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The Sopranos
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| The Sopranos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | David Chase |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)" by Alabama 3 |
| Ending theme | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 86 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Production locations | |
| Cinematography | |
| Editors |
|
| Camera setup | Single camera[4] |
| Running time | 43–75 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | January 10, 1999 – June 10, 2007 |
The Sopranos is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster who struggles to balance his family life with his role as the leader of a criminal organization, which he reluctantly explores during therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). The series also features Tony's various family members, Mafia colleagues, and rivals in prominent roles—most notably his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and his protégé and distant cousin Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).
Having been greenlit in 1997, the series was broadcast on HBO from January 10, 1999, to June 10, 2007, spanning six seasons and 86 episodes. Broadcast syndication followed in the United States and internationally.[5] The Sopranos was produced by HBO, Chase Films, and Brad Grey Television. It was primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios in New York City, with some on-location filming in New Jersey. The executive producers throughout the show's run were Chase, Brad Grey, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, and Matthew Weiner.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential television series of all time,[6][7][8][9][10][11] The Sopranos has been credited with kickstarting the Second Golden Age of Television.[12] The series won multiple awards, including Peabody Awards for its first two seasons, 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards. It has been the subject of critical analysis, controversy, and parody; it has also spawned books,[13] a video game,[14] soundtrack albums, podcasts, and merchandise.[15] Several members of the show's cast and crew were largely unknown to the public when it began, but have since had successful careers.[16][17][18][19] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named The Sopranos the best-written TV series of all time,[20] while TV Guide ranked it the best television series of all time.[21] In 2016 and 2022, the series came in first place on the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.[9][22]
In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that they had purchased a film detailing the show's background story, set in the 1960s and 1970s during and after the Newark riots. The film, The Many Saints of Newark (2021), was written by Chase and Lawrence Konner and directed by Alan Taylor.[23][24] It starred Gandolfini's son Michael Gandolfini as a young Tony Soprano.[25]
Premise[edit]
The series follows Tony Soprano, a North Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, who tries to balance his family life with his role as the boss of the Soprano family. Suffering from anxiety-induced panic attacks, he reluctantly engages in therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi throughout the series. He puts his life at risk on multiple occasions and finds himself at odds with his uncle Junior, his wife Carmela, other Mafia members and non-Mafia criminals, and New York City's Lupertazzi family.
Production[edit]
Conception[edit]
David Chase had worked as a television writer and producer for more than 20 years before creating The Sopranos.[26][27] He had been employed as a staff writer or producer for several television series, including Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Switch, The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure.[28] He had also co-created the short-lived original series Almost Grown in 1988.[29][30] He made his television directorial debut in 1986 with the "Enough Rope for Two" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also directed episodes of Almost Grown and I'll Fly Away in 1988 and 1992, respectively. In 1996, he wrote and directed the television film The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime. He served as showrunner for I'll Fly Away and Northern Exposure in the 1990s. Chase won his first Emmy Award in 1978 for his work on The Rockford Files (shared with fellow producers) and his second for writing the 1980 television film Off the Minnesota Strip.[31][32] By 1996, he was a coveted showrunner.[33]
I want to tell a story about this particular man. I want to tell the story about the reality of being a mobster—or what I perceive to be the reality of life in organized crime. They aren't shooting each other every day. They sit around eating baked ziti and betting and figuring out who owes who money. Occasionally, violence breaks out—more often than it does in the banking world, perhaps.
—David Chase, creator and showrunner of The Sopranos[34]
The story of The Sopranos was initially conceived as a feature film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother".[29] Chase got some input from his manager Lloyd Braun and decided to adapt it into a television series.[29] He signed a development deal in 1995 with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script.[27][31][35] He drew heavily from his personal life and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, and has stated that he tried to apply his own "family dynamic to mobsters".[34] For instance, the tumultuous relationship between series protagonist Tony Soprano and his mother Livia is partially based on Chase's relationship with his own mother.[34] He was also in psychotherapy at the time and modeled the character of Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist.[36]
Chase had been fascinated by organized crime and the mafia from an early age, witnessing such people growing up. He also was raised on classic gangster films such as The Public Enemy and the crime series The Untouchables. The series is partly inspired by the Richard Boiardo family, a prominent New Jersey organized crime family when Chase was growing up, and partly on New Jersey's DeCavalcante family.[37] He has mentioned American playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as influences on the show's writing, and Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style.[33][38][39] The series was named after high school friends of his.[26][36]
I said to myself, this show is about a guy who's turning 40. He's inherited a business from his dad. He's trying to bring it into the modern age. He's got all the responsibilities that go along with that. He's got an overbearing mom that he's still trying to get out from under. Although he loves his wife, he's had an affair. He's got two teenage kids, and he's dealing with the realities of what that is. He's anxious; he's depressed; he starts to see a therapist because he's searching for the meaning of his own life. I thought: the only difference between him and everybody I know is he's the Don of New Jersey.
—Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, 1995–2002.[27][40]
Chase and producer Brad Grey pitched The Sopranos to several networks; Fox showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script.[35] They eventually pitched the show to Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, who decided to finance a pilot episode[27][31] which was shot in 1997.[41][42] Chase directed it himself. They finished the pilot and showed it to HBO executives, but the show was put on hold for several months.[27]
During this time, Chase, who had experienced frustration for a long period with being unable to break out of the TV genre and into film,[27] considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release The Sopranos as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season.[27][31][43] The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, with the pilot, The Sopranos.
Baer v. Chase[edit]
North Jersey prosecutor and municipal judge Robert Baer filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Chase in Trenton, New Jersey federal court, alleging that he helped to create the show. Baer lost the suit, but he won a ruling that a jury should decide how much he should be paid for services as a location scout, researcher, and story consultant. Baer argued that he had introduced Chase to Tony Spirito, a restaurateur and gambler with alleged mob ties, and Thomas Koczur, a homicide detective for the Elizabeth, New Jersey police department. Chase had conducted interviews and tours with both, which strongly inspired some characters, settings, and storylines portrayed in The Sopranos.[44][45] On December 19, 2007, a federal jury found against Baer, dismissing all of his claims.[46]
Casting[edit]
Many of the actors on The Sopranos are Italian American from the New York metropolitan area, like the characters they portray, and many appeared together in films and television series before joining the cast of The Sopranos. The series has 27 actors in common with the 1990 Martin Scorsese gangster film Goodfellas, including main cast members Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico.[47]
The casting directors were Georgianne Walken and Sheila Jaffe.[48][49] The main cast was put together through a process of auditions and readings. Actors often did not know whether Chase liked their performances or not.[27] Michael Imperioli beat out several actors for the part of Christopher Moltisanti; he said that Chase had "a poker face, so I thought he wasn't into me, and he kept giving me notes and having me try it again, which often is a sign that you're not doing it right." Chase said that he wanted Imperioli because of his performance in Goodfellas.[27]
James Gandolfini was invited to audition for the part of Tony Soprano after casting director Susan Fitzgerald saw a short clip of his performance in the 1993 film True Romance.[27] Lorraine Bracco played the role of mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas, and she was originally asked to play the role of Carmela Soprano. She took the role of Dr. Jennifer Melfi instead because she wanted to try something different and felt that the part of the highly educated Dr. Melfi would be more of a challenge for her.[50] Tony Sirico had a criminal history,[51] and he signed on to play Paulie Walnuts so long as his character was not to be a "rat".[52] Sirico had originally auditioned for the role of Uncle Junior with Frank Vincent, but Dominic Chianese landed the role.[53]
Chase was impressed with Steven Van Zandt's humorous appearance and presence after seeing him induct The Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, and invited him to audition.[54] Van Zandt, a guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, had never acted before. He auditioned for the role of Tony Soprano, but HBO felt that the role should go to an experienced actor, so Chase wrote a new part for him.[50][54] Van Zandt eventually agreed to star on the show as consigliere Silvio Dante, and his real-life spouse Maureen was cast as his on-screen wife Gabriella.[55][56][57]
The cast of the debut season of the series consisted of largely unknown actors, with the exception of Bracco, Chianese, and Nancy Marchand, but many cast members were noted for their acting ability and received mainstream attention for their performances.[27][58] Subsequent seasons saw established actors Joe Pantoliano, Robert Loggia, Steve Buscemi, and Frank Vincent[59] join the starring cast, along with well-known actors in recurring roles such as Peter Bogdanovich, John Heard,[60] Robert Patrick,[61] Peter Riegert,[62] Annabella Sciorra,[59] and David Strathairn.[63]
Numerous well-known actors appeared in one or two episodes, such as Lauren Bacall, Daniel Baldwin, Annette Bening, Polly Bergen, Sandra Bernhard, Paul Dano, Charles S. Dutton,[64] Jon Favreau, Janeane Garofalo, Hal Holbrook, Tim Kang, Elias Koteas, Ben Kingsley, Linda Lavin, Ken Leung,[65] Julianna Margulies, Sydney Pollack, Wilmer Valderrama, Alicia Witt, and Burt Young.[66] Ray Liotta, who was eventually cast as two of the Moltisanti brothers in The Many Saints of Newark film prequel, was approached by Chase at one point to appear in the third or fourth seasons of the show, but the plan didn't work out.[67]
Crew[edit]
Series creator and executive producer David Chase served as showrunner and head writer for the production of all six seasons of the show. He was deeply involved with the general production of every episode and is noted for being a very controlling, demanding, and specific producer.[26][32] He wrote or co-wrote between two and seven episodes per season and would oversee all the editing, consult with episode directors, give actors character motivation, approve casting choices and set designs, and do extensive but uncredited rewrites of episodes written by others.[58][68][69] Brad Grey served as executive producer alongside Chase but had no creative input on the show.[70] Many members of the creative team behind The Sopranos were handpicked by Chase, some being old friends and colleagues of his; others were selected after interviews conducted by producers of the show.[27][59]
Many of the show's writers had worked in television before joining the writing staff of The Sopranos. The writing team and married couple Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess worked on the series as writers and producers from the first to the fifth season; they had previously worked with Chase on Northern Exposure.[71] Terence Winter joined the writing staff during the production of the second season and served as executive producer from season five onwards. He practiced law for two years before deciding to pursue a career as a screenwriter, and he caught the attention of Chase through writer Frank Renzulli.[33][72]
Matthew Weiner served as staff writer and producer for the show's fifth and sixth seasons. He wrote a script for the series Mad Men in 2000 which was passed on to Chase, who was so impressed that he immediately offered Weiner a job as a writer for The Sopranos.[73] Cast members Michael Imperioli and Toni Kalem portray Christopher Moltisanti and Angie Bonpensiero respectively, and they also wrote episodes for the show. Imperioli wrote five episodes of seasons two through five, and Kalem wrote one episode of season five.[74][75]
Other writers included Frank Renzulli, Todd A. Kessler (co-creator of Damages), writing team Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider who worked with Chase on Northern Exposure, and Lawrence Konner, who co-created Almost Grown with Chase in 1988. In total, 20 writers or writing teams are credited with writing episodes of The Sopranos. Of these, Tim Van Patten and Maria Laurino receive a single story credit, and eight others are credited with writing a sole episode. The most prolific writers of the series were Chase (30 credited episodes, including story credits), Winter (25 episodes), Green and Burgess (22 episodes), Weiner (12 episodes), and Renzulli (9 episodes).
Many of the directors had previously worked on television series and independent films.[59] The most frequent directors of the series were Tim Van Patten (20 episodes), John Patterson (13 episodes), Allen Coulter (12 episodes), and Alan Taylor (9 episodes), all of whom have a background in television.[59] Recurring cast members Steve Buscemi and Peter Bogdanovich also directed episodes of the series intermittently.[76][77] Chase directed the pilot episode and the series finale.[78] Both episodes were photographed by the show's original director of photography Alik Sakharov, who later alternated episodes with Phil Abraham.[79] The show's photography and directing is noted for its feature film quality.[80][81] This look was achieved by Chase collaborating with Sakharov. "From the pilot, we would sit down with the whole script and break the scenes down into shots. That's what you do with feature films."[79]
Music[edit]
The Sopranos is noted for its eclectic music selections and has received considerable critical attention for its effective use of previously recorded songs.[82][83][84][85] Chase personally selected all of the show's music with producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak, sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt.[82] The music was usually selected once the production and editing of an episode was completed, but on occasion sequences were filmed to match preselected pieces of music.[68]
The show's opening theme is "Woke Up This Morning" (Chosen One Mix), written by, remixed and performed by British band Alabama 3.[86] With few exceptions, a different song plays over the closing credits of each episode.[84] Many songs are repeated multiple times through an e
Heineken
Heineken theme by Virya
Download: Heineken.p3t
(6 backgrounds)
 | |
 Current export bottle | |
| Type | Beer |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Heineken N.V. |
| Country of origin | Netherlands |
| Introduced | 1873[1] |
| Alcohol by volume | 5.0%[2] |
| Colour | 7 EBC |
| Style | Pale lager |
| Original gravity | 1.044–1.048[citation needed] |
| IBU scale | 23[citation needed] |
| Related products | Heineken Oud Bruin Heineken Premium Light Heineken Tarwebok |
| Website | heineken |
Heineken Lager Beer (Dutch: Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken (pronounced [ˈɦɛinəkə(n)]), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History[edit]
On 15 February 1864,[citation needed] Gerard Adriaan Heineken (1841–1893)[3] bought De Hooiberg (The Haystack) brewery on the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal canal in Amsterdam,[4] a popular working class brand founded in 1592. In 1873 after hiring a Dr. Elion (student of Louis Pasteur) to develop Heineken a yeast for Bavarian bottom fermentation, the HBM (Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij) was established, and the first Heineken brand beer was brewed. In 1875 Heineken won the Medaille D'Or at the International Maritime Exposition in Paris and it began to be shipped there regularly, after which Heineken sales topped 64,000 hectolitres (1.7 million U.S. gallons), making them the biggest beer exporter to France.[citation needed]
In Heineken's early years, the beer won four awards:
- Medaille d'Or (gold medal) at the International Maritime Exhibition (International Exhibition of Marine and River Industries) in Paris in May 1875.[5][6][7]
- Diplome d'Honneurs (Honorary Diploma) at the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883.[5]
- Grand Prix (Grand Prize) at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889.[5]
- Hors Concours Membre du Jury in Paris in 1900.[5]
The two awards that are still mentioned on the label are the Medaille d'Or and Diplome d'Honneurs.[8]
In 2013, Heineken joined other alcohol producers as part of a producers' commitments to reducing harmful drinking.[9]
In February 2013, Heineken stopped producing the brown bottles used for the Dutch market in favor of the green color of bottles it already used for exports.[10]
In 2014, Heineken celebrated its 150th anniversary. In 2015, Heineken won the Creative Marketer of the Year Award, becoming the second company to win the award twice.[8]
The original brewery where Gerard Adriaan Heineken first started making Heineken is now the Heineken Experience Museum.[11]
- Heineken 0.0
Heineken launched its first non-alcoholic beer in 2017, naming it "Heineken 0.0".[12] It was evaluated positively in terms of taste, with "almost the same taste" as the full-alcohol version, even though Heineken does not claim it to be of the same taste. It was also found to be lower in calories and sugar than a soda.[13]
Production[edit]
Since 1975, most Heineken-brand beer has been brewed at their brewery in Zoeterwoude, Netherlands.[1] In 2011, 2.74 billion litres of Heineken-brand beer were produced worldwide, while the total beer production of all breweries fully owned by the Heineken Group over all brands was 16.46 billion litres globally.[14] As of 2022, Heineken is sold in 192 countries.[15] They have also been incorporated with numerous beer brands in countries all over the world, including Mexico, China, Australia and various countries in Africa.
Advertising[edit]
Heineken was the major sponsor of UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Euro and Rugby World Cup; major sponsorship of Rugby Union had begun in Wales with the Welsh Premier Division competition.
In 1989 "10 Green Bottles Hanging On The Wall" was a popular advert.
Dating back to 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies,[16] Heineken has retained a longstanding relationship with the Bond franchise, consecutively being featured in 8 of their films, including No Time To Die (2021).[17] While it is usually the supporting characters seen drinking Heineken, Bond himself is seen drinking Heineken beer in Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). As a long-term brand investment, Heineken reportedly spent $45 million for its inclusion on Skyfall alone, some $25 million more than Bond actor Daniel Craig's pre-residual salary.[18] As of 2015, it is the brand's largest global marketing platform.[19]
In 2016, Heineken became the Official Beer of the FIA Formula One World Championship starting from the Canadian Grand Prix.[20] During races, Heineken also puts its "When You Drink, Never Drive" advertising campaign all over the race as a campaign to end drunk driving.[21]
In August 2021, Heineken signed a multi-year deal with W Series as the global partner for all-Women single-seater racing series.[22]
Starting with the 2020–24 cycle, Heineken became the sponsors of UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League through Heineken 0.0 brands. In 2023, Heineken celebrated its 150th anniversary.
Activities in Russia[edit]
At the end of March 2022, over a month after Russia started its war in Ukraine, Heineken announced that it was leaving Russia (including with its other brands there, like Affligem, Amstel etc.), saying that ownership of the Russian subsidiary was no longer “durable or viable.” But despite this promise Heineken hired more than 240 new staff and launched 61 new products on the Russian market last year[when?], according to investigators from Follow the Money,[23] based on an overview of 2022 by Heineken Russia. The Dutch brewer’s Russian subsidiary looked back on “a turbulent year, with many new growth opportunities.” One of these opportunities being the departure of Coca-Cola and Pepsi from Russia, which Heineken "cynically" used to "enter the non-alcoholic carbonated beverage market". Heineken announced even more investments for 2023, including more modern packaging and new flavors.[24][25][26] However, in August 2023, the company announced it had received necessary approvals to sell its Russian operations to Arnest Group for €1, completing its withdrawal process. The company expects a total loss of $323 million as a result of the deal.[27]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Heineken geschiedenis". heineken.nl/. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
- ^ "Beeradvocate.com: Heineken Lager Beer". beeradvocate.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ Frijhoff, Willem; Spies, Marijke (2004). Dutch Culture in a European Perspective: 1900, the age of bourgeois culture. Uitgeverij Van Gorcum. pp. 503, 581. ISBN 978-90-232-3965-9.
- ^ "Ons Amsterdam | Heineken neemt hooiberg over". onsamsterdam.nl (in Dutch). FIZZ Marketing & Communicatie. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Get the facts". Heineken International. Archived from the original on 29 March 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "The Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend". Walter Scott. 1 January 1887. Retrieved 15 September 2016 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Our History". theheinekencompany. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ^ "Beer, Wine and Spirits Producers' Commitments Mark Two-year Progress Toward Reducing Harmful Drinking". prnewswire.com (Press release). International Alliance for Responsible Drinking. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Na 80 jaar bruin wordt het Heinekenflesje groen". ad.nl. Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ "Holland Pass". Heineken Experience. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 April 2015.
- ^ Newhart, Beth (10 January 2019). "Alcohol-free Heineken 0.0 lands in the US". beveragedaily.com. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ "Heineken 0.0 Non-Alcoholic Beer Taste Test: Nice Or Not?". 8 Days. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "Annual Report 2011". Heineken International. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ "The Heineken story". Heineken. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "The name's Bond..." Heineken Commecial - Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), retrieved 2 February 2023
- ^ No Time to Die | Worth The Wait, retrieved 2 February 2023
- ^ Koehl, Victoria (18 September 2021). "'Skyfall': Heineken Reportedly Paid an Estimated $45 Million for Product Placement Despite James Bond's Love of Martinis". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "The HEINEKEN Company - Age Gate". www.theheinekencompany.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ "Heineken announces global partnership with Formula One Management". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Roderick, Leonie (15 June 2016). "How Heineken is revising its sponsorship strategy with F1 deal". Marketing Week. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ "Heineken® multi-year W Series partnership to start in Spa". wseries.com. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ Follow the Money (FTM) is a Dutch independent news website for financial-economic investigative journalism of approximately thirty journalists – some employed, some freelancers. See Follow the Money on the Dutch Wikipedia, or their website (in Dutch).]
- ^ Heineken still investing in Russia despite promises to stop, NL-Times, 21 february 2023.
- ^ 'Heineken investeert nog steeds in Rusland', NOS Nieuws, 21 February 2023.
- ^ Heineken breekt belofte en investeert toch in Rusland ('Heineken breaks promise and (continues to) invest in Russia'), Follow the Money, 21 February 2023.
- ^ Kennedy, Niamh (25 August 2023). "Heineken sells Russian business for $1 as it completes exit | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heineken.
Illustration of a winged, fire-breathing dragon by Friedrich Justin Bertuch from 1806
A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of feline, reptilian, mammalian, and avian features. Some scholars believe large extinct or migrating crocodiles bear the closest resemblance, especially when encountered in forested or swampy areas, and are most likely the template of modern Asian dragon imagery.[1][2]
Etymology[edit]
The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon, which, in turn, comes from the Latin: draco (genitive draconis) meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from Ancient Greek δράκων, drákōn (genitive δράκοντος, drákontos) "serpent".[4][5] The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological.[6] The Greek word δράκων is most likely derived from the Greek verb δέρκομαι (dérkomai) meaning "I see", the aorist form of which is ἔδρακον (édrakon).[5] This is thought to have referred to something with a "deadly glance",[7] or unusually bright[8] or "sharp"[9][10] eyes, or because a snake's eyes appear to be always open; each eye actually sees through a big transparent scale in its eyelids, which are permanently shut. The Greek word probably derives from an Indo-European base *derḱ- meaning "to see"; the Sanskrit root दृश् (dr̥ś-) also means "to see".[11]
Historic tales and records[edit]
Draconic creatures appear in virtually all cultures around the globe[12] and the earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Near Eastern and Indo-European mythologies. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia; Apep in Egyptian mythology; Vṛtra in the Rigveda; the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible; Grand'Goule in the Poitou region in France; Python, Ladon, Wyvern and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology; Kulshedra in Albanian Mythology; Unhcegila in Lakota mythology; Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology; the dragon from Beowulf; and aži and az in ancient Persian mythology, closely related to another mythological figure, called Aži Dahaka or Zahhak.
Nonetheless, scholars dispute where the idea of a dragon originates from[13] and a wide variety of hypotheses have been proposed.[13]
In his book An Instinct for Dragons (2000), David E. Jones (anthropologist) suggests a hypothesis that humans, like monkeys, have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes, large cats, and birds of prey.[14] He cites a study which found that approximately 39 people in a hundred are afraid of snakes[15] and notes that fear of snakes is especially prominent in children, even in areas where snakes are rare.[15] The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes.[16] Jones therefore concludes that dragons appear in nearly all cultures because humans have an innate fear of snakes and other animals that were major predators of humans' primate ancestors.[17] Dragons are usually said to reside in "dark caves, deep pools, wild mountain reaches, sea bottoms, haunted forests", all places which would have been fraught with danger for early human ancestors.[18]
In her book The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2000), Adrienne Mayor argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.[19] She argues that the dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by "observations of oversized, extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of the Siwalik Hills below the Himalayas"[20] and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of the Monster of Troy may have been influenced by fossils of Samotherium, an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region.[20] In China, a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common, these remains are frequently identified as "dragon bones"[21] and are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine.[21] Mayor, however, is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils[21] and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters, but has long "been considered barren of large fossils."[21] In one of her later books, she states that, "Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles, such as Komodo dragons, Gila monsters, iguanas, alligators, or, in California, alligator lizards, though this still fails to account for the Scandinavian legends, as no such animals (historical or otherwise) have ever been found in this region."[22]
Robert Blust in The Origin of Dragons (2000) argues that, like many other creations of traditional cultures, dragons are largely explicable as products of a convergence of rational pre-scientific speculation about the world of real events. In this case, the event is the natural mechanism governing rainfall and drought, with particular attention paid to the phenomenon of the rainbow.[23]
African stories/records[edit]
Egypt[edit]
In Egyptian mythology, Apep or Apophis is a giant serpentine creature who resides in the Duat, the Egyptian Underworld.[24][25] The Bremner-Rhind papyrus, written around 310 BC, preserves an account of a much older Egyptian tradition that the setting of the sun is caused by Ra descending to the Duat to battle Apep.[24][25] In some accounts, Apep is as long as the height of eight men with a head made of flint.[25] Thunderstorms and earthquakes were thought to be caused by Apep's roar[26] and solar eclipses were thought to be the result of Apep attacking Ra during the daytime.[26] In some myths, Apep is slain by the god Set.[27] Nehebkau is another giant serpent who guards the Duat and aided Ra in his battle against Apep.[26] Nehebkau was so massive in some stories that the entire earth was believed to rest atop his coils.[26] Denwen is a giant serpent mentioned in the Pyramid Texts whose body was made of fire and who ignited a conflagration that nearly destroyed all the gods of the Egyptian pantheon.[28] He was ultimately defeated by the Pharaoh, a victory which affirmed the Pharaoh's divine right to rule.[29]
The ouroboros was a well-known Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail.[30] The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced",[30] a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively.[30] The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun.[30] In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians[31] and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth".[31] In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.[30] A famous image of the dragon gnawing on its tail from the eleventh-century Codex Marcianus was copied in numerous works on alchemy.[30]
Asian stories/records[edit]
West Asia[edit]
Mesopotamia[edit]
Ancient people across the Near East believed in creatures similar to what modern people call "dragons".[33] These ancient people were unaware of the existence of dinosaurs or similar creatures in the distant past.[33] References to dragons of both benevolent and malevolent characters occur throughout ancient Mesopotamian literature.[33] In Sumerian poetry, great kings are often compared to the ušumgal, a gigantic, serpentine monster.[33] A draconic creature with the foreparts of a lion and the hind-legs, tail, and wings of a bird appears in Mesopotamian artwork from the Akkadian Period (c. 2334 – 2154 BC) until the Neo-Babylonian Period (626 BC–539 BC).[34] The dragon is usually shown with its mouth open.[34] It may have been known as the (ūmu) nā’iru, which means "roaring weather beast",[34] and may have been associated with the god Ishkur (Hadad).[34] A slightly different lion-dragon with two horns and the tail of a scorpion appears in art from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 BC–609 BC).[34] A relief probably commissioned by Sennacherib shows the gods Ashur, Sin, and Adad standing on its back.[34]
Another draconic creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC).[32] This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem.[32] It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu,[32] but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.[32]
Scholars disagree regarding the appearance of Tiamat, the Babylonian goddess personifying primeval chaos, slain by Marduk in the Babylonian creation epic Enûma Eliš.[35][36] She was traditionally regarded by scholars as having had the form of a giant serpent,[36] but several scholars have pointed out that this shape "cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty"[36] and she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic.[35][36] Nonetheless, in some texts, she seems to be described with horns, a tail, and a hide that no weapon can penetrate,[35] all features which suggest she was conceived as some form of dragoness.[35]
Levant[edit]
In the mythologies of the Ugarit region, specifically the Baal Cycle from the Ugaritic texts, the sea-dragon Lōtanu is described as "the twisting serpent / the powerful one with seven heads."[37] In KTU 1.5 I 2–3, Lōtanu is slain by the storm-god Baal,[37] but, in KTU 1.3 III 41–42, he is instead slain by the virgin warrior goddess Anat.[37]
In the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Psalms, Psalm 74, Psalm 74:13–14, the sea-dragon Leviathan, is slain by Yahweh, god of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as part of the creation of the world.[37][38] In Isaiah 27:1, Yahweh's destruction of Leviathan is foretold as part of his impending overhaul of the universal order:[39][40]
| Original Hebrew text | English |
|---|---|
א בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִפְקֹד יְהוָה בְּחַרְבּוֹ הַקָּשָׁה וְהַגְּדוֹלָה וְהַחֲזָקָה, עַל לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ |
In that day the LORD will take |
| —Isaiah 27:1 |
Job 41:1–34 contains a detailed description of the Leviathan, who is described as being so powerful that only Yahweh can overcome it.[42] Job 41:19–21 states that the Leviathan exhales fire and smoke, making its identification as a mythical dragon clearly apparent.[42] In some parts of the Old Testament, the Leviathan is historicized as a symbol for the nations that stand against Yahweh.[38] Rahab, a synonym for "Leviathan", is used in several Biblical passages in reference to Egypt.[38] Isaiah 30:7 declares: "For Egypt's help is worthless and empty, therefore I have called her 'the silenced Rahab'."[38] Similarly, Psalm 87:3 reads: "I reckon Rahab and Babylon as those that know me..."[38] In Ezekiel 29:3–5 and Ezekiel 32:2–8, the pharaoh of Egypt is described as a "dragon" (tannîn).[38] In the story of Bel and the Dragon from the Book of Daniel, the prophet Daniel sees a dragon being worshipped by the Babylonians.[43] Daniel makes "cakes of pitch, fat, and hair";[43] the dragon eats them and bursts open.[44][43]
Ancient and Post-classical[edit]
Iran/Persia[edit]
Azhi Dahaka (Avestan Great Snake) is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia, where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu. Alternate names include Azi Dahak, Dahaka, and Dahak. Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon.[45] The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and the Middle Persian azdahāg are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed "Az", Old Armenian mythological figure Aždahak, Modern Persian 'aždehâ/aždahâ', Tajik Persian 'azhdahâ', Urdu 'azhdahā' (اژدها), as well as the Kurdish ejdîha (ئەژدیها). The name also migrated to Eastern Europe, assumed the form "azhdaja" and the meaning "dragon", "dragoness" or "water snake" in the Balkanic and Slavic languages.[46][47][48]
Despite the negative aspect of Aži Dahāka in mythology, dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples.
The Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for "dragon" that ultimately comes from Aži Dahāka.
- In Zoroastrian literature
Aži Dahāka is the most significant and long-lasting of the ažis of the Avesta, the earliest religious texts of Zoroastrianism. He is described as a monster with three mouths, six eyes, and three heads, and as being cunning, strong, and demonic. In other respects, Aži Dahāka has human qualities, and is never a mere animal. In a post-Avestan Zoroastrian text, the Dēnkard, Aži Dahāka is possessed of all possible sins and evil counsels, the opposite of the good king Jam (or Jamshid). The name Dahāg (Dahāka) is punningly interpreted as meaning "having ten (dah) sins".
In Persian Sufi literature, Rumi writes in his Masnavi[49] that the dragon symbolizes the sensual soul (nafs), greed and lust, that need to be mortified in a spiritual battle.[50][51]
,_Iran,_Tabriz,_c._1576_AD,_view_1_-_Aga_Khan_Museum_-_Toronto,_Canada_-_DSC06935.jpg)
In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, the Iranian hero Rostam must slay an 80-meter-long dragon (which renders itself invisible to human sight) with the aid of his legendary horse, Rakhsh. As Rostam is sleeping, the dragon approaches; Rakhsh attempts to wake Rostam, but fails to alert him to the danger until Rostam sees the dragon. Rakhsh bites the dragon, while Rostam decapitates it. This is the third trial of Rostam's Seven Labors.[52][53][54]
Rostam is also credited with the slaughter of other dragons in the Shahnameh and in other Iranian oral traditions, notably in the myth of Babr-e-Bayan. In this tale, Rostam is still an adolescent and kills a dragon in the "Orient" (either India or China, depending on the source) by forcing it to swallow either ox hides filled with quicklime and stones or poisoned blades. The dragon swallows these foreign objects and its stomach bursts, after which Rostam flays the dragon and fashions a coat from its hide called the babr-e bayān. In some variants of the story, Rostam then remains unconscious for two days and nights, but is guarded by his steed Rakhsh. On reviving, he washes himself in a spring. In the Mandean tradition of the story, Rostam hides in a box, is swallowed by the dragon, and kills it from inside its belly. The king of China then gives Rostam his daughter in marriage as a reward.[55][56]
East Asia[edit]
China[edit]
R C Lens
R C Lens theme by Chtijeremie
Download: RCLens.p3t
(1 background)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Imperial Mac
Imperial Mac theme by Man2Vir
Download: ImperialMac.p3t
(1 background)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Magic The Gathering
Magic The Gathering theme by Anime_Ninja
Download: MagicTheGathering.p3t
(6 backgrounds)
Redirect to:
This page is a redirect. The following categories are used to track and monitor this redirect:
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Voitures (Cars)
Voitures (Cars) theme by alex-du-30
Download: Voitures.p3t
(10 backgrounds)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Avril Lavigne #4
Avril Lavigne theme by Dirt Dawg
Download: AvrilLavigne_4.p3t
(16 backgrounds)
Avril Lavigne | |
|---|---|
Lavigne in 2019 | |
| Born | Avril Ramona Lavigne September 27, 1984 Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
| Citizenship |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1999–present |
| Works | |
| Spouses | |
| Relatives | Ryota Kohama (brother-in-law) |
| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Labels | |
TikTok information | |
| Page | |
| Followers | 5.7 million |
| Likes | 39.2 million |
Last updated: June 28, 2024 | |
| Website | avrillavigne |
| Signature | |
| |
Avril Ramona Lavigne CM[1] (/ˈævrɪl ləˈviːn/ AV-ril lə-VEEN, French: [avʁil ʁamɔna laviɲ]; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She is considered a key musician in the development of pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s.[2][3] Her accolades include eight Grammy Award nominations.
At age 16, Lavigne signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, Let Go (2002), is the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian artist. It yielded the successful singles "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi", which emphasized a skate punk persona and earned her the title "Pop-Punk Queen" from music publications.[4][5] Her second studio album, Under My Skin (2004), became Lavigne's first album to reach the top of the Billboard 200 chart in the United States, going on to sell 10 million copies worldwide.
Lavigne's third studio album, The Best Damn Thing (2007), reached number one in seven countries worldwide and saw the international success of its lead single "Girlfriend", which became her first single to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Her next two studio albums, Goodbye Lullaby (2011) and Avril Lavigne (2013), saw continued commercial success and were both certified gold in Canada, the United States, and other territories.[6][7][8] After releasing her sixth studio album, Head Above Water (2019), she returned to her punk roots with her seventh studio album, Love Sux (2022).[9]
Early life[edit]
Avril Ramona Lavigne was born on September 27, 1984, in Belleville, Ontario. She was named Avril (the French word for April) by her father.[10] He and Lavigne's mother recognized their child's vocal abilities when she was two years old and sang "Jesus Loves Me" on the way home from church.[11] Lavigne has an older brother named Matthew and a younger sister named Michelle,[12] both of whom teased her when she sang. "My brother used to knock on the wall because I used to sing myself to sleep and he thought it was really annoying."[11] She is the sister-in-law of Japanese band One OK Rock bassist Ryota Kohama.[13] Lavigne's paternal grandfather Maurice Yves Lavigne was born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec.[14] A member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, he married Lucie Dzierzbicki, a French native of Morhange in 1953. Their son, Jean-Claude Lavigne, was born in 1954 at RCAF Station Grostenquin near Grostenquin, Lorraine.[15] When Jean-Claude was a child, the family moved to Ontario, and in 1975, he married Judith-Rosanne "Judy" Loshaw.[16][17]
When Lavigne was 5, the family moved to Napanee (now incorporated as Greater Napanee),[18] a town with a population of approximately 5,000 at the time.[19][20][21] Also when she was 5, she was diagnosed with ADHD, which caused her problems during her school years.[22]
To support her musical interests, her father bought her a microphone, a drum kit, a keyboard, and several guitars, and converted their basement into a studio. Her father often played bass at the church the family attended, the Third Day Worship Centre in Kingston. When Lavigne was 14 years old, her parents took her to karaoke sessions.[23]
Lavigne performed at country fairs, singing songs by Garth Brooks, the Chicks, and Shania Twain, and began writing her own songs. Her first song was called "Can't Stop Thinking About You", about a teenage crush, which she described as "cheesy cute".[24]
Lavigne also played hockey during high school and won MVP twice as a right winger in a boys league.[25]
Career[edit]
1999–2001: Career beginnings[edit]
In 1999, Lavigne won a radio contest to perform with Canadian singer Shania Twain at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, before an audience of 20,000 people.[26][18][19] Twain and Lavigne sang Twain's song, "What Made You Say That",[18] and Lavigne told Twain that she aspired to be "a famous singer".[19] During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folksinger Stephen Medd. He invited her to contribute vocals on his song, "Touch the Sky", for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit. She later sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two Rivers" for his follow-up album, My Window to You, in 2000.
In December 1999, Lavigne was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston.[18][19] Fabri sent out VHS tapes of Lavigne's home performances to several industry prospects, and Lavigne was visited by several executives.[27] Mark Jowett, co-founder of a Canadian management firm, Nettwerk, received a copy of Lavigne's karaoke performances recorded in her parents' basement.[28] Jowett arranged for Lavigne to work with producer Peter Zizzo during the summer of 2000 in New York, where she wrote the song "Why". Lavigne was noticed by Arista Records during a trip to New York.[27]
In November 2000,[20] Ken Krongard, an A&R representative, invited Antonio "L.A." Reid, then head of Arista Records, to Zizzo's Manhattan studio to hear Lavigne sing. Her 15-minute audition "so impressed" Reid that he immediately signed her to Arista with a deal worth $1.25 million for two albums and an extra $900,000 for a publishing advance.[21][18] By this time, Lavigne had found that she fit in naturally with her hometown high school's skater clique, an image that carried through to her first album, but although she enjoyed skateboarding, school left her feeling insecure. Having signed a record deal, and with support from her parents, she left school to focus on her music career.[20][29][24] Lavigne's band, which were mostly the members of Closet Monster, was chosen by Nettwerk, as they wanted young performers who were up and coming from the Canadian punk rock scene who would fit with Lavigne's personality.[30]
2002–2003: Let Go[edit]
Reid gave A&R Joshua Sarubin the responsibility of overseeing Lavigne's development and the recording of her debut album. They spent several months in New York working with different co-writers, trying to forge an individual sound for her. Sarubin told HitQuarters that they initially struggled; although early collaborations with songwriter-producers including Sabelle Breer, Curt Frasca and Peter Zizzo resulted in some good songs, they did not match her or her voice. It was only when Lavigne went to Los Angeles in May 2001 and created two songs with the Matrix production team—including "Complicated", later released as her debut single—that the record company felt she had made a major breakthrough. Lavigne worked further with the Matrix and also with singer-songwriter Clif Magness. Recording of Lavigne's debut album, Let Go, finished in January 2002.[31]
Lavigne released Let Go in June 2002 in the US, where it reached number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It peaked at number one in Australia, Canada, and the UK—this made Lavigne, at 17 years old, the youngest female soloist to have a number-one album on the UK Albums Chart at that time.[32] By the end of 2002, the album was certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA, making her the bestselling female artist of 2002 and Let Go the top-selling debut of the year.[33] By May 2003, Let Go had accumulated over 1 million sales in Canada, receiving a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association.[34] By 2009, the album had sold over 16 million units worldwide.[35] By March 2018, the RIAA certified the album seven-times Platinum, denoting shipments of over seven million units in the US.[36]
Lavigne's debut single, "Complicated", peaked at number one in Australia and number two in the US. "Complicated" was one of the bestselling Canadian singles of 2002, and one of the decade's biggest hits in the US,[37] where subsequent singles "Sk8er Boi" and "I'm with You" reached the top ten.[38] With these three singles, Lavigne became the second artist in history to have three top-ten songs from a debut album on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart.[39] Lavigne was named Best New Artist (for "Complicated") at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards,[40] won four Juno Awards in 2003 out of six nominations,[41] received a World Music Award for "World's Bestselling Canadian Singer", and was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Complicated".[42]
In 2002, Lavigne made a cameo appearance in the music video for "Hundred Million" by the pop punk band Treble Charger.[43] In March 2003, Lavigne posed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine,[16] and in May she performed "Fuel" during MTV's Icon tribute to Metallica.[44][45] During her first headlining tour, the Try to Shut Me Up Tour, Lavigne covered Green Day's "Basket Case".[46]
2004–2005: Under My Skin[edit]
Lavigne's second studio album, Under My Skin, was released in May 2004 and debuted at number one in Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US.[47] The album was certified five-times Platinum in Canada[48] and has sold 10 million copies,[49] including 3.2 million in the US.[50] Lavigne wrote most of the album's tracks with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, and Kreviazuk's husband, Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida, co-produced the album with Butch Walker and Don Gilmore. Lavigne said that Under My Skin proved her credentials as a songwriter, saying that "each song comes from a personal experience of mine, and there are so much [sic] emotions in those songs".[51] "Don't Tell Me", the lead single off the album, reached the top five in the UK and Canada and the top ten in Australia. "My Happy Ending", the album's second single, was a top five hit in the UK and Australia. In the US, it was a top ten entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a number-one pop radio hit. The third single, "Nobody's Home", did not manage to make the top 40 in the US and performed moderately elsewhere.
During early 2004 Lavigne went on the 'Live and By Surprise' acoustic mall tour in the US and Canada to promote Under My Skin, accompanied by her guitarist Evan Taubenfeld. In September 2004, Lavigne embarked on her first world tour, the year-long Bonez Tour. Lavigne won two World Music Awards in 2004, for 'World's Best Pop/Rock Artist' and 'World's Bestselling Canadian Artist' and won three Juno Awards from five nominations in 2005, including 'Artist of the Year'.[52] She also won in the category of 'Favorite Female Singer' at the eighteenth annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.[53]
Lavigne co-wrote the song "Breakaway", which was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for the soundtrack to the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.[54] "Breakaway" was released as a single in mid 2004 and subsequently included as the title track on Clarkson's second album, Breakaway. Lavigne performed the Goo Goo Dolls song "Iris" with the band's lead singer John Rzeznik at Fashion Rocks in September 2004,[55] and she posed for the cover of Maxim in October 2004.[56] She recorded the theme song for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (released in November 2004) with producer Butch Walker.[57]
2006–2011: The Best Damn Thing and Goodbye Lullaby[edit]
In February 2006, Lavigne represented Canada at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics.[58] Fox Entertainment Group approached Lavigne to write a song for the soundtrack to the 2006 fantasy-adventure film Eragon; her contribution, "Keep Holding On", was released as a single to promote the film and its soundtrack.[59][60][61]
Lavigne's third album, The Best Damn Thing, was released in April 2007 and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200,[62] and subsequently achieved Platinum status in Canada.[48] The album sold more than 2 million copies in the US.[36] Its lead single, "Girlfriend", became Lavigne's first number-one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and one of the decade's biggest singles.[62][63] The single also peaked at number one in Australia, Canada, and Japan, and reached number two in the UK and France. As well as English, "Girlfriend" was recorded in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, and Mandarin. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ranked "Girlfriend" as the most-downloaded track worldwide in 2007, selling 7.3 million copies, including the versions recorded in eight different languages.[64][65] "When You're Gone", the album's second single, reached the top five in Australia and the United Kingdom, the top ten in Canada, and the top forty in the US. "Hot" was the third single and charted only at number 95 in the US, although it reached the top 10 in Canada and the top 20 in Australia.
Lavigne won two World Music Awards in 2007, for 'World's Bestselling Canadian Artist' and 'World's Best Pop/Rock Female Artist'. She won her first two MTV Europe Music Awards, received a Teen Choice Award for 'Best Summer Single', and was nominated for five Juno Awards.[52] In December 2007, Lavigne was ranked number eight in Forbes magazine's list of 'Top 20 Earners Under 25', with annual earnings of $12 million.[66] In March 2008, Lavigne undertook a world tour, The Best Damn World Tour, and appeared on the cover of Maxim for the second time.[67] In mid-August, Malaysia's Islamic opposition party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, attempted to ban Lavigne's tour show in Kuala Lumpur, judging her stage moves "too sexy". It was thought that her concert on August 29 would promote wrong values ahead of Malaysia's Independence Day on August 31.[68] On August 21, 2008, MTV reported that the concert had been approved by the Malaysian government.[69]
In January 2010, Lavigne worked with Disney to create clothing designs inspired by Tim Burton's feature film Alice in Wonderland. She recorded a song for its soundtrack, "Alice", which was played over the end credits and included on the soundtrack album Almost Alice.[70][71][72] In February, Lavigne performed at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.[73] Lavigne's song "I'm with You" was sampled by Rihanna on the track "Cheers (Drink to That)", which is featured on Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud (2010).[74][75] "Cheers (Drink to That)" was released as a single the following year, and Lavigne appeared in its music video.[76] In December 2010, American singer Miranda Cosgrove released "Dancing Crazy", a song written by Lavigne, Max Martin and Shellback. It was also produced by Martin.[77]
Lavigne began recording for her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, in her home studio in November 2008. Its opening track, "Black Star", was written to help promote her first fragrance of the same name.[78][79] Lavigne described the album as being about her life experiences rather than focusing on relationships, and its style as less pop rock than her previous material, reflecting her age.[79][80] The release date for Goodbye Lullaby was delayed several times, which Lavigne said was because of her label.[81][82] Goodbye Lullaby was released in March 2011,[83][80] and its lead single, "What the Hell", premiered in December 2010, ahead of the album's release.[83] Goodbye Lullaby received Juno Award nominations for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year.[52] By March 2018, Goodbye Lullaby sold more than 500,000 copies in the US, and it was certified Gold by the RIAA.[36]
2012–2017: Self-titled album[edit]
Three months after the release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne announced that work on her fifth studio album had already begun, describing it as the musical opposite of Goodbye Lullaby[84] and "pop and more fun again".