title: Remote keyless system

text: The system signals that it has either locked or unlocked the car usually through some fairly discreet combination of flashing vehicle lamps, a distinctive sound other than the horn, or some usage of the horn itself. A typical setup on cars is to have the horn or other sound chirp twice to signify that the car has been unlocked, and chirp once to indicate the car has been locked. For example, Toyota, Scion, and Lexus use a chirp system to signify the car being locked/unlocked. While two beeps means that driver's door is unlocked, four beeps means all doors are unlocked. One long beep is for the trunk or power tailgate. One short beep signifies that the car is locked and alarm is set.


title: Remote keyless system

text: The functions of a remote keyless entry system are contained on a key fob or built into the ignition key handle itself. Buttons are dedicated to locking or unlocking the doors and opening the trunk or tailgate. On some minivans, the power sliding doors can be opened/closed remotely. Some cars will also close any open windows and roof when remotely locking the car. Some remote keyless fobs also feature a red panic button which activates the car alarm as a standard feature. Further adding to the convenience, some cars' engines with remote keyless ignition systems can be started by the push of a button on the key fob (useful in cold weather), and convertible tops can be raised and lowered from outside the vehicle while it's parked.


title: Remote keyless system

text: On cars where the trunk release is electronically operated, it can be triggered to open by a button on the remote. Conventionally, the trunk springs open with the help of hydraulic struts or torsion springs, and thereafter must be lowered manually. Premium models, such as SUVs and estates with tailgates, may have a motorized assist that can both open and close the tailgate for easy access and remote operation.


title: Remote keyless system

text: For offices, or residences, the system can also be coupled with the security system, garage door opener or remotely activated lighting devices.


title: Remote keyless system

text: Remote keyless entry fobs emit a radio frequency with a designated, distinct digital identity code. Inasmuch as "programming" fobs is a proprietary technical process, it is typically performed by the automobile manufacturer. In general, the procedure is to put the car computer in 'programming mode'. This usually entails engaging the power in the car several times while holding a button or lever. It may also include opening doors, or removing fuses. The procedure varies amongst various makes, models, and years. Once in 'programming mode' one or more of the fob buttons is depressed to send the digital identity code to the car's onboard computer. The computer saves the code and the car is then taken out of programming mode.


title: Remote keyless system

text: As RKS fobs have become more prevalent in the automobile industry a secondary market of unprogrammed devices has sprung up. Some websites sell steps to program fobs for individual models of cars as well as accessory kits to remotely activate other car devices.


title: Remote keyless system

text: On early (1998–2012) keyless entry remotes, the remotes can be individually programmed by the user, by pressing a button on the remote, and starting the vehicle. However, newer (2013+) keyless entry remotes require dealership or locksmith programming via a computer with special software . The Infrared keyless entry systems offered user programming, though radio frequency keyless entry systems mostly require dealer programming.


title: Remote keyless system

text: Some cars have a proximity system that is triggered if a transponder car key is within a certain distance of the car and is sometimes called hands-free or advanced key.


title: Remote keyless system

text: One of the earliest systems was found on the 1993 Chevrolet Corvette (called the Passive Keyless Entry System) and in Mercedes-Benz vehicles from 1998.


title: Remote keyless system

text: Today, this system is commonly found on a variety of vehicles, and although the exact method of operation differs between makes and models, their operation is generally similar: a vehicle can be unlocked without the driver needing to physically push a button on the key fob to lock or unlock the car and is also able to start or stop the ignition without physically having to insert the key and turning the ignition. Instead, the vehicle senses that the key (which may be located in the user's pocket, purse, etc.) is approaching the vehicle.


title: Remote keyless system

text: A simpler version of the smart key system is the engine immobiliser, involving a security key system embedded into most modern vehicle's keys. A small chip rests on the vehicle's key or under the plastic key cover. When any key is inserted into the ignition, the ignition is coded. The key sends its security code to the ignition, which also has its own security code, and if the security codes match, the vehicle will start when the key is turned. However, if the key codes do NOT match, the vehicle will NOT start when the key is turned. Some early examples of this technology include Chrysler Corporation's Sentry Key System, or General Motors's PASSKey System.


title: Remote keyless system

text: Some security keys can be programmed by the user, though most of these keys have to be programmed by a dealership or locksmith via a computer. It was not possible to copy these keys at a hardware store or auto parts store, but nowadays it is.


title: Remote keyless system

text: Keyless ignition does not by default provide better security. In October 2014, it was found that some insurers in the United Kingdom would not insure certain vehicles with keyless ignition unless there were additional mechanical locks in place due to weaknesses in the keyless system.


title: Remote keyless system

text: A security concern with any remote entry system is a spoofing technique called a replay attack, in which a thief records the signal sent by the key fob using a specialized receiver called a code grabber, and later replays it to open the door. To prevent this, the key fob does not use the same unlock code each time but a rolling code system; it contains a pseudorandom number generator which transmits a different code each use. The car's receiver has another pseudorandom number generator synchronized to the fob to recognise the code. To prevent a thief from simulating the pseudorandom number generator the fob encrypts the code.


title: Remote keyless system

text: News media have reported cases where it is suspected that criminals managed to open cars by using signal boosters to trick vehicles into thinking that their keyless entry fobs were close by even when they were far away (relay attack), though they have not reported that any such devices have been found. The articles speculate that keeping fobs in aluminum foil or a freezer when not in use can prevent criminals from exploiting this vulnerability.


title: Remote keyless system

text: In 2015, it was reported that Samy Kamkar had built an inexpensive electronic device about the size of a wallet that could be concealed on or near a locked vehicle to capture a single keyless entry code to be used at a later time to unlock the vehicle. The device transmits a jamming signal to block the vehicle's reception of rolling code signals from the owner's fob, while recording these signals from both of his two attempts needed to unlock the vehicle. The recorded first code is sent to the vehicle only when the owner makes the second attempt, while the recorded second code is retained for future use. Kamkar stated that this vulnerability had been widely known for years to be present in many vehicle types but was previously undemonstrated. A demonstration was done during DEF CON 23.


title: Remote keyless system

text: Actual thefts targeting luxury cars based on the above exploit have been reported when the key fob is near the front of the home. Several workaround can prevent such exploits, including placing the key fob in a tin box. A criminal ring stole about 100 vehicles using this technique in Southern and Eastern Ontario.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of World War I.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Isaac Butt founded the Home Government Association in 1870. This was succeeded in 1873 by the Home Rule League, and in 1882 by the Irish Parliamentary Party. These organisations campaigned for home rule in the British House of Commons. Under the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell, the movement came close to success when the Liberal government of William Ewart Gladstone introduced the First Home Rule Bill in 1886, but the bill was defeated in the House of Commons after a split in the Liberal Party. After Parnell's death, Gladstone introduced the Second Home Rule Bill in 1893; it passed the Commons but was defeated in the House of Lords. After the removal of the Lords' veto in 1911, the Third Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1912, leading to the Home Rule Crisis. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I it was enacted, but implementation was suspended until the conclusion of the war.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Following the Easter Rising of 1916, particularly the arrests and executions that followed it, public support shifted from the Home Rule movement to the more radical Sinn Féin party. In the 1918 General Election the Irish Parliamentary Party suffered a crushing defeat with only a handful of MPs surviving, effectively dealing a death blow to the Home Rule movement. The elected Sinn Féin MPs were not content merely with home rule within the framework of the United Kingdom; they instead set up a revolutionary legislature, Dáil Éireann, and declared Ireland an independent republic. Britain passed a Fourth Home Rule Bill, the Government of Ireland Act 1920, aimed at creating separate parliaments for Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The former was established in 1921, and the territory continues to this day as part of the United Kingdom, but the latter never functioned. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Anglo-Irish War, twenty-six of Ireland's thirty-two counties became, in December 1922, the Irish Free State, a dominion within the British Empire which later evolved into the present Republic of Ireland.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Under the Act of Union 1800, the separate Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were merged on 1 January 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Throughout the 19th century, Irish opposition to the Union was strong, occasionally erupting in violent insurrection. In the 1830s and 1840s, attempts had been made under the leadership of Daniel O'Connell and his Repeal Association to repeal the Act of Union and restore the Kingdom of Ireland, without breaking the monarchical connection with Great Britain (i.e., personal union). The movement collapsed when O'Connell called off a meeting at Clontarf, Dublin, which had been banned by the authorities.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Until the 1870s, most Irish voters elected members of the main British political parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, as their Members of Parliament (MPs). The Conservatives, for example, won a majority in the 1859 general election in Ireland. Conservatives and (after 1886) Liberal Unionists fiercely resisted any dilution of the Act of Union, and in 1891 formed the Irish Unionist Alliance to oppose home rule.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The term "Home Rule" (), first used in the 1860s, meant an Irish legislature with responsibility for domestic affairs. It was variously interpreted, from the 1870s was seen to be part of a federal system for the United Kingdom: a domestic Parliament for Ireland while the Imperial Parliament at Westminster would continue to have responsibility for Imperial affairs. The Republican concept as represented by the Fenians and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, strove to achieve total separation from Great Britain, if necessary by physical force, and complete autonomy for Ireland. For a while they were prepared to co-operate with Home Rulers under the "New Departure". In 1875 John O'Connor Power told a New York audience that "[Ireland] has elected a body of representatives whose mission is simply – I almost said solely – but certainly whose mission is particularly to offer unrelenting hostility to every British Ministry while one link of the imperial chain remains to fetter the constitutional freedom of the Irish nation." Charles Stewart Parnell sought through the "constitutional movement", as an interim measure a parliament in Dublin with limited legislative powers. For Unionists, Home Rule meant a Dublin parliament dominated by the Catholic Church to the detriment of Ireland's economic progress, a threat to their cultural identity as both British and Irish and possible discrimination against them as a religious minority. In England the Liberal Party under William Ewart Gladstone was fully committed to introducing Home Rule whereas the Conservatives tried to alleviate any need for it through "constructive unionism". This was chiefly embodied by the passing acts of parliament and enacting ministerial decisions viewed as addressing Ireland's problems and political demands during Conservative periods of government such as Balfour's decision as Chief Secretary for Ireland to create the Congested Districts Board, his earlier push for the 1885 Purchase of Land Act and the 1887 Land Law (Ireland) Act which expanded the Liberal's 1881 loan programme for small farmers to purchase lands (the programme overall was in response to the Plan of Campaign by Irish MPs), or the later Conservative government's implementation of the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Former Conservative barrister Isaac Butt was instrumental in fostering links between Constitutional and Revolutionary nationalism through his representation of members of the Fenian Society in court. In May 1870, he established a new moderate nationalist movement, the Irish Home Government Association. In November 1873, under the chairmanship of William Shaw, it reconstituted itself as the Home Rule League. The League's goal was limited self-government for Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. In the 1874 general election, League-affiliated candidates won 53 seats in Parliament.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Butt died in 1879. In 1880, a radical young Protestant landowner, Charles Stewart Parnell became chairman, and in the 1880 general election, the League won 63 seats. In 1882, Parnell turned the Home Rule League into the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), a formally organized party which became a major political force. The IPP came to dominate Irish politics, to the exclusion of the previous Liberal, Conservative, and Unionist parties that had existed there. In the 1885 general election, the IPP won 85 out of the 103 Irish seats; another Home Rule MP was elected for Liverpool Scotland.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Two attempts were made by Liberals under British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone to enact home rule bills. Gladstone, impressed by Parnell, had become personally committed to granting Irish home rule in 1885. With his famous three-hour Gladstone beseeched parliament to pass the Irish Government Bill 1886, and grant home rule to Ireland in honour rather than being compelled to do so one day in humiliation. His bill was defeated in the Commons by 30 votes.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The Bill resulted in serious riots in Belfast during the summer and autumn of 1886 in which many were killed, and caused the Liberal Unionist Association to split from the main Liberal party. They allied with the Lord Salisbury's Conservatives until 1914 on the issue of Home Rule.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The defeat of the bill caused Gladstone to temporarily lose power. Having returned to power after the 1892 general election Gladstone, undaunted, made a second attempt to introduce Irish Home Rule following Parnell's death with the Irish Government Bill 1893 which he controversially drafted in secret and thereby flawed. Eventually it was steered through the Commons by William O'Brien, with a majority of 30 votes, only to be defeated in the Conservative's pro-unionist majority controlled House of Lords.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: On this defeat the new Liberal leader Lord Rosebery adopted the policy of promising Salisbury that the majority vote of English MPs would have a veto on any future Irish Home Rule Bills. The Nationalist movement divided in the 1890s. The Liberals lost the 1895 General Election and their Conservative opponents remained in power until 1905.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The four Irish Home Rule bills introduced in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were intended to grant self-government and national autonomy to the whole of Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and reverse parts of the Acts of Union 1800. Of the two that passed the Parliament of the United Kingdom the Third Bill, enacted as the Government of Ireland Act 1914 and then suspended, while the Fourth Bill, enacted as the Government of Ireland Act 1920 established two separate Home Rule territories in Ireland, of which the one was implemented by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, but the second Parliament of Southern Ireland was not implemented in the rest of Ireland. The bills were:


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: In 1920 the unionist peer Lord Monteagle of Brandon proposed his own Dominion of Ireland Bill in the House of Lords, at the same time as the Government bill was passing through the house. This bill would have given a united Ireland extensive home rule over all domestic matters as a dominion within the empire, with foreign affairs and defence remaining the responsibility of the Westminster government. Lord Monteagle's bill was defeated at second reading.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Following the 1895 general election, the Conservatives were in power for ten years. The significant Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (following the English Act of 1888) introduced for the first time the enfranchisement of local electors, bringing about a system of localised home rule in many areas. In the 1906 general election the Liberals were returned with an overall majority, but Irish Home Rule was not on their agenda until after the second 1910 general election when the nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party under its leader John Redmond held the balance of power in the House of Commons. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith came to an understanding with Redmond, that if he supported his move to break the power of the Lords, Asquith would then in return introduce a new Home Rule Bill. The Parliament Act 1911 forced the Lords to agree to a curtailment of their powers. Now their unlimited veto was replaced with a delaying one lasting only two years.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The Third Home Rule Bill introduced in 1912 was as in 1886 and 1893 ferociously opposed by Ulster unionists, for whom Home Rule was synonymous with Rome Rule as well as being indicative of economic decline and a threat to their cultural and industrial identity. Edward Carson and James Craig, leaders of the unionists, were instrumental in organising the Ulster Covenant against the "coercion of Ulster", at which time Carson reviewed Orange and Unionist volunteers in various parts of Ulster. These were united into a single body known as the Ulster Volunteers at the start of 1912. This was followed in the south by the formation of the Irish Volunteers to restrain Ulster. Both Nationalists and Republicans, except for the All-for-Ireland Party, brushed unionist concerns aside with "no concessions for Ulster", treating their threat as a bluff. The Act received Royal Assent and was placed on the statute books on 18 September 1914, but under the Suspensory Act was deferred for no longer than the duration of World War I which had broken out in August. The widely held assumption at the time was that the war would be short lived.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: With the participation of Ireland in the First World War, the southern Irish Volunteers split into the larger National Volunteers and followed Redmond's call to support the Allied war effort to ensure the future implementation of Home Rule by voluntarily enlisting in Irish regiments of the 10th (Irish) Division or the 16th (Irish) Division of Kitchener's New Service Army. The men of the Ulster Volunteers joined the 36th (Ulster) Division. Between 1914 and 1918 Irish regiments suffered severe losses.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: A core element of the remaining Irish Volunteers who opposed the nationalist constitutional movement towards independence and the Irish support for the war effort, staged the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin. Initially widely condemned in both Britain and Ireland, the British government's mishandling of the aftermath of the Rising, including the rushed executions of its leaders by General Maxwell, led to a rise in popularity for an Irish republican movement named Sinn Féin, a small separatist party taken over by the survivors of the Easter Rising. Britain made two futile attempts to implement Home Rule, both of which failed because of Ulster unionists' protesting against its proposed implementation for the whole island of Ireland; first after the Rising and then at the end of the Irish Convention of 1917–1918. With the collapse of the allied front during the German spring offensive and Operation Michael, the British Army had a serious manpower shortage, and the Cabinet agreed on 5 April to enact Home Rule immediately, linked in with a "dual policy" of extending conscription to Ireland. This signalled the end of a political era, which resulted in a swing of public opinion towards Sinn Féin and physical force separatism. Interest in Home Rule began to fade as a result.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: After the end of the war in November 1918 Sinn Féin secured a majority of 73 Irish seats in the general election, with 25 of these seats taken uncontested. The IPP was decimated, falling to only six seats; it disbanded soon afterward.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: In January 1919 twenty-seven Sinn Féin MPs assembled in Dublin and proclaimed themselves unilaterally as an independent parliament of an Irish Republic. This was ignored by Britain. The Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) ensued.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: Britain went ahead with its commitment to implement Home Rule by passing a new Fourth Home Rule Bill, the Government of Ireland Act 1920, largely shaped by the Walter Long Committee which followed findings contained in the report of the Irish Convention. Long, a firm unionist, felt free to shape Home Rule in Unionism's favour, and formalised dividing Ireland (and Ulster) into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The latter never functioned, but was replaced under the Anglo-Irish Treaty by the Irish Free State which later became the Republic of Ireland.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The Home Rule Parliament of Northern Ireland came into being in June 1921. At its inauguration, in Belfast City Hall, King George V made a famous appeal drafted by Prime Minister Lloyd George for Anglo-Irish and north–south reconciliation. The Anglo-Irish Treaty had provided for Northern Ireland's Parliament to opt out of the new Free State, which was a foregone conclusion. The Irish Civil War (1922–1923) followed.


title: Irish Home Rule movement

text: The Parliament of Northern Ireland continued in operation until 30 March 1972, when it was suspended in favour of direct rule by the Northern Ireland Office during The Troubles. It was subsequently abolished under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Various versions of the Northern Ireland Assembly re-established home rule in 1973–74, 1982–86, intermittently from 1998 to 2002, and from 2007 onward. The Assembly attempts to balance the interests of the unionist and republican factions through a "power sharing" agreement.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The Tale of Bygone Years (; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the Rus' Primary Chronicle, the Russian Primary Chronicle, or simply the Primary Chronicle, as well as also, after the author it has traditionally been ascribed to, Nestor's Chronicle, is an Old East Slavic chronicle (letopis) of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev around 1113.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The work’s name originates from the opening sentence of the text, which reads: “These are the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus’ (Old East Slavic: Рѹсь), the first princes of Kyiv, and from what source the land of Rus’ had its beginning.” The work has long been considered to be a fundamental source in the interpretation of the history of the East Slavs. The "Chronicle's" content is known today from several surviving editions and codices that have been revised over the years and evince a slight degree of variation from each other.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The historical period covered in the "Tale of Bygone Years" begins with biblical times, in the introductory portion of the text, and concludes with the year 1117 in the "Chronicle's" third edition. Russian philologist and founder of the science of textology Aleksey Shakhmatov was the first one to discover early on that the chronology of the "Primary Chronicle" opens with an error. The "Chronicle" has it that “In the year 6360 (852), the fifteenth of the indiction, at the accession of the Emperor Michael, the land of Rus’ was first named.”


title: Primary Chronicle

text: However, 11th-century Greek historian John Skylitzes' accounts of the Byzantine history show that Emperor Michael III did not begin his reign in 852 but rather a decade earlier, on January 20, 842. Because of the work's several identified chronological issues and numerous logical incongruities that have been pointed out by historians over the years, the "Chronicle's" value as a reliable historical source has been placed under strict scrutiny by the contemporary experts in the field (see “”).


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Tradition long regarded the original compilation as the work of a monk named Nestor (c. 1056 – c. 1114); hence scholars spoke of "Nestor's Chronicle" or of "Nestor's manuscript". His compilation has not survived. Nestor worked at the court of Sviatopolk II of Kiev (ruled 1093–1113), and probably shared Sviatopolk's pro-Scandinavian policies. Nestor's likely Pan-Scandinavian attitude was confirmed by a Polish historian and archaeologist (2004), who argued that one of the central aims of the "Chronicle’s" narrative is to “give an explanation how the Rurikids came to power in the lands of the Slavs, why the dynasty was the only legitimate one and why all the princes should terminate their internal fights and rule in peace and brotherly love.” The early part of the "RPC" features many anecdotal stories, among them:


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The account of the labors of Saints Cyril and Methodius among the Slavic peoples also makes a very interesting tale, and to Nestor we owe the story of the summary way in which Vladimir the Great (ruled 980 to 1015) suppressed the worship of Perun and other traditional gods at Kyiv.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: In the year 1116, Nestor's text was extensively edited by the hegumen Sylvester who appended his name at the end of the chronicle. As Vladimir Monomakh was the patron of the village of Vydubychi (now a neighborhood of Kyiv) where Sylvester's monastery was situated, the new edition glorified Vladimir and made him the central figure of later narrative. This second version of Nestor's work is preserved in the Laurentian codex (see ).


title: Primary Chronicle

text: A third edition followed two years later and centered on the person of Vladimir's son and heir, Mstislav the Great. The author of this revision could have been Greek, for he corrected and updated much data on Byzantine affairs. This latest revision of Nestor's work is preserved in the Hypatian codex (see ).


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Because the original of the chronicle as well as the earliest known copies are lost, it is difficult to establish the original content of the chronicle. The two main sources for the chronicle's text as it is known presently are the Laurentian Codex and the Hypatian Codex.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The Laurentian Codex was compiled in what are today Russian lands by the Nizhegorod monk Laurentius for the Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich in 1377. The original text he used was a codex (since lost) compiled for the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver in 1305. The account continues until 1305, but the years 898–922, 1263–83 and 1288–94 are missing for reasons unknown. The manuscript was acquired by the famous Count Musin-Pushkin in 1792 and subsequently presented to the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The Hypatian Codex dates to the 15th century. It was written in what are today Ukrainian lands and incorporates much information from the lost 12th-century "Kievan Chronicle" and 13th-century "Galician–Volhynian Chronicle". The language of this work is the East Slavic version of Church Slavonic language with many additional irregular east-slavisms (like other east-Slavic codices of the time). Whereas the Laurentian (Muscovite) text traces the Kievan legacy through to the Muscovite princes, the Hypatian text traces the Kievan legacy through the rulers of the Halych principality. The Hypatian codex was rediscovered in Kyiv in the 1620s, and a copy was made for Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozhsky. A copy was found in Russia in the 18th century at the Ipatiev Monastery of Kostroma by the Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Numerous monographs and published versions of the chronicle have been made, the earliest known being in 1767. Aleksey Shakhmatov published a pioneering textological analysis of the narrative in 1908. Dmitry Likhachev and other Soviet scholars partly revisited his findings. Their versions attempted to reconstruct the pre-Nestorian chronicle, compiled at the court of Yaroslav the Wise in the mid-11th century.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The organization style and the narrative flow of the "Primary Chronicle" exhibit visible signs of compilation, where different historical elements are brought together into a cohesive historical account. Studies by a Russian philologist Aleksey Shakhmatov and his followers have demonstrated that the "RPC" is indeed not a single literary work but an amalgamation of a number of preceding accounts and documents. In compiling the "Chronicle", some of Nestor's original sources definitely included but were not limited to:


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The "Primary Chronicle" traces the history of the Slavic people all the way back to the times of Noah, whose three sons inherited the Earth:


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The Varangians, the Swedes, the Normans, the Rus, and others were named to be descendants of Japheth. In the very beginning, humanity was united into a single nation, but after the fall of the Tower of Babel, the Slavic race was derived from the line of Japheth, “since they are the Noricians, who are identified with the Slavs.” Banks of the river Danube in the regions of Hungary, Illyria, and Bulgaria are then described to be the place of original settlement of the Slavic people.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Although, as a result of aggression on the part of the Vlachs, one group of the Slavs made their homes by the Vistula (Polyanians), another settled on the Dnieper (Drevlians and Polyanians), while the third resided along the Dvina (Dregovichians), and another group dwelt about the Lake Il’men. All this migration is dated back to the time of Andrew the Apostle who visited the Slavs on Il’men.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The Polyanians built Kyiv and named it after their ruler, Kyi. After the establishment of Kyiv, under the rulership of Emperor Heraclius, many of the Slavs were invaded and oppressed by the Bulgars, Avars, and Pechenegs. At the same time, the Slavs from the Dnieper came under the predatory lordship of the Khazars and were forced to pay tribute.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 852 – The principal date mentioned in the "Chronicle", when the land of Rus’ was first named and when the Varangians first arrived at Tsargrad.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 859 – Eastern Europe was divided amongst the Varangians and the Khazars. The former demanded tribute from the Slavs, the Krivichians, the Chuds, the Merians, and the Ves, while the latter imposed tribute upon the Polyanians, the Severians, and the Vyatichians.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 862 – The Slavs attempted to rid themselves of the Varangian lordship, which led to quarrels among the northern tribes and culminated in the summoning of the Varangians to rule over them. As a result, the land of Rus’ was founded by three Varangian brothers: Rurik, Truvor, and Sineus. Shortly after, Rurik became the sole ruler of the newfound nation and built Novgorod. At the same time, a Varangian state was established in Kyiv, with Askold and Dir at its head, that unprecedently posed a substantial threat to the Byzantine empire.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 882 – Rurik's successor, Prince Oleg, sent messengers to Askold and Dir, representing himself as a stranger on his way to Greece on an errand for Oleg and for Igor',the prince's son, and requesting that they should come forth to greet them as members of their race. Askold and Dir straightway came forth. Then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askoldand Dir, "You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth." Igor' was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik. They killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Ol'ma now stands.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 907 – Prince Oleg launched an incursion against the Greeks, resulting in a favorable treaty for Rus'. The Greek emperor Leo conceded to provide allowances for Oleg's men, award them a right to stay and trade in Constantinople free of tax, and to enter unconditional peace.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 912 – After Oleg's prophetic death from a snakebite, prince Igor succeeded him as the ruler of Rus' and was neither “successful in his military campaigns nor popular with people.”


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Ca. 945 – Prince Igor was murdered in the act of uprising by the Derevlians. His wife Olga assumed the throne following her husband's death and brought revenge upon Igor's murderers. Some of the Derevlians were burned in their homes, others were buried alive, while the remaining were simply slaughtered. Olga later ruled as a regent for her young son Svyatoslav, who went on to have an extensive military career as an adult, venturing East against the Khazars and the Bulgars.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 972 – Svyatoslav was killed in a Pecheneg ambush while returning from one of his frequent campaigns against the Greeks.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 973 – The reign of Yaropolk began and was complicated by quarrels with his two brothers, Oleg and Vladimir.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 978-980 – Yaropolk proved himself victorious against his brother Oleg but died at the hands of men of his other brother Vladimir. After inheriting the throne, Vladimir initially upheld pagan practices and worshipped Perun.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 988 – Vladimir was baptized into Orthodoxy, which later became referred to as the baptism of Rus because it was followed by a widespread Christianization of the Rus' people.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 1015 – Following Vladimir's death, Svyatopolk inherited the title of the Prince of Kyiv and became known as Svyatopolk the Accursed for his violent actions towards his siblings.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 1019 – Svyatopolk was overthrown by his brother Yaroslav the Wise, whose reign brought an end to the unified kingdom of Rus but laid the foundation for the development of the written tradition in the Kievan Rus.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 1054 – After Yaroslav's death, the kingdom was split into five princedoms with Izyaslav ruling in Kyiv, Svyatoslav in Chernigov, Igor in Vladimir, Vsevolod in Pereiaslav, and Rostislav in Tmutarakan’.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: 1113 – Rise to power of Vladimir Monomakh, whose religious testament and prayers were appended at the end of the Chronicle by monk Sylvester, working from St. Michael’s monastery in 1116.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: The "Rus' Primary Chronicle" is vibrant with Christian themes and biblical allusions, which is often argued to be reflective of the text’s monastic authorship. Aleksandr Koptev remarked that despite its categorization as the Old East Slavic literature, the "Chronicle" also belongs to the genre of Christian literature. In the introduction, the chronicler was dedicated to exploring the biblical origin of the Slavic people, tracing their heritage to the times of Noah. In numerous occasions throughout the text, the chronicler openly discusses the pagan Slavs in a condescending manner, saying “for they were but pagans, and therefore ignorant.” Later in the "Chronicle", one of the most pivotal moments of the narrative is Prince Vladimir's conversion to Orthodox Christianity which ignited extensive Christianization of the Kievan Rus.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: According to the so-called "Korsun legend", presented in the "Chronicle" just preceding Vladimir's baptism, the Prince took possession of the Greek city of Korsun (Chersonesus) located in the Crimean Peninsula, in an attempt to gain certain benefits from Emperor Basil. Following Vladimir's successful conquest of the city, he demanded that the Emperor's 'unwedded' sister be given up for marriage with him. Upon hearing the news from Korsun, emperor Basil responded that "It is not meet for Christians to give in marriage to pagans. If you are baptized, you shall have her to wife, inherit the kingdom of God, and be our companion in faith." The legend concludes with Vladimir's embrace of Christianity at the church of St. Basil in Korsun and his marriage to the Emperor's sister, Anna Porphyrogenita.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: For centuries after the "Chronicle’s" creation, the legend's factuality had been subject to extensive debate. Many historians, antiquarians, and archaeologists had attempted to determine the actual location of Vladimir's conversion by synthesizing textual evidence of the "Chronicle" with material evidence from Crimea. Their efforts became known in the realms of historical discipline as the “archaeology of the Korsun legend.” This search culminated under Archbishop Innokentii's diocesan administration (1848–57), when in the ruins of Chersonesos, archaeologists unearthed the foundations of three churches and determined that the one containing the richest findings was allegedly used for the baptism of the Kievan Prince. The unearthed material evidence proved sufficient to pinpoint the real location of the legend's events with reasonable accuracy.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: In the early 1860s, the Eastern Orthodox Church began construction of The Saint Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos, which has been destroyed on three separate occasions after first being erected and was renovated each time thereafter. The cathedral last faced destruction during the October Revolution and was not restored until the fall of the Soviet Union. It has been argued that by honoring Vladimir the Great and his contribution to the Eastern Orthodoxy, the cathedral serves the purpose of validating Russia's historical ties with the Crimean Peninsula, the accounts of which are preserved by the "Chronicle".


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Unlike many other medieval chronicles written by European monks, the "Tale of Bygone Years" is unique as the only written testimony on the earliest history of East Slavic people. Its comprehensive account of the history of Rus' is unmatched in other sources, but important correctives are provided by the Novgorod First Chronicle. It is also valuable as a prime example of the Old East Slavonic literature.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: However, its reliability has been widely called into question and placed under careful examination by contemporary specialists in the field of the Old East Slavonic history. The first doubts about trustworthiness of the narratives were voiced by Nikolay Karamzin in his "History of the Russian State" (1816–26), which brought attention to Nestor's questionable chronology and style of prose. Building upon Karamzin's observations, further inquiries into the philology of the "Rus Primary Chronicle" shined more light on various weaknesses in the text's composition. According to Dmitry Likhachov (1950), the chronicle exhibits the presence of plentiful "fillers" that were added "post factum" and, in effect, "destroyed the narrative's logical progression."


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Dmitry Likhachov famously wrote in his 1950 critique of the "Rus Primary Chronicle", "No other country in the world is cloaked in such contradictory myths about its history as Russia, and no other nation in the world interprets its history as variously as do the Russian people." The need to interpret the "Chronicle", mentioned by Likhachov as essential to making sense of its narrative, stems from the facts that the text was initially compiled and edited by multiple authors with different agendas and that it had to be translated from Old East Slavic language, which proved to be an arduous task.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Horace Lunt, a linguist from Harvard University, found it important to "admit freely that we are speculating" when the tales are reconstructed and the logical incongruities of the text are faced. According to Aleksey Shakhmatov, some of the incongruities are a direct result of the fact that "the ruling Princes of Kiev had their own propagandists who rewrote the annals to make political claims that best suited their own purposes." Shakhmatov further described the "Tale of Bygone Years" as a literary creation that fell under heavy influence of the Church and the State.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: In the words of Wladyslaw Duczko, because of the multiple edits and revisions of the "Chronicle", "information that was not compatible was left aside, while the elements that should be there but did not exist, were invented." Russian historian and author Igor Danilevsky mentioned that the "Rus Primary Chronicle" was more concerned with exploring the religious significance of the events rather than conveying to the reader the information about how it actually happened. As a result, a sizable portion of the text was directly borrowed from earlier works that contained a religious undertone like some Byzantine sources, and most notably, the Bible. The protagonists are frequently identified with biblical personages and so are ascribed certain relevant qualities and deeds that did not necessarily match the reality.


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Ukrainian historian in 2015 upheld the conclusion reached by his many predecessors that the "Chronicle’s" contents are more or less fictional. Tolochko argued that some of the tales, like the story of the Rurikid clan's entry into Kyiv, were invented "so as to produce a meaningful reconstruction of past events and include these well-known names" in the author's "historical scenario." Tolochko called the "Rus Primary Chronicle" an outstanding work of literature with an untrustworthy story and concluded that "there is absolutely no reason to continue basing our knowledge of the past on its content."


title: Primary Chronicle

text: Paul Bushkovitch (2012) from Yale University writes “the author was serving his rulers, identifying princes and people and leaving historians with a muddle virtually impossible to sort out.” He also mentions that there are discrepancies when overlapping Scandinavian history with the narrative of the "Primary Chronicle". For example, “archeological evidence does not fit the legends of the "Primary Chronicle”" such as: “in Scandinavia itself, there were no sagas of Viking triumphs and wars in Russia to match those recounting the conquest of Iceland and the British Isle’s”. The credibility of the "Primary Chronicle" should be taken with a grain of salt for its undertone of being a political tool to justify rule.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Braess's paradox is the observation that adding one or more roads to a road network can slow down overall traffic flow through it. The paradox was discovered by the German mathematician Dietrich Braess in 1968.


title: Braess's paradox

text: The paradox may have analogies in electrical power grids and biological systems. It has been suggested that, in theory, the improvement of a malfunctioning network could be accomplished by removing certain parts of it. The paradox has been used to explain instances of improved traffic flow when existing major roads are closed.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Dietrich Braess, a mathematician at Ruhr University, Germany, noticed the flow in a road network could be impeded by adding a new road, when he was working on traffic modelling. His idea was that if each driver is making the optimal self-interested decision as to which route is quickest, a shortcut could be chosen too often for drivers to have the shortest travel times possible. More formally, the idea behind Braess's discovery is that the Nash equilibrium may not equate with the best overall flow through a network.


title: Braess's paradox

text: The paradox is stated as follows:"For each point of a road network, let there be given the number of cars starting from it and the destination of the cars. Under these conditions, one wishes to estimate the distribution of traffic flow. Whether one street is preferable to another depends not only on the quality of the road, but also on the density of the flow. If every driver takes the path that looks most favourable to them, the resultant running times need not be minimal. Furthermore, it is indicated by an example that an extension of the road network may cause a redistribution of the traffic that results in longer individual running times."


title: Braess's paradox

text: Adding extra capacity to a network when the moving entities selfishly choose their route can in some cases reduce overall performance. That is because the Nash equilibrium of such a system is not necessarily optimal. The network change induces a new game structure which leads to a (multiplayer) prisoner's dilemma. In a Nash equilibrium, drivers have no incentive to change their routes. While the system is not in a Nash equilibrium, individual drivers are able to improve their respective travel times by changing the routes they take. In the case of Braess's paradox, drivers will continue to switch until they reach Nash equilibrium despite the reduction in overall performance.


title: Braess's paradox

text: If the latency functions are linear, adding an edge can never make total travel time at equilibrium worse by a factor of more than 4/3.


title: Braess's paradox

text: In 1983, Steinberg and Zangwill provided, under reasonable assumptions, the necessary and sufficient conditions for Braess's paradox to occur in a general transportation network when a new route is added. (Note that their result applies to the addition of "any" new route, not just to the case of adding a single link.) As a corollary, they obtain that Braess's paradox is about as likely to occur as not occur when a random new route is added.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Braess's paradox has a counterpart in case of a reduction of the road network (which may cause a reduction of individual commuting time).


title: Braess's paradox

text: In Seoul, South Korea, traffic around the city sped up when a motorway was removed as part of the Cheonggyecheon restoration project. In Stuttgart, Germany, after investments into the road network in 1969, the traffic situation did not improve until a section of newly built road was closed for traffic again. In 1990 the temporary closing of 42nd Street in New York City for Earth Day reduced the amount of congestion in the area. In 2008 Youn, Gastner and Jeong demonstrated specific routes in Boston, New York City and London where that might actually occur and pointed out roads that could be closed to reduce predicted travel times. In 2009, New York experimented with closures of Broadway at Times Square and Herald Square, which resulted in improved traffic flow and permanent pedestrian plazas.


title: Braess's paradox

text: In 2012, Paul Lecroart, of the institute of planning and development of the Île-de-France, wrote that "Despite initial fears, the removal of main roads does not cause deterioration of traffic conditions beyond the starting adjustments. The traffic transfer are limited and below expectations". He also notes that some private vehicle trips (and related economic activity) are not transferred to public transport and simply disappear ("evaporate").


title: Braess's paradox

text: The same phenomenon was also observed when road closing was not part of an urban project but the consequence of an accident. In 2012 in Rouen, a bridge was destroyed by fire. Over the next two years, other bridges were used more, but the total number of cars crossing bridges was reduced.


title: Braess's paradox

text: In 2012, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization demonstrated, through computational modelling, the potential for the phenomenon to occur in power transmission networks where power generation is decentralized.


title: Braess's paradox

text: In 2012, an international team of researchers from Institut Néel (CNRS, France), INP (France), IEMN (CNRS, France) and UCL (Belgium) published in "Physical Review Letters" a paper showing that Braess's paradox may occur in mesoscopic electron systems. In particular, they showed that adding a path for electrons in a nanoscopic network paradoxically reduced its conductance. That was shown both by simulations as well as experiments at low temperature using scanning gate microscopy.


title: Braess's paradox

text: A model with springs and ropes can show that a hanged weight can rise in height despite a taut rope in the hanging system being cut, and follows from the same mathematical structure as the original Braess's paradox.


title: Braess's paradox

text: For two identical springs joined in series by a short rope, their total spring constant is half of each individual spring, resulting in a long stretch when a certain weight is hanged; This remains the case as we add two longer ropes in slack to connect the lower end of the upper spring to the hanged weight (lower end of the lower spring), and the upper end of the lower spring to the hanging point (upper end of the upper spring). However, when the short rope is cut, the longer ropes become taut, and the two springs become parallel to each other; The total spring constant is twice of each individual spring, and when the length of the long ropes are not too long, the hanged weight will actually rise in height compared to before the short rope is cut.


title: Braess's paradox

text: The fact that the hanged weight rises despite cutting a taut rope (the short rope) in the hanging system is counter-intuitive, but it does follow from Hooke's law and the way springs in series and in parallel works.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Adilson E. Motter and collaborators demonstrated that Braess's paradox outcomes may often occur in biological and ecological systems. Motter suggests removing part of a perturbed network could rescue it. For resource management of endangered species food webs, in which extinction of many species might follow sequentially, selective removal of a doomed species from the network could in principle bring about the positive outcome of preventing a series of further extinctions.


title: Braess's paradox

text: It has been suggested that in basketball, a team can be seen as a network of possibilities for a route to scoring a basket, with a different efficiency for each pathway, and a star player could reduce the overall efficiency of the team, analogous to a shortcut that is overused increasing the overall times for a journey through a road network. A proposed solution for maximum efficiency in scoring is for a star player to shoot about the same number of shots as teammates. However, this approach is not supported by hard statistical evidence, as noted in the original paper.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Consider a road network as shown in the adjacent diagram on which 4000 drivers wish to travel from point Start to End. The travel time in minutes on the Start–A road is the number of travellers (T) divided by 100, and on Start–B is a constant 45 minutes (likewise with the roads across from them). If the dashed road does not exist (so the traffic network has 4 roads in total), the time needed to drive Start–A–End route with formula_1 drivers would be formula_2. The time needed to drive the Start–B–End route with formula_3 drivers would be formula_4. As there are 4000 drivers, the fact that formula_5 can be used to derive the fact that formula_6 when the system is at equilibrium. Therefore, each route takes formula_7 minutes. If either route took less time, it would not be a Nash equilibrium: a rational driver would switch from the longer route to the shorter route.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Now suppose the dashed line A–B is a road with an extremely short travel time of approximately 0 minutes. Suppose that the road is opened and one driver tries Start–A–B–End. To his surprise he finds that his time is formula_8 minutes, a saving of almost 25 minutes. Soon, more of the 4000 drivers are trying this new route. The time taken rises from 40.01 and keeps climbing. When the number of drivers trying the new route reaches 2500, with 1500 still in the Start–B–End route, their time will be formula_9 minutes, which is no improvement over the original route. Meanwhile, those 1500 drivers have been slowed to formula_10 minutes, a 20-minute increase. They are obliged to switch to the new route via A too, so it now takes formula_11 minutes. Nobody has any incentive to travel A-End or Start-B because any driver trying them will take 85 minutes. Thus, the opening of the cross route triggers an irreversible change to it by everyone, costing everyone 80 minutes instead of the original 65. If every driver were to agree not to use the A–B path, or if that route were closed, every driver would benefit by a 15-minute reduction in travel time.


title: Braess's paradox

text: If one assumes the travel time for each person driving on an edge to be equal, an equilibrium will always exist.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Let formula_12 be the formula for the travel time of each person traveling along edge formula_13 when formula_14 people take that edge. Suppose there is a traffic graph with formula_15 people driving along edge formula_13. Let the energy of formula_13, formula_18, be


title: Braess's paradox

text: (If formula_20 let formula_21). Let the total energy of the traffic graph be the sum of the energies of every edge in the graph.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Take a choice of routes that minimizes the total energy. Such a choice must exist because there are finitely many choices of routes. That will be an equilibrium.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Assume, for contradiction, this is not the case. Then, there is at least one driver who can switch the route and improve the travel time. Suppose the original route is formula_22 while the new route is formula_23. Let formula_24 be total energy of the traffic graph, and consider what happens when the route formula_25 is removed. The energy of each edge formula_26 will be reduced by formula_27 and so the formula_24 will be reduced by formula_29. That is simply the total travel time needed to take the original route. If the new route is then added, formula_23, the total energy formula_24 will be increased by the total travel time needed to take the new route. Because the new route is shorter than the original route, formula_24 must decrease relative to the original configuration, contradicting the assumption that the original set of routes minimized the total energy.


title: Braess's paradox

text: The above proof outlines a procedure known as best response dynamics, which finds an equilibrium for a linear traffic graph and terminates in a finite number of steps. The algorithm is termed "best response" because at each step of the algorithm, if the graph is not at equilibrium then some driver has a best response to the strategies of all other drivers and switches to that response.


title: Braess's paradox

text: At each step, if some particular driver could do better by taking an alternate path (a "best response"), doing so strictly decreases the energy of the graph. If no driver has a best response, the graph is at equilibrium. Since the energy of the graph strictly decreases with each step, the best response dynamics algorithm must eventually halt.


title: Braess's paradox

text: If the travel time functions are linear, that is formula_33 for some formula_34, then at worst, traffic in the energy-minimizing equilibrium is twice as bad as socially optimal.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Proof: Let formula_35 be some traffic configuration, with associated energy formula_36 and total travel time formula_37. For each edge, the energy is the sum of an arithmetic progression, and using the formula for the sum of an arithmetic progression, one can show that formula_38. If formula_39 is the socially-optimal traffic flow and formula_40 is the energy-minimizing traffic flow, the inequality implies that formula_41.


title: Braess's paradox

text: Thus, the total travel time for the energy-minimizing equilibrium is at most twice as bad as for the optimal flow.


title: Braess's paradox

text: In 2013, Dal Forno and Merlone interpret Braess's paradox as a dynamical ternary choice problem. The analysis shows how the new path changes the problem. Before the new path is available, the dynamics is the same as in binary choices with externalities, but the new path transforms it into a ternary choice problem. The addition of an extra resource enriches the complexity of the dynamics. In fact, there can even be coexistence of cycles, and the implication of the paradox on the dynamics can be seen from both a geometrical and an analytical perspective.


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: Backstreet Boys is the first compilation album released by the vocal-pop group Backstreet Boys in the United States. The compilation is a collection of tracks from Backstreet Boys' first and second international albums, "Backstreet Boys" (1996) and "Backstreet's Back" (1997), respectively. Since the album and "Backstreet's Back" were released at the same time, both albums share the same cover, only with different titles.


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: The compilation became one of their most successful albums and received acclaim from music critics. It peaked at number four on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart and has been certified 14× platinum (diamond) by the RIAA for sales to retailers, having sold over 14 million copies to date in the United States. This was also reported as the second highest seller in the past 14 years for Music Club sales back in 2003, selling 1.72 million units.


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: There were two editions of this album available. The original pressing contained 11 songs and did not include "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)". Presumably, this may have been due to the title of the song, which correlates with the title of the international album, "Backstreet's Back". The title would not necessarily make sense in the context of this album being their American debut. The decision to make it a single in the US contributed to a re-release of the album in 1998, which contained 12 tracks, this time including an extended version of the song.


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: There are also several differences between the songs from the international debut album: the second verse of "Quit Playing Games" was re-recorded to feature Nick Carter, replacing Brian Littrell's verse from the original version; "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" was only featured in an extended mix, and a demo version of "As Long as You Love Me", using different instrumentation, arrangement and mixing, was included in place of the final version. The demo version was released as a single in the US and the final version was released in the 1998 pressing of the album and on "The Hits – Chapter One (2001)".


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: The original pressing of the album had a maroon spine and blue background on the back inlay. The second pressing of the album had a teal spine and a straw-colored background on the back inlay. Both versions of the album contained the same Enhanced Section, containing videos and other multimedia files.


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: To promote the album the group appeared on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee", "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", "Saturday Night Live", MTV, "The Ricki Lake Show", "The Rosie O'Donnell Show", "Soul Train" and "All That".


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: "Backstreet Boys" debuted at number 29 on the US "Billboard" 200 the week of August 30, 1997 with 40,000 copies sold while solicitation for the album stood at 602,000 units following the group's success of their song, "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)". After five months, on January 31, 1998, it reached and peaked at number four on the chart, when this happened the album had already sold two million copies in the United States. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it was the fifty-second best selling record of 1997 in the United States with 1,300,000 copies sold and the third best selling album of 1998 with 5,700,000 copies sold. The album was certified fourteen times platinum by the RIAA on April 5, 2001 denoting shipments of fourteen millions.


title: Backstreet Boys (1997 album)

text: As of March 2015, the album had sold 11,687,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen Music. It had sold additional 1.72 million units at the BMG Music Club as of February 2003.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: "Heartless" is a song by American rapper and singer Kanye West from his fourth studio album, "808s & Heartbreak" (2008). The song was written by West, No I.D., Kid Cudi and Malik Yusef, while being produced by the former two. It was passed on to West during recording sessions, after originally being intended for inclusion on Jay-Z's eleventh studio album, "The Blueprint 3" (2009). Following the song's debut at the 2008 Democratic National Convention (DNC), West shared an unmastered version via his blog on October 15, 2008. The song was later serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations as the second single from "808s & Heartbreak" on October 28, through Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. A pop ballad with influences of hip hop and R&B, it features synthesizers.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: In the lyrics of the song, West reflects on his break-up with Alexis Phifer. "Heartless" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly complimented West's performance. Some placed emphasis on the song's subject matter, while other critics praised the composition. At the 2010 BMI Pop Awards, it stood among the Award Winning Songs. The song reached number two on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming West's third highest charting release on the chart. It further attained top 10 positions in Canada, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Having been certified septuple platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the song stands as one of the highest certified digital singles in the US. It has also received platinum certifications in Australia, Denmark, and the UK by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), IFPI Danmark, and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The song's music video, released on November 7, 2008, is a tribute to Ralph Bakshi's 1981 film "American Pop". The video is animated, with it showcasing West expressing sadness over breaking up with Phifer. Critics gave the video favorable reviews, generally praising the animation. At the 2009 BET Awards, it received a nomination for the Video of the Year award. West performed "Heartless" at the 36th Annual American Music Awards and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2008 and 2011, respectively.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: "Heartless" has been subject to cover versions by various artists, including the Fray. The band debuted their cover on the Live Lounge for BBC Radio 1 in February 2009, before it was released as a single on April 17. A pop rock ballad, the cover reworks the original. The cover received mixed to positive responses from critics, some of whom praised the musical direction. It charted at number 79 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. An accompanying music video was released on August 18, 2009, which shows moving doodles that appear from a boy's notebook. Kris Allen also covered the song, premiering his version in May 2009 with a performance for season eight of "American Idol", which he was the winner of. The performance gathered strong verdicts from the judges, including Simon Cowell. The cover was released as a single in May 2009, and it charted at number 16 on the Hot 100.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: After Kanye's mother Donda West died, his mentor No I.D. was contacted by American rapper Malik Yusef, who asked him to spend time with the artist. No I.D. initially rejected the decision due to their differing personalities, though later began communicating with Kanye West more after persuasion from Malik Yusef. West and No I.D. then travelled to Hawaii to work with rapper Jay-Z on his eleventh studio album "The Blueprint 3" (2009), before West decided on transferring to recording for "808s & Heartbreak" in the state once "Heartless" had been made. The recording took place at Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California. The song was produced by West, with co-production from No I.D. The two of them co-wrote it with Malik Yusef and fellow rapper Kid Cudi, the latter of which was revealed to have penned the chorus in his documentary film "A Man Named Scott" (2021). In a November 2014 interview for the Juan Epstein show, No I.D. recalled that the song was intended for "The Blueprint 3" until West stopped during its recording and said, "No." Replying to him, No I.D. asked, "No what?"; West insisted: "No way! This is my record!" No I.D. begged him to complete the song for the album, to which West expressed assurance about it being for "808s & Heartbreak" instead.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: West premiered "Heartless" with a performance at the 2008 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August, before he confirmed its release as the album's second single at a concert of rapper T.I. on October 5. A snippet of the song experienced an internet leak on October 12, 2008. Three days later, West posted a full unmastered version of the song on his blog for download and streaming, blogging that he had "no words". Alongside the post, he shared photographs of fuzzy faced, nude models that had been displayed at a listening party for "808s & Heartbreak" on October 14, 2008. "Heartless" was eventually released as a single on October 28, before West shared a newly mixed and mastered version to his blog on November 8, 2008 for download and streaming. West simultaneously called for the attention of DJs, requesting them to play the new version instead. Outside of the song, West does not rap at all on the album, though rap features are contributed to "Amazing" and "See You in My Nightmares" by Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy, respectively. In an interview with Kiss FM, West revealed that "Heartless" was one of the first two tracks that he created once he went "into album mode" after the success of his third studio album "Graduation" (2007). The song was recorded during the three week period that West worked on the entirety of "808s & Heartbreak" in 2008. Seeking out a minimalist direction sonically, West directed his team to bring unique drum machines to Avex Recording Studio. They were sampled and reprogrammed into West's Roland TR-808 drum machine at the studio.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: Musically, "Heartless" is an upbeat pop ballad, with hip hop and R&B influences. According to the sheet music on Musicnotes.com, the song is set in the time signature of common time. It is composed in the key of B-flat minor with a moderate R&B tempo of 88 beats per minute and West's vocal range varies from a low of G to a high of F. The structure of the song is constructed around percussion, while synthesizers are prominently featured. The song includes the Roland TR-808 and piano stabs, the latter of which were contributed by Ken Lewis. Organs accompany the chorus, whereas keyboards appear in the background of the verses, played by West collaborator Jeff Bhasker. The song also contains a bassline, as well as Auto-Tuned melodies. West sings in auto-tune throughout, with him heavily utilizing the effect on the chorus. The song also includes rapping from West briefly.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: Lyrically, "Heartless" features West's forceful and direct reflection on breaking up with his ex-fiancé Alexis Phifer. He expresses honesty and self-pity on the chorus: "The coldest story ever told / Somewhere far along this road / He lost his soul / To a woman so heartless". West also asks a question angrily twice before the chorus finishes: "How could you be so heartless?" Self-doubt is expressed on the song by West, who raps that despite having "homies", he is ultimately "still so lonely". West goes on to shed light on the post-breakup phase, assuming that Phifer will realize she is never going to find anybody better than him after two months.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: On October 28, 2008, the song was released to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations as the album's second single by West's record labels Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. That same year, the labels issued a two-track CD single for it. On November 24, 2008, "Heartless" was included as the third track on West's fourth studio album "808s & Heartbreak". The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised West's performance. The staff of NBC4 Washington hailed the song as a perfect blend of "the cold, metallic 80s synth sound [West]'s been known for [as] of late" and "his older bouncing more straight forward Hip-Hop style", detailing that it is able to be upbeat alongside remaining melancholy as West sings in his "auto-tuned robotic croon" that T-Pain popularized. They continued, moderately comparing West's referencing of Phifer to rapper Eminem insulting his ex-girlfriend Kim Mathers, before assuring West's subject matter "makes good fodder for this super-slick space age, ragga-tinged gem" that you should download, then "pop it in your car and take a late night drive down Sunset Blvd". In a review of the song for Digital Spy, David Balls mildly asserted that it is not "exactly a warm and cosy affair"; he called the song a "dark, introspective slice of minor key pop". Balls elaborated by writing that even though creating the album "seems to have served as an alternative form of therapy" for West, the "terrific" song demonstrates how "the soul-bearing has propelled him to new creative peaks". Alex Macpherson from "The Guardian" pointed out how the song includes a "solipsistic and clumsy" take on "the solitude of the superstar", noticing West provides a "testament to his talent" by ultimately executing it. Reviewing the album for "Entertainment Weekly", Leah Greenblatt commented that the "stuttering" song is among its understandably dominant "mournful tales of heartbreak", noting a confession from West.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The staff of "NME" viewed the song as fulfilling the promise of West "leading the assault" on the planet undertaken by "scowling hip-hop androids", which he makes on the previous track "Welcome to Heartbreak". They explained, citing how the former is the only track to include rapping from him and saying the "cathedral organs and lava-lamp rhythmic thuds underscore a dancehall-style tormented chorus that impacts with flooring intensity". Writing for "Vibe", Jozen Cummings emphasised how the song's "clunky piano punches and throbbing bass line" lay "the sound bed" for the best break up track in rap since Jay-Z's "Song Cry" (2001). Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania from "RapReviews" considered the song to be "ultra-catchy". "USA Today"s Steve Jones picked the song as one of tracks from "808s & Heartbreak" to download, an opinion that was shared by the staff of "The Observer" and Alfred H. Leonard, III of "IGN". For "Spin", Charles Aaron felt the song possesses the potential to "end up on a greatest-hits comp one day and be accepted as Kanyeezy standards". In a lukewarm review at "Pitchfork", Scott Plagenhoef characterized "Heartless" as a "very good" song that is a surprisingly appropriate fit for "the car radio" while naming it merely a "second-tier" single from West. Wilson McBee from "Slant Magazine" described the song as having all the qualities "of a classic, minor-key club anthem, darkly swaggering and indulgent of love's travails", though wished that it was performed by Usher instead. AllMusic editor Andy Kellman held a negative opinion, being surprised that the song's "synthetic calliope" is "unnerved".


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: On "Pitchfork" writer Ryan Dombal's list of the best tracks of 2008, he placed "Heartless" at number 23. The track was voted in at number 55 on "The Village Voice"s Pazz & Jop poll for 2008, garnering 10 mentions. In 2020, "Highsnobiety" named it as West's eighth best song. That same year, the track was ranked by "Teen Vogue" as the 47th best breakup song for the newly single, with Kristi Kellogg estimating that it will be played repeatedly "when you're in the post-breakup anger phase". The track was nominated for seven industry awards and won six of them, including being one of the Award Winning Songs at the 2010 BMI Pop Awards. In the same year, it was awarded as one of the Most-Performed Urban Songs at the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: An accompanying music video was directed and produced by Hype Williams, being set as a homage to Ralph Bakshi's film "American Pop" (1981); West admitted that inspiration was taken from the film after Williams showed him it. For the video, Williams shot the footage of West prior to the technique of rotoscoped animation being utilized. The technique included 65 animators in Hong Kong drawing over every cell, after real people were filmed. West and Williams developed the video concept, while editorial and post-production house Chomet and visual effects company handled post-production, Stephan Zlotescu served as Art Director/VFX Supervisor, and Vlad Caprini was the Project Coordinator.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: Michael Chomet explained that Williams approached the post-production house "with an almost impossible challenge: after picture-lock we had 10 days to deliver the goods". He emphasized the challenge as "a daunting task" that over 3,000 frames of hand-drawn animation and backgrounds were utilized for, though said that they managed "to pull it off in a record of 10 days working around the clock" with assistance from "a very talented team". Williams expressed his position for the video, asserting that him and West desired "to do something ... that was unexpected" and said they "needed a visual effects team that would deliver in terms of style, quality, and timing". He finalized by recalling having "worked with Stephan and Michael before", believing "that we could depend on them to pull it off". During his appearance at the 2008 American Music Awards, West premiered footage from the visual. The music video was released on November 7, 2008.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: Throughout the animated music video, West expressing grief about his break-up with Phifer is interspersed with scenes of various women. The women are rotoscoped over West at times, with them having been drawn on top of the footage by hand. West wanders around a city while backed by the night sky at first, before he sits in a car's back seat. At one point, a portrait of Andy Warhol's artwork "Campbell's Soup Cans" is displayed. The locations that West appears in during the video are highly stylized, including a Miami street scene and a space-age version of Times Square. He briefly breaks his character, smoking a cigarette. At the end, West demonstrates frustration in an apartment while portraits of animated sitcom "The Jetsons" can be seen in the background.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The music video was well received by critics. Scratch from "XXL" said West hired "Hype 'Big Budget' Williams to "draw" upon ... Rotoscoping to keep our eyes glued to the screen", finalizing that the video is "an amazing work of art" and deservant of being "experienced on a big screen" while shining disappointment on West and Def Jam having "few outlets and opportunities for people to actually see [it]". Cesar Cueva of "Art of the Cartoon" felt both surprised and pleasured about the music video being animated, revealing himself to have instantly found the rotoscope style impressive. Cueva further wrote that after sensing a homage "to something I had seen before" with the video and having this confirmed by West citing inspiration from "American Pop", he appreciated it more, and praised the sitcom portraits. For the "Miami New Times", Jonathan Cunningham affirmed that the video "isn't bad" and he "can't complain about [West and Williams'] choice to go with an animated look rather than the standard video route", concluding by suggesting it is "mind-numbing entertainment to get you through the last day of the week". Larry Fitzmaurice of "Vice" named the visual a "Great video", viewing it as "no exception" to West's "cool-ass-looking videos" from the "808s & Heartbreak" period and "a trippy cel-shaded experience stuffed with pop art and pop culture references" that was released simultaneously with West becoming "inextricably enmeshed in pop culture's DNA".


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The visual was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2009 BET Awards, ultimately losing to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". The former received a nomination for International Video Of The Year – Artist at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, as well as being nominated for the awards of Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Male Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. In 2012, the clip was listed by "Rolling Stone" as one of the greatest animated music videos of all time. "Complex" named the music video as West's 16th best six years later, directing praise towards the rotoscoping for making the cartoons "surprisingly lifelike in their motions".


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: For the chart issue dated November 13, 2008, "Heartless" entered the US "Billboard" Hot 100 at number four, selling 201,000 downloads. It became West's 3rd top 5 entry of the year, as well as the 12th song overall to debut in the top 4 of the Hot 100 in the 21st century. After having fallen down the chart, the song reached number three on the Hot 100 for the issue date of January 15, 2009, simultaneously standing as the fastest growing track at radio. The song peaked at number two on the Hot 100 the following week, being blocked from the top position by Eminem's Dr. Dre and 50 Cent−featuring single "Crack a Bottle" and becoming West's third highest charting single in the United States. In total, the song spent 30 weeks on the chart. As of May 31, 2018, the song ranks as West's fourth biggest hit of all time on the Hot 100.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The track debuted at number 13 on the US "Billboard" Pop 100 chart issue dated November 22, 2008, standing as the highest entry of the week. In its eighth week on the chart, the track entered the top 10 at number seven, before peaking at number four on March 7, 2009. The track topped both the US "Billboard" Hot Rap Songs and Rhythmic charts, giving West his first number one on the latter chart since "Gold Digger" in 2005. The former further reached number three on both the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Mainstream Top 40 charts. By September 2012, the track had surpassed 4,000,000 digital sales in the US, becoming West's third track to achieve this milestone and his second to do so as a lead artist. On September 23, 2020, "Heartless" was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for amassing 7,000,000 certified units in the US, making it one of the best-selling digital singles in the country by certification.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: In Canada, the song opened at number eight on the Canadian Hot 100 for the issue dated November 22, 2008, becoming the week's highest entry. "Heartless" spent 22 weeks on the Hot 100. Elsewhere, the song debuted at number 36 on the New Zealand Singles Chart for the issue date of December 1, 2008. The song steadily rose up the chart during the succeeding nine weeks, which finished with it peaking at number six on the chart issue dated February 2, 2009. On July 12, 2009, the song was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for selling over 7,500 units in New Zealand. "Heartless" peaked at number 40 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and it had been certified quadruple-platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of over 280,000 copies in Australia in 2022. In Turkey, the song entered the Türkiye Top 20 at number 14 on the issue date of January 19, 2009, before peaking at number 2 in its 7th week on the chart. The song peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and lasted for 20 weeks on it. As of October 24, 2019, the song ranks as West's 17th most successful track of all time on the chart. On August 20, 2021, "Heartless" was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 600,000 units in the United Kingdom. The song further reached the top 40 in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany, with it receiving a platinum certification by IFPI Danmark for 90,000 shipments in the third of the five countries. The song peaked at number 36 on the European Hot 100 Singles chart, while it ranked as the ninth biggest digital song of 2009 worldwide, with sales of 5,500,000.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: West first performed a portion of the song live in August 2008 for the ONE Campaign concert at the DNC in Denver, Colorado. Before his performance of "Heartless" for T.I.'s Myspace sponsored concert at the Key Club, Los Angeles, in October 2008, West announced that "808s & Heartbreak" had been finished in Hawaii and the song would be released as a single. He abruptly ended the performance, complaining about not wanting it to end up on YouTube. West finished his appearance at the 2008 American Music Awards by performing the song. He wore a blue and red two-tone Pastelle varsity jacket for the performance, being accompanied by a neon back-drop. West transitioned from a performance of the song into one of fellow album track "Pinocchio Story" for "Saturday Night Live (SNL)" on December 13, 2008. On January 20, 2009, West performed the former at the Be the Change Youth Ball for the first inauguration of 2009–2017 US president Barack Obama. During an instrumental break in the song, Kanye West proclaimed that he "feels so good to be standing here" and Donda "would be so proud right now" in seeing "her baby boy performing the #1 song in the country for our new African-American president". West also said that his grandfather "drove the first car in the marches out of Oklahoma" to see the ball, before he sang an altered version of the song's chorus in tribute to both the civil rights struggle and Obama: "In the night I hear them talk/ The greatest story ever told, [...] Somewhere far along this road, a new soul: Obama ..."


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: West performed a medley of "Heartless" and "Pinocchio Story" as the eighth number of his February 2009 VH1 show, which was later issued as his second live album "VH1 Storytellers" in January 2010. He responded to rapper 50 Cent's comments about him being dressed differently in a Paris picture and addressed people who disputed his sexuality during the performance, remarking "look at me now, singing on the ground with my pink shirt on" and questioning, "Does this look gay to you?" On March 11, 2009, West delivered a performance of the song for his first appearance on "American Idol", which included him jumping on a table in front of excited fans. At the 2009 iTunes Festival, Mr Hudson brought out West to perform the song, with West hugging the former's mainman Ben Hudson at the performance's ending. West performed the song during his headlining set at the 2011 Coachella Festival, during which the pitch shifting was handled by the concert's programmer Laura Escudé for enabling him to be heard as the auto-tune was turned on and off. He performed a remixed version at the 2013 Governors Ball that added feral growls. On February 25, 2014, West performed a five minute medley of his greatest hits in chronological order by album on "Late Night with Seth Meyers", which included "Heartless". West delivered a performance of the song in a low tempo for his headlining set at the 2015 Glastonbury Festival, beginning from the set's 38:04 mark. For West's two night concert of "808s & Heartbreak" in full at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2015, him and Kid Cudi performed the song as the set's third track. West wore loose garments in white and off-white shades while performing, with backing from a small band and a medium-sized orchestra. Kid Cudi strengthened West's vocal runs when singing them, and the pair moved around the stage during the performance.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The fifth episode of the thirteenth season of the American television series "South Park", titled "Fishsticks", aired on April 8, 2009. In the episode, the character Jimmy comes to realize that "fish sticks" sounds very similar to "fish dicks", birthing a joke involving telling other characters they are a "gay fish". Though main character Cartman attempts to take credit for the joke, a computer generated version of West fails to understand it at first. He eventually accepts himself to be a "gay fish", diving underwater and singing an auto-tuned parody of "Heartless" titled after the joke's main line. The day after its premiere, West responded to the episode via his blog, admitting "South Park" "murdered me last night" and it is "pretty funny". West blogged about his feelings being hurt but expected this from the show, also expressing thankfulness and confessing that if he continues to act as he has done, he will be subject to more of this type of content. The song was featured in video games "", and "DJ Hero 2".


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: Christine and the Queens released a cover version of Christophe's "Les Paradis perdus" (1973) in October 2015 under the title of "Paradis perdus", which interpolates the chorus of "Heartless". In August 2016, West's wife Kim Kardashian included "Heartless" on a playlist of her 28 favorite songs from him. Lil Durk released a music video for his track "Kanye Krazy" on January 29, 2021, which includes him recreating the song's visual. In early 2022, Romanian singer and songwriter Sorana and French disc jockey David Guetta released "Redrum", which interpolated "Heartless".


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: In early August 2009, American singer-songwriter William Fitzsimmons released an indie cover of "Heartless". During a "Billboard" exclusive one month prior to release, Fitzsimmons said when asked what gave him the desire to cover the song that he had always wanted "to get into top-40 hip-hop" and it was "the natural next step". Fitzsimmons specified how he was drawn in by a melancholic chord in the song that he found fun in discovering, highlighting the song not being taken too seriously and its poppy, heartbreaking, sweet, and poignant style. He asserted that the style may have been "lost on some people" due to the song being by West "and everything and the way it was produced", while thinking he achieved his goal of making the cover "far less compelling" than the original; he called this trying to "take something exciting and really make it boring". Fitzsimmons also felt it would be great if he "quoted a lot of these sarcastic things [from the song] as straightforward and serious", seeing some of the lyrics as "goofy" and "ridiculous". He finalized by opining that West "almost mak[es] light of the fact that there was real heartbreak there", considering it like "the teacher that whispers instead of yelling" due to converying a point "with more reservedness than straightforwardness". On the cover, Williams sings softly over a guitar and piano. He later performed "Heartless" on acoustic guitar for 1LIVE in February 2011. On May 17, 2010, singer Jason Derulo performed a cover of the song for an episode of web series "Billboard Mashup Mondays". Explaining the reasoning behind his cover, Derulo additionally affirmed that he loves West's music and "Heartless" is one of his favorite songs from him. He went on to open up about its personal connection to him: "I can remember the time where I was on the brink of getting out of a bad relationship, and that's where this song stands." Derulo sang the cover with no vocal effects, in contrast to West's style for the original, as he had backing from keys and acoustic guitar.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: Singer Dia Frampton covered the song for the first live show of American competition "The Voice" on June 7, 2011, and played piano lightly alongside rephrasing the lyrics. The cover peaked at numbers 57 and 64 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, respectively. In November 2012, Australian singer Samantha Jade performed a cover of "Heartless" as her first song in the semi-final of the fourth season for "The X Factor" of her native country; she received a standing ovation for the performance. The cover debuted at number 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart that same month, standing as the highest entry from the semi-final in Australia. Jade subsequently qualified for the season's final and won it, becoming the first solo female singer to do so.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: On November 19, 2015, rapper Post Malone performed a cover of "Heartless" on acoustic guitar for Trevor Nelson in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. Post Malone combined indie and folk music, delivering a soulful cover. The rapper sang in a shaking tone and wore Stone Island clothing throughout, while he closed his eyes for the majority of the performance. On April 20, 2016, the first trailer for that year's psychological thriller film "The Girl on the Train" was released, which is set to a slowed version of the song. The version adds donk piano and new drums, accompanying Emily Blunt portraying Rachel Watson in the trailer. On September 18, 2018, violinist Brian King Joseph performed a cover of the song for the finale of "America's Got Talent"s 13th season, utilizing different methods of playing his violin. The violinist moved all around the stage during the performance, being backed by red-hot flames. The performance was received enthusiastically by the crowd and judges, and Brian King Joseph shouted afterwards: "Take me on tour, Kanye! Let's go!" On July 2, 2020, mysterious duo ilo ilo shared their cover of the song as a free download only. The cover features various stylistic elements, including lush synths, unique rhythms, and loud 808s and percussion.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: During their appearance for the Live Lounge on February 16, 2009, American rock band the Fray performed their 2008 single "You Found Me" and a cover of "Heartless", marking the latter's debut. The following day, West shared a link to the cover over his blog. After its premiere, "Heartless" received a large amount of airplay the on radio. There was also an overwhelming public demand for a release, leading the Fray to record a studio version of the cover during 2009. The cover eventually experienced a single release in April of that year. Musically, "Heartless" is a pop rock ballad. The cover reworks the original, with no auto-tune being applied to the vocals. Lead vocalist Isaac Slade desperately makes breathy pleas, echoing West's emotion on the original.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: The cover was released for digital download as a single on April 17, 2009. In August 2009, it was revealed that the band was set to release an accompanying digital extended play (EP). The EP was subsequently released digitally on September 27, consisting of three tracks. On November 10, 2009, "Heartless" was included on the second disc of the deluxe edition of the Fray's eponymous second studio album. During 2009, the cover was a frequent part of the Fray's live shows.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: A writer for BBC Radio 1 saw "Heartless" as great, while MTV's Colin Schoenberger chronicled how the "aching, earnest pop-rock ballad" adopts "a sold life of its own" and believed the Live Lounge performance "begat other fantastic covers". Greenblatt affirmed that the Fray are equivalent to West in terms of vulnerability and angst; she called the cover "Vulnerable Angst Squared" and said "Slade's desperate, breathy pleas sound like the last gasp of someone with fatal emotional angina". In a negative review for MusicRadar, Ben Rogerson pinpointed the strangeness of the cover lacking the original's "Auto-Tuned vocal" and sounding "more human" as a whole, yet "com[ing] off significantly less powerful and soulful". "Idolator" critic noah derided the cover for being somewhat messy, complaining about Slade "blaaating all over an instrumental accompaniment that seems to be beamed in from a different galaxy". The cover entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 79 for the issue dated May 30, 2009, based solely on downloads. It later peaked at number 26 on both the US "Billboard" Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Rock Airplay charts, and had sold over 125,000 downloads in the US by August 2009.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: On August 18, 2009, a music video for "Heartless" was released, which Hiro Murai directed. The video shows a classroom of elementary school students, focusing on a boy staring at his notebook. As he looks at a sheet of paper on it, moving doodles appear. These include creatures and the Fray, with the former being depicted as performing the song. The boy stares at a girl during various points and goes on to throw the sheet onto the floor, before the drawings transport themselves across the classroom to the blackboard. A tale of a heart being broken is told, with a bleeding heart being present to imply that the girl hurt her classmate.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: On May 12, 2009, American musician Kris Allen performed a sparse solo acoustic cover of the song as his personal pick for the Top 3 night of the eighth season of "American Idol". Allen played a flamenco–style beat, while he rocked a shirt covered with glitter. As Allen began to perform the final chorus, he made a grin that indicated self-satisfaction with his cover. The performance was reacted to with cries of applause from the female crowd members, as well as heavy praise from the show's judges. Simon Cowell admitted that after he had previously written Allen out of the competition, his verdict "changed with that performance". Randy Jackson declared the cover "better than the original", while Kara DioGuardi saw it as "bold, brave, [and] fearless". Allen's performance also qualified him for the finale of the eighth season, which he ultimately won.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: In May 2009, shortly after Allen's performance for "American Idol", a studio version of the cover was released for digital download as a single. The version is a largely sentimental number, with a smooth jazz style. Following the lack of positive reactions towards the cover, Allen decided on re-recording it for his self-titled debut studio album. Allen sought out record producer Salaam Remi for the new version's production, creating a sleeker version that recalls the heavily delicate and light soundscapes of Phil Collins' 1981 hit "In the Air Tonight". When asked by MTV about his biggest defeat throughout the process of debuting after the performance, Allen hesitantly answered that it was "Heartless". Allen explained this was due to the version being "a little bit different" for him, rather than not wanting to include the cover on the album. He also cited Remi as the one responsible for recalling "In the Air Tonight", while announcing the version as very different from his first one.


title: Heartless (Kanye West song)

text: On November 17, 2009, "Heartless" was included as the 13th track on "Kris Allen", being added as a bonus track. In a phone call with "Vulture", Allen cast light on a "small discussion" he had about the cover being removed from the album following West's incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Allen assured not everything should be based on West's actions, recalling that the discussion quickly ended. Even though he lacked enthusiasm about the cover, Allen acknowledged his fans' positive opinions and smiled as he praised how his brother likes it. The cover peaked at number 16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, on which it spent three weeks. On the Canadian Hot 100, the cover reached number 39 and lasted for two weeks.