the Who being sued for unpaid damage to their hotel on a recent tour, including a TV set being thrown out of the window.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey's second solo album "Ride a Rock Horse" was released in 1975, and is his second most commercially successful solo album.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: "McVicar" was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, in which Daltrey starred and also co-produced. It featured all the other members of the Who at the time (Townshend, Entwistle, and Kenney Jones). "McVicar" included two hit singles, "Free Me", and "Without Your Love", which is Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: On release, "Parting Should Be Painless" received negative critical reviews, and was Daltrey's poorest-selling studio album up to that point. The album was a concerted effort on Daltrey's part to vent his frustrations in the wake of the Who's break-up by assembling a set of roughly autobiographical songs. These included a track contributed by Bryan Ferry ("Going Strong"), and one contributed by Eurythmics ("Somebody Told Me"). Musically, according to Daltrey the album covered areas that he had wanted the Who to pursue.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: The title track to "Under a Raging Moon" is a tribute to late Who drummer Keith Moon, who had died in 1978 at the premature age of 32. On his next album "Rocks in the Head", Daltrey's voice ranges from a powerful bluesy growl "à la" Howlin' Wolf to the tender vocals shared with his daughter Willow on the ballad "Everything a Heart Could Ever Want". This was his first major effort as a songwriter for his own solo career.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey appeared in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, singing the hard rock Queen song "I Want It All", to pay homage to his friend Freddie Mercury, who died the previous year one day after a public announcement that he suffered from AIDS.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: To celebrate his 50th birthday in 1994, Daltrey performed two shows at Carnegie Hall. A recording of the concerts was later issued on CD and video; it was entitled "", and is sometimes called "Daltrey Sings Townshend". The success of these two shows led to a US tour by the same name, featuring Pete Townshend's brother Simon on lead guitar with Phil Spalding taking bass duties for the first half of each show, and John Entwistle playing for the second half. An Australian leg was considered but eventually scrapped.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: An avid fan of Premier League football club Arsenal F.C., Daltrey wrote and performed a specially commissioned song, "Highbury Highs", for the 2006 Highbury Farewell ceremony following the final football match at Highbury. Daltrey's performance was part of Arsenal's celebration of the previous 93 years at Highbury as the club prepared for their move to the Emirates Stadium the following season.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey embarked on a solo tour of the US and Canada on 10 October 2009, officially called the "Use It or Lose It" tour with a new touring band he called "No Plan B" on the Alan Titchmarsh Show. The band included Simon Townshend on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Frank Simes on lead guitar, Jon Button on bass guitar, Loren Gold on keyboards, and Scott Devours on drums. Eddie Vedder made a guest appearance at the Seattle show on 12 October. In 2010, Daltrey and No Plan B appeared for several dates with Eric Clapton, including Summerfest at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: On 15 March 2018, Daltrey announced the forthcoming release, on 1 June, of his new solo studio album "As Long as I Have You". He appeared on BBC One's "The Graham Norton Show", on 13 April 2018, to promote the single taken from the album.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In May 2021, Daltrey announced a return to touring, with the solo Live and Kicking Tour, starting in August 2021. The tour was rescheduled and carried out during the summer of 2022.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1998, Daltrey performed two songs with the Jim Byrnes Blues Band at the Los Angeles Highlander Convention.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: On 12 January 2009, Daltrey headlined a one-off concert along with Babyshambles at the O2 Academy Bristol for Teenage Cancer Trust. On 5 July 2009, he joined the Jam's lead singer, Paul Weller on stage at Hop Farm Festival in Kent for an encore of "Magic Bus". In 2011, Daltrey recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with French singer and composer Laurent Voulzy for his album "Lys and Love".


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In November 2014, while staying at the Mar Hall Hotel in Bishopton, Renfrewshire – ahead of the Who's gig at the SSE Hydro – Daltrey joined the band Milestone for an impromptu rendition of "I Can't Explain". The band were playing at a wedding reception in the hotel.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: According to Pete Townshend, Daltrey "almost invented the pseudo-messianic role taken up later by Jim Morrison and Robert Plant." His persona has earned him a position as one of the "gods of rock and roll". He developed a trademark move of swinging and throwing his microphone through a complex sequence, matching these sequences with the tempo of the song that was being played at the moment, although Daltrey reduced the athleticism of his performances in later years. According to a review of the Who's performance at the Quart Festival in 2007:


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Suddenly each and everyone stopped caring about the down-pouring rain. When the Who took the stage we couldn't do anything but to reach for the sky and howl. Anyone who has ever thought of calling these gods old men and dinosaurs should be deeply ashamed. The reports we've heard from around the world were true: Live rock doesn't get any better.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey hand-built his first guitar from a piece of plywood, and also built guitars for the band in the early days when they had little money to buy equipment. As lead guitarist for the Detours, Daltrey played a 1961 Epiphone Wilshire solid-body electric guitar, which he later sold to Pete Townshend on an easy payment plan. After he took over vocals for the band in the 1960s, and during the 1970s, Daltrey rarely played guitar on stage, except for a Martin acoustic guitar while promoting his solo album "Daltrey". He began playing guitar with the Who again during the band's tours in the 1980s, and used a Fender Esquire to play a second guitar part for the song "Eminence Front" on the Who's 1982, 1989 and later tours. During the 1989 tour, Daltrey played a Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitar for the song "Hey Joe". During the Who's 1996–97 Quadrophenia tour, he played a Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: After 1999, it became more common for Daltrey to play guitar during both the Who and solo shows. He played a Versoul Buxom 6 handmade acoustic guitar on the Who's 2002 tour. Daltrey owns a Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop acoustic guitar which he played on the Who and solo tours in the late first decade of the 21st century. On his 2009 tour, he played Pete Townshend's "Blue, Red and Grey" on an Ashbury cutaway tenor EQ ukulele.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey is among those who first brought the harmonica into popular music. Although those he uses have varied over the years, harmonica brands he has used include Hohner and Lee Oskar.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey uses Shure microphones with cords that are taped to reinforce the connection and avoid cutting his hands when he swings and catches the microphone. He commonly uses a standard Shure SM58, but has also used Shure SM78 (in 1981), Shure model 565D Unisphere 1, and Shure model 548 Unidyne IV. Daltrey also uses a hybrid monitoring system, with one in-ear monitor supplemented by floor wedges.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey contributed to a collection of childhood fishing stories published in 1996 entitled "I Remember: Reflections on Fishing in Childhood". In 2009, he contributed a foreword to "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958–1978" by Andrew Neill and Matt Kent. In 2011, he wrote a tribute article in honour of the late Ken Russell which was published in Britain's "Daily Express". In October 2018, he published his memoir, "Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story". The title is a reference to the man who threw him out of grammar school, enabling him to go into a successful music career.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1976, Daltrey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" for his starring role in the film version of the Who's rock opera "Tommy". He also performed as a guest on the Chieftains' recording of "Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House" which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1993. With the Who, Daltrey received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 for outstanding artistic significance in music.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1990, Daltrey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio as a member of the Who. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also included three songs that Daltrey recorded with the Who on the list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, including: "My Generation", "Go to the Mirror!", and "Baba O'Riley". In 2005, Daltrey received a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Gold Badge Award for special and lasting contributions to the British entertainment industry.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 2003, Daltrey was honoured by "Time" magazine as a European Hero for his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust and other charities. In the New Year's Honours List published on 31 December 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Music, the Entertainment Industry and Charity.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: As a member of the Who, Daltrey was inducted in 2005 into the UK Music Hall of Fame. In December 2008, he and Pete Townshend were honoured with America's most prestigious cultural awards as recipients of the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., by then-president of the United States, George W. Bush. On 4 March 2009, three days after his 65th birthday, Daltrey accepted the James Joyce Award from the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin for outstanding success in the music field.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: On 12 March 2011, he received the Steiger Award (Germany) for excellence in music. In November 2011, Daltrey and Pete Townshend received the Classic Album Award for "Quadrophenia" from the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards at the Roundhouse in London.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In July 2012, Daltrey received an honorary degree from Middlesex University in recognition of his contributions to music.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey has received numerous awards for his music, including Best Blues Album in the British Blues Awards 2015 alongside Wilko Johnson.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 2019, Daltrey was the recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He received his Golden Plate along with Pete Townshend and presented by Awards Council member Peter Gabriel.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: All of the Who's Encore Series profits go to young people's charities. Daltrey was instrumental in starting the Teenage Cancer Trust concert series in 2000, with the Who actually playing in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, and 2010, and Daltrey playing solo in 2011, and in 2015 as the Who. The annual concerts have raised over £20 million. He has endorsed the Whodlums, a Who tribute band which raise money for the trust.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey performed at the first ChildLine Rocks concert at London's the O2 on 13 March 2008. In 2009, Daltrey was a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. In the same year, he appeared again on stage with Michael J. Fox for the "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit. In April 2010, he headlined the Imagine A Cure II show honouring the legacy of John Lennon, which raised money for the Puget Sound Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity. In 2011, Daltrey became a patron of the Children's Respite Trust for children with disabilities.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 2011, Daltrey, Steven Tyler, and Julie Andrews provided funding for Robert S. Langer's research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology into vocal cord repair for victims of cancer and other disorders. On 4 November 2011, Daltrey and Pete Townshend launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Programme at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, to be funded by the Who's charity "Teen Cancer America". The launch, followed on 5 November by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant, and Dave Grohl. Daltrey also announced that a portion of ticket sales from his solo tours would go to fund the teen cancer centres. In 2012, he offered his support to a project helping unemployed young people in Heathfield, run by Tomorrow's People Trust.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1970, Daltrey publicly supported The National Campaign for Freedom of Information, saying: "I come from a working-class background and I am proud of it and I intend to fight for the workers' right to know. We all need to know what goes on behind the scenes that is causing this country's economic mess. When we have a Freedom of Information Act in this country we shall have restored our Right to Know the Truth and that will bring sanity to our tax laws."


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey was previously a supporter of the British Labour Party, but he withdrew his endorsement citing his opposition to the "mass immigration" policies put in place under the Blair government. In 2018, he criticised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as a "communist".


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey supported Britain leaving the European Union. He wrote in "The Mirror": "Whatever happens our country should never fear the consequences of leaving. We went into the Common Market in 1973. Do you know what was going on before we went in? It was the 1960s. The most exciting time ever – Britain was Swinging. Films, Theatre, Fashion, Art and Music... Britain was the centre of the world. You got that because Britain was doing its own thing. It was independent. Not sure we'll ever get that again when we're ruled by bureaucrats in the European Union." He again criticised the EU in 2019, saying, "If you want to be signed up to be ruled by a f****** mafia, you do it. Like being governed by FIFA".


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 2017, Daltrey opined that a "dead dog" could have defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election. In 2018, he denounced the Me Too movement, saying: "I find this whole thing so obnoxious. It's always allegations and it's just salacious crap."


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 2021, Daltrey criticised the rise of woke culture in an interview with Zane Lowe's "Apple Music 1" podcast, arguing that younger generations are limiting themselves by stifling and undoing creative freedoms that had emerged through the artistic revolutions of the 1960s. He elaborated by stating "it's terrifying, the miserable world they're going to create for themselves. I mean, anyone who's lived a life and you see what they're doing, you just know that it's a route to nowhere."


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Daltrey has been married twice. In 1964, he married Jacqueline "Jackie" Rickman, and later that year the couple had their son Simon; they divorced in 1968. In 1967, another son, Mathias, was the result of his affair with Swedish model Elisabeth Aronsson. In 1968 he met Heather Taylor, a model who was born in the UK, living with her grandmother at the time, and the subject of the 1967 Jimi Hendrix song "Foxy Lady". Daltrey and Taylor were introduced by her friend, who knew she was down after a recent break-up. Daltrey and Taylor have been married since 1971, and have three children together: daughters Rosie Lea (born in 1972) and Willow Amber (born in 1975), and son Jamie (born in 1981), who runs Daltrey's trout farm outside Burwash Common.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: On 1 March 1994 – the day of his 50th birthday – Daltrey received a letter from a woman claiming to be his daughter, from a brief relationship during the interval between his marriages. Within a few years, Daltrey met two more daughters born during this period in the late 1960s. All three girls had been adopted and grown to adulthood before meeting their biological father; Daltrey states that Heather joined him in welcoming the three daughters to their extended family. As well as his eight children, Daltrey has fifteen grandchildren.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: Roger has announced onstage that he is now "very, very deaf," suffering hearing loss due to exposure to loud volume levels during performances. In the 2018 article discussing this revelation, the "Daily Mirror" reported that he urged audience members to use ear plugs. Bandmate Pete Townshend has also publicly detailed his own hearing loss.


title: Roger Daltrey

text: In 1978, during the recording of the Who's album "Who Are You", Daltrey had throat surgery to remove nodules after an infection. During a solo tour in 2009, Daltrey began finding it harder to reach the high notes. In December 2010, he was diagnosed with vocal cord dysplasia, and consulted Steven M. Zeitels, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center and professor at Harvard Medical School. Zeitels performed laser surgery to remove the possibly pre-cancerous growth. Both surgeries were considered successful. As dysplasia recurs Daltrey has regular checks to monitor his condition. Daltrey has an allergy to cannabis that affects his singing voice; when second-hand marijuana smoke from an audience has impacted his performance, he has occasionally interrupted the concert to request that people not smoke it. Daltrey has stated that he has never taken hard drugs.


title: Padre Pio

text: Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and also Saint Pius of Pietrelcina (; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, celebrated on 23 September.


title: Padre Pio

text: Padre Pio joined the Capuchins at fifteen, spending most of his religious life in the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo. In 1918, his body was marked by stigmata, leading to several investigations by the Holy See, who also imposed temporary limitations on his public appearances. He was involved in the construction of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, a hospital built near the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo.


title: Padre Pio

text: From the appearance of his stigmata until his death, Pio de Pietrelcina was the object of growing popularity among believers, attracting many devotees to San Giovanni Rotondo. Multiple mystical phenomena were reported throughout his life. After his death, his devotion spread throughout the world, emphasized by his beatification in 1999 and his canonization on 16 June 2002 by Pope John Paul II. His relics are exposed in the sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, next to the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo, now a major pilgrimage site.


title: Padre Pio

text: Francesco Forgione was born to Grazio Mario Forgione (1860–1946) and Maria Giuseppa Di Nunzio (1859–1929) on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, a town in the province of Benevento, in the Southern Italian region of Campania. His parents were peasant farmers. He was baptized in the nearby Santa Anna Chapel, which stands upon the walls of a castle. He later served as an altar boy in this same chapel. He had an older brother, Michele, and three younger sisters, Felicita, Pellegrina, and Grazia (who was later to become a Bridgettine nun). His parents had two other children who died in infancy. When he was baptized, he was given the name Francesco. He stated that by the time he was five years old, he had already made the decision to dedicate his entire life to God. He worked on the land up to the age of 10, looking after the small flock of sheep the family owned.


title: Padre Pio

text: Pietrelcina was a town where feast days of saints were celebrated throughout the year, and the Forgione family was deeply religious. They attended Mass daily, prayed the Rosary nightly, and abstained from meat three days a week in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Although Francesco's parents and grandparents were illiterate, they narrated Bible stories to their children.


title: Padre Pio

text: According to the diary of Father Agostino da San Marco (who was later his spiritual director in San Marco in Lamis) the young Francesco was afflicted with a number of illnesses. At six he suffered from severe gastroenteritis. At ten he caught typhoid fever.


title: Padre Pio

text: As a youth, Francesco reported that he had experienced heavenly visions and ecstasies. In 1897, after he had completed three years at the public school, Francesco was said to have been drawn to the life of a friar after listening to a young Capuchin who was in the countryside seeking donations. When Francesco expressed his desire to his parents, they made a trip to Morcone, a community north of Pietrelcina, to find out if their son was eligible to enter the Order. The friars there informed them that they were interested in accepting Francesco into their community, but he needed to be better educated.


title: Padre Pio

text: Francesco's father went to the United States in search of work to pay for private tutoring for his son, to meet the academic requirements to enter the Capuchin Order. It was in this period that Francesco received the sacrament of Confirmation on 27 September 1899. He underwent private tutoring and passed the stipulated academic requirements. On 6 January 1903, at the age of 15, he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars at Morcone. On 22 January, he took the Franciscan habit and the name of Fra (Friar) Pio, in honor of Pope Pius I, whose relic is preserved in the Santa Anna Chapel in Pietrelcina. He took the simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.


title: Padre Pio

text: Commencing his seven-year study for the priesthood, Fra Pio travelled to the friary of Saint Francis of Assisi in Umbria. At 17, he fell ill, complaining of loss of appetite, insomnia, exhaustion, fainting spells, and migraines. He vomited frequently and could digest only milk and cheese. Religious devotees point to this time as being that at which inexplicable phenomena allegedly began to occur. During prayers for example, Pio appeared to others to be in a stupor, as if he were absent. One of Pio's fellow friars later claimed to have seen him in ecstasy, and allegedly levitating above the ground.


title: Padre Pio

text: In June 1905, Pio's health worsened to such an extent that his superiors decided to send him to a mountain convent, in the hope that the change of air would do him good. This had little impact, however, and doctors advised that he return home. Even there his health failed to improve. Despite this, he still made his solemn profession on 27 January 1907.


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1910, Pio was ordained a priest by Archbishop Paolo Schinosi at the Cathedral of Benevento. Four days later, he offered his first Mass at the parish church of Our Lady of the Angels. His health being precarious, he was permitted to remain with his family until 1916 while still retaining the Capuchin habit.


title: Padre Pio

text: On 4 September 1916, however, Pio was ordered to return to his community life. He moved to an agricultural community, Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary, located in the Gargano Mountains in San Giovanni Rotondo in the Province of Foggia. At that time the community numbered seven friars. He remained at San Giovanni Rotondo until his death in 1968, except for a period of military service. In the priesthood, Padre Pio was known to perform a number of successful conversions to Catholicism.


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio was devoted to rosary meditations. He compared weekly confession to dusting a room weekly, and recommended the performance of meditation and self-examination twice daily: once in the morning, as preparation to face the day, and once again in the evening, as retrospection. His advice on the practical application of theology he often summed up in his now famous quote: "Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry". He directed Christians to recognize God in all things and to desire above all things to do the will of God.


title: Padre Pio

text: Many people who heard of him traveled to San Giovanni Rotondo to meet him and confess to him, ask for help, or have their curiosity satisfied. Pio's mother died at the village around the convent in 1928. Later, in 1938, Pio had his elderly father Grazio live with him. His brother Michele also moved in. Pio's father lived in a little house outside the convent, until his death in 1946.


title: Padre Pio

text: When World War I started, four friars from this community were selected for military service in the Italian army. At that time, Padre Pio was a teacher at the seminary and a spiritual director. When one more friar was called into service, Pio was put in charge of the community. On 15 November 1915, he was drafted and on December 6, assigned to the 10th Medical Corps in Naples. Due to poor health, he was continually discharged and recalled until on 16 March 1918, he was declared unfit for service and discharged completely.


title: Padre Pio

text: People who had started rebuilding their lives after the war began to see in Padre Pio a symbol of hope. Those close to him attest that he began to manifest several spiritual gifts, including the gifts of healing, bilocation, levitation, prophecy, miracles, extraordinary abstinence from both sleep and nourishment (one account states that Padre Agostino recorded one instance in which Padre Pio was able to subsist for at least 20 days at Verafeno on only the Holy Eucharist without any other nourishment), the ability to read hearts, the gift of tongues, the gift of conversions, and pleasant-smelling wounds.


title: Padre Pio

text: Padre Pio increasingly became well known among the wider populace. He became a spiritual director, and developed five rules for spiritual growth: weekly confession, daily Communion, spiritual reading, meditation, and examination of conscience.


title: Padre Pio

text: By 1925, Pio had converted an old convent building into a medical clinic with a few beds intended primarily for people in extreme need. In 1940, a committee was set-up to establish a bigger clinic and donations started to be made. Construction began in 1947.


title: Padre Pio

text: According to Luzzatto, the bulk of the money for financing the hospital came directly from Emanuele Brunatto, a keen follower of Pio, who had made his fortune in the black market in German-occupied France. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) also contributed funding - 250 million Italian lire.


title: Padre Pio

text: Lodovico Montini, head of Democrazia Cristiana, and his brother Giovanni Battista Montini (later Pope Paul VI) facilitated engagement by UNRRA. The hospital was initially to be named "Fiorello LaGuardia", but eventually presented as the work of Pio himself. The () opened in 1956. Pio handed direct control to the Holy See. However, in order that Pio might directly supervise the project, Pope Pius XII granted him a dispensation from his vow of poverty in 1957. Some of Pio's detractors have subsequently suggested there had been misappropriation of funds.


title: Padre Pio

text: The Vatican initially imposed severe sanctions on Pio in the 1920s to reduce publicity about him: it forbade him from saying Mass in public, blessing people, answering letters, showing his stigmata publicly, and communicating with Padre Benedetto, his spiritual director.


title: Padre Pio

text: The local people threatened to riot, and the Vatican left him where he was. A second plan for removal was also changed. Nevertheless, from 1921 to 1922 he was prevented from publicly performing his priestly duties, such as hearing confessions and saying Mass. From 1924 to 1931, the Holy See made statements denying that the events in Pio's life were due to any divine cause.


title: Padre Pio

text: A large number of doctors visited Padre Pio to verify that he was not a braggart. The first to study his wounds was Luigi Romanelli, chief physician of the civil hospital of Barletta, by order of the provincial father superior, on May 15 and 16, 1919. In his report, among other things he wrote: "The injuries he presents to hands are covered with a brown-red membrane, with no bleeding points, no edema and no inflammatory reactions in the surrounding tissues. I am sure that those wounds are not superficial because, by applying the thumb in the palm of the hand and the index finger on the back and applying pressure, one has the exact perception of the existing void."


title: Padre Pio

text: Two months later, on July 26, pathologist Amico Bignami arrived in San Giovanni Rotondo. Bignami conducted a medical examination of Pio's wounds in 1919 and launched several hypotheses, among which was that the wounds were a skin necrosis that was hindered from healing by chemicals such as iodine tincture.


title: Padre Pio

text: Festa was a physician who examined Pio in 1919 and 1920. He was obviously impressed by the fragrance of the stigmata. Festa, as Bignami before, had described the side wound as cruciform. In his report to the Holy Office of 1925, Festa arrived at a benevolent verdict and attacked Gemelli's critical view of Pio's stigmata, with theological arguments playing the lead role.


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1920, father Agostino Gemelli – a physician and psychologist – was commissioned by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val to visit Padre Pio and carry out a clinical examination of the wounds. "For this reason, despite having gone to Gargano Peninsula on his own initiative, without being asked by any ecclesiastical authority, Gemelli did not hesitate to make his private letter to the Holy Office a kind of unofficial report on Padre Pio." Gemelli wanted to express himself fully on the matter and wanted to meet the friar. Padre Pio showed a closed attitude towards the new investigator: he refused the visit requesting the written authorization of the Holy Office. Father Gemelli's protests that he believed he had the right to subject the friar to a medical examination of the stigmata were in vain. The friar, supported by his superiors, conditioned the examination to a permit requested through the hierarchy, without taking into account the credentials of Father Agostino Gemelli. Therefore, Gemelli left the convent, irritated and offended for not being allowed to examine the stigmata. He came to the conclusion that Francesco Forgione was "a man of restricted field of knowledge, low psychic energy, monotonous ideas, little volition." Gemelli critically judged Pio: "The case is one of suggestion unconsciously planted by Father Benedetto in the weak mind of Padre Pio, producing those characteristic manifestations of psittacism that are intrinsic to the hysteric mind."


title: Padre Pio

text: On behalf of the Holy Office, Gemelli re-examined Padre Pio in 1925, writing a report in April 1926. This time Pio allowed him to see the wounds. Gemelli saw as its cause the use of a corrosive substance Pio had attached himself to these wounds. The Jesuit Festa had previously tried to question Gemelli's comments on stigmata in general. Gemelli responded to this criticism in his report and resorted to responding to his knowledge of self-inflicted wounds. He therefore clarified his statements about the nature of Pio's wounds: "Anyone with experience in forensic medicine, and above all in variety by sores and wounds that self-destructive soldiers were presented during the war, can have no doubt that these were wounds of erosion caused by the use of a caustic substance. The base of the sore and its shape are in every way similar to the sores observed in soldiers who procured them with chemical means."


title: Padre Pio

text: Once again, Gemelli judged Padre Pio's mental abilities as limited: "He [Pio] is the ideal partner with whom former Minister Provincial Father Benedetto is able to create an incubus-succubus pair ... He is a good priest: calm, quiet, meek, more because of the mental deficiency than out of virtue. A poor soul, able to repeat a few stereotypical religious phrases, a poor, sick man who has learned his lesson from his master, Father Benedetto." Gemelli wrote in 1940 and later several times to the Holy Office on what he considered to be unjustified claims to the sanctity of Padre Pio.


title: Padre Pio

text: The Bishop of Volterra, Raffaele Rossi, Carmelite, was formally commissioned on June 11, 1921 by the Holy Office to make a canonical inquiry concerning Father Pio. Rossi began his Apostolic Visitation on June 14 in San Giovanni Rotondo with the interrogation of witnesses, two diocesan priests and seven friars. After eight days of investigation, he finally completed a benevolent report, which he sent to the Holy Office on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The extensive and detailed report essentially stated the following: Father Pio, of whom Rossi had a favorable impression, was a good religious and the San Giovanni Rotondo convent was a good community. The stigmata cannot be explained, but certainly are not a work of the devil or an act of gross deceit or fraud; neither are they the trick of a devious and malicious person. During the interviews with the witnesses, which Rossi undertook a total of three times, he let himself be shown the stigmata of the then 34-year-old Father Pio. Rossi saw these stigmata as a “real fact”.


title: Padre Pio

text: In his notes, which have been put directly on paper, and the final report, Rossi describes the shape and appearance of the wounds. Those in the hands were "very visible". Those in the feet "were disappearing. What could be observed resembled two dot-shaped elevations with whiter and gentler skin." As for the chest, it says: "In his side, the sign is represented by a triangular spot, the color of red wine, and by other smaller ones, not anymore, then, by a sort of upside-down cross such as the one seen in 1919 by Dr. Bignami and Dr. Festa." Rossi also made a request to the Holy Office, a chronicle to consult with Father Pio, who is assembling Father Benedetto, or at least to have the material he has collected so that one day one can write about the life of Father Pio.


title: Padre Pio

text: According to Rossi "Of the alleged healings, many are unconfirmed or nonexistent. In Padre Pio’s correspondence, however, there are some credible declarations that attribute miracles to his intercession. But without medical confirmation it is difficult to reach a conclusion, and the issue remains open." According to Lucia Ceci, Rossi could not find any of the attributed miracles.


title: Padre Pio

text: When Rossi asked him about bilocation, Pio replied: "I don’t know how it is or the nature of this phenomenon—and I certainly don’t give it much thought—but it did happen to me to be in the presence of this or that person, to be in this or that place; I do not know whether my mind was transported there, or what I saw was some sort of representation of the place or the person; I do not know whether I was there with my body or without it.".


title: Padre Pio

text: John XXIII was skeptical of Padre Pio. At the beginning of his tenure, he learned that Father Pio's opponents had placed listening devices in his monastery cell and confessional, recording his confessions with tape. Outside his semi-official journal, John XXIII wrote on four sheets of paper that he prayed for "PP" (Padre Pio) and the discovery by means of tapes, if what they imply is true, of his intimate and indecent relationships with women from his impenetrable praetorian guard around his person pointed to a terrible calamity of souls. John XXIII had probably never listened to the tapes himself, but assumed the correctness of this view: "The reason for my spiritual tranquility, and it is a priceless privilege and grace, is that I feel personally pure of this contamination that for forty years has corroded hundreds of thousands of souls made foolish and deranged to an unheard-of degree." According to Luzzatto, the Vatican had not ordered this wiretap. In another journal note, John XXIII wrote that he wanted to take action. In fact, he ordered another Apostolic Visitation.


title: Padre Pio

text: Father Carlo Maccari was Secretary-General of the Diocese of Rome and met Pio nine times altogether. There was reciprocal mistrust between Pio and Maccari, who wrote in his diary: "Reticence, narrowness of mind, lies - these are the weapons he uses to evade my questions ... Overall impression: pitiful." Maccari demanded Father Pio's omission to practice kisses after the confession for the lay sisters. Maccari noted in his report that Pio had inadequate religious education. He works a lot for a man of his age. He is not an ascetic and has many connections to the outside world. In general, there is too much mixing of the "sacred" and the "all too human". In his report, Maccari noted by name the woman who revealed at which time to have been the lover of Pio, but without assessing the veracity of these statements. Maccari focused on assessing the fanaticism of Pio's social environment, describing it as "religious conceptions that oscillate between superstition and magic." Maccari called Pio's supporters "a vast and dangerous organization." Pio never had his own supporters advised to moderation. Maccari wondered how God could allow "so much deception."


title: Padre Pio

text: Maccari finished his critical report with a list of recommendations for further dealing with Father Pio. The brothers of Santa Maria delle Grazie should gradually be relocated, a new abbot should come from outside the region. No one should be allowed to confess to Pio more than once a month. The hospital was to be given new statutes to sever the responsibilities of the medical and spiritual "healing" capuchins. Following Maccari's Apostolic Visitation, John XXIII noted in his diary that he sees Father Pio as a "straw idol" ("idolo di stoppa").


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio was said to have had the gift of reading souls and the ability to bilocate, among other supernatural phenomena. He was said to communicate with angels and work favors and healings before they were requested of him. The reports of supernatural phenomena surrounding Padre Pio attracted fame and amazement. The Vatican was initially skeptical.


title: Padre Pio

text: Based on Pio's correspondence, even early in his priesthood he experienced less obvious indications of the visible stigmata: bodily marks, pain, and bleeding in locations supposedly corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. In a 1911 letter, he wrote to his spiritual advisor Padre Benedetto from San Marco in Lamis, describing something he had been apparently experiencing for a year:


title: Padre Pio

text: Then last night something happened which I can neither explain nor understand. In the middle of the palms of my hands a red mark appeared, about the size of a penny, accompanied by acute pain in the middle of the red marks. The pain was more pronounced in the middle of the left hand, so much so that I can still feel it. Also under my feet I can feel some pain.


title: Padre Pio

text: Already in a letter dated March 21, 1912, to his spiritual companion and confessor, Father Agostino, Father Pio wrote of his devotion to the mystical body of Christ and the intuition that he, Pio, one day himself would bear the stigmata of Christ. Luzzatto points out that in this letter Father Pio uses unrecognized passages from a book by the stigmatized mystic Gemma Galgani. Later Pio denied knowing or owning the cited book.


title: Padre Pio

text: His close friend Padre Agostino wrote in 1915, asking specific questions, such as when he first experienced visions, whether he had been granted the stigmata, and whether he felt the pains of the Passion of Christ, namely the crowning of thorns and the scourging. Pio replied that he had been favoured with visions since his novitiate period (1903 to 1904). Although he had been granted the stigmata, he had been so terrified by the phenomenon he begged the Lord to withdraw them. He wrote that he did not wish the pain to be removed, only the visible wounds, since he considered them to be an indescribable and almost unbearable humiliation.


title: Padre Pio

text: On 20 September 1918, while hearing confessions, Pio claimed to have had a reappearance of the physical occurrence of the stigmata. The phenomenon was reported to have continued for fifty years, until the end of his life. The blood flowing from the stigmata purportedly smelled of perfume or flowers. He reported to Agostino that the pain remained and was more acute on specific days and under certain circumstances. He also said that he was suffering the pain of the crown of thorns and the scourging. He did not define the frequency of these occurrences but said that he had been suffering from them at least once weekly for some years. Though Pio said he would have preferred to suffer in secret, by early 1919, news had begun to spread. Pio often wore red mittens or black coverings on his hands and feet as he was embarrassed by the marks. However, no visible scarring was present at the time of Pio's death.


title: Padre Pio

text: Once made public, the wounds were studied by a number of physicians, some hired by the Vatican as part of an independent investigation. Some claimed that the wounds were unexplainable and never seem to have become infected. Despite seeming to heal they would then reappear periodically. Alberto Caserta took X-rays of Pio's hands in 1954 and found no abnormality in the bone structure. Some critics accused Pio of faking the stigmata, for example by using carbolic acid to make the wounds. Maria De Vito (the cousin of a local pharmacist at Foggia) testified that the young Pio bought a little bottle of carbolic acid and four grams of veratrine in 1919; however, Pio maintained that the carbolic acid was used to sterilize syringes used for medical treatments and that after being subjected to a practical joke where veratrine was mixed with snuff tobacco, causing uncontrollable sneezing after ingestion, he decided to acquire his own quantity of the substance in order to play the same joke on his confreres; the bishop of Volterra, Raffaello Rossi came to share this view, believing that "Instead of malice, what is revealed here is Padre Pio's simplicity, and his playful spirit" and that "the stigmata at issue are not a work of the devil, nor a gross deceit, a fraud, the trick of a devious and malicious person [...] his "stigmata" do not seem to me a morbid product of external suggestion." In his 2005 book, "Padre Pio and America", author Frank Rega similarly claims that "The boys had needed injections to fight the Spanish Flu which was raging at that time. Due to a shortage of doctors, Padres Paolino and Pio administered the shots, using carbolic acid as a sterilizing agent."


title: Padre Pio

text: Other hypotheses for how the stigmata could have been faked exist; Amico Bignami considered that Pio's wounds might be a skin necrosis that was hindered from healing through the use of iodine tincture or similar chemicals, while Agostino Gemelli claimed that the wounds were consistent with those that soldiers had inflicted on themselves "by the use of a caustic substance", though without indicating any specific substance that Pio could have used for this purpose.


title: Padre Pio

text: In the 1999 book "Padre Pio: The Wonder Worker", a segment by Irish priest Malachy Gerard Carroll describes the story of Gemma de Giorgi, a Sicilian girl whose blindness was believed to have been cured during a visit to Padre Pio. Gemma, who was brought to San Giovanni Rotondo in 1947 by her grandmother, was born without pupils. During her trip to see Padre Pio, the little girl began to see objects, including a steamboat and the sea. Gemma's grandmother did not believe the child had been healed. After Gemma forgot to ask Padre Pio for grace during her confession, her grandmother implored the priest to ask God to restore her sight. Padre Pio told her, "The child must not weep and neither must you for the child sees and you know she sees."


title: Padre Pio

text: On the day of Padre Pio's death, mystic and Servant of God Maria Esperanza de Bianchini from Venezuela reported that he appeared to her in a vision and said, "I have come to say good-bye. My time has come. It is your turn." Her husband saw his wife's face transfigured into that of Padre Pio. On the following day, they learned that Padre Pio had died. Witnesses say they later saw Esperanza levitating during Mass and engaging in bilocation. Padre Domenico da Cese, a fellow Capuchin stigmatist, reported that on 22 September 1968, he saw Padre Pio kneeling in prayer before the Holy Face of Manoppello, although it was known that Padre Pio had not left his room.


title: Padre Pio

text: World War I continued and in July 1918, Pope Benedict XV, who had termed the World War "the suicide of Europe," appealed to all Christians urging them to pray for an end to the World War. On 27 July of the same year, Padre Pio offered himself as a victim for the end of the war. Days passed and between 5 and 7 August, Padre Pio had a vision in which Christ appeared and pierced his side.


title: Padre Pio

text: As a result, Padre Pio claimed to have received a physical wound in his side. This occurrence is considered as a transverberation or "piercing of the heart", indicating the union of love with God within Christian mysticism.


title: Padre Pio

text: The occasion of transverberation coincided with a seven-week-long period of spiritual unrest for Padre Pio. On 20 September 1918, accounts state that the pains of the transverberation had ceased and Pio was in "profound peace." On that day, as he was engaged in prayer in the choir loft in the Church of Our Lady of Grace, he received another celestial vision which led to religious ecstasy. When the ecstasy ended, Padre Pio claimed to have received the visible stigmata. This time, it allegedly stayed visible for the next fifty years of his life, only disappearing in the last few weeks of his life, leaving no trace on his skin.


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1947, Father Karol Józef Wojtyła (later Pope John Paul II) visited Padre Pio, who heard his confession. Austrian Cardinal Alfons Stickler reported that Wojtyła confided to him that during this meeting, Padre Pio told him he would one day ascend to "the highest post in the church, though further confirmation is needed." Stickler said that Wojtyła believed that the prophecy was fulfilled when he became a cardinal. John Paul's secretary, Stanisław Dziwisz, denies the prediction, while George Weigel's biography "Witness to Hope", which contains an account of the same visit, does not mention it.


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1933, Pope Pius XI ordered a reversal of the ban on Padre Pio's public celebration of Mass, arguing, "I have not been badly disposed toward Padre Pio, but I have been badly informed." In 1934, the friar was again allowed to hear confessions. He was also given honorary permission to preach despite never having taken the exam for the preaching license. Pope Pius XII, who assumed the papacy in 1939, even encouraged devotees to visit Padre Pio.


title: Padre Pio

text: Finally, in the mid-1960s Pope Paul VI (pope from 1963 to 1978) dismissed all accusations against Padre Pio.


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio died in 1968 at the age of 81. His health deteriorated in the 1960s, but he continued his spiritual works. On 21 September 1968, the day after the 50th anniversary of his receiving the stigmata, Padre Pio felt great fatigue. The next day, on 22 September 1968, he was supposed to offer a Solemn Mass, but feeling weak, he asked his superior if he might say a Low Mass instead, as he had done daily for years. Due to a large number of pilgrims present for the Mass, Padre Pio's superior decided the Solemn Mass must proceed. Padre Pio carried out his duties but appeared extremely weak and frail. His voice was weak, and, after the Mass had concluded, he nearly collapsed while walking down the altar steps. He needed help from his Capuchin brothers. This was his last celebration of the Mass.


title: Padre Pio

text: Early in the morning of 23 September 1968, Pio made his last confession and renewed his Franciscan vows. As was customary, he had his rosary in his hands, though he did not have the strength to pray the Hail Marys aloud. Till the end, he repeated the words "Gesù, Maria" (Jesus, Mary). At around 2:30 a.m., he said, "I see two mothers" (taken to mean his mother and Mary). At 2:30 a.m. he died in his cell in San Giovanni Rotondo. With his last breath he whispered, "Maria!"


title: Padre Pio

text: His body was buried on 26 September in a crypt in the Church of Our Lady of Grace. His Requiem Mass was attended by over 100,000 people. He had often said, "After my death, I will do more. My real mission will begin after my death." The accounts of those who stayed with Padre Pio till the end state that the stigmata had completely disappeared without a scar. Only a red mark "as if drawn by a red pencil" remained on his side, but it disappeared.


title: Padre Pio

text: In his prime, Pio stood five feet five inches tall, and weighed about 170 pounds. A "New York Times" reporter described him as "hale and hearty-looking, with a clear skin, a bushy beard and head of hair...a pleasant smile...twinkling brown eyes."


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio was a strong proponent of weekly confession, describing it as "the soul's bath." Pio established five rules for spiritual growth, which included weekly confession, daily communion, spiritual reading, meditation, and frequent examination of one's conscience." He taught his spiritual followers that suffering is a special sign of God's love, for it makes you "resemble His divine son in His anguish in the desert and on the hill of Calvary."


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio held a harsh attitude towards vain women, stating: "Women who satisfy their vanity in their dress can never put on the life of Jesus Christ; moreover they even lose the ornaments of their soul as soon as this idol enters into their heart."


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio also held to strict rules concerning modesty, and refused confession to women who did not wear skirts that extended a minimum of past the knees. He posted a notice at the entrance of the Church of St. Mary of All Graces in San Giovanni Rotondo, reading: "The Church is the house of God. It is forbidden for men to enter with bare arms or in shorts. It is forbidden for women to enter in trousers, without a veil on their head, in short clothing, low necklines, sleeveless or immodest dresses."


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio was deeply troubled by the changes the church was undergoing following the Second Vatican Council. Pio accepted the changes the council brought, but immediately requested a dispensation to celebrate the Tridentine mass, which was granted. When visited by Cardinal Antonio Bacci, Pio let a small complaint slip in the Cardinal's presence: "For pity sake, end the Council quickly." In 1966, the Father General of the Franciscans came to Pio to ask for prayers regarding the reformation of the Franciscans. Upon hearing about the "new constitutions", Pio replied "That is all nothing but destructive nonsense."


title: Padre Pio

text: However, despite his distraught over the changes, he emphasized obedience to the church. On one occasion, Pio met with Suor Pia, a former nun who left her order following the council. Suor Pia was a traditionalist and was upset at the changes made by her liberal superiors, causing her to leave her convent at the age of seventy. Pio burst into tears and snapped at her over this decision, telling her "They are wrong and you are right, but you still must obey. You must return." She refused, causing him to weep uncontrollably and continue praying for her.


title: Padre Pio

text: Following the publication of "Humanae vitae", Pio was distraught over criticism aimed at the encyclical. He wrote Pope Paul VI over this, affirming his obedience to the Church's teaching on birth control and reassuring Paul VI in his time of need. Pio informed the pope that he would offer up his daily prayers and suffering for the pontiff, due to Paul VI's defense of "eternal truth, which never changes with the passing of years."


title: Padre Pio

text: For reasons unknown, Pio also held an unusually strong opposition towards Pentecostals, describing them as "enemies of God" and "foes of our Holy Religion." Author C. Bernard Ruffin suggests this may have been due to a possibly extremist Pentecostal sect which operated in Pietrelcina, but notes that this is only speculation on his part.


title: Padre Pio

text: Padre Pio was not especially concerned with politics, but voted in Italian elections and voiced his opinions on various issues. He initially felt that Benito Mussolini had done a good job during his rule, but his feelings on Mussolini quickly became negative as time passed. When visited by one of Mussolini's messengers, Pio yelled at the man, "So now you come to me, after you have destroyed Italy. You can tell Mussolini that nothing can save Italy now! Nothing!" Pio also thought highly of the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who he described as a "great man." Additionally, Pio expressed great concern over the spread of communism during his life and frequently prayed to help combat it.


title: Padre Pio

text: In August 1920, Pio led the blessing of a flag for a group of local veterans on the feast of the Assumption, and who were developing close links to local fascists. Pio subsequently met with , a fascist politician from Foggia, and became his confessor and that of members of his militia. Luzzatto suggests that Caradonna established a "praetorian guard" around Pio to protect him from removal by church authorities. An early biographer of Pio, Emanuele Brunatto, also mediated between Pio and the leaders of the growing Italian Fascist movement. It has been suggested that "a clerical-fascist mixture developed around Padre Pio". Brunatto wanted to demonstrate, complete with direct quotations, how much Padre Pio admired Il Duce. “He’s toiling for posterity,” he has the Capuchin friar saying fascist leader. “We pray to God because his life is in danger and the Lord would not want him to go missing just now!”


title: Padre Pio

text: On June 2, 1946, Pio voted in the 1946 Italian institutional referendum, to decide the fate of the Italian monarchy. It is unknown for certain which way he voted, as Pio never discussed the monarchy very much with others. However, some individuals close to Pio suspect that he disliked the House of Savoy, due to their close connections to freemasonry.


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1948, in a letter written to Alcide De Gasperi, Pio noted his support for the Christian Democracy party. Pio's involvement is attributed to having helped the party win elections, with Italian communists hating Pio for it. One communist spokesman grumbled that Pio's presence at the voting polls "took votes away from us."


title: Padre Pio

text: Following the Christian Democracy's political victories in elections, Pio was continually consulted by political Italian leaders including Aldo Moro, Antonio Segni, Mariano Rumor, and Giovanni Leone. Pio received letters requesting his prayers throughout his life, including one from Alfonso XIII in March 1923. Pio also prayed for various notable political figures, including George V. The night of George V's death in 1936, Pio awoke his brothers around midnight so that they could all pray together for the deceased monarch's salvation. Pio told them: "Let us pray for the soul who at this moment is to appear before the judgement seat of God. It is the King of England. Let's pray together that the poor soul might be saved."


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1963, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Pio broke down in tears. When asked by another priest if he would pray for Kennedy's salvation, Pio replied "It's not necessary. He's already in Paradise."


title: Padre Pio

text: As Pio grew older, he became increasingly distrustful of television. After the Second World War, when Pio's nephew, Ettorne Masone, asked Pio for advice on opening a movie house, Pio warned him to be careful about what movies he would show. Pio stated "You don't want to contribute to the propagation of evil." By the 1960s, Pio was displeased that the Capuchins were now permitted to watch television. To Pio, television was responsible for the destruction of the family life and he strongly warned others not to buy one when asked. On one occasion, when asked about motion pictures, Pio replied "The devil is in it!" On another occasion, Pio told a penitent in confession that the reason the penitent's car had broken down the day before was because the penitent was driving to a movie theater.


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio became exceedingly pessimistic about the state of the world towards the end of his life. When asked what awaited the world in the future, Pio replied "Can't you see the world is catching on fire?" In his last three years, he began to withdraw further from life, feeling unworthy and unsure of his salvation. Pio frequently asked his superior, "Give me the obedience to die."


title: Padre Pio

text: In 1982, the Holy See authorized the archbishop of Manfredonia to open an investigation to determine whether Pio should be canonized. The investigation continued for seven years. In 1990, Pio was declared a Servant of God, the first step in the process of canonization. The investigation, however, did not lead to any public factual clearance by the Church on his previous 'excommunication' or on the allegations that his stigmata were not of a supernatural kind. Moreover, Pio's stigmata were remarkably left out of the obligatory investigations for the canonization process, in order to avoid obstacles prohibiting a successful closure.


title: Padre Pio

text: Beginning in 1990, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints debated how Padre Pio had lived his life, and in 1997 Pope John Paul II declared him venerable. A discussion of the effects of his life on others followed. Cases were studied such as a reported cure of an Italian woman, Consiglia de Martino, associated with Padre Pio's intercession. In 1999, on the advice of the Congregation, John Paul II declared Padre Pio blessed. A media offensive by the Capuchins was able to realise a broad acceptation of the contested saint in society.


title: Padre Pio

text: After further consideration of Padre Pio's virtues and ability to do good even after his death, including discussion of another healing attributed to his intercession, John Paul II declared Padre Pio a saint on 16 June 2002. An estimated 300,000 people attended the canonization ceremony in Rome.


title: Padre Pio

text: On 1 July 2004, John Paul II dedicated the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (sometimes referred as "Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church"), built in the village of San Giovanni Rotondo to the memory of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.


title: Padre Pio

text: On 3 March 2008, the body of Pio was exhumed from his crypt, forty years after his death, so that his remains could be prepared for display. A church statement described the body as being in "fair condition". Archbishop Domenico Umberto D'Ambrosio, Papal legate to the shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, stated "the top part of the skull is partly skeletal but the chin is perfect and the rest of the body is well preserved". Archbishop D’Ambrosio also confirmed in a communiqué that "the stigmata are not visible." He said that Pio's hands "looked like they had just undergone a manicure". It was hoped that morticians would be able to restore the face so that it would be recognizable. However, because of its deterioration, his face was covered with a lifelike silicone mask.


title: Padre Pio

text: Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, celebrated Mass for 15,000 devotees on April 24 at the Shrine of Holy Mary of Grace, San Giovanni Rotondo, before the body went on display in a crystal, marble, and silver sepulcher in the crypt of the monastery. Padre Pio is wearing his brown Capuchin habit with a white silk stole embroidered with crystals and gold thread. His hands hold a large wooden cross. 800,000 pilgrims worldwide, mostly from Italy, made reservations to view the body up to December 2008, but only 7,200 people a day were able to file past the crystal coffin. Officials extended the display through September 2009.


title: Padre Pio

text: Pio's remains were placed in the church of Saint Pio, which is beside San Giovanni Rotondo. In April 2010 they were moved to a special golden "Cripta".


title: Padre Pio

text: A statue of Pio in Messina, Sicily, attracted attention in 2002 when it supposedly wept tears of blood.


title: Padre Pio

text: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina was named the patron saint of civil defence volunteers, after a group of 160 petitioned the Italian Bishops’ conference for this designation. The bishops forwarded the request to the Vatican, which gave its approval to the designation. He is also "less officially" known as the patron saint of stress relief and the January blues", after the Catholic Enquiry Office in London proclaimed him as such. They designated the most depressing day of the year, identified as the Monday closest to January 22, as "Don't Worry Be Happy Day", in honor of Padre Pio's famous advice: "Pray, hope, and don’t worry."


title: Padre Pio

text: Padre Pio has become one of the world's most popular saints. There are more than 3,000 "Padre Pio Prayer Groups" worldwide, with three million members. The first St Padre Pio parish in the world was established 16 June 2002 in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada. There are parishes in Vineland and Lavallette, New Jersey, and Sydney, Australia, and shrines in Buena, New Jersey, and Santo Tomas, Batangas, Philippines, dedicated to Padre Pio. A 2006 survey by the magazine "Famiglia Cristiana" found that more Italian Catholics pray to Padre Pio for intercession than to any other figure.


title: Padre Pio

text: The remains of Saint Pio were brought to the Vatican for veneration during the 2015–2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Saint Pio and Saint Leopold Mandic were designated as saint-confessors to inspire people to become reconciled to the Church and to God, by the confession of their sins.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Remember the Titans is a 2000 American biographical sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay, written by Gregory Allen Howard, is based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denzel Washington, and his attempt to integrate the T. C. Williams High School (now Alexandria City High School) football team in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971. Will Patton portrays Bill Yoast, Boone's assistant coach. Real-life athletes Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell are portrayed by Ryan Hurst and Wood Harris, respectively.


title: Remember the Titans

text: The film was co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and released by Buena Vista Pictures. On September 19, 2000, the film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records. It features songs by several recording artists including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Dylan, The Hollies, Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, The Temptations, Cat Stevens, and Steam.


title: Remember the Titans

text: "Remember the Titans" had a budget of $30 million and premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on September 29, 2000. It grossed an estimated $115.6 million in the U.S., and $136.8 million worldwide. The film is often listed among the best football films.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Nearly ten years earlier in the summer of 1971, head coach Bill Yoast of the newly integrated T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, is leading his white players in summer workouts. He is informed that Herman Boone, a black head coach originally hired to coach the city's black high school football team, has been assigned to his coaching staff instead. Then, in an attempt to placate rising racial tensions and the fact that, despite the abolition of racial segregation in public schools, all other high schools are "white only", the school district decides to name Boone the head coach. He refuses, believing it is unfair to Yoast, a successful coach who is nominated to the Virginia High School Hall of Fame, but relents after seeing what it means to the black community. When Yoast tells his white players players that he will accept a head coach position elswehere, they pledge to boycott the team if he is not their coach. Dismayed at the prospect of the students losing their chances at scholarships, Yoast changes his mind and accepts Boone's offer to serve as his defensive coordinator.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Boone holds his first team meeting with mostly black students in the school gymnasium but is interrupted by the arrival Yoast and several white students. Yoast accepts Boone's offer to work under him, but Boone warns Yoast that it is his team and he will not tolerate Yoast undermining him. On August 15, the players journey to Gettysburg College for training camp. Early on, the black and white team members frequently clash in racially-motivated conflicts, including between captains Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell. However, through forceful coaching, rigorous training, and a motivational early-morning run to the Gettysburg National Cemetery followed by an emotional speech by Boone, the team comes together and returns as a united group. Before their first game, Boone is told by a member of the school board that if he loses even a single game, he will be dismissed. Subsequently, the Titans go through the season undefeated while battling racial prejudice and slowly gaining support from the community.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Just before the state semi-finals, Yoast is told by the chairman of the school board that they have arranged for the Titans to lose so that Boone will be dismissed and Yoast reinstated as head coach. During the game, the referees make several biased calls against the Titans. Upon seeing the chairman and other board members in the audience looking on with satisfaction, Yoast marches onto the field to warn the head referee that if the game not officiated fairly, he will expose the scandal to the press. After this, the Titans shut out their opponents and advance to the state championship, but Yoast is told by the infuriated chairman that his actions in saving Boone's job have resulted in the loss of his Hall of Fame nomination.


title: Remember the Titans

text: That night, while celebrating the victory, Gerry is severely injured in a car accident and is paralyzed from the waist down. Despite the loss of the All-American linebacker, the team mounts a comeback in the fourth quarter of the state championship and wins the title.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Ten years later, Gerry dies in another car accident caused by a drunk driver after having won the gold medal in shot put in the Paralympic Games. It is his funeral the former football coaches and players were attending in the opening scene. Julius, holding the hand of Bertier's mother, leads the team in a mournful rendition of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye".


title: Remember the Titans

text: In the epilogue, descriptions show the players' and coaches' activities after the events in 1971. Coach Boone coached the Titans for five more seasons before retirement, while Coach Yoast assisted Boone for four more years, retiring from coaching in 1990; the two coaches became good friends. After Gerry's death, the gymnasium at T.C. Williams High was renamed after him. Julius would work for the city of Alexandria and remain friends with Gerry until his death.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Filming locations for the motion picture included the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia, Etowah High School in Woodstock, and in Atlanta, Georgia including Henry Grady High School and Druid Hills High School which both filled in for T.C. Williams High School. Practice scenes were filmed at Clarkston High School in Clarkston Georgia. All home games were filmed in Dallas, Georgia at Paulding County High School. Additionally, some of the championship game scenes were filmed at the Sprayberry High School football stadium in East Marietta, Georgia.


title: Remember the Titans

text: As with any movie that is not a documentary film but is rather "based on a true story", it has strayed from the actual events that had occurred on many occasions to add new dramatic elements of teamwork, commitment, and friendship to the film.


title: Remember the Titans

text: On September 19, 2000, the soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records. The film score was orchestrated by musician Trevor Rabin and features music composed by various artists. From the instrumental score, Rabin's track "Titans Spirit", was the only cue (of the 12 composed) added to the soundtrack. It is also the only piece of music on the soundtrack album not to have been previously released.


title: Remember the Titans

text: "Titans Spirit" is a seven-minute instrumental. It has been used on numerous sports telecasts, particularly those on NBC, which has utilized the score during its closing credits for each Olympic Games since 2002, as well as the final closing credits montage ending their 12-year run of NBA coverage in 2002. The song was also played as veteran New York Mets players crossed home plate during the closing ceremonies at Shea Stadium, and as the New York Yankees were awarded their rings from their 2009 World Series championship. The New Jersey Devils also used this song during the jersey number retirement ceremonies for Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur and Patrik Eliáš. In 2018, at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the song was used during the Washington Capitals' Stanley Cup celebration as captain Alexander Ovechkin lifted the Cup in Las Vegas.


title: Remember the Titans

text: It was also used during the 2008 Democratic National Convention to accompany the celebration and fireworks at Invesco Field after future president Barack Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech, and was also used immediately following his victory speech upon winning the 2008 Presidential Election.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Following its release in theaters, the Region 1 widescreen and Pan and scan edition of the motion picture was released on VHS and DVD in the United States on March 20, 2001. A Special Edition widescreen format of the film was released on March 20, 2001, along with a widescreen Director's cut on March 14, 2006.


title: Remember the Titans

text: A restored widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray version was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on September 4, 2007. Special features include backstage feature audio commentary with director Boaz Yakin, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Gregory Allen Howard, feature audio commentary with real-life coaches Herman Boone and Bill Yoast, "Remember The Titans: An inspirational journey behind the scenes" hosted by Lynn Swann, "Denzel Becomes Boone," "Beating The Odds"; Deleted scenes; Movie Showcase and seamless menus.


title: Remember the Titans

text: "Remember the Titans" opened strongly at the U.S. box office, grossing $26,654,715 in its first weekend and staying within the top five for six weeks. The film debuted at the number one spot, but was quickly overtaken by "Meet the Parents" a week later. It eventually went on to gross an estimated $115,654,751 in the U.S., and $136,706,684 worldwide.


title: Remember the Titans

text: Among mainstream critics in the U.S., "Remember the Titans" received generally positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 72% of 134 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 6.3/10. The site's consensus states: "An inspirational crowd-pleaser with a healthy dose of social commentary, "Remember the Titans" may be predictable, but it's also well-crafted and features terrific performances." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 48 based on 32 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade.


title: Remember the Titans

text: James Berardinelli writing for "ReelViews", called the film "relentlessly manipulative and hopelessly predictable" but noted that it was "a notch above the average entry in part because its social message (even if it is soft-) creates a richer fabric than the usual cloth from which this kind of movie is cut." Describing some pitfalls, Robert Wilonsky of the "Dallas Observer" said that "beneath its rah-rah rhetoric and pigskin proselytizing, it's no more provocative or thoughtful than a Hallmark Hall of Fame film or, for that matter, a Hallmark greeting card. Its heart is in the right place, but it has no soul." Wilonsky however was quick to admit "The film's intentions are noble, but its delivery is ham-fisted and pretentious; you can't deny the message, but you can loathe the messenger without feeling too guilty about it."


title: Remember the Titans

text: Todd McCarthy, writing in "Variety", said, "As simplistic and drained of complexity as the picture is, it may well appeal to mainstream audiences as an 'if only it could be like this' fantasy, as well as on the elemental level of a boot camp training film, albeit a PG-rated one with all the cuss words removed." Roger Ebert, in the "Chicago Sun-Times", viewed the film as "a parable about racial harmony, yoked to the formula of a sports movie," adding, "Victories over racism and victories over opposing teams alternate so quickly that sometimes we're not sure if we're cheering for tolerance or touchdowns. Real life is never this simple, but then that's what the movies are for".


title: Remember the Titans

text: In the "San Francisco Chronicle", Mick LaSalle wrote that the film reminds the viewer that "it's possible to make a sentimental drama that isn't sickening —  and a sports movie that transcends cliches." Columnist Bob Grimm of the "Sacramento News & Review", somewhat praised the film, writing, "The film is quite lightweight for the subject matter, but Washington and company make it watchable." Some detractors like Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote, "Denzel Washington should have held out for a better script before he signed on to star in "Remember the Titans," but you can see why he wanted to do the movie: He gets to play Martin Luther King Jr. and Vince Lombardi rolled into one nostalgically omnipotent tough-love saint." Jeff Vice of the "Deseret News" admitted that although the film contained dialogue that was "corny, clichéd, and downright cheesy at times," as well as how it relayed its message in one of the "most predictable, heavy-handed manners we've seen in a movie in years", the film "serves as a reminder of how much goodness there is inside people, just waiting for the right person to bring it out." He also viewed the casting as top-notch, saying that it helped to have a "rock-solid foundation in the form of leading-man Denzel Washington" at the helm.