Union
Nickname	Gridiron
First	November 6, 1869, Rutgers vs. Princeton
Contact	Full contact
Team	11 at a time
Category	Outdoor
Ball	Football
Olympic	No }}

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron. The ball can be advanced by running with it or throwing it to a teammate. Points can be scored by carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line, catching a pass thrown over that goal line, kicking the ball through the opponent's goal posts or tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone.

In the United States, the major forms are high school football, college football and professional football. Each of these three are played under slightly different rules. High school football is governed by the National Federation of State High School Associations, while college football by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The major league for professional football is the National Football League (NFL). Other minor professional leagues also exist in the U.S., and may also have slightly different rules from those of the NFL.

The sport is also played in Europe, Japan, Mexico, and several other countries. The International Federation of American Football acts as an international governing body for the sport, but the organization has little standing in the United States.

American football is closely related to Canadian football but with some differences in rules and the field. Both sports can be traced to early versions of association football and rugby football.

History

The history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football. Both games have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a ball is kicked at a goal and/or run over a line. Many games known as "football" were being played at colleges and universities in the United States in the first half of the 19th century.

American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby football, most notably the rule changes instituted by Walter Camp, considered the "Father of American Football". Among these important changes were the introduction of the line of scrimmage and of down-and-distance rules. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, game play developments by college coaches such as Eddie Cochems, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward pass.

The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport for the first half of the twentieth century. Bowl games, a college football tradition, attracted a national audience for collegiate teams. Bolstered by fierce rivalries, college football still holds widespread appeal in the US.

The origin of professional football can be traced back to 1892, with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. The first Professional "league" was the Ohio League, formed in 1903, and the first Professional Football championship game was between the Buffalo Prospects and the Canton Bulldogs in 1919. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association was formed. The first game was played in Dayton, Ohio on October 3, 1920 with the host Triangles defeating the Columbus Panhandles 14–0. The league changed its name to the National Football League (NFL) two years later, and eventually became the major league of American football. Initially a sport of Midwestern industrial towns in the United States, professional football eventually became a national phenomenon. Football's increasing popularity is usually traced to the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a contest that has been dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played". A rival league to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL), began play in 1960; the pressure it put on the senior league led to a merger between the two leagues and the creation of the Super Bowl, which has become the most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis.

Rules

Field and players

American football is played on a field . The longer boundary lines are ''sidelines'', while the shorter boundary lines are ''end lines''. Sidelines and end lines are out of bounds. Near each end of the field is a ''goal line''; they are apart. A scoring area called an ''end zone'' extends beyond each goal line to each end line. The end zone includes the goal line but not the end line. While the playing field is effectively flat, it is common for a field to be built with a slight crown—with the middle of the field higher than the sides—to allow water to drain from the field.

''Yard lines'' cross the field every , and are numbered every 10 yards from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield (similar to a typical rugby league field). Two rows of short lines, known as inbounds lines or ''hash marks'', run at 1-yard (91.4 cm) intervals perpendicular to the sidelines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks. Because of the arrangement of the lines, the field is occasionally referred to as a ''gridiron'' in a reference to the cooking grill with a similar pattern of lines.

At the back of each end zone are two ''goalposts'' (also called ''uprights'') connected by a crossbar from the ground. For high skill levels, the posts are apart. For lower skill levels, these are widened to .

Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. Usually there are many more players off the field (an NFL team has a limit of 53 players on their roster, all of which can be dressed for a game). However, teams may substitute for any or all of their players during the breaks between plays. As a result, players have very specialized roles and are divided into three separate units: the offense, the defense and the special teams. It is rare for all team members to participate in a given game, as some roles have little utility beyond that of an injury substitute.

Start of halves

Similarly to association football, the game begins with a coin toss to determine which team will kick off to begin the game and which goal each team will defend. Unlike association football though, the options are presented again to start the second half; the choices for the first half do not automatically determine the start of the second half. The referee conducts the coin toss with the captains (or sometimes coaches) of the opposing teams. The team that wins the coin toss has three options: # They may choose whether to kick or receive the opening kickoff. # They may choose which goal to defend. # They may choose to ''defer'' the first choice to the other team and have first choice to start the second half. Whatever the first team chooses, the second team has the option on the other choice (for example, if the first team elects to receive at the start of the game, the second team can decide which goal to defend).

At the start of the second half, the options to kick, receive, or choose a goal to defend are presented to the captains again. The team which did not choose first to start the first half (or which deferred its privilege to choose first) now gets first choice of options.

Game duration

A standard football game consists of four 15-minute quarters (12-minute quarters in high-school football and often shorter at lower levels), with a 12-minute half-time intermission after the second quarter. At all levels, a down (play) that begins before time expires is allowed to continue until its completion, even after the clock reaches zero. The clock is also stopped after certain plays, therefore, a game can last considerably longer (often more than three hours in real time), and if a game is broadcast on television, TV timeouts are taken at certain intervals of the game to broadcast commercials outside of game action. If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an additional period lasting up to 15 minutes. In a regular season NFL overtime game, the first team that scores wins, even if the other team does not get a possession; this is referred to as sudden death. However, in a post-season NFL game during the playoffs, if the first team with possession scores only a field goal, the other team is allowed the opportunity to match or better this score. This rule only affects playoff games in overtime in which the first team with possession scores a field goal: if the first team with possession scores a touchdown, the sudden death rules take effect. In a regular-season NFL game, if neither team scores in overtime, the game is a tie. In an NFL playoff game, additional overtime periods are played, as needed, to determine a winner. College overtime rules are more complicated.

Advancing the ball

Advancing the ball in American football resembles the ''six-tackle rule'' and the ''play-the-ball'' in rugby league. The team that takes possession of the ball (the offense) has four attempts, called downs, in which to advance the ball at least toward their opponent's (the defense's) end zone. When the offense succeeds in gaining at least 10 yards, it gets a first down, meaning the team starts a new set of four downs to gain yet another 10 yards or to score. If the offense fails to gain a first down (10 yards) after four downs, the other team gets possession of the ball at the point where the fourth down ended, beginning with their first down to advance the ball in the opposite direction.

Except at the beginning of halves and after scores, the ball is always put into play by a snap. Offensive players line up facing defensive players at the line of scrimmage (the position on the field where the play begins). One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball backwards between his legs to a teammate behind him, usually the quarterback.

Players can then advance the ball in two ways: # By running with the ball, also known as rushing. # By throwing the ball to a teammate, known as a pass or as passing the football. If the pass is thrown down-field, it is known as a forward pass. The forward pass is a key factor distinguishing American and Canadian football from other football sports. The offense can throw the ball forward only once during a down and only from behind the line of scrimmage. However, the ball can be handed-off to another player or thrown, pitched, or tossed sideways or backwards (a lateral pass) at any time.

A down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:

The player with the ball is forced to the ground (a tackle) or has his forward progress halted by members of the other team (as determined by an official).

A forward pass flies beyond the dimensions of the field (out of bounds) or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is returned to the most recent line of scrimmage for the next down.

The ball or the player with the ball goes out of bounds.

A team scores.

Officials blow a whistle to notify players that the down is over.

Before each down, each team chooses a play, or coordinated movements and actions, that the players should follow on a down. Sometimes, downs themselves are referred to as "plays."

Change of possession

The offense maintains possession of the ball unless one of the following things occurs:

The team fails to get a first down— i.e., in four downs they fail to move the ball past a line 10 yards ahead of where they got their last first down. The defensive team takes over the ball at the spot where the 4th-down play ends. A change of possession in this manner is commonly called a turnover on downs.

The offense scores a touchdown or field goal. The team that scored then kicks the ball to the other team in a special play called a kickoff.

The offense punts the ball to the defense. A punt is a kick in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Punts are nearly always made on fourth down, when the offensive team does not want to risk giving up the ball to the other team at its current spot on the field (through a failed attempt to make a first down) and feels it is too far from the other team's goal post to attempt a field goal.

A defensive player catches a forward pass. This is called an interception, and the player who makes the interception can run with the ball until he is tackled, forced out of bounds, or scores.

An offensive player drops the ball (a fumble) and a defensive player picks it up. As with interceptions, a player recovering a fumble can run with the ball until tackled, forced out of bounds, or scoring. Passes that are thrown either backwards or parallel with the line of scrimmage (lateral passes) that are not caught do not cause the down to end as incomplete forward passes do; instead the ball is still live as if it had been fumbled. Lost fumbles and interceptions are together known as turnovers.

The offensive team misses a field goal attempt. The defensive team gets the ball at the spot where the previous play began (or, in the NFL, at the spot of the kick). If the unsuccessful kick was attempted from within of the end zone, the other team gets the ball at its own 20 yard line (that is, 20 yards from the end zone). If a field goal is missed or blocked and the ball remains in the field of play, a defensive player may pick up the ball and attempt to advance it.

While in his own end zone, an offensive ball carrier is tackled, forced out of bounds, loses the ball out of bounds, or the offense commits certain fouls in the end zone. This fairly rare occurrence is called a safety.

An offensive ball carrier fumbles the ball forward into the opposing end zone, and then the ball goes out of bounds. This extremely rare occurrence leads to a touchback, with the ball going over to the opposing team at their 20 yard line (Note that touchbacks during non-offensive special teams plays, such as punts and kickoffs, are quite common).

Scoring

A team scores points by the following plays: A touchdown (TD) is worth 6 points. It is scored when a player runs the ball into or catches a pass in his opponent's end zone. A touchdown is analogous to a try in rugby. Unlike rugby, a player does not have to touch the ball to the ground to score; a touchdown is scored any time a player has possession of the ball while any part of the ball is beyond the vertical plane created by the leading edge of the opponent's goal line stripe (the stripe itself is a part of the end zone).

After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a try (which is also analogous to the conversion in rugby). The ball is placed at the other team's line (the line in the NFL). The team can attempt to kick it through the goalposts (over the crossbar and between the uprights) in the manner of a field goal for 1 point (an extra point or point-after touchdown (PAT)), or run or pass it into the end zone in the manner of a touchdown for 2 points (a two-point conversion). In college football, if the defense intercepts or recovers a fumble during a one or two point conversion attempt and returns it to the opposing end zone, the defensive team is awarded the two points.

A field goal (FG) is worth 3 points, and it is scored by kicking the ball through the goalposts defended by the opposition. Field goals may be place kicked (kicked when the ball is held vertically against the ground by a teammate) or drop kicked (extremely uncommon in the modern game due to the better accuracy of place kicks, with only two successful drop kicks in sixty-plus years in the NFL). A field goal is usually attempted on fourth down instead of a punt when the ball is close enough to the opponent's goalposts, or, when there is little or no time left to otherwise score. A safety, worth 2 points, is scored by the opposing team when the team in possession at the end of a down is responsible for the ball becoming dead behind its own goal line. For instance, a safety is scored by the defense if an offensive player is tackled, goes out of bounds, or fumbles the ball out of bounds in his own end zone. Safeties are relatively rare. Note that, though even more rare, the team initially on offense during a down can score a safety if a player of the original defense gains possession of the ball in front of his own goal line and then carries the ball or fumbles it into his own end zone where it becomes dead. However, if the ball becomes dead behind the goal line of the team in possession and its opponent is responsible for the ball being there (for instance, if the defense intercepts a forward pass in its own end zone and the ball becomes dead before the ball is advanced out of the end zone) it is a touchback: no points are scored and the team last in possession keeps possession with a first down at its own 20 yard line. In amateur football, in the extremely rare instance that a safety is scored on a try, it is worth only 1 point.

Kickoffs and free kicks

Each half begins with a kickoff. Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field goals. The ball is kicked using a kicking tee from the team's own line in the NFL and college football (as of the 2007 season). The other team's kick returner tries to catch the ball and advance it as far as possible. Where he is stopped is the point where the offense will begin its drive, or series of offensive plays. If the kick returner catches the ball in his own end zone, he can either run with the ball, or elect for a touchback by kneeling in the end zone, in which case the receiving team then starts its offensive drive from its own 20 yard line. A touchback also occurs when the kick goes out-of-bounds in the end zone. (Punts and turnovers in the end zone can also result in a touchback). A kickoff that goes out-of-bounds anywhere other than the end zone before being touched by the receiving team is a foul, and the ball will be placed within the hash marks of the yard line where it went out of bounds, or from the kickoff spot, depending on which is more advantageous to the receiving team. Unlike with punts, once a kickoff goes 10 yards and the ball has hit the ground, it can be recovered by the kicking team. A team, especially one who is losing, can try to take advantage of this by attempting an onside kick.

After safeties, the team that gave up the points must free kick the ball to the other team from its own 20 yard line.

Penalties

Fouls (a type of rule violation) are punished with penalties against the offending team. Most penalties result in moving the football towards the offending team's end zone. If the penalty would move the ball more than half the distance towards the offender's end zone, the penalty becomes half the distance to the goal instead of its normal value.

Most penalties result in replaying the down. Some defensive penalties give the offense an automatic first down. Conversely, some offensive penalties result in loss of a down (loss of the right to repeat the down). If a penalty gives the offensive team enough yardage to gain a first down, they get a first down, as usual. The only penalty that results in points is if a team on offense commits a certain fouls, such as holding, in its own end zone, which results in a safety.

If a foul occurs during a down (after the play has begun), the down is allowed to continue and an official throws a yellow penalty flag near the spot of the foul. When the down ends, the team that did not commit the foul has the option of accepting the penalty, or declining the penalty and accepting the result of the down.

Variations

Limited contact

* touch football. A play ends when a defender touches the ball carrier (sometimes with two hands).

* flag football. A play ends when a defender removes a designated token ("flag") worn by the ball carrier.

* Wrap. A play ends when a defender wraps his arms round the ball carrier.

Fewer players

*nine-man football

*eight-man football

*six-man football

Smaller field

: The Arena Football League is a league that plays eight-man football, but also plays indoors and on a much smaller playing surface with rule changes to encourage a much more offensive game.

Catch and Run

: In this game, the children split into two teams and line up at opposite sides of the playing field. One side throws the ball to the other side. If the opposing team catches the ball, that player tries to run to the throwing teams touchdown without being tagged/tackled. If no one catches the ball or if the player is tagged/tackled, then that team has to throw the ball to the opposing team. This repeats until time runs out or the players decide to quit.

Players

Most football players have highly specialized roles. At the college and NFL levels, most play only offense or only defense.

Offense

The offensive line (OL) consists of five players whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners by blocking members of the defense. The lineman in the middle is the center. Outside the center are the guards, and outside them are the tackles. Except for the center, who snaps the ball to one of the backs, offensive linemen generally do not handle the ball.

The quarterback (QB) receives the snap from the center on most plays. He then hands or tosses it to a running back, throws it to a receiver or runs with it himself. The quarterback is the leader of the offense and calls the plays that are signaled to him from the sidelines.

Running backs (RB) line up behind or beside the QB and specialize in running with the ball. They also block, catch passes and, on rare occasions, pass the ball to others or even receive the snap. If a team has two running backs in the game, usually one will be a halfback (HB) (or tailback (TB)), who is more likely to run with the ball, and the other will usually be a fullback (FB), who is more likely to block.

Wide receivers (WR) line up near the sidelines. They specialize in catching passes, though they also block for running plays or downfield after another receiver makes a catch.

Tight ends (TE) line up next to the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners). Sometimes an offensive lineman takes the tight end position and is referred to as a tackle eligible.

At least seven players must line up on the line of scrimmage on every offensive play. The other players may line up anywhere behind the line. The exact number of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends may differ on any given play. For example, if the team needs only one yard, it may use three tight ends, two running backs and no wide receivers. On the other hand, if it needs 20 yards, it may replace all of its running backs and tight ends with wide receivers.

Defense

In contrast to members of the offense, the rules of professional football (NFL Rulebook) and American college football (NCAA Rulebook) do not specify starting position, movement, or coverage zones for members of the defensive team, except that they must be in the defensive zone at the start of play. The positions, movements and responsibilities of all defensive players are assigned by the team by selection of certain coverages, or patterns of placement and assignment of responsibilities. The positional roles are customary. These roles have varied over the history of American football. The following are customary defensive positions used in many coverages in modern American football.

The defensive line consists of three to six players who line up immediately across from the offensive line. They try to occupy the offensive linemen in order to free up the linebackers, disrupt the backfield (behind the offensive line) of the offense, and tackle the running back if he has the ball before he can gain yardage or the quarterback before he can throw or pass the ball. They are the first line of defense.

Behind the defensive line are the linebackers. They line up between the defensive line and defensive backs and may either rush the quarterback or cover potential receivers.

The last line of defense is known as the secondary, comprising at least three players who line up as defensive backs, who are either cornerbacks or safeties. They cover the receivers and try to stop pass completions. They occasionally rush the quarterback.

Special teams

The units of players who handle kicking plays are known as special teams. Three important special-teams players are the punter, who handles punts, the placekicker or kicker, who kicks off and attempts field goals and extra points, and the long snapper, who snaps the ball for extra points, field goals, and punts. Also included on special teams are the returners. These players return punts or kickoffs and try to get in good field position. These players can also score touchdowns.

Uniform numbering

In the NFL, ranges of uniform numbers are (usually) reserved for certain positions: 1–19: Quarterbacks, punters and placekickers 20–49: Running backs and defensive backs 50–79: Offensive and defensive linemen 10–19, 80–89: Wide receivers 40–49, 80–89: Tight ends 50–59, 90–99: Linebackers and defensive linemen (90–99) Players who switch positions in their career can keep their number if they played their prior position for at least a year and move from a position that is eligible to receive passes to another eligible position, or if he is moving from one ineligible position to another ineligible position.

NCAA and high school rules specify only that offensive linemen must have numbers in the 50–79 range, but the NCAA "strongly recommends" that quarterbacks and running backs have numbers below 50 and wide receivers numbers above 79. This helps officials, as it means that numbers 50 to 79 are ineligible receivers, or players that may not receive a forward pass (except in the rare instance when a Tackle lines up as the outermost lineman on his side of the line and the officials are notified that he will be an eligible receiver for that particular play). There are no numbering restrictions on defensive players in the NCAA, other than that a team may not have two players on the field at the same time with the same jersey number.

Basic strategy

Because the game stops after every down, giving teams a chance to call a new play, strategy plays a major role in football. Each team has a playbook of dozens to hundreds of plays. Ideally, each play is a scripted, strategically sound team-coordinated endeavor. Some plays are very safe; they are likely to get only a few yards. Other plays have the potential for long gains but at a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover.

Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To deceive the other team, some passing plays are designed to resemble running plays and vice versa. These are referred to as play-action passes and draws, respectively. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up as if it intends to punt and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly.

The defense also plans plays in response to expectations of what the offense will do. For example, a "blitz" (using linebackers or defensive backs to charge the quarterback) is often attempted when the team on defense expects a pass. A blitz makes downfield passing more difficult but exposes the defense to big gains if the offensive line stems the rush.

Many hours of preparation and strategizing, including film review by both players and coaches, go into the days between football games. This, along with the demanding physicality of football (see below), is why teams typically play at most one game per week.

Physicality

American football is a collision sport. To stop the offense from advancing the ball, the defense must tackle the player with the ball by knocking or pulling him down. As such, defensive players must use some form of physical contact to bring the ball-carrier to the ground, within certain rules and guidelines. Tacklers cannot kick or punch the runner. They also cannot grab the face mask of the runner's helmet or lead into a tackle with their own helmet ("spearing"). Despite these and other rules regarding unnecessary roughness, most other forms of tackling are legal. Blockers and defenders trying to evade them also have wide leeway in trying to force their opponents out of the way. Quarterbacks are regularly hit by defenders coming on full speed from outside the quarterback's field of vision. This is commonly known as a blindside.

To compensate for this, players must wear special protective equipment, such as a padded plastic helmet, shoulder pads, hip pads and knee pads. These protective pads were introduced decades ago and have improved ever since to help minimize lasting injury to players. An unintended consequence of all the safety equipment has resulted in increasing levels of violence in the game. Players may now hurl themselves at one another at high speeds without a significant chance of injury. The injuries that do result tend to be severe and often season or career-ending and sometimes fatal. In previous years with less padding, tackling more closely resembled tackles in Rugby football. Better helmets have allowed players to use their helmets as weapons. This form of tackling is particularly unwise, because of the great potential for brain or spinal injury. All this has caused the various leagues, especially the NFL, to implement a complicated series of penalties for various types of contact. Most recently, virtually any contact with the helmet of a defensive player on the quarterback, or any contact to the quarterback's head, is now a foul. During the late 1970s, the penalty in high school football for spearing included ejection from the game.

Despite protective equipment and rule changes to emphasize safety, injuries remain very common in football. It is increasingly rare, for example, for NFL quarterbacks or running backs (who take the most direct hits) to make it through an entire season without missing some time to injury. Additionally, 28 football players died from direct football injuries in the years 2000–05 and an additional 68 died indirectly from dehydration or other examples of "non-physical" dangers, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. Concussions are common, with about 41,000 suffered every year among high school players according to the Brain Injury Association of Arizona. In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who played football in high school, commented on the contact of the sport: "Football is the last thing left in civilization where men can literally fling themselves bodily at one another in combat and not be at war."

Extra and optional equipment such as neck rolls, spider pads, rib protectors (referred to as "flak jackets"), and elbow pads help against injury as well, though they do not tend to be used by the majority of players due to their lack of requirement.

The danger of football, and the equipment required to reduce it, make regulation football impractical for casual play. Flag football and touch football are less violent variants of the game popular among recreational players.

Nutrition and dehydration

Football players typically begin their season while the weather is still extremely warm and with the dangerous combination of warm weather and high humidity, dehydration is a great risk for the players. The players are usually required to follow a hydration schedule. It is extremely important for players to drink enough fluids because dehydration can seriously reduce athletic performance and increase the risk of heat illnesses. Most trainers and coaches make it imperative for their players to drink fluids before they are thirsty.

Organization in the United States

In the United States, the major forms are high school football, college football and professional football. Most American high schools field football teams. In general, high school teams play only against other teams within the same state, but there are some exceptions like nearby schools located on opposite sides of a state line.

Most of college football in the United States is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and most colleges and universities around the country have football teams. These teams mostly play other similarly sized schools, through the NCAA's divisional system, which divides the schools into four divisions: Division I Bowl Subdivision, Division I Championship Subdivision, Division II, and Division III. Unlike the three smaller NCAA football divisions, the Division I Bowl Subdivision does not have an organized tournament to determine its national champion. Instead, teams are invited to compete in a number of post-season bowl games. In addition, the champions of six conferences in the Division I Bowl Subdivision receive automatic bids, and four other schools receive "at-large" bids, to those five bowl games under the highly lucrative Bowl Championship Series to help determine the national champion.

The highest level major professional league in the United States is the 32-team National Football League (NFL). Another professional league, the 5-team United Football League, also currently operates. Several semi-professional, women's semi-professional football, and indoor football leagues are also played across the country.

Calendar

Traditionally, football is an autumn sport. A season typically begins in mid-to-late August and runs through December, into January. The NFL playoffs run further through January, and the Super Bowl is often played in the first week of February. As such, the sport is played in a wide range of weather conditions, from the heat and humidity of late summer, to the cold winds and snow in mid-winter. Unlike rainouts in baseball, play is only generally postponed or canceled in very extreme conditions such as lightning and hurricanes.

The NFL draft is usually held in April, in which eligible college football players are selected by NFL teams, the order of selection determined by the teams' final regular season records.

It is a long-standing tradition in the United States (though not universally observed) that high school football games are played on Friday night, college games on Saturday, and professional games on Sunday.

In the 1970s, the NFL began to schedule one game on Monday nights. Beginning in 2006, the NFL began scheduling games on Thursday and Saturday nights after the college football regular season concludes in mid-November, aired on the NFL Network.

Nationally televised Thursday-night college games have become a weekly fixture on ESPN, and most nights of the week feature at least one college game, though most games are still played on the traditional Saturday.

Certain fall and winter holidays—such as the NFL's Thanksgiving Classic and numerous New Year's Day college bowl games—have traditional football games associated with them.

Despite this, there are a few professional leagues that have played in the spring, mainly to avoid competition with the established leagues. Examples include the now defunct XFL, the United States Football League, and the proposed All American Football League. Indoor football is played primarily in spring for this same reason.

At most levels of competition, college football teams hold several weeks of practices in the spring. These practices typically end with an intramural scrimmage open to the public. In certain areas, high school football teams also hold spring practices.

Outside the United States

Outside the United States, the sport is referred to as "American football" (or a translation thereof) to differentiate it from other football codes such as association football (soccer), rugby football, Australian rules football and Gaelic football. In Australia and New Zealand the game is also known as gridiron football, or more commonly as gridiron, although in the United States the term ''gridiron'' refers only to the playing field itself. The term ''gridiron'' has also been used in the UK to describe the game. In much of the world, the term football is unambiguous and refers to association football (known commonly as 'soccer' in the United States).

Exportation by the established U.S. leagues and organizations

In 1977, the semi-pro football teams Newton Nite Hawks and Chicago Lions completed a five-game tour in Europe. These were the first professional or semi-professional American football teams to play organized games on the European continent. Games were played in Versailles, France; Lille, France; Landstuhl, Germany; Gratz Austria; and Vienna, Austria.

In 1985, Bethany College head coach and future College Football Hall of Fame member Ted Kessinger brought the first American football team to play in Sweden. The Bethany "Terrible Swedes" defeated the Swedish all-star team 72–7 in Stockholm Olympic Stadium.

The NFL has attempted to introduce the game to other nations and operated a developmental league, NFL Europa (also known as the World League of American Football and NFL Europe) with teams in various European cities, but this league was closed down following the 2007 season. The professional Canadian Football League and collegiate Canadian Interuniversity Sport play under the slightly different Canadian rules.

Major American leagues have also held some regular season games outside of the United States. On October 2, 2005, the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers played the first regular season NFL game outside of the United States, in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, From 2007, the NFL has played or has plans to play at least one regular season game outside of the United States during each season. The NCAA will also play games outside of the U.S. In 2012, The United States Naval Academy will play the University of Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland.

Leagues by country

 — Gridiron Australia is the overall governing body for American football in Australia. The country is actually divided into state-level leagues instead of one national-level league by itself: ACT Gridiron (Australian Capital Territory), Gridiron NSW (New South Wales), Gridiron Queensland (Queensland), South Australian Gridiron Association (South Australia), Gridiron Victoria (Victoria), and Gridiron West (Western Australia).

 — The Belgian Football League fields 16 teams. The finalists from the playoffs determine the champion during the Belgian Bowl.

 — The Brazilian American Football League has 14 teams partitioned into north and south conferences.

 — The Vaahteraliiga or the ''Maple League'' has eight teams. The league's name comes from the name of the championship trophy ''Vaahteramalja'' ("Maple Bowl"), which was donated to the newly formed association by the embassy of Canada in Finland.

 — The German Football League has 12 teams partitioned into north and south conferences. The finalists from the playoffs determine the German champion during the German Bowl.

 — 18 registered teams participate in the MAFL's two-division league structure. The sport has grown significantly since 2004 and with some top Division I teams participating in the CEFL.

 — The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is a proposed professional league in India. When play begins in late 2012, there will be eight teams, representing various cities across India with populations of one million or more. The ELFI will be India's first professional American football league, and its launch is backed by the Government of India and the Sports Authority of India. All of the first season's games will be held in Pune at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.

 — The Irish American Football League consists of 14 teams. Its championship game is the Shamrock Bowl.

 — Games are governed by the Israeli Football League.

 — The Italian Football League was founded in 2008, taking over previous league (National Football League Italy). It has 9 teams for the 2010 season.

 — The X-League is a professional league with 60 teams in four divisions, using promotion and relegation. After the post-season playoffs, the X-League champion is determined in the Japan X Bowl. There are also over 200 universities fielding teams, with the national collegiate championship determined by the Koshien Bowl. The professional and collegiate champions then face each other in the Rice Bowl to determine the national champion.

 — The ONEFA is a college league with 26 teams in 3 conferences.

 — American Football Wellington comprises five teams located in the Wellington area.

 — A rising number of teams (11 in 2010) compete in a two division league structure (division I which determines a national champion by a postseason playoff, and division 2 where newer and smaller teams are allowed to mature). Two teams (Oslo Vikings and Eidsvoll 1814s) regularly compete in either the European Football League or the EFAF Cup. Eidsvoll was the runner-up in EFAF Cup 2006.

 — Games are governed by the Polish American Football League.

 — Teams in the Nacionalna Liga Srbije compete in the Serbian Bowl.

 — The LNFA was founded in 1995, and currently consists of 15 clubs.

 — 70 amateur teams play in the BAFA Community Leagues (BAFACL) across a number of age ranges. The senior (adult) league has three levels: the Premiership, comprising six teams; Division 1, comprising 18 teams split across three regional conferences; and Division 2, comprising 23 teams split across four regional conferences. While the lower level teams have their own championship games during BritBowl Weekend, only Premier Division teams face each other in the BritBowl which is held in Worcester's Sixways Stadium. Unlike the NFL, the BAFACL season is played through the summer (April to September), with the British university season spanning the autumn and winter.

The IFAF and the American Football World Cup

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) is the ''de facto'' governing body for American football, with 45 member associations from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The organization is headquartered in La Courneuve, France. Although the IFAF has relatively little standing in the U.S. compared to the NFL, NCAA, and the other established aforementioned bodies, these same organizations also give support to USA Football, the designated U.S. representative to the IFAF.

The IFAF also oversees the American Football World Cup, which is held every four years. Japan won the first two World Cups, held in 1999 and 2003. Team USA, which had not participated in the previous World Cups, won the title in 2007.

A long term goal of the IFAF is for American football to be accepted by the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport. The only time that the sport was played was at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but as a demonstration sport.

See also

American football on Thanksgiving

Comparison of American and Canadian football

Comparison of American football and rugby league

Fantasy football (American)

Glossary of American football

Lists of American football players

List of American football stadiums by capacity

List of American football teams in Belgium

List of American football teams in Germany

List of American football teams in the Netherlands

List of defunct sports leagues

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Sports nutrition

Sprint Football

Steroid use in American football

Strat-O-Matic Football

Street football (American)

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

''Sports Illustrated'' magazine dated December 4, 2005; "Football America", a series of articles attesting to the pervasive popularity of American football in the United States at all levels.

External links

Movie of 1903 football game between the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan

National Football League Official Signals.

Brief explanation of the sport by the BBC aimed at a non-american audience

American Youth Football

Category:Sports originating in the United States Category:1869 introductions Category:Football codes

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name	Trey Parker
birth date	October 19, 1969
birth name	Randolph Severn Parker III
birth place
occupation	Actor, writer, director, producer, musician
active	1992 -
spouse	Emma Sugiyama (2005–2008) }}

Trey Parker (born Randolph Severn Parker III; October 19, 1969) is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series ''South Park'' along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.

Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short titled ''Jesus vs. Frosty''. His first success came from ''Cannibal! The Musical''. From there he made another short titled ''Jesus vs. Santa'', which led him and his college friend, Matt Stone, to create the animated television series ''South Park'', which began airing on television in 1997. He has won 4 Emmy Awards for his role in South Park, winning for both "Outstanding Programming More Than One Hour" and "Outstanding Programming Less Than One Hour".

He has co-written and co-directed the 2011 multi-Tony Award winning musical ''The Book of Mormon''.

Early life

Parker was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Randy (a geologist) and Sharon (an insurance broker). The two share the first names and occupations of ''South Park'' characters Randy and Sharon Marsh. He has an older sister named Shelley, which is also the name of Stan Marsh's older sister. In the sixth grade, Parker wrote a sketch titled ''The Dentist'' and appeared in his school's talent show. He played the dentist and had a friend play the patient. The plot involved what can go wrong at the dentist; due to the amounts of fake blood involved, Parker's parents were called and were upset. "The kindergartners were all crying and freaking out," Parker recalled. As a teenager, Parker developed a love for musical theatre, and joined the Evergreen Players, a venerable mountain community theater outside of Denver. At 14, he performed his first role as chorus member in ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'', ''Flower Drum Song'' and went on to also design sets for the community theater's production of ''Little Shop of Horrors''. Parker attended high school at Evergreen High, where he continued his musical endeavors through starring as Danny Zuko in ''Grease''. He also played piano for the chorus and was president of the choir counsel.

Parker worked hard in school and had a part-time student job in a pizza restaurant. Parker was also a "film geek and music buff". Parker grew up in the Conifer, Colorado area, and attended Berklee College of Music before transferring to the University of Colorado, where he majored in music and Japanese.

Career

In 1992, Parker and Stone created ''Jesus vs. Frosty''. It included four boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Eric Cartman. Both ''Jesus vs. Frosty'' and ''Cannibal! The Musical'' were made while they were students at the University of Colorado film school, studying under both ''Stan Brakhage'' and Jerry Aronson. Afterwards, the two friends set off for Hollywood in hopes of making more movies. Brian Graden, then an executive at Fox, put Parker to work making a pilot for a musical children's television series called ''Time Warped''. The pilot, called "Rom and Jul," was a love story about a Homo erectus and an Australopithecus. Fox passed on the series, but Graden paid Parker and Stone $1,200 to make a new version of ''The Spirit of Christmas'' he could send out as a video Christmas card.

They came up with two worthwhile ideas; one a sequel to ''Jesus vs. Frosty'', entitled ''Jesus vs. Santa'', and one about a character that would later be recurring in ''South Park'', Mr. Hankey. They chose to write about the four boys. The result was The Spirit of Christmas, an animated short film that centered on four crude-acting, blob-shaped third-grade boys forced to intervene in a nasty fistfight between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. The tape was a smash, passed around and copied endlessly in media circles in Los Angeles and New York City. The video landed in the hands of Doug Herzog of Comedy Central. "It literally was the funniest thing I'd ever seen," he said in a 2006 interview. "We said, 'Develop a show.' So they went off and developed the show." Stone and Parker produced 13 episodes for season 1. South Park is currently still under contract to produce new episodes through 2011.

In 1997, they also released ''Orgazmo'', a movie rated NC-17. In 1998, they starred in (but did not write or direct) ''BASEketball'', another feature film, while being renewed for a second season of ''South Park''. In 1999, Parker and Stone made ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', which gave the series a new level of prominence. He was nominated for an Academy Award as the co-writer of one of the film's songs, "Blame Canada," but did not win. In 2001, the duo announced they would do 39 shorts between the lengths of 2 and 5 minutes. Although originally thought to be ''South Park'' related, they decided they would do something different. The result was the shorts ''Princess''. The content was so extreme that it was cancelled after two shows aired. In 2001, they also created ''That's My Bush!'', another television series. Despite great reviews, the show was cancelled after one season for the cost per episode. In 2004, they made a film, titled ''Team America: World Police''. The film was not considered a box-office success, grossing 51 million dollars in theaters, despite largely positive reviews (78% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com). As of 2011, ''South Park'' is in its fifteenth season.

Parker is also a member of the band DVDA with Stone, for which he plays keyboards and sings. DVDA's songs have appeared in many of the duo's productions. They include ''Orgazmo'', ''BASEketball'', ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', and ''Team America: World Police''.

Trey claimed to have been on acid with Matt Stone at the time of the 2000 Academy Awards, where they wore dresses popularized by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow at previous awards shows.

On September 28, 2007, Parker and Stone acquired the rights to the Canadian-made ''Kenny vs. Spenny'', which premiered November 14, 2007 on Comedy Central with ten old and new episodes.

In April 2010, Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a "warning" for allegedly representing the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume: "We have to warn Matt and Trey [South Park creators] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show." It was revealed in the next episode that the person in the bear costume was really Santa Claus and not the Prophet Muhammad.

Theater productions

Parker and Stone have collaborated with ''Avenue Q'' composer Robert Lopez on a musical about Mormons; it is titled ''The Book of Mormon'', and stars Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad. It has been produced by Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino. It opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011, following previews from February 24, 2011. The Book of Mormon won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including that of Best Direction of a Musical for Parker and co-director Casey Nicholaw.

Voices on ''South Park''

{| |- style="vertical-align: top;" |

Eric Cartman

Stan Marsh

Randy Marsh

Marvin Marsh

Starvin' Marvin

Clyde Donovan

Mr. Garrison

Ned Gerblansky

Dr. Alphonse Mephisto

Mr. Hankey

Santa Claus

God

|

Sexual Harassment Panda

Mr. Mackey

Stephen Stotch

Officer Barbrady

Ms. Choksondik (2000-2002)

Timmy

Jimmy Vulmer

Tuong Lu Kim

Phillip

Satan

Various

|}

Personal life

In 2006, Parker married Emma Sugiyama. The officiant was 1970s sitcom producer Norman Lear. That marriage ended, and Parker is now living with a woman and her son.

On a September 2006 airing of the ABC news program ''Nightline'', Parker articulated his position on religion. He stated that he believes there is knowledge that humanity may not yet possess, and cautioned that it would take a long time to explain exactly what he meant by his belief in God. Parker further remarked, "Basically ... out of all the ridiculous religion stories which are greatly, wonderfully ridiculous — the silliest one I've ever heard is, 'Yeah ... there's this big giant universe and it's expanding, it's all gonna collapse on itself and we're all just here just 'cause ... just '''cause'''. That, to me, is the most ridiculous explanation ever."

Discography

''Baseketball (soundtrack)'' (1998)

''Orgazmo (soundtrack)'' (1998)

''Chef Aid: The South Park Album'' (1998)

''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (soundtrack)'' (1999)

''Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics'' (1999)

''Team America: World Police (soundtrack)'' (2005)

Filmography

''Cannibal ''The Spirit of Christmas (short film) ''Orgazmo'' ''South Park'' (Television series; 1997–present) ''BASEketball'' ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'' ''Even If You Don't'' ''Princess (Flash series) ''Team America: World Police'' ''The Aristocrats (film) ''Kenny vs. Spenny'' ''Saul of the Mole Men''

Year	! Production	! Role	! Other notes
rowspan="1"	1992	The Spirit of Christmas (short film)>Jesus vs. Frosty''	Actor, Producer, Writer
rowspan="1"	1993	The Musical''	Director, Actor, Producer, Writer
rowspan="3"	1995	Jesus vs. Santa'' ||	Actor, Producer, Writer
''Time Warped'' (un-aired television series)	Creator, Actor
''Your Studio and You''	Actor, Writer, Director
1996	|	Director, Actor, Writer, Producer
rowspan="1"	1997	|	Co-Creator, Voice Actor, Writer, Director, Executive Producer
1998	|	Actor
rowspan="2"	1999	|	Director, Voice Actor, Writer, Producer, Music Co-Composer	Nomination - Academy Award for Best Original Song
''Terror Firmer''	Actor
2000	|	Director	Music Video
rowspan="2"	2001	Princess'' ||	Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer	Animation Shorts
''That's My Bush! (Television Series; 2001'')	Co-creator, Writer, Executive Producer
rowspan="2"	2004	|	Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer
''Tales from the Crapper''	Actor
2005	The Aristocrats'' ||	Guest Appearance
2007	|	Executive Producer
2007	|	Voice actor	Television series, intro sung by him

Awards

Tony Awards

Trey Parker has won four Tony Awards.

2011 – Best Musical for ''The Book of Mormon''

2011 – Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''The Book of Mormon''

2011 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''The Book of Mormon''

2011 – Tony Award for Best Original Score for ''The Book of Mormon''

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:American animators Category:American film directors Category:American libertarians Category:American screenwriters Category:American television producers Category:American voice actors Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Critics of Scientology Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Denver Metro Area Category:South Park Category:Tony Award winners Category:University of Colorado at Boulder alumni Category:American skeptics

ar:تري باركر bar:Trey Parker br:Trey Parker ca:Trey Parker cs:Trey Parker da:Trey Parker de:Trey Parker et:Trey Parker es:Trey Parker fr:Trey Parker ga:Trey Parker gl:Trey Parker ko:트레이 파커 is:Trey Parker it:Trey Parker he:טריי פארקר hu:Trey Parker nl:Trey Parker ja:トレイ・パーカー no:Trey Parker pl:Trey Parker pt:Trey Parker ro:Trey Parker ru:Паркер, Трей simple:Trey Parker sr:Треј Паркер fi:Trey Parker sv:Trey Parker tr:Trey Parker zh:特雷·帕克

name	Matt Stone
birth date	May 26, 1971
birth name	Matthew Richard Stone
birth place	Houston, Texas, U.S.
religion	None (Atheist)
occupation	Actor, writer, television director, television producer
years active	1992–present

Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of ''South Park'' along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker.

Stone and Parker launched their largely collaborative careers in 1992, making a holiday short titled ''Jesus vs. Frosty''. Their first success came from ''Alferd Packer: The Musical'', subsequently distributed as ''Cannibal! The Musical''. From there he made another short title ''Jesus vs. Santa'', leading him and his college friend Trey Parker to create the animated television series ''South Park'', which has been on television for over a decade. He has four Emmy Awards for his role in ''South Park'', winning for both "Outstanding Programming More Than One Hour" and "Outstanding Programming Less Than One Hour".

Early life

Stone was born in Houston, Texas to Gerald Whitney Stone, Jr. (1941-2010), an economics professor and textbook author, and Sheila Lois Belasco (who share the first names of South Park character Kyle's parents). Stone's mother is Jewish and his father was of Irish descent. Stone and his younger sister, Rachel were raised in Littleton, Colorado, a the suburb of Denver, Colorado, where both attended Heritage High School. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and was their first student to double major in film and mathematics.

Career

South Park

In 1992, Stone and Parker created ''Jesus vs. Frosty''. It included four boys, two resembling Stan and Kyle, one called Kenny who looked like Cartman, and a fourth unnamed boy who looked like Kenny McCormick. Both ''Jesus'' and ''Cannibal! The Musical'' were made while they were students at the University of Colorado film school, studying under both Stan Brakhage and Jerry Aronson. After the duo released ''Cannibal! The Musical'', they were asked to make another animated short. They came down to two ideas: one a sequel to ''Jesus vs. Frosty'', and one about a character that would later be recurring in ''South Park'', Mr. Hankey. They chose to write about the four boys, and their decision ultimately opened the door for them to present a show (''South Park'') to Comedy Central. Stone and Parker produced 13 episodes for season 1. In 1999, Stone and Parker made ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', which gave the series prominence. The film's music was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan.

Other projects

In 1997, they also released ''Orgazmo'', a movie rated NC-17. In 1998, they starred in (but did not write or direct) ''BASEketball'', another feature film, while being renewed for a second season of ''South Park''. In 2001, the duo announced they would do 39 shorts between the lengths of 2 and 5 minutes. Although originally thought to be ''South Park''-related, they decided they would do something different. The result was the shorts 'Princess'. The content was so extreme that it was cancelled after two shows aired. In 2001, they also created ''That's My Bush!'', another television series. Despite great reviews, the show was cancelled after one season for its cost, reportedly $700,000 per episode.

In 2004, they made a film titled ''Team America: World Police'' which many critics reviewed positively. In August 2007, South Park was renewed for three more seasons, 13, 14 and 15, each of them containing 14 episodes.

Stone is also a member of the band DVDA with Parker, for which he plays bass and drums. DVDA's songs have appeared in many of the duo's productions, including ''Orgazmo'', ''BASEketball'', ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', and ''Team America: World Police''.

On September 28, 2007, Parker and Stone acquired the US rights to the Canadian-made ''Kenny vs. Spenny'', which premiered November 14, 2007 on Comedy Central with ten old and new episodes.

Stone and Parker collaborated with ''Avenue Q'' composer Robert Lopez on a musical about Mormons titled ''The Book of Mormon'', which stars Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, Nikki M. James and Rory O'Malley. It opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011, and is being produced by Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino. It is directed by Parker and Casey Nicholaw, and choreographed by Nicholaw.

In April 2010, Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a "warning" for allegedly representing the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume: "We have to warn Matt and Trey [South Park creators] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Dutch director Theo van Gogh for airing this show." It was revealed in the next episode that the person in the bear costume was really Santa Claus and not the Prophet Muhammad; the "real" Muhammad was supposed to appear as well, but Comedy Central had him censored out against Stone and Parker's wishes.

Stone claimed to have been on acid with Trey Parker at the time of the 2000 Academy Awards, where they wore dresses popularized by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow at previous awards shows.

Personal life

In 2008, Stone married Angela Howard. He has one son.

Regarding religion, Stone considers himself "ethnically Jewish", on account of his mother's descent, but grew up agnostic, and has no other adherence to the religion, identifying himself as an atheist.

Filmography

''Cannibal ''The Spirit of Christmas (short film) ''South Park'' (Television series; 1997–present) ''BASEketball'' ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'' ''Even If You Don't'' ''Princess (Flash series) ''Bowling for Columbine'' ''Team America: World Police'' ''This Film Is Not Yet Rated'' ''Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo'' ''Kenny vs. Spenny'' ''Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage''

Year	! Production	! Role	! Other notes
1992	The Spirit of Christmas (short film)>Jesus vs. Frosty''	Director, Actor, Producer, Writer
1994	The Musical''	Actor, Producer
rowspan="2"	1995	Jesus vs. Santa'' ||	Director, Actor, Producer, Writer
''Your Studio and You''	Actor, Writer
rowspan="2"	1997	|	Co-creator, Voice actor, Writer, Director, Executive producer
''Orgazmo''	Actor, Writer, Producer
1998	|	Actor
rowspan="2"	1999	|	Voice actor, Writer, Producer
''Terror Firmer''	Actor
2000	|	Director	Music Video
rowspan="2"	2001	Princess'' ||	Director, Writer, Voice actor, Producer	Animation shorts
''That's My Bush!'' (Television Series; 2001)	Co-creator, Writer, Executive producer
2003	|	Interviewee
2004	|	Writer, Voice actor, Producer
2006	|	Interviewee
2007	|	Actor
2007	|	Executive Producer
2010	|	Himself

Voices on ''South Park''

{| |- style="vertical-align: top;" |

Kyle Broflovski

Kenny McCormick

Gerald Broflovski

Stuart McCormick

Craig Tucker

Butters Stotch

Jimbo Kern

Pip Pirrup (1997–2010)

|

Skeeter

Terrance

Saddam Hussein

Kevin Stoley

Priest Maxi

Tweek Tweak

Mr. Adler

Various

|}

References

External links

Matt Stone and Trey Parker at the Official South Park Website

Fresh Air Interview

Category:1971 births Category:American animators Category:American atheists Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American screenwriters Category:American skeptics Category:American television producers Category:American voice actors Category:Critics of Scientology Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Living people Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Denver Metro Area Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:South Park Category:University of Colorado at Boulder alumni Category:Jewish film producers Category:Jewish atheists

ar:مات ستون bar:Matt Stone br:Matt Stone ca:Matt Stone da:Matt Stone de:Matt Stone et:Matt Stone es:Matt Stone fr:Matt Stone ga:Matt Stone gl:Matt Stone ko:맷 스톤 is:Matt Stone it:Matt Stone he:מאט סטון hu:Matt Stone nl:Matt Stone ja:マット・ストーン no:Matt Stone pl:Matt Stone pt:Matt Stone ro:Matt Stone ru:Стоун, Мэтт simple:Matt Stone sr:Мет Стоун fi:Matt Stone sv:Matt Stone tr:Matt Stone zh:马特·斯通

Name	Michael Flatley
Birth name	Michael Ryan Flatley
Birth date	July 16, 1958
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, US
Nationality	Irish-American
Education	Brother Rice High School
Occupation	dancer, actor, occasional broadcaster, writer, flautist, choreographer
Years active	since 1991
Networth	$650 million(UK: £421 million;Ireland: €495 million)
Known	''Riverdance (since 1994)''''Lord of the Dance (since 1996)''''Feet of Flames (1998–2001)''''Celtic Tiger (2004–2007)''
Children	Michael St. James Flatley(born 2007)
Spouse	(divorced)
Website	Official website }}

Michael Ryan Flatley (born 16 July 1958) is an Irish-American step dancer, actor, choreographer, musician and occasional television presenter. He became internationally known for Irish dance shows ''Riverdance'', ''Lord of the Dance'', ''Feet of Flames'', and ''Celtic Tiger''.

Early life

Flatley is a native of the South Side of Chicago, born to Irish parents. He began dancing lessons at 12 and, in 1975, became the first non-European resident to win the All-Ireland World Championship for Irish dance. He is a trained amateur boxer as well as a proficient flute player, having twice won the All-Ireland Competition. In dance, Flatley was taught by Dennis Dennehy at the Dennehy School of Irish Dance in Chicago, then went on to producing his own show. After graduating from Brother Rice High School, on Chicago's Southwest Side, he opened a dance school.

Career

He was the first American to win the World Irish Dance Championships and also won numerous All-Ireland Flute Championships. From 1978–79 he toured with Green Fields of America. Later he toured with The Chieftains in the 1980s.;

He received the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship in 1988.In May 1989, Flatley set a Guinness Book world record for tapping speed at 28 taps per second. Flatley was named one of National Geographic Society's Living Treasures in 1991 for mastery of a traditional art form by a living person - the youngest person at that time ever to receive this accolade.

Flatley choreographed the original ''Riverdance'' and led the show to great success as the intermission act in the Eurovision Song Contest on April 30, 1994. He then starred in the full-length show that was developed from the original seven-minute act. After leaving the show due to disagreement over creative control, he produced, directed, and choreographed ''Lord of the Dance'' which was played mostly in arenas and stadiums instead of theaters. He also put together a dance production called ''Feet of Flames'' in 1998. He later went on to produce another version of that show of which around 50% of the numbers were different from that of the 1998 show. Titled 'Feet of Flames The Victory Tour', he toured Europe in 2000 and the USA in 2001.

He broke his own record for tapping speed in February 1998, by achieving 35 taps per second.

Flatley also received Guinness Book recognition in both 1999 and 2000 for being the highest paid dancer, earning $1,600,000 per week and for having the highest insurance policy placed on a dancer's legs at $40,000,000.

In December 2001, Flatley became the first recipient of the Irish Dancing Commission Fellowship award, an honorary degree in Irish dance, and was simultaneously made a Fellow of the American Irish Dance Teachers’ Association. Irish America magazine named Flatley Irish American of the Year in March 2003.

In 2004, Flatley received an honorary doctorate degree from University College Dublin and that same year received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York.

His latest Irish dance show is ''Celtic Tiger'', which opened in July 2005. The show explores the history of the Irish people and Irish emigration to the US, fusing a wide range of dance styles, including jazz. The show also includes popular elements from his previous shows, such as Flatley's flute solos and the line of dancers in the finale.

In March 2006, Flatley released his own autobiographical book titled ''Lord of the Dance: My Story''. Regarding his future, Flatley was quoted in the ''Celtic Tiger'' program book as saying, "I will be a dancer until the day I die," though more developments in entertainment are planned (see below).

On the June 3, 2007, The Freedom of the City of Cork was conferred on the entertainer at a ceremony in Cork's City Hall. In 2008, he was conferred with the Freedom of the Borough of Sligo at a ceremony in Sligo City Hall.;

The Variety Club of Ireland presented Flatley with their Entertainer of the Decade Award in 2008 as well.; In the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars in the US, he appeared as a guest, filling in for Len Goodman. In the fall of 2007, Flatley and a troupe of male dancers performed on Dancing with the Stars in the USA and in 2008, he performed the solo 'Capone' from Celtic Tiger.

He was the host of the NBC show Superstars of Dance, which premiered on January 4, 2009. Michael Flatley returned to the stage in 2009 for a limited run of the "Hyde Park" version of Feet of Flames in Taiwan. His return was met with multiple standing ovations and the run of shows had to be extended to meet the demand for tickets.;

In April 2010, he announced that he would be returning to headline the Lord of the Dance show, with performances in Dublin's The O₂, Belfast's Odyssey Arena, London's O₂ arena, Sheffield's Sheffield Arena, Manchester's MEN Arena, Birmingham's LG Arena, Nottingham's Trent FM Arena, Liverpool's Echo Arena, London's Wembley Arena, Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena in November 2010, with dates also announced in Germany, Switzerland & Austria, the first time he will have done so since 1998;.

June 2010 Michael launched The Garden of Music and Memory in Culfadda County Sligo the village his father left to seek a new life in America, part of this ceremony including Michael's speech and an impromptu performance of one of his father's favourite tunes can be heard at http://www.podcasts.ie/michael-flatley-in-culfadda/

Michael Flatley was among the list of international film and sports stars and amateur golfers who participated in the fundraising golf Pro-Am, the JP McManus Pro-Am in Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort in Adare, Co Limerick, Ireland on the 5th and 6 July 2010.

In March 2011, Lord of the Dance 3D, the movie, debuted in theatres worldwide. Filmed during Flatley’s return tour in the fall of 2010, the movie featured new sets, new costumes, state-of-the-art lighting, pyrotechnics and projections. A DVD of the show was released on June 28, 2011 in USA and Canada, and August 4 in Australia. It will be released on September 12, 2011 in the U.K. and October in Germany, France,Benelux and Scandinavia.

In March 2011, Michael Flatley was inducted into Irish America magazine's Irish America Hall of Fame.

Personal life

In 1986, Flatley wed Polish make-up artist Beata Dziąba, and divorced in 1997.

In April 2006, Flatley spoke about his recent discovery of a facial skin cancer. He had kept the cancer a closely guarded secret, but said, "I'm completely fine now, thank God."

At the 10th Anniversary of ''Lord of the Dance'' in June 2006, Flatley was accompanied by dancer Niamh O’Brien, who dances with him in ''Celtic Tiger.'' The 30-something O'Brien had danced with Flatley in ''Riverdance,'' ''Lord of the Dance,'' and ''Feet of Flames'' before they shared the stage in ''Celtic Tiger.'' The two shortly thereafter announced that they were dating, and were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Fermoy, Co. Cork, on October 14, 2006.

On November 15, 2006, Flatley was admitted at Harley Street hospital in London after falling ill in his London home as said by his publicist. According to media reports, a serious viral infection caused the illness. All the fall and winter tours of his latest production, ''Celtic Tiger'', were cancelled. He was discharged after spending two weeks there and claimed that he will release future tour dates but never did.

Niamh Flatley gave birth to son, Michael St. James Flatley, on Thursday April 26, 2007.

There was a false allegation from real estate agent and former stripper and girlfriend of NFL and Chicago Bear player Brian Urlacher, Tyna Marie Robertson claiming that Michael had raped her in 2002 at a Las Vegas hotel and even threatened to sue him unless he paid a settlement of at least seven figures. She was ordered to pay $11 million in a defamation suit. It was revealed that she tried to extort $33 million from him. Michael claimed that he will donate the recovered money to charity.

Flatley's financial worth was estimated at £350 million (US $700 million) in a ''Daily Mail'' article, and he is known to maintain homes in Barbados, Chicago, France, Ireland and London. As of 2010, his estimated fortune is around $650 million (UK: £421 million; Ireland: €495 million)

In other media

Flatley and his work have been referenced and parodied in a wide variety of media, including television shows such as ''Britain's Got Talent'', ''I'm Alan Partridge'', ''3rd Rock From The Sun'', and ''Celebrity Deathmatch'', and movies such as ''Dudley Do-Right'' and ''The Boondock Saints''. As well as ''The Simpsons'' episode ''The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star''.

On an episode of ''Family Guy'', Stewie questioned if Michael Flatley was still alive. When Stewie realized he was, then wrote down in a notebook that he wanted to kill Flatley. In one of the episodes of ''Friends'' ("The One with the Embryos"), Flatley is referred to as the biggest phenomenon that scares the bejesus out of Chandler Bing. In the opening scene of an episode of ''I'm Alan Partridge'', a radio poll entitled "Which is the best Lord?": a choice between the Dance, the Flies, or the Rings sees the latter two being "roundly trounced by the quick feet of blouse-wearing tycoon Michael Flatley".

References

External links

Official website

''Riverdance'' website

''Lord of the Dance'' website

In-depth information on Flatley and his shows

Transcript of Flatley's interview on the BBC show "Parkinson"

Category:1958 births Category:American dancers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Performers of Irish dance

de:Michael Flatley el:Μάικλ Φλάτλεϊ es:Michael Flatley eo:Michael Flatley eu:Michael Flatley fa:مایکل فلتلی fr:Michael Flatley ga:Michael Flatley it:Michael Flatley he:מייקל פלטלי hu:Michael Flatley nl:Michael Flatley ja:マイケル・フラットレー no:Michael Ryan Flatley pl:Michael Flatley pt:Michael Flatley ru:Флэтли, Майкл sv:Michael Flatley zh:麥可·佛萊利

name	Sir Paul McCartneyMBE
birth name	James Paul McCartney
background	solo_singer
alt	Black-and-white image of McCartney, in his sixties, holding an electric bass. He wears a black buttoned-up suit jacket with black pants.
birth name	James Paul McCartney
born	June 18, 1942Liverpool, England
instrument	Vocals,Bass guitar,guitar, piano, organ, mellotron, keyboards, drums, ukulele, mandolin, recorder
genre	Rock, pop, psychedelic rock, experimental rock, rock and roll, hard rock, classical music
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, film producer, painter, activist, businessman
years active	1957–present
label	Hear Music, Apple, Parlophone, Capitol, Columbia, Concord Music Group, EMI, One Little Indian, Vee-Jay
associated acts	The Quarrymen, The Beatles, Wings, The Fireman, Linda McCartney, John Lennon, Denny Laine
website
notable instruments	Höfner 500/1Rickenbacker 4001SGibson Les PaulEpiphone TexanEpiphone CasinoFender EsquireFender Jazz BassYamaha BB1200 BassWal 5-String BassMartin D-28 }}

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is the most commercially successful songwriter in the history of popular music, according to ''Guinness World Records''.

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the United Kingdom.

BBC News Online readers named McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium", and BBC News cites his Beatles song "Yesterday" as the most covered song in the history of recorded music—by over 2,200 artists—and since its 1965 release, has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio according to the BBC. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 31 number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States, and has sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the US alone.

McCartney has composed film scores, classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and has taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. He is a keen football fan, supporting both Everton and Liverpool football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as ''Guys and Dolls'', ''A Chorus Line'', and ''Grease''. McCartney is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010.

Childhood

McCartney was born in Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary (née Mohan), had worked as a nurse in the maternity ward. He has one brother, Michael, born 7 January 1944. McCartney was baptised Roman Catholic but was raised non-denominationally: his mother was Roman Catholic and his father James, or "Jim" McCartney, was a Protestant turned agnostic.

In 1947, he began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary School. He then attended the Joseph Williams Junior School and passed the 11-plus exam in 1953 with three others out of the 90 examinees, thus gaining admission to the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, while taking the bus from his home in the suburb of Speke to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who lived nearby. Passing the exam meant that McCartney and Harrison could go to a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school, which the majority of pupils attended until they were eligible to work, but as grammar school pupils, they had to find new friends.

In 1955, the McCartney family moved to 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. Mary McCartney rode a bicycle to houses where she was needed as a midwife, and an early McCartney memory is of her leaving when it was snowing heavily. On 31 October 1956, Mary McCartney died of an embolism after a mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her breast cancer. The early loss of his mother later connected McCartney with John Lennon, whose mother Julia died after being struck by a car when Lennon was 17.

McCartney's father was a trumpet player and pianist who had led Jim Mac's Jazz Band in the 1920s and encouraged his two sons to be musical. Jim had an upright piano in the front room that he had bought from Epstein's North End Music Stores. McCartney's grandfather, Joe McCartney, played an E-flat tuba. Jim McCartney used to point out the different instruments in songs on the radio, and often took McCartney to local brass band concerts. McCartney's father gave him a nickel-plated trumpet, but when skiffle music became popular, McCartney swapped the trumpet for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar. As he was left-handed, McCartney found right-handed guitars difficult to play, but when he saw a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert, he realised that Whitman played left-handed with his guitar strung the opposite way to a right-handed player. McCartney wrote his first song ("I Lost My Little Girl") on the Zenith, and also played his father's Framus Spanish guitar when writing early songs with Lennon. He later learned to play the piano and wrote his second song, "When I'm Sixty-Four". On his father's advice, he took music lessons, but since he preferred to learn 'by ear' he never paid much attention to them.

McCartney was heavily influenced by American Rhythm and Blues music. He has stated that Little Richard was his idol when he was in school and that the first song he ever sang in public was "Long Tall Sally", at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.

Musical career

1957–1960

At the age of 15, McCartney met John Lennon and The Quarrymen at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957. He formed a close working relationship with Lennon and they collaborated writing many songs. Harrison joined the group in early 1958 as lead guitarist, followed in early 1960 by Lennon's art school friend, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass. By May 1960, they had tried several new names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "The Silver Beetles", playing a tour of Scotland under that name with Johnny Gentle. They finally changed the name of the group to "The Beatles" in mid-August 1960 and recruited Pete Best at short-notice to become their drummer for an imminent engagement in Hamburg.

1960–1970: The Beatles

From August 1960, The Beatles were booked by Allan Williams, to perform at a club in Hamburg. During extended stays over the next two years, The Beatles performed as a resident group in a number of Hamburg clubs. On returns to Liverpool they played at the Cavern club. Prior to the end of the residency, Sutcliffe left the band, so McCartney, reluctantly, became The Beatles' bass player. The Beatles recorded their first published musical material in Hamburg, performing as the backing group for Tony Sheridan on the single "My Bonnie". This recording later brought the Beatles to the attention of a key figure in their subsequent development and commercial success, Brian Epstein, who became their next manager. Epstein eventually negotiated a record contract for the group with Parlophone in May 1962. After replacing Best with Ringo Starr on drums, The Beatles became popular in the UK in 1963 and in the US in 1964. In 1965, they were each appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). After performing concerts, plays, and tours almost non-stop for a period of nearly four years, and giving more than one thousand four hundred live performances internationally, The Beatles gave their last commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour. They continued to work in the recording studio from 1966 until their break-up in 1970. In the eight years from 1962 to 1970, the group had released twenty-four UK singles and twelve studio albums, often released in different configurations in the USA and other countries (see discography).

Since 1970

After the break-up of The Beatles, McCartney continued his musical career, in solo work as well as in collaborations with other musicians. After releasing his solo album ''McCartney'' in 1970, he worked with Linda McCartney to record the album ''Ram'' in 1971. Later the same year, the pair were joined by guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell to form the group Wings, which was active between 1971 and 1981 and released numerous successful singles and albums (see discography). McCartney also collaborated with a number of other popular artists including Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Stewart, and Elvis Costello. In 1985, McCartney played "Let It Be" at the Live Aid concert in London, backed by Bob Geldof, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Alison Moyet.

In 1989, he joined forces with fellow Merseysiders including Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers and Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood to record a new version of Ferry Cross the Mersey (originally recorded 25 years earlier by Gerry and the Pacemakers) to generate money for the appeal fund of the Hillsborough disaster, which occurred on 15 April that year and in which 96 Liverpool F.C. fans died as a result of their injuries.

The 1990s saw McCartney venture into orchestral music, and in 1991 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by McCartney to celebrate its sesquicentennial.

He collaborated with Carl Davis to release ''Liverpool Oratorio''; involving the opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley and Willard White, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral. The Prince of Wales later honoured McCartney as a Fellow of The Royal College of Music and Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (2008). Other forays into classical music included ''Standing Stone'' (1997), ''Working Classical'' (1999), and ''Ecce Cor Meum'' (2006). It was announced in the 1997 New Year Honours that McCartney was to be knighted for services to music, becoming Sir Paul McCartney. In 1999, McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and in May 2000, he was awarded a Fellowship by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. The 1990s also saw McCartney, Harrison, and Starr working together on Apple's ''The Beatles Anthology'' documentary series.

Having witnessed the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks from the JFK airport tarmac, McCartney took a lead role in organising The Concert for New York City. In November 2002, on the first anniversary of George Harrison's death, McCartney performed at the Concert for George. He has also participated in the National Football League's Super Bowl, performing in the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXXVI and headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX.

McCartney has continued to work in the realms of popular and classical music, touring the world and performing at a large number of concerts and events; on more than one occasion he has performed again with Ringo Starr. In 2008, he received a BRIT award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and an honorary degree, Doctor of Music, from Yale University. The same year, he performed at a concert in Liverpool to celebrate the city's year as European Capital of Culture. In 2009, he received two nominations for the 51st annual Grammy awards, while in October of the same year he was named songwriter of the year at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards. On 15 July 2009, more than 45 years after The Beatles first appeared on American television on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater and performed atop the marquee of ''Late Show with David Letterman''. McCartney was portrayed in the 2009 film ''Nowhere Boy'', about Lennon's teenage years, by Thomas Sangster.

On 2 June 2010, McCartney was honoured by Barack Obama with the Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular music in a live show for the White House with performances by Stevie Wonder, Lang Lang and many others.

McCartney's enduring popularity has helped him schedule performances in new venues. He played three sold out concerts at newly-built Citi Field in Queens, New York (built to replace the Shea Stadium) in July 2009. On 18 August 2010, McCartney opened the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

McCartney has been touring since 2001 with guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards and drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.

There are plans for an upcoming Paul McCartney tribute album with recordings of McCartney songs by Kiss, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, B.B. King and others.

Creative outlets

During the 1960s, McCartney was often seen at major cultural events, such as the launch party for the ''International Times'' and at The Roundhouse (28 January and 4 February 1967 respectively). He also delved into the visual arts, becoming a close friend of leading art dealers and gallery owners, explored experimental film, and regularly attended movie, theatrical and classical music performances. His first contact with the London avant-garde scene was through John Dunbar, who introduced him to the art dealer Robert Fraser, who in turn introduced McCartney to an array of writers and artists. McCartney later became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason's Yard, London—John Lennon first met Yoko Ono at the Indica. The Indica Gallery brought McCartney into contact with Barry Miles, whose underground newspaper, the ''International Times'', McCartney helped to start. Miles would become ''de facto'' manager of the Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney's official biography, ''Many Years From Now'' (1997).

While living at the Asher house, McCartney took piano lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which The Beatles' producer Martin had previously attended. McCartney studied composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio. McCartney later wrote and released several pieces of modern classical music and ambient electronica, besides writing poetry and painting. McCartney is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, an arts school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys. The 1837 building, which McCartney attended during his schooldays, had become derelict by the mid-1980s. On 7 June 1996, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the redeveloped building.

Electronic music

After the recording of "Yesterday" in 1965, McCartney contacted the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale, London, to see if they could record an electronic version of the song, but never followed it up. When visiting John Dunbar's flat in London, McCartney would take along tapes he had compiled at Jane Asher's house. The tapes were mixes of various songs, musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that he had Dick James make into a demo record for him. Heavily influenced by John Cage, he made tape loops by recording voices, guitars, and bongoes on a Brenell tape recorder, and splicing the various loops together. He reversed the tapes, sped them up, and slowed them down to create the effects he wanted, some of which were later used on Beatles' recordings, such as "Tomorrow Never Knows". McCartney referred to the tapes as "electronic symphonies".

In the spring of 1966 McCartney rented a ground floor and basement flat from Ringo Starr at 34 Montagu Square, to be used as a small demo studio for spoken-word recordings by poets, writers (including William S. Burroughs) and avant-garde musicians. The Beatles' Apple Records then launched a sub-label, Zapple with Miles as its manager, ostensibly to release recordings of a similar aesthetic, although few releases would ultimately result as Apple and The Beatles slid into business and personal difficulties.

In 1995, McCartney recorded a radio series called "Oobu Joobu" for the American network Westwood One, which he described as being "wide-screen radio". During the 1990s, McCartney collaborated with Youth of Killing Joke under the name The Fireman, and released two ambient electronic albums: ''Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest'' (1993) and ''Rushes'' (1998). In 2000, he released an album titled ''Liverpool Sound Collage'' with Super Furry Animals and Youth, utilising the sound collage and musique concrète techniques that fascinated him in the mid-1960s. In 2005, he worked on a project with bootleg producer and remixer Freelance Hellraiser, consisting of remixed versions of songs from throughout his solo career which were released under the title ''Twin Freaks''. The Fireman's third album ''Electric Arguments'' was released on 25 November 2008. Unlike the first two Fireman albums, this one was more song-based in its structure. McCartney told ''L.A. Weekly'' in a January 2009, "Fireman is improvisational theatre ... I formalise it a bit to get it into the studio, and when I step up to a microphone, I have a vague idea of what I’m about to do. I usually have a song, and I know the melody and lyrics, and my performance is the only unknown."

Film

McCartney was interested in animated films as a child, and later had the financial resources to ask Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called ''Rupert and the Frog Song'', in 1981. McCartney was the producer, he wrote the music and the script, and also added some of the character voices. McCartney wrote and starred in the 1984 film ''Give My Regards to Broad Street''. The film and soundtrack featured the popular hit "No More Lonely Nights", and the album reached No.1 in the UK, but the film did not do well commercially or critically. Roger Ebert awarded the film a single star and wrote, "You can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track." Dunbar worked again with McCartney on an animated film about the work of French artist Honoré Daumier, in 1992, which won both of them a Bafta award. They also worked on Tropic Island Hum, in 1997. In 1995, McCartney made a guest appearance in the Lisa the Vegetarian episode of The Simpsons, and directed a short documentary about The Grateful Dead.

In May 2000, McCartney released ''Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait'', a retrospective documentary that features behind-the-scenes films and photographs that Paul and Linda McCartney (who had died in 1998) took of their family and bands. Interspersed throughout the 88 minute film is an interview by Mary McCartney with her father. Mary was the baby photographed inside McCartney's jacket on the back cover of his first solo album, ''McCartney'', and was one of the producers of the documentary.

Painting

In 1966, McCartney met art gallery-owner Robert Fraser, whose flat was visited by many well-known artists. McCartney met Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Peter Blake, and Richard Hamilton there, and learned about art appreciation. McCartney later started buying paintings by Magritte, and used Magritte's painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo. He now owns Magritte's easel and spectacles.

McCartney's love of painting surfaced after watching artist Willem de Kooning paint, in Kooning's Long Island studio. McCartney took up painting in 1983. In 1999, he exhibited his paintings (featuring McCartney's portraits of John Lennon, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie) for the first time in Siegen, Germany, and included photographs by Linda. He chose the gallery because Wolfgang Suttner (local events organiser) was genuinely interested in his art, and the positive reaction led to McCartney showing his work in UK galleries. The first UK exhibition of McCartney's work was opened in Bristol, England with more than 50 paintings on display. McCartney had previously believed that "only people that had been to art school were allowed to paint"—as Lennon had.

In October 2000, Yoko Ono and McCartney presented art exhibitions in New York and London. McCartney said, "I've been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where John and I used to spend many a pleasant afternoon. So I'm really excited about it. I didn't tell anybody I painted for 15 years but now I'm out of the closet."

As an artist, Paul McCartney designed a series of six postage stamps issued by the Isle of Man Post on 1 July 2002. According to BBC News, McCartney seems to be the first major rock star in the world who is also known as a stamp designer.

Writing and poetry

When McCartney was young, his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books. McCartney's father was interested in crosswords and invited the two young McCartneys (Paul and his brother Michael) to solve them with him, so as to increase their "word power". McCartney was later inspired—in his school years—by Alan Durband, who was McCartney's English literature teacher at the Liverpool Institute. Durband was a co-founder and fund-raiser at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Willy Russell also worked, and introduced McCartney to Geoffrey Chaucer's works. McCartney later took his A-level exams, but passed only one subject—Art.

In 2001 McCartney published 'Blackbird Singing', a volume of poems, some of which were lyrics to his songs, and gave readings in Liverpool and New York City. Some of them were serious: "Here Today" (about Lennon) and some humorous ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer"). In the foreword of the book, McCartney explained that when he was a teenager, he had "an overwhelming desire" to have a poem of his published in the school magazine. He wrote something "deep and meaningful", but it was rejected, and he feels that he has been trying to get some kind of revenge ever since. His first "real poem" was about the death of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan.

In October 2005, McCartney released a children's book called ''High in the Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail''. In a press release publicising the book, McCartney said, "I have loved reading for as long as I can remember", singling out ''Treasure Island'' as a childhood favourite. McCartney collaborated with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar to write the book.

Contact with fellow ex-Beatles

John Lennon

Although McCartney's post-Beatles relationship with John Lennon was troubled, they became close again briefly in 1974 and even played together for the only time since The Beatles split (see A Toot and a Snore in '74). In later years, the two grew apart again. McCartney would often call Lennon, but was never sure of what sort of reception he would get, such as when McCartney once called Lennon and was told, "You're all pizza and fairytales!" McCartney understood that he could not just phone Lennon and only talk about business, so they often talked about cats, baking bread, or babies. According to May Pang, during Lennon's "Lost Weekend" with her they planned to visit McCartney in New Orleans, where McCartney was recording the ''Venus and Mars'' album, but Lennon went back to Ono the day before the planned visit after Ono said she had a new cure for Lennon's smoking habit.

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said that the last time he had seen McCartney was when they had watched the episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' (May 1976) in which Lorne Michaels had made his $3,000 cash offer to get Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr to reunite on the show. McCartney and Lennon had seriously considered going to the studio, but were too tired. This event was fictionalised in the 2000 television film ''Two of Us''. His last telephone call to Lennon, which was just before Lennon and Ono released ''Double Fantasy'', was friendly. During the call, Lennon said (laughing) to McCartney, "This housewife wants a career!" which referred to Lennon's househusband years, while looking after Sean Lennon. In 1984, McCartney said this about the phone call: "Yes. That is a nice thing, a consoling factor for me, because I do feel it was sad that we never actually sat down and straightened our differences out. But fortunately for me, the last phone conversation I ever had with him was really great, and we didn't have any kind of blow-up." Linda McCartney, speaking in the same 1984 interview stated: "I know that Paul was desperate to write with John again. And I know John was desperate to write. Desperate. People thought, well, he's taking care of Sean, he's a househusband and all that, but he wasn't happy. He couldn't write and it drove him crazy. And Paul could have helped him... easily."

;Reaction to Lennon's murder On the morning of 9 December 1980, McCartney awoke to the news that Lennon had been murdered outside his home in the Dakota building in New York. Lennon's death created a media frenzy around the surviving members of The Beatles. On the evening of 9 December, as McCartney was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio, he was surrounded by reporters and asked for his reaction to Lennon's death. He was later criticised for what appeared, when published, to be an utterly superficial response: "It's a drag". McCartney explained, "When John was killed somebody stuck a microphone at me and said: 'What do you think about it?' I said, 'It's a dra-a-ag' and meant it with every inch of melancholy I could muster. When you put that in print it says, 'McCartney in London today when asked for a comment on his dead friend said, "It's a drag."' It seemed a very flippant comment to make." McCartney was also to recall: }} In 1983, McCartney said: }} In a ''Playboy'' interview in 1984, McCartney said that he went home that night and watched the news on television—while sitting with all his children—and cried all evening.

McCartney carried on recording after the death of Lennon but did not play any live concerts for some time. He explained that this was because he was nervous that he would be "the next" to be murdered. This led to a disagreement with Denny Laine, who wanted to continue touring and subsequently left Wings, which McCartney disbanded in 1981. Also in June 1981, six months after Lennon's death, McCartney sang backup on George Harrison's tribute to Lennon, "All Those Years Ago", which also featured Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney would go on to record "Here Today", a tribute song to Lennon.

George Harrison

In 1977, Harrison had this to say about working with McCartney: "There were a lot of tracks though where I played bass...because what Paul would do, if he's written a song, he'd learn all the parts for Paul and then come in the studio and say, 'Do this.' He'd never give you the opportunity to come out with something. Paul would always help along when you'd done his ten songs—then when he got 'round to doing one of my songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually." While being interviewed circa 1988, Harrison said McCartney had recently mentioned the possibility of the two of them writing together, to which Harrison laughed, "I've only been there about 30 years in Paul's life and it's like now he wants to write with me."

In September 1980, Lennon said of Harrison and McCartney's working relationship: "I remember the day [Harrison] called to ask for help on "Taxman", one of his bigger songs. I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along, because that's what he asked for. He came to me because he could not go to Paul, because Paul would not have helped him at that period." Despite this statement, McCartney did contribute to the song, playing the track's guitar solo.

In late 2001, McCartney learned that Harrison was losing his battle with cancer. Upon Harrison's death on 29 November 2001, McCartney told ''Entertainment Tonight'', ''Access Hollywood'', ''Extra'', ''Good Morning America'', ''The Early Show'', ''MTV'', ''VH1'' and ''Today'' that George was like his "baby brother". Harrison spent his last days in a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by McCartney. On the day Harrison died, McCartney said, "George was a fantastic guy...still laughing and joking...a very brave man...and I love him like...he's my brother." While guesting on ''Larry King Live'' alongside Ringo Starr, McCartney said of the last time he saw Harrison, "We just sat there stroking hands. And this is a guy, and, you know, you don't stroke hands with guys, like that, you know it was just beautiful. We just spent a couple of hours and it was really lovely it was like...a favourite memory of mine." On the first anniversary of Harrison's death, McCartney played Harrison's "Something" on a ukulele at the Concert for George.

Personal relationships

One of McCartney's first girlfriends, in 1959, was called Layla, a name he remembers being unusual in Liverpool at the time. Layla was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray's niece.

Dot Rhone

McCartney's first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959. McCartney chose clothes and make-up for Rhone, and he paid for her to have her hair styled like Brigitte Bardot's. When McCartney first went to Hamburg with The Beatles, he wrote to Rhone regularly, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when The Beatles played there again in 1962. The couple had a three-year relationship, and were due to marry until Rhone's miscarriage.

Jane Asher

McCartney first met the British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, when a photographer asked them to pose together at a Beatles performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The two began a relationship and McCartney took up residence with Asher at her parents' house at 57 Wimpole Street London, where he lived for nearly three years before the couple moved to McCartney's own house in St. John's Wood. McCartney wrote several songs while at the Ashers', including "Yesterday" and several inspired by Asher, among them "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", and "I'm Looking Through You". McCartney and Asher had a five-year relationship, and they planned to marry, but Asher broke off the engagement when she discovered McCartney had become involved with another woman, Francie Schwartz. However, Schwartz stated that McCartney and Asher had already broken up before the incident.

Linda McCartney

In 1969, McCartney married American photographer Linda Eastman, whom he described as the woman who gave him "the strength and courage to work again" after the break-up of The Beatles. The pair had met previously at a 1967 Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O'Nails club, during her UK assignment to take photographs of "Swinging Sixties" musicians in London. Paul and Linda were both vegetarian and supported the animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They had four children—Linda's daughter Heather (who was adopted by Paul), Mary, Stella and James—and remained married until Linda's death from breast cancer in 1998.

Heather Mills

In 2002, McCartney married Heather Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner. The couple had a child, Beatrice, in 2003. They separated in May 2006 and were divorced in May 2008. Widespread animosity towards McCartney's wives was reported in 2004. "They [the British public] didn't like me giving up on Jane Asher", McCartney said. "I married a New York divorcee with a child, and at the time they didn't like that."

Nancy Shevell

McCartney has been dating New Yorker Nancy Shevell since November 2007. She is a member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as vice president of a family-owned transportation conglomerate which owns New England Motor Freight. On 6 May 2011, it was reported that McCartney would wed Shevell.

Lifestyle

Drugs

McCartney's introduction to drugs started in Hamburg, Germany. The Beatles had to play for hours, and they were often given "Prellies" (Preludin) by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr (whose mother bought them). McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five.

McCartney remembered getting "very high" and giggling when The Beatles were introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan in New York, in 1964. McCartney's use of cannabis became regular, and he was quoted as saying that any future Beatles' lyrics containing the words "high", or "grass" were written specifically as a reference to cannabis, as was the phrase "another kind of mind" in "Got to Get You into My Life". John Dunbar's flat at 29 Lennox Gardens, in London, became a regular hang-out for McCartney, where he talked to musicians, writers and artists, and smoked cannabis. In 1965, Barry Miles introduced McCartney to hash brownies by using a recipe for hash fudge he found in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. During the filming of ''Help!'', he occasionally smoked a spliff in the car on the way to the studio during filming, which often made him forget his lines. ''Help!'' director Dick Lester said that he overheard "two beautiful women" trying to cajole McCartney into taking heroin, but he refused.

McCartney's attitude about cannabis was made public in the 1960s, when he added his name to an advertisement in ''The Times'', on 24 July 1967, which asked for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by 65 people, including The Beatles, Epstein, RD Laing, 15 doctors, and two MPs.

McCartney was introduced to cocaine by Robert Fraser, and it was available during the recording of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. He admitted that he used the drug multiple times for about a year but stopped because of the unpleasant comedown.

In 1967, on a sailing trip to Greece (with the idea of buying an island for the whole group) McCartney said everybody sat around and took LSD, although McCartney had first taken it with Tara Browne, in 1966. He took his second "acid trip" with Lennon on 21 March 1967 after a studio session. McCartney was the first British pop star to openly admit using LSD, in an interview in the now-defunct "Queen" magazine. His admission was followed by a TV interview in the UK on ITN on 19 June 1967, and when McCartney was asked about his admission of LSD use, he said:

McCartney was not arrested by Norman Pilcher's Drug Squad, as had been Donovan, and several members of the Rolling Stones. In 1972, however, police found cannabis plants growing on his Scottish farm.

On 16 January 1980, Wings went to Tokyo for 11 concerts in Japan. As McCartney was going through customs, officials found 7.7 ounces (218.3 g) of cannabis in his luggage. He was arrested and taken to a Tokyo prison while the Japanese government decided what to do. McCartney had been previously denied a visa to Japan (in 1975) because he had been convicted twice in Europe for possession of cannabis. Public figures called for McCartney to be put on trial for drug-smuggling. Had he been convicted, he would have faced up to seven years in prison. The Wings Japanese tour was cancelled and the other members of Wings left Japan. After ten days in jail, McCartney was released and deported. He was told that he would not be welcome in Japan again, although a decade later he played a concert in Tokyo. In 1984, Paul and Linda McCartney were both arrested for possession of cannabis.

In an interview in 2004 he stated the he no longer smoked marijuana, He also admitted to taking Heroin, LSD and Cocaine but said his drug use was never excessive.

Meditation

On 24 August 1967, McCartney met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference, at which time he and the other Beatles learned Transcendental Meditation (TM). "The whole meditation experience was very good and I still use the mantra. . . I find it soothing and I can imagine that the more you were to get into it, the more interesting it would get." The time McCartney later spent in India at the Maharishi's ashram was highly productive, as practically all of the songs that would later be recorded for ''The White Album'' and ''Abbey Road'' were composed there by McCartney, Lennon, or both together. Although McCartney was told that he was never to repeat the mantra to anyone else, he did tell Linda McCartney, and said he meditated a lot while he was in jail in Japan. In 2009, McCartney, along with Ringo Starr, headlined a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall, raising three million dollars for the David Lynch Foundation to fund instruction in Transcendental Meditation for at-risk youth.

Activism

Paul and Linda McCartney became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists. They said that their vegetarianism was realised when they happened to see lambs in a field as they ate a meal of lamb. McCartney has also credited the 1942 Disney film ''Bambi''—in which the young deer's mother is shot by a hunter—as the original inspiration for him to take an interest in animal rights. In his first interview after Linda's death, he promised to continue working for animal rights. In 1999, McCartney spent £3,000,000 to make sure Linda McCartney's food range remained free of GM ingredients. In 2002, McCartney gave his support to a campaign against a proposed ban on the sale of certain vitamins, herbs, and mineral products in the European Union. Following his marriage to Heather Mills, McCartney joined with her to campaign against landmines; both McCartney and Mills are patrons of Adopt-A-Minefield. In 2003, he played a personal concert for the wife of a wealthy banker and donated his one million dollar fee to the charity. He also wore an anti-landmines t-shirt on the Back in the World tour.

In 2006, the McCartneys travelled to Prince Edward Island to bring international attention to the seal hunt (their final public appearance together). Their arrival sparked attention in Newfoundland and Labrador where the hunt is of economic significance. The couple also debated with Newfoundland's Premier Danny Williams on the CNN show ''Larry King Live''. They further stated that the fishermen should quit hunting seals and begin a seal watching business. McCartney has also criticised China's fur trade and supports the Make Poverty History campaign.

McCartney has been involved with a number of charity recordings and performances. In 2004, he donated a song to an album to aid the "US Campaign for Burma", in support of Burmese Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and he had previously been involved in the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Live Aid, and the recording of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" (released 8 May 1989) following the Hillsborough disaster.

In a December 2008 interview with ''Prospect Magazine'', McCartney mentioned that he tried to convince the Dalai Lama to become a vegetarian. In a letter to the Dalai Lama, McCartney took issue with Buddhism and meat-eating being considered compatible, saying, "Forgive me for pointing this out, but if you eat animals then there is some suffering somewhere along the line." The Dalai Lama replied to McCartney by saying his doctors advised him to eat meat for health reasons. In the interview McCartney said, "I wrote back saying they were wrong."

Football

The Beatles were advised by Epstein to make no comments about the football clubs they supported because it could alienate some fans, though it was well known that McCartney was a supporter of Everton Football Club, and that his father and relatives used to take him to matches. His allegiance later shifted to Liverpool F.C., as on 28 July 1968, The Beatles were photographed in a photographer's studio at 192–212 Gray's Inn Road, with McCartney wearing a Liverpool F.C. rosette. Linda McCartney later said: "We spent last night listening to Liverpool football team on the radio, wanting them to win so badly. Paul supports Liverpool. He was for Everton for a while because of his family — but it's all Liverpool now."

Lennon and McCartney were present to watch the 1966 FA Cup Final at Wembley, between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, and McCartney attended the 1968 FA Cup Final (18 May 1968) which was played by West Bromwich Albion against Everton. After the end of the match, McCartney shared cigarettes and whisky with other football fans. The ex-Liverpool player, Albert Stubbins, was the only footballer shown on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover. McCartney tried to listen (on a radio) to the Liverpool v Manchester United 1977 FA Cup Final, while sailing in the Caribbean, and the video for McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" (in 1983) recreated the 1915 football game played between German and British troops during World War I, at Christmas.

At the end of the live version of "Coming Up" recorded in Glasgow in 1979 (later to become a US number one single) the crowd begins to sing "Paul McCartney!" until McCartney takes over and changes the chant to "Kenny Dalglish!", referring to the current Liverpool and Scotland striker. At the same concert, Gordon Smith, former football player who played for Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion, met the McCartneys, and later accepted an invitation to visit their home in East Sussex in 1980. Smith later said that McCartney was "thrilled I knew Kenny Dalglish", to which Linda added: "I like Gordon McQueen of Man United", and Smith replied, "I know him too."

McCartney attended the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton, and in 1989, he contributed to the Ferry Cross the Mersey charity single that was recorded to aid victims of the Hillsborough Disaster, which happened during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. McCartney performed at the Liverpool F.C. Anfield stadium on 1 June 2008, as a part of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters sang with McCartney on "Band on the Run", and played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Ono and Olivia Harrison attended the concert, along with Ken Dodd, and the former Liverpool F.C. football manager Rafael Benítez.

In an interview in 2008, McCartney ended speculation about his allegiance when he said:

"Here's the deal: my father was born in Everton, my family are officially Evertonians, so if it comes down to a derby match or an FA Cup final between the two, I would have to support Everton. But after a concert at Wembley Arena I got a bit of a friendship with Kenny Dalglish, who had been to the gig and I thought 'You know what? I am just going to support them both because it's all Liverpool and I don't have that Catholic-Protestant thing.' So I did have to get special dispensation from the Pope to do this but that's it, too bad. I support them both. They are both great teams, but if it comes to the crunch, I'm Evertonian."

In 2010, there was heavy speculation surrounding McCartney that he was to head up a consortium launching a take-over bid for struggling Charlton Athletic. Links between the club and the famous musician go a long way back with Charlton's famous supporters anthem – Valley, Floyd Road – using the tune and a number of lyrics from the Wings song "Mull of Kintyre".

Business

McCartney is one of Britain's wealthiest musicians, with an estimated fortune of £750 million ($1.2 billion) in 2009, although Justice Bennett, in his judgement on McCartney's divorce case found no evidence that McCartney was worth more than £400 million. In December 1998, he was approached to purchase a stake in Everton Football Club by former school friend Bill Kenwright who wished to put a consortium together but McCartney chose to decline the offer. In addition to his interest in Apple Corps, McCartney's MPL Communications owns a significant music publishing catalogue, with access to over 25,000 copyrights. McCartney earned £40 million in 2003, making him Britain's highest media earner. This rose to £48.5 million by 2005. In the same year he joined the top American talent agency Grabow Associates, who arrange private performances for their richest clients. Northern Songs was established in 1963, by Dick James, to publish the songs of Lennon/McCartney.

The Beatles' partnership was replaced in 1968 by a jointly held company, Apple Corps, which continues to control Apple's commercial interests. Northern Songs was purchased by Associated Television (ATV) in 1969, and was sold in 1985 to Michael Jackson. For many years McCartney was unhappy about Jackson's purchase and handling of Northern Songs.

MPL Communications is an umbrella company for McCartney's business interests, which owns a wide range of copyrights, as well as the publishing rights to musicals. In 2006, the Trademarks Registry reported that MPL had started a process to secure the protections associated with registering the name "Paul McCartney" as a trademark. The 2005 films, ''Brokeback Mountain'' and ''Good Night and Good Luck'', feature MPL copyrights.

In April 2009, it was revealed that McCartney, in common with other wealthy musicians, had seen a significant decline in his net worth over the preceding year. It was estimated that his fortune had fallen by some £60m, from £238m to £175m. The losses were attributed to the ongoing global recession, and the resultant decline in value of property and stock market holdings.

Critique, recognition and achievements

McCartney is listed in ''The Guinness Book Of Records'' as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs, "Sir Paul McCartney became the Most Successful Songwriter who has written/co written 188 charted records, of which 91 reached the Top 10 and 33 made it to No.1 totalling 1,662 weeks on the chart (up to the beginning of 2008)."

In the US, McCartney has achieved thirty-two number-one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including twenty-one with The Beatles, one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", nine solo, with Wings or other collaborators, and one as the composer of "A World Without Love", a number one single for Peter and Gordon. In the UK, McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artist. McCartney has twenty four number-one singles in the UK, including seventeen with the Beatles, one solo, and one each with Wings, Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and one with "The Christians et all". McCartney is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre", Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", The Beatles), quintet ("Get Back", The Beatles with Billy Preston), and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).

McCartney was voted the "Greatest Composer of the Millennium" by BBC News Online readers and McCartney's song "Yesterday" is thought to be the most covered song in history with more than 2,200 recorded versions and according to the BBC, "The track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list. Sir Paul McCartney's Yesterday is the most played song by a British writer this century in the US." After its 1977 release, the Wings single "Mull of Kintyre" became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984. (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so, in 1984, was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in which McCartney was a participant.)

On 2 July 2005, he was involved with the fastest-released single in history. His performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2 at Live 8 was released only 45 minutes after it was performed, before the end of the concert. The single reached number six on the ''Billboard'' charts, just hours after the single's release, and hit number one on numerous online download charts across the world. McCartney played for the largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 people paid to see him perform at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 21 April 1990.

McCartney's scheduled concert in St Petersburg, Russia was his 3,000th concert and took place in front of 60,000 fans in Russia, on 20 June 2004. Over his career, McCartney has played 2,523 gigs with The Beatles, 140 with Wings, and 325 as a solo artist. Only his second concert in Russia, with the first just the year before on Moscow's Red Square as the former Communist U.S.S.R. had previously banned music from The Beatles as a "corrupting influence", McCartney hired 3 jets, at a reported cost of $36,000 (€29,800) (£28,000), to spray dry ice in the clouds above Saint Petersburg's Winter Palace Square in a successful attempt to prevent rain.

The day McCartney flew into the former Soviet country, he celebrated his 62nd birthday, and after the concert, according to ''RIA Novosti'' news agency, he received a phone call from a fan; then-President Vladimir Putin, who telephoned him after the concert to wish him a happy birthday. In the concert programme for his 1989 world tour, McCartney wrote that Lennon received all the credit for being the avant-garde Beatle, and McCartney was known as "baby-faced", which he disagreed with. People also assumed that Lennon was the "hard-edged one", and McCartney was the "soft-edged" Beatle, although McCartney admitted to "bossing Lennon around." Linda McCartney said that McCartney had a "hard-edge"—and not just on the surface—which she knew about after all the years she had spent living with him. McCartney seemed to confirm this edge when he commented that he sometimes meditates, which he said is better than "sleeping, eating, or shouting at someone".

The minor planet 4148, discovered in 1983, was named "McCartney" in his honour.

On 18 June 2006, McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, a milestone that was the subject of one of the first songs he ever wrote, at the age of sixteen, The Beatles' song "When I'm Sixty-Four". Paul Vallely noted in ''The Independent'': }}

Discography

Tours

Arms

Notes	Sir Paul McCartney's agent was Hubert Chesshyre, LVO, Clarenceux King of Arms
Crest	On a Wreath of the Colours A Liver Bird calling Sable supporting with the dexter claws a Guitar Or stringed Sable.
Escutcheon	Or between two Flaunches fracted fesswise two Roundels Sable over all six Guitar Strings palewise throughout counterchanged.
Motto	ECCE COR MEUM (Behold my heart)
Previous versions	}}

References

;Footnotes

;Bibliography

External links

Paul McCartney's Official Website

Paul McCartney's Animation Website

Paul McCartney Ecce Cor Meum audio Podcast

Liverpool celebrates Irish ancestry

Paul McCartney: Financial Accounts

Category:1942 births Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:English pop singers Category:English rock bass guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:English rock pianists Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English vegetarians Category:Backing vocalists Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Apple Records artists Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Music from Liverpool Category:Parlophone artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Beatles members Category:The Quarrymen members Category:Wings members Category:Musicians from Liverpool Category:Living people Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Transcendental Meditation practitioners Category:People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Category:Silver Clef Awards winners Category:Animal rights advocates

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