title: Samuthirakani

text: He directed two Telugu films "Shambo Shiva Shambo" (2010) and "Janda Pai Kapiraju" (2015), at the 63rd National Film Awards.


title: Samuthirakani

text: Samuthirakani, who directed and starred in the original "Appa" (2016), has directed the Malayalam version "Aakashamittayee" (2017) along with M. Padmakumar. He also played an important role in Rajinikanth's film "Kaala" (2018).


title: Samuthirakani

text: Samuthirakani's returned to directing with "Naadodigal 2" (2020), a film that takes up the topic of equality. In 2020, he played an antagonist in the Trivikram directorial Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. In 2021, he played the main role in the Telugu film, "Aakashavaani". He also directed and acted in the fantasy comedy drama "Vinodhaya Sitham". In 2022, he played Sivakarthikeyan's father in the movie Don. He was also seen playing Rajendranath, the antagonist and Keerthy Suresh's father in the Parasuram directorial Sarkaru Vaari Paata.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The Real Housewives of Orange County (abbreviated RHOC) is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on March 21, 2006. It has aired sixteen seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in Orange County, California.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The cast of the upcoming season will consist of Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, Shannon Storms Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson; Taylor Armstrong will join in a "friend of" capacity.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The show's success has led for the development of "The Real Housewives" franchise and similar spin-off series based in numerous states across the United States, as well as numerous installments internationally.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: In April 2005, "The Real Housewives" was ordered by American television network Bravo. The show’s working title was “Behind The Gates,” and was intended to follow a documentary format. It was renamed as "The Real Housewives of Orange County" in January 2006. Show creator Scott Dunlop said that it was originally planned to be set in a single gated community in Coto de Caza, California. The show was inspired by scripted soap operas "Desperate Housewives" and "Peyton Place", and would document the lives of upper-class women who "lead glamorous lives in a Southern California gated community where the average home has a $1.6 million price tag and residents include CEOs and retired professional athletes."


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The first season premiered on March 21, 2006, and starred Kimberly Bryant, Jo De La Rosa, Vicki Gunvalson, Jeana Keough and Lauri Peterson (then Waring). Bryant left after the first season. Tammy Knickerbocker joined the cast for the second season which premiered on January 16, 2007. Bryant appeared as a guest. After the second season, De La Rosa exited the series as a regular cast member. The third season premiered on November 6, 2007, which featured Tamra Judge (then Barney) as the latest housewife, while Quinn Fry joined the cast in the sixth episode. Bryant and De La Rosa returned as guests. Knickerbocker and Fry left the main cast after the third season.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: Gretchen Rossi was introduced in the fourth season premiere on November 25, 2008. Peterson made her final appearance as a main cast member in the third episode. While Lynne Curtin joined the cast in the fourth episode. Bryant and De La Rosa made their final guest appearance during the season finale. While Knickerbocker returned as a guest. Keough's final season as a full-time cast member, season five premiered on November 5, 2009. After Keough left the show as a full-time cast member, Alexis Bellino was added to the main cast. Fry, Knickerbocker and Peterson returned as a guest. Curtin left after the fifth season.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The sixth season which premiered on March 6, 2011, introduced Peggy Tanous as the newest housewife and friend of the housewives Fernanda Rocha. Keough returned in a friend of the housewives status, while Curtin, Fry, and Knickerbocker appeared as guests. Heather Dubrow joined the cast in the seventh season which premiered on February 7, 2012. Keough and Tanous appeared as a guest, while Sarah Winchester was featured as a friend of the housewives. On April 1, 2013, the eighth season premiered and the cast was joined by Lydia McLaughlin. Peterson also appeared as a friend of the housewives in the eighth season. Bellino, McLaughlin, Rossi and Peterson departed after the season.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The ninth season premiered on April 14, 2014, and introduced Shannon Storms Beador and Lizzie Rovsek as the new housewives. While Danielle Gregorio joined as friend of the housewives. The tenth season which premiered on June 8, 2015, saw Rovsek as a friend of the housewives, and Meghan King joining the cast. Curtin, Keough and Knickerbocker made guest appearances in the season.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The eleventh season premiered on June 20, 2016. It featured Kelly Leventhal (then Dodd) joining the cast and Keough making a guest appearance. Dubrow exited the series after the season. McLaughlin returned for the show's twelfth season which premiered on July 10, 2017. Peggy Sulahian joined as the latest housewife, while Keough, Rossi and Rovsek made guest appearances. After the season concluded, King Edmonds, McLaughlin and Sulahian left the show.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson joined the cast for the thirteenth season, which premiered on July 16, 2018.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The fourteenth season premiered on August 6, 2019. Braunwyn Windham-Burke joined as a cast member, while Gunvalson was demoted to a "friend of the housewives" status. King and Bellino both appeared in a guest capacity. Gunvalson and Judge both left the series in January 2020. Filming for the show was paused between March and July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The fifteenth season premiered on October 14, 2020, with Elizabeth Lyn Vargas joining the cast. Keough served as a narrator in the opening of the season premiere. Rovsek appeared as a guest in the fifth episode. The season served as the final season for Dodd, Windham-Burke and Vargas.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: The sixteenth season premiered on December 1, 2021, with Beador, Kirschenheiter and Simpson returning, along with former housewife Dubrow, new housewives Jen Armstrong and Noella Bergener joining the main cast; Nicole James appeared as a friend of the housewives, departing halfway through the season. Keough and Rovsek also had guest appearances during the season. The reunion was taped on March 10, 2022.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: Following the conclusion of the sixteenth season, Armstrong and Bergener announced their exits from the show on July 8, 2022. On July 20 of the same year, Judge announced her return to the franchise. The following month, it was announced former "Beverly Hills" star Taylor Armstrong had joined the cast as a friend of the housewives. In October 2022, Gunvalson was announced to appear in a guest capacity.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: "The Real Housewives of Orange County" airs regularly on Bravo in the United States; most episodes are approximately forty-two minutes in length, and are broadcast in standard definition and high definition. Since its premiere, the series has alternated airing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings and has been frequently shifted between the 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00 PM timeslots.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: "" became the first spin-off from "The Real Housewives of Orange County"; the dating game show documented De La Rosa as she began dating after moving to Los Angeles, where potential suitors were regularly surveyed by Smiley. It premiered on June 30, 2008, and ended on September 8, 2008, after broadcasting nine episodes during its first and only season.


title: The Real Housewives of Orange County

text: After becoming engaged to Judge in February 2013, Barney was commissioned to star in the three-part spin-off special "Tamra's OC Wedding". It highlighted the preparations for their nuptials and was broadcast from September 2, 2013, until September 16, 2013.


title: Kaiju

text: The 1954 film "Godzilla" is commonly regarded as the first "kaiju" film. "Kaiju" characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the "Lucky Dragon 5" incident. Other notable examples of "kaiju" characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Gamera.


title: Kaiju

text: The Japanese word "kaijū" originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese "Classic of Mountains and Seas". After "sakoku" had ended and Japan was opened to foreign relations in the mid-19th century, the term "kaijū" came to be used to express concepts from paleontology and legendary creatures from around the world. For example, in 1908 it was suggested that the extinct "Ceratosaurus"-like cryptid was alive in Yukon Territory, and this was referred to as "kaijū". However, there are no traditional depictions of "kaiju" or "kaiju"-like creatures in Japanese folklore; but rather the origins of "kaiju" are found in film.


title: Kaiju

text: Genre elements were present at the end of Winsor McCay's 1921 animated short "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet", in which a mysterious giant animal starts destroying the city, until it is countered by a massive airstrike. It was based on a 1905 episode of McCay's comic strip series.


title: Kaiju

text: The 1925 movie "The Lost World" featured many dinosaurs, including a brontosaurus that breaks loose in London and destroys Tower Bridge. The dinosaurs were animated by pioneering stop motion techniques by Willis H. O'Brien, who would some years later animate the giant gorilla-like creature breaking loose in New York City, for the 1933 movie "King Kong" (1933). The enormous success of "King Kong" can be seen as the definitive breakthrough of monster movies. RKO Pictures later licensed the King Kong character to Japanese studio Toho, resulting in the co-productions "King Kong vs. Godzilla" (1962) and "King Kong Escapes" (1967), both directed by Ishirō Honda.


title: Kaiju

text: "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953) featured a fictional dinosaur (animated by Ray Harryhausen), which is released from its frozen, hibernating state by an atomic bomb test within the Arctic Circle. The American movie was released in Japan in 1954 under the title "The Atomic Kaiju Appears", marking the first use of the genre's name in a film title. However, "Gojira" (transliterated as "Godzilla") is commonly regarded as the first "kaiju" film in the west and was released in 1954. Tomoyuki Tanaka, a producer for Toho Studios in Tokyo, needed a film to release after his previous project was halted. Seeing how well the Hollywood giant monster movie genre films "King Kong" and "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" had done in Japanese box offices, and himself a fan of these films, he set out to make a new movie based on them and created "Godzilla". Tanaka aimed to combine Hollywood giant monster movies with the re-emerged Japanese fears of atomic weapons that arose from the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat incident; and so he put a team together and created the concept of a giant radioactive creature emerging from the depths of the ocean, a creature that would become the monster Godzilla. "Godzilla" initially had commercial success in Japan, inspiring other "kaiju" movies.


title: Kaiju

text: The term "kaijū" translates literally as "strange beast". "Kaiju" can be antagonistic, protagonistic, or a neutral force of nature, but more specifically as preternatural creatures of divine power. Succinctly, they are not merely, "big animals." Godzilla, for example, from its first appearance in the initial 1954 entry in the "Godzilla" franchise, has manifest all of these aspects. Other examples of "kaiju" include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, King Kong, Gamera, Daimajin, , Guilala and Yonggary. There are also subcategories including "Mecha" "Kaiju" (Meka-Kaijū), featuring mechanical or cybernetic characters, including Mogera, Mechani-Kong, Mechagodzilla, Gigan, which are an off-shoot of "kaiju". Likewise, the collective sub-category "Ultra-Kaiju" (Urutora-Kaijū) is a separate strata of "kaijū", which specifically originate in the long-running "Ultra Series" franchise, but can also be referred to simply by "kaijū". As a noun, "kaijū" is an "invariant", as both the singular and the plural expressions are identical.


title: Kaiju

text: "Kaijin" ( lit. "strange person") refers to distorted human beings or humanoid-like creatures. The origin of "kaijin" goes back to the early 20th Century Japanese literature, starting with Edogawa Rampo's 1936 novel, "The Fiend with Twenty Faces". The story introduced Edogawa's master detective, Kogoro Akechi's arch-nemesis, the eponymous "Fiend," a mysterious master of disguise, whose real face was unknown; the "Moriarty" to Akechi's "Sherlock". Catching the public's imagination, many such literary and movie (and later television) villains took on the mantle of "kaijin". To be clear, "kaijin" is not an offshoot of "kaiju". The first-ever kaijin that appeared on film was "The Great Buddha Arrival" a lost film, made in 1934.


title: Kaiju

text: After the Pacific War, the term was modernized when it was adopted to describe the bizarre, genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced evil humanoid spawn conceived for the "Kamen Rider Series" in 1971. This created a new splinter of the term, which quickly propagated through the popularity of superhero programs produced from the 1970s, forward. These "kaijin" possess rational thought and the power of speech, as do human beings. A successive "kaijin" menagerie, in diverse iterations, appeared over numerous series, most notably the "Super Sentai" programs premiering in 1975 (later carried over into "Super Sentai"'s English iteration as "Power Rangers" in the 1990s).


title: Kaiju

text: This created yet another splinter, as the "kaijin" of "Super Sentai" have since evolved to feature unique forms and attributes (i.e. gigantism), existing somewhere between "kaijin" and "kaiju".


title: Kaiju

text: "Daikaijū" () literally translates as "giant "kaiju"" or "great "kaiju"". This hyperbolic term was used to denote greatness of the subject "kaiju"; the prefix "dai-" emphasizing great size, power, and/or status. The first known appearance of the term "daikaiju" in the 20th Century was in the publicity materials for the original 1954 release of "Godzilla". Specifically, in the subtitle on the original movie poster, "Suibaku Daikaiju Eiga" (), lit. "H-Bomb Giant Monster Movie" (in proper English, "The Giant H-Bomb Monster Movie").


title: Kaiju

text: "Seijin" ( lit. "star people"), appears within Japanese words for extraterrestrial aliens, such as "Kaseijin" (), which means "Martian". Aliens can also be called "uchūjin" () which means "spacemen". Among the best known "Seijin" in the genre can be found in the "Ultra Series", such as Alien Baltan from "Ultraman", a race of crustacean-like aliens who have gone on to become one of the franchise's most enduring and recurring characters other than the Ultras themselves.


title: Kaiju

text: Toho has produced a variety of "kaiju" films over the years (many of which feature Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra); but other Japanese studios contributed to the genre by producing films and shows of their own: Daiei Film (Kadokawa Pictures), Tsuburaya Productions, and Shochiku and Nikkatsu Studios.


title: Kaiju

text: Eiji Tsuburaya, who was in charge of the special effects for "Godzilla", developed a technique to animate the "kaiju" that became known colloquially as "suitmation". Where Western monster movies often used stop motion to animate the monsters, Tsubaraya decided to attempt to create suits, called "creature suits", for a human (suit actor) to wear and act in. This was combined with the use of miniature models and scaled-down city sets to create the illusion of a giant creature in a city. Due to the extreme stiffness of the latex or rubber suits, filming would often be done at double speed, so that when the film was shown, the monster was smoother and slower than in the original shot. "Kaiju" films also used a form of puppetry interwoven between suitmation scenes which served for shots that were physically impossible for the suit actor to perform. From the 1998 release of "Godzilla", American-produced "kaiju" films strayed from suitmation to computer-generated imagery (CGI). In Japan, CGI and stop-motion have been increasingly used for certain special sequences and monsters, but suitmation has been used for an overwhelming majority of "kaiju" films produced in Japan of all eras.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Joseph Bastianich (born September 17, 1968) is an American restaurateur, winemaker, author, television personality, and musician. He, along with his mother and business partner Lidia Bastianich, co-owns thirty restaurants in four countries, including Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, which the owners expanded in 2010. Earlier that same year, they teamed up with businessman Oscar Farinetti to bring Eataly, an upscale food and wine market, to Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and London.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Joseph Bastianich was born in Astoria, Queens in 1968, to Istrian Italian immigrants Felice and Lidia Bastianich. His parents were born in Istria (now in Croatia) and moved to the United States in 1958 during the large Istrian exodus. While nationally Italian, public DNA tests have shown that Joe's family on his mother side is largely of Eastern European descent, due to the multiethnicity of Istria. His mother has stated that she feels very Italian, but that she relates to her Slavic roots too.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Raised working in his parents' Italian restaurant Felidia in Manhattan, he attended Fordham Preparatory School before attending Boston College, where he studied political science and philosophy.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: After spending a year on Wall Street as a bond trader, he gave up his newly launched career and ventured into the food industry. He took an extended trip to Italy. In 1993, he opened Becco (Italian for "peck, nibble, savor"), an Italian restaurant with his mother, Lidia Bastianich. He then partnered with Mario Batali to open Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, an Italian restaurant that gained the prestigious three stars from "The New York Times", the first Italian restaurant to gain the award in 40 years. Babbo also has earned one Michelin star. Together they opened seven more restaurants in New York: Lupa, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Otto, Del Posto, and Eataly (an Italian marketplace). In 2010, Del Posto received a four star review from "The New York Times," one of only five restaurants in New York to win that award. Their culinary empire has expanded to 10 restaurants in New York, four restaurants in Las Vegas, three restaurants in Los Angeles, two restaurants in Singapore, one Italian market in Chicago, one Italian market in Boston, one Italian market in London, and two restaurants in Hong Kong. After being accused of sexual harassment, Batali gave up his restaurants, selling his shares to Bastianich and his sister Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Otto Enoteca Pizzeria closed during the coronavirus pandemic. When it closed, TimeOut wrote "it was the type of place that was nice yet casual enough to go on any night of the week with plenty of tables the white marble-covered enoteca (offering wine, cheese and salumi) and the more formal dining area focusing on pastas and pizzas. We'll also miss the olive oil gelato."


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Bastianich has co-authored two award-winning books on Italian wine, and his memoir, "Restaurant Man", became a "New York Times" Best Seller within a week of its release in May 2012.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: He claims to have invented the Everything bagel in 1979, although this feat is also claimed by other people.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Bastianich was a judge on the American "MasterChef" series broadcast by Fox until it took too much of his time, and "MasterChef Junior" until he was replaced on both series by Christina Tosi in the spring of 2015 after he exited the franchise in November 2014. However, he eventually returned to temporarily judge Season 6 of "MasterChef Junior" on March 2, 2018 and has returned to the judging panel as a full-time judge on "MasterChef" since season 9, which debuted in June 2018"." He was also a judge on the Italian version of the program. "MasterChef Italia" shown on Sky Uno for its first 8 seasons. In May 2019, Bastianich announced his departure from MasterChef Italia in order to dedicate himself to his passion for music. In mid-September of the same year, Bastianich released his first album, titled "Aka Joe". In late January 2020, he will star in a musical concert tour around Italy, featuring his "New York Stories" album.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: He has also guest starred as a guest judge on "MasterChef Canada" on Season 1, Episode 14. He co-starred alongside Tim Love and Antonia Lofaso in the American reality show "Restaurant Startup" on CNBC, for which he is the executive producer along with Endemol Shine North America.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Bastianich also made a special appearance in the 2015 television film "" as a judge in a fictional season of "MasterChef Junior".


title: Joe Bastianich

text: From March 22, 2016, he presented, with Guido Meda and Davide Valsecchi, the first edition of Top Gear Italia. He will also serve as a judge on the judging panel of Italia's Got Talent and Family Food Fight Italia, airing on Sky Uno in the spring of 2020.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: In an episode of "MasterChef Italia" which came to the attention of the U.S. media in January 2018, Bastianich makes several remarks about Chinese men while making sexually suggestive comments to women giving him a manicure and pedicure at a beauty salon in Milan's Chinatown. He asks the women if they have ever had Italian boyfriends and remarks that Chinese men are "inadequate" in certain situations. When asked by the blog Grub Street for comment, Bastianich issued an apology:


title: Joe Bastianich

text: This was a scripted segment shot in a Milan nail salon that I've gone to regularly. I know the women, and we were given the questions to discuss in advance. That said, it's clear that some of what I said was in poor taste and not reflective of my views. I'm sorry I said those things.


title: Joe Bastianich

text: Bastianich lives in New York City, with his wife, Deanna, and their children, Olivia, Ethan, and Miles. He is fluent in Italian.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: Natarajan Chandrasekaran (born 2 June 1963) is an Indian businessman, and the chairman of Tata Sons. He was chief operating officer (COO) and executive director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where in 2009, he became chief executive officer (CEO). He was also the chairman of Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages (TGB). He became the first non-Parsi and professional executive to head the Tata Group. He has assumed the chair of B20 India and will lead the business agenda during India’s G20 presidency.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: Chandrasekaran studied in a Tamil Government school in Mohanur. He later received a bachelor's degree in applied sciences from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu. He earned his Master of Computer Applications (MCA) from the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli (now National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli), in Tamil Nadu, India, in 1986. Joining TCS in 1987, Chandrasekaran took over as CEO on 6 October 2009, prior to which he was COO and executive director of TCS. Chandrasekaran is a senior member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and an active member of Computer Society of India and British Computer Society. He was nominated as the chairman of Indian IT industry body NASSCOM in April 2015.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: Chandrasekaran has spent his career in TCS, joining the company in 1987 after completing a Masters in Computer Applications from Regional Engineering College, Trichy in Tamil Nadu.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: Under his leadership TCS has generated consolidated revenues of US$16.5 billion in 2015-16. With over 556,000 consultants, TCS has become the largest private sector employer in India. TCS remains the most valuable company in India ended 2015–16 with a market capitalization of over US$70 billion. In 2015 TCS was rated as the world's most powerful brand in IT Services, and was recognized as a Global Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute across 24 countries.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: On 25 October 2016, Chandrasekaran, then CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was appointed an additional director on the Tata Sons board.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: The Tata Sons board voted to remove Cyrus Mistry from the Chairmanship of Tata Sons on 24 October 2016.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: In July 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLAT), issued a verdict in favor of Tata Sons on charges of mismanagement leveled by Mistry in 2016, two months following his ousting as chairman through a vote of non-confidence. On 10 July 2018, Mistry stated that he would appeal the decision.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: In December 2019, the Tribunal reinstated Mistry as the Chairperson of Tata Sons for his remaining term, and declared that the appointment of Chandrasekaran as executive chairman was illegal.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: In January 2020, Tata Sons appealed to the Supreme Court of India against NCLAT's decision. Mistry stated that he would not return to the Chairmanship of the conglomerate, but was interested in reserving his seat in the company's board. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice S. A. Bobde and Justices B. R. Gavai and Surya Kant stayed NCLAT's order while hearing Tata Sons' appeal on 10 January 2020.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: The Supreme Court also ordered that Tata Sons will not exercise power under Article 25 of the Company Law for pushing out shares of minority holders in the company.


title: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

text: Chandrasekaran was born into a Tamil family in Mohanur near Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, India. He resides in Mumbai, with his wife Lalitha. Chandrasekaran is an avid photographer, music aficionado and a passionate long-distance runner who has completed marathons in Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, Mumbai, New York and Tokyo. He completed his fastest marathon or personal record (PR) at TCS New York City Marathon (2014) with a finishing time of 5 hr 00 min 52 sec.


title: Arecaceae

text: The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees. Currently, 181 genera with around 2,600 species are known, most of which are restricted to tropical and subtropical climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.


title: Arecaceae

text: Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms. In contemporary times, palms are also widely used in landscaping. In many historical cultures, because of their importance as food, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility.


title: Arecaceae

text: The word "Arecaceae" is derived from the word "areca" with the suffix "-aceae". "Areca" is derived from Portuguese, via Malayalam അടയ്ക്ക ("aṭaykka"), which is from Dravidian "*aṭ-ay-kkāy" (“areca nut”). The suffix "-aceae" is the feminine plural of the Latin "-āceus" ("resembling").


title: Arecaceae

text: Whether as shrubs, tree-like, or vines, palms have two methods of growth: solitary or clustered. The common representation is that of a solitary shoot ending in a crown of leaves. This monopodial character may be exhibited by prostrate, trunkless, and trunk-forming members. Some common palms restricted to solitary growth include "Washingtonia" and "Roystonea". Palms may instead grow in sparse though dense clusters. The trunk develops an axillary bud at a leaf node, usually near the base, from which a new shoot emerges. The new shoot, in turn, produces an axillary bud and a clustering habit results. Exclusively sympodial genera include many of the rattans, "Guihaia", and "Rhapis". Several palm genera have both solitary and clustering members. Palms which are usually solitary may grow in clusters and vice versa. These aberrations suggest the habit operates on a single gene.


title: Arecaceae

text: Palms have large, evergreen leaves that are either palmately ('fan-leaved') or pinnately ('feather-leaved') compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a tubular sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a spadix or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity. The flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each, and may be distinct or joined at the base. The stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe (sometimes berry-like) but some genera (e.g., "Salacca") may contain two or more seeds in each fruit.


title: Arecaceae

text: Like all monocots, palms do not have the ability to increase the width of a stem (secondary growth) via the same kind of vascular cambium found in non-monocot woody plants. This explains the cylindrical shape of the trunk (almost constant diameter) that is often seen in palms, unlike in ring-forming trees. However, many palms, like some other monocots, do have secondary growth, although because it does not arise from a single vascular cambium producing xylem inwards and phloem outwards, it is often called "anomalous secondary growth".


title: Arecaceae

text: The Arecaceae are notable among monocots for their height and for the size of their seeds, leaves, and inflorescences. "Ceroxylon quindiuense", Colombia's national tree, is the tallest monocot in the world, reaching up to tall. The "coco de mer" ("Lodoicea maldivica") has the largest seeds of any plant, in diameter and weighing each (coconuts are the second largest). Raffia palms ("Raphia" spp.) have the largest leaves of any plant, up to long and wide. The "Corypha" species have the largest inflorescence of any plant, up to tall and containing millions of small flowers. "Calamus" stems can reach in length.


title: Arecaceae

text: Most palms are native to tropical and subtropical climates. Palms thrive in moist and hot climates but can be found in a variety of different habitats. Their diversity is highest in wet, lowland forests. South America, the Caribbean, and areas of the south Pacific and southern Asia are regions of concentration. Colombia may have the highest number of palm species in one country. There are some palms that are also native to desert areas such as the Arabian peninsula and parts of northwestern Mexico. Only about 130 palm species naturally grow entirely beyond the tropics, mostly in humid lowland subtropical climates, in highlands in southern Asia, and along the rim lands of the Mediterranean Sea. The northernmost native palm is "Chamaerops humilis", which reaches 44°N latitude along the coast of Liguria, Italy. In the southern hemisphere, the southernmost palm is the "Rhopalostylis sapida", which reaches 44°S on the Chatham Islands where an oceanic climate prevails. Cultivation of palms is possible north of subtropical climates, and some higher latitude locales such as Ireland, Scotland, England, and the Pacific Northwest feature a few palms in protected locations and microclimates. In the United States, there are at least 12 native palm species, mostly occurring in the deep southeastern states and Florida.


title: Arecaceae

text: Palms inhabit a variety of ecosystems. More than two-thirds of palm species live in humid moist forests, where some species grow tall enough to form part of the canopy and shorter ones form part of the understory. Some species form pure stands in areas with poor drainage or regular flooding, including "Raphia hookeri" which is common in coastal freshwater swamps in West Africa. Other palms live in tropical mountain habitats above , such as those in the genus "Ceroxylon" native to the Andes. Palms may also live in grasslands and scrublands, usually associated with a water source, and in desert oases such as the date palm. A few palms are adapted to extremely basic lime soils, while others are similarly adapted to extreme potassium deficiency and toxicity of heavy metals in serpentine soils.


title: Arecaceae

text: Palms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants. Extensive taxonomic research on palms began with botanist H.E. Moore, who organized palms into 15 major groups based mostly on general morphological characteristics. The following classification, proposed by N.W. Uhl and J. Dransfield in 1987, is a revision of Moore's classification that organizes palms into six subfamilies. A few general traits of each subfamily are listed below.


title: Arecaceae

text: Currently, few extensive phylogenetic studies of the Arecaceae exist. In 1997, Baker" et al." explored subfamily and tribe relationships using chloroplast DNA from 60 genera from all subfamilies and tribes. The results strongly showed the Calamoideae are monophyletic, and Ceroxyloideae and Coryphoideae are paraphyletic. The relationships of Arecoideae are uncertain, but they are possibly related to the Ceroxyloideae and Phytelephantoideae. Studies have suggested the lack of a fully resolved hypothesis for the relationships within the family is due to a variety of factors, including difficulties in selecting appropriate outgroups, homoplasy in morphological character states, slow rates of molecular evolution important for the use of standard DNA markers, and character polarization. However, hybridization has been observed among "Orbignya" and "Phoenix" species, and using chloroplast DNA in cladistic studies may produce inaccurate results due to maternal inheritance of the chloroplast DNA. Chemical and molecular data from non-organelle DNA, for example, could be more effective for studying palm phylogeny.


title: Arecaceae

text: The Arecaceae are the first modern family of monocots appearing in the fossil record around 80 million years ago (Mya), during the late Cretaceous period. The first modern species, such as "Nypa fruticans" and "Acrocomia aculeata", appeared 69 Mya, as evidenced by fossil "Nypa" pollen. Palms appear to have undergone an early period of adaptive radiation. By 60 Mya, many of the modern, specialized genera of palms appeared and became widespread and common, much more widespread than their range today. Because palms separated from the monocots earlier than other families, they developed more intrafamilial specialization and diversity. By tracing back these diverse characteristics of palms to the basic structures of monocots, palms may be valuable in studying monocot evolution. Several species of palms have been identified from flowers preserved in amber, including "Palaeoraphe dominicana" and "Roystonea palaea". Evidence can also be found in samples of petrified palmwood.


title: Arecaceae

text: Human use of palms is at least as old as human civilization itself, starting with the cultivation of the date palm by Mesopotamians and other Middle Eastern peoples 5000 years or more ago. Date wood, pits for storing dates, and other remains of the date palm have been found in Mesopotamian sites. The date palm had a tremendous effect on the history of the Middle East. W.H. Barreveld wrote:


title: Arecaceae

text: An indication of the importance of palms in ancient times is that they are mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible, and at least 22 times in the Quran.


title: Arecaceae

text: Arecaceae have great economic importance, including coconut products, oils, dates, palm syrup, ivory nuts, carnauba wax, rattan cane, raffia, and palm wood. This family supplies a large amount of the human diet and several other human uses, both by absolute amount produced and by number of species domesticated. This is far higher than almost any other plant family, sixth out of domesticated crops in the human diet, and first in total economic value produced sharing the top spot with the Poaceae and Fabaceae. These human uses have also spread many Arecaceae species around the world.


title: Arecaceae

text: Like many other plants, palms have been threatened by human intervention and exploitation. The greatest risk to palms is destruction of habitat, especially in the tropical forests, due to urbanization, wood-chipping, mining, and conversion to farmland. Palms rarely reproduce after such great changes in the habitat, and those with small habitat ranges are most vulnerable to them. The harvesting of heart of palm, a delicacy in salads, also poses a threat because it is derived from the palm's apical meristem, a vital part of the palm that cannot be regrown (except in domesticated varieties, e.g. of peach palm). The use of rattan palms in furniture has caused a major population decrease in these species that has negatively affected local and international markets, as well as biodiversity in the area. The sale of seeds to nurseries and collectors is another threat, as the seeds of popular palms are sometimes harvested directly from the wild. In 2006, at least 100 palm species were considered endangered, and nine species have been reported as recently extinct.


title: Arecaceae

text: However, several factors make palm conservation more difficult. Palms live in almost every type of warm habitat and have tremendous morphological diversity. Most palm seeds lose viability quickly, and they cannot be preserved in low temperatures because the cold kills the embryo. Using botanical gardens for conservation also presents problems, since they can rarely house more than a few plants of any species or truly imitate the natural setting. There is also the risk that cross-pollination can lead to hybrid species.


title: Arecaceae

text: The Palm Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) began in 1984, and has performed a series of three studies to find basic information on the status of palms in the wild, use of wild palms, and palms under cultivation. Two projects on palm conservation and use supported by the World Wildlife Fund took place from 1985 to 1990 and 1986–1991, in the American tropics and southeast Asia, respectively. Both studies produced copious new data and publications on palms. Preparation of a global action plan for palm conservation began in 1991, supported by the IUCN, and was published in 1996.


title: Arecaceae

text: The rarest palm known is "Hyophorbe amaricaulis". The only living individual remains at the Botanic Gardens of Curepipe in Mauritius.


title: Arecaceae

text: Some pests are specialists to particular taxa. Pests that attack a "variety" of species of palms include:


title: Arecaceae

text: The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in classical antiquity. The Romans rewarded champions of the games and celebrated military successes with palm branches. Early Christians used the palm branch to symbolize the victory of the faithful over enemies of the soul, as in the Palm Sunday festival celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. In Judaism, the palm represents peace and plenty, and is one of the Four Species of Sukkot; the palm may also symbolize the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.


title: Arecaceae

text: The canopies of the Rathayatra carts which carry the deities of Krishna and his family members in the cart festival of Jagganath Puri in India are marked with the emblem of a palm tree. Specifically it is the symbol of Krishna's brother, Baladeva.


title: Arecaceae

text: In 1840, the American geologist Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) published the first tree-like paleontology chart in his "Elementary Geology", with two separate trees of life for the plants and the animals. These are crowned (graphically) with the Palms and with Man.


title: Arecaceae

text: Palms appear on the flags and seals of several places where they are native, including those of Haiti, Guam, Saudi Arabia, Florida, and South Carolina.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer, and artist. He is best known for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie band Babyshambles and Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Pete Doherty was born in Hexham, Northumberland, to a military family. His father, Peter John Doherty, was a major in the Royal Signals, while his mother, Jacqueline Michels, was a lance-corporal in Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. His paternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant from Cheekpoint in County Waterford; his maternal grandfather, was Jewish, the son of immigrants, Moise Michels and Chana Peress, from France and Russia. He was raised Catholic. He grew up at a number of army garrisons across Britain and continental Europe, with his sisters, AmyJo and Emily. Doherty was the second of the three children. While living in Dorset, aged 11, Doherty began playing guitar, originally in an attempt to impress a female classmate, Emily Baker. He achieved 11 GCSEs, 7 of which were A* grades, at Nicholas Chamberlaine Comprehensive School in Bedworth, North Warwickshire, and four passes at A-Level, two at grade A. At the age of 16, he won a poetry competition and embarked on a tour of Russia organised by the British Council.


title: Pete Doherty

text: After his A-levels, he moved to his grandmother's flat in London – where he said he felt 'destined' to be – and got a job filling graves in Willesden Cemetery, although most of his time was spent reading and writing while sitting on gravestones. In a clip later available on YouTube, an 18-year-old Doherty can be seen in an interview with MTV, on the day of the release of Oasis' "Be Here Now" album. He attended Queen Mary, a college of the University of London, to study English literature, but left the course after his first year. After leaving university, he moved into a London flat with friend and fellow musician Carl Barât, who had been a classmate of Doherty's older sister at Brunel University.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty and Barât formed a band called the Libertines in the late 1990s, although it was not until 2002, with the release of their debut album "Up the Bracket", that they began to achieve widespread mainstream success.


title: Pete Doherty

text: The group achieved critical and commercial success and gained a dedicated cult following, with Doherty, in particular, being praised by fans and critics alike as one of the most promising songwriters to emerge on the British music scene for some time. However, Doherty's increasing drug problems led to his estrangement from the band. In 2003, he was jailed for burgling Barât's flat. The two initially fell out over this incident, but made up whilst Doherty was in prison. He was originally sentenced to six months, but his sentence was cut to two months. Upon his release, Doherty immediately reunited with Barât and the rest of the band to play a gig in the Tap 'n' Tin pub in Chatham, Kent; known among Libertine fans as "The Freedom Gig".


title: Pete Doherty

text: Following his rejoining of the band, Doherty sought treatment for his drug addiction. He attended the alternative detox centre Wat Tham Krabok, a temple in Thailand, famous for its rehabilitation programme for crack and heroin users. He left after three days and returned to England. As a consequence of this, The Libertines cancelled appearances that they were due to make at the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury festivals.


title: Pete Doherty

text: However, while post-production work was taking place on the second Libertines album in June 2004, Doherty was again asked to leave the band. The band cited Doherty's continuing drug addiction as the reason for his dismissal but emphasised their willingness to take him back once he had addressed his addiction. Although Barât had previously stated that The Libertines were merely on hiatus, pending Doherty's recovery, the group effectively disbanded with Doherty's departure at the end of 2004. The remaining members became involved in other projects (see Yeti and Dirty Pretty Things). On 12 April 2007, Doherty and Barât played 13 songs together at the second of Doherty's "An Evening with Pete Doherty" gigs at the Hackney Empire, London.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In 2010 The Libertines reformed for appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. They performed on 27 August at Leeds Festival and on 28 August at Reading Festival. The festival appearances were preluded by two gigs at the HMV Forum on 24 and 25 August. In November 2014 the band signed a record deal with Virgin EMI Records and released their third album, Anthems for Doomed Youth, on 11 September 2015.


title: Pete Doherty

text: The Libertines played an arena tour across the UK in January 2016, followed by a European tour and then dates in South America.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Prior to the disbanding of The Libertines, Doherty collaborated with local poet Wolfman. Together they recorded the single "For Lovers", which entered the top 10, charting at number 7, in April 2004. Despite the success of the single, which was nominated for a prestigious Ivor Novello Award for songwriting, Doherty and Wolfman received relatively little money, having already sold the publishing rights for a small sum in a pub.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Later in 2004, Doherty provided guest vocals to the song "Down to the Underground" by the British group Client. The song was released in June 2004 as a B-side to the group's single "In It for the Money" and appears on their second album "City".


title: Pete Doherty

text: In 2006, Doherty was featured on the charity single "Janie Jones", which was released to raise funds for Strummerville. A number of artists and bands, such as Dirty Pretty Things, We Are Scientists, The Kooks and The Holloways, also featured on the track.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In August 2006 it was announced that Doherty was recording with The Streets frontman Mike Skinner on a new version of "Prangin' Out", from Skinner's album "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living".


title: Pete Doherty

text: In May 2020, during COVID-19 lockdown, he provided vocals for the single "Uncle Brian's Abattoir" released as Trampolene featuring Peter Doherty.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty founded Babyshambles towards the end of his time with The Libertines. The group has released three studio albums: "Down in Albion", in November 2005, "Shotter's Nation", in October 2007, and "Sequel to the Prequel", in September 2013. The band's touring schedule and releases have occasionally been disrupted by Doherty's ongoing legal problems. The line-up of the band has changed several times: drummer Gemma Clarke left the band due to Doherty's drug problems and was replaced by Adam Ficek, and guitarist and co-songwriter Patrick Walden has also left the band and was replaced by Mick Whitnall. In August 2006, Babyshambles signed up with major record label Parlophone, on which they released "The Blinding EP" on 9 December 2006. In January 2007, they signed a long term record deal with Parlophone.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In November 2007 Babyshambles played their first arena tour, taking in dates at the MEN Arena in Manchester, the Nottingham Arena, Bournemouth International Centre, London's Wembley Arena and Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In 2004, Doherty was voted the joint No. 1 on "NME"s 2004 Cool List. The following year he was placed at No. 6, and on 10 May 2006 was voted No. 2 in their poll depicting 50 of rock's greatest heroes.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On his own, and often with his band, Doherty has continued The Libertines' tradition of performing on short notice guerrilla gigs in small venues. On New Year's Eve 2005, Doherty held a guerrilla gig in his North London flat where he showcased some of his solo works, many of which later leaked onto the internet. 31 March and 1 April 2006 Doherty was performing two surprising solo gigs, his first in mainland Europe, at the NonStop Kino pornographic cinema and venue in Graz, Austria, after he failed to turn up for an earlier arrangement in January. For this occasion he produced, at the suggestion of Bettina Aichbauer, friend of Doherty and owner of the NonStop Kino, a film with the title "Spew It Out Your Soul" which he showed on-screen during his performance.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 12 July 2008, Doherty played a solo gig at the Royal Albert Hall. It was his biggest solo show so far. The concert was originally scheduled for 26 April, but had to be rescheduled due to Doherty's being sentenced to 14 weeks in prison for breaching probation on 8 April. The solo show did not get the best ratings but was all in all still well received. Jon Swaine of "The Daily Telegraph" criticised that "whole chunks of the set … passed by as listless noodling, with neither Doherty nor the audience appearing to know quite how to behave" and that – without a full band – Doherty seemed out of place at such a big venue. Betty Clarke of "The Guardian" described Doherty as "focused" and "on good form". Friend and collaborator Peter Wolfe had a guest appearance on stage when Doherty performed "For Lovers". Swaine stated Wolfe ruined the song with "some especially tuneless backing vocals". The gig was forced to an abrupt end during the encore due to a stage invasion by the fans.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 13 January 2009, NME announced that Doherty's solo album, entitled "Grace/Wastelands" would be released on 16 March, preceded by a single, "Last of the English Roses", on 9 March. The website also revealed the track listing of the album and credits. In 2009 Doherty was made an honorary patron of the University Philosophical Society.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Whilst performing a solo gig at the Grimsby Auditorium in March 2009, Doherty declared Grimsby a "shit-hole" midway through his set after being continuously pelted with coins and drinks by a harsh crowd.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In March 2015, Doherty released a new single entitled "Flags of the Old Regime" through Walk Tall Recordings. All proceeds of single went to The Amy Winehouse Foundation.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In May 2016, Peter was joined on his 'Eudaimonia' tour by Drew McConnell (bass), Miki Beavis (violin), Katia de Vidas (keyboard), Stephany Kaberian (accordion) and Rafa (drums). He was also joined by Jack Jones of Trampolene on guitar, who was support on the tour. He shared new track 'The Whole World Is Our Playground' on 4 May 2016.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In early December 2016, Doherty released the album "Hamburg Demonstrations", which had been recorded in the city over a six-month period, using mostly session musicians. It was produced by Johann Scheerer and received favourable reviews.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In 2021, Doherty teamed up with French musician to release "The Fantasy Life Of Poetry & Crime", a single inspired by Maurice Leblanc, the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin. The single was recorded in Étretat and Paris, and has a video filmed by documentary maker Thierry Villeneuve.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In June 2006, Doherty announced that he had signed a deal with Orion Books to publish his journals, in which he had recorded poetry, drawings and photos over the course of his career. Most of Doherty's journals are freely available on the internet. The book, titled "The Books of Albion: The Collected Writings of Peter Doherty", was released on 21 June 2007.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 15 May 2007, Doherty exhibited his paintings for the first time. The art exhibition took place at London's Bankrobber Gallery and was on show for one month. The collection featured 14 paintings.


title: Pete Doherty

text: An exhibition of Doherty's paintings titled, "Art of the Albion", took place at the Galerie Chappe in Paris from 25 April to 25 May 2008. The exhibit caused controversy due to artworks made with Doherty's own blood. According to newspapers, anti-drug campaigners were enraged and accused Doherty of glamorising illegal substance abuse. Art experts were similarly unimpressed. David West, the owner of London's Decima Gallery, for example, slammed his work: "It's not got any artistic merit. He's using his blood to make them interesting, but when you look at them they're what any four-year-old can do."


title: Pete Doherty

text: Music journalist Simon Spence collaborated with Doherty for his biography "A Likely Lad", published in 2022. Writer Antonella Gambotto-Burke called it "a strange and unreliable memoir by a strange and unreliable man."


title: Pete Doherty

text: The Janinebeangallery in Berlin curated an exhibition of Doherty's art, lyrics and artefacts entitled "Contain Yourself (seriously)", which opened in September 2022.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Following in the footsteps of model and ex-fiancée Kate Moss, Doherty became the face of Roberto Cavalli's Fall 2007/2008 fashion advertising campaign. The photos gained praise for depicting a much cleaner and more handsome Doherty. The '50s-style photographs have been compared to images of Marlon Brando.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty played Octave, the lead role opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg's Brigitte in "Confession of a Child of the Century", Sylvie Verheyde's film adaption of Alfred de Musset's autobiographical novel (1836). Although the film was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival it suffered an ignominious record as the lowest grossing film of the year in US box office takings when finally released there three years later.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In November 2016, Jack Jones was announced as lead guitarist in Doherty's new band The Puta Madres, joining Drew McConnell (bass), Miki Beavis (violin), Katia de Vidas (keyboard) and Rafa (drums), who had previously been his touring band. Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres played a gig in Argentina, followed by a week of shows in France including two nights for the reopening of the Bataclan. They played Kentish Town Forum in London and Manchester Albert Hall in December 2016 and several dates across Europe in February and March 2017.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Following European and South American tours and festival appearances, the band recorded their debut album in France during the summer of 2018. The band played a short tour of the UK in February 2019.


title: Pete Doherty

text: The self-titled album was released on 26 April 2019 and after instore signings the band set off on a UK and European tour.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In interviews, Doherty has listed his favourite books as George Orwell's "1984", "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene, "Our Lady of the Flowers" by Jean Genet, "Flowers of Evil" by Charles Baudelaire and the complete works of Oscar Wilde. He has also mentioned Emily Dickinson and Tony Hancock as influences; Doherty and his father were once members of the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society. Doherty mentions Hancock, and makes an allusion to his catchphrase 'Stone me!', in an early song entitled "You're My Waterloo". However, numerous literary and musical allusions occur throughout Doherty's ongoing "Books of Albion". He places particular importance on the Romantic poets and on existential philosophers such as Albert Camus and Miguel de Unamuno. Doherty has also alluded to work by the Marquis de Sade and Thomas de Quincey. On the Babyshambles album "Down in Albion", there is a track entitled "À rebours", which is significantly influenced by the novel of the same name by Joris-Karl Huysmans.


title: Pete Doherty

text: A frequent lyrical theme for Doherty is Albion, the ancient name for Great Britain. Doherty also uses 'Albion' as the name of a ship sailing to a utopia called Arcadia, a place without rules or authority. Doherty and Barât shared a flat in London, at 112a Teesdale Street, Bethnal Green, affectionately known as 'The Albion Rooms', despite being rather run down. Doherty named his diaries, in which he writes poems and other thoughts, the "Books of Albion".


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty prefers vintage equipment. Many of his vintage guitars and amplifiers have been destroyed in various domestic incidents.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty had a tumultuous relationship with Kate Moss that was frequently covered by the press. They met in January 2005 at Moss' 31st birthday party and had an on-off relationship for several years. Moss had also taken to singing at some of Doherty's shows. On 11 April 2007, Doherty announced Moss as his fiancée during the first of his solo gigs at the Hackney Empire, London, at which Moss also performed. Doherty planned to marry Moss during the summer 2007. Moss and Doherty later broke up.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 28 September 2021 Doherty announced his engagement with his Puta Madres bandmate, Katia de Vidas, and married her on 30 September 2021.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty has a son, Astile (born 2003), with singer Lisa Moorish. Doherty's second child, a daughter, Aisling Erin, was born in December 2011 to South African model Lindi Hingston.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty is a socialist, stating that "I do have utopian fantasies. A lot of them are more – I wouldn't say spiritual, but they relate more to the imagination and the individual. But for me socialism is a way of trying to put far-fetched ideas into everyday use, trying to find a way to bridge the gap between that fantasy and reality, and reaching out across that gap to the people who can actually do something to make the change." Prior to the 2019 UK general election Doherty endorsed Corbyn while performing and chanted "oh Jeremy Corbyn" and "fuck the Tories".


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty is also known to be a devoted follower of Queens Park Rangers Football Club. As a youth (1995–96) he wrote a fanzine dedicated to the club, entitled "All Quiet on the Western Avenue".


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty has been repeatedly arrested for drug offences and offences arising from drug use, such as drunk-driving, car theft, and driving with a suspended licence. He has pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis and ketamine. His addictions have resulted in jail time and multiple trips to rehabilitation facilities. Drugs had been so important at some points in his life that in his younger days Doherty worked as a drug dealer to pay for his drug habit, as he admitted to author Peter Welsh in his biography. Doherty stated that he had been a rent boy, and that during that time he robbed one of his male clients.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In 2003, while Doherty's first band The Libertines were performing in Japan without him, he broke into Carl Barât's flat and stole various items, including an old guitar and a laptop computer. On 7 September Doherty was sentenced by Judge Roger Davies to six months in prison; the sentence was eventually shortened to two months on appeal with the judge commenting, "We feel that a custodial sentence was justified in this case but sufficient credit was not given for his timely plea of guilty which it should have been. We have reduced his sentence to two months which will allow for his almost immediate release." Doherty was released from jail on 8 October 2003.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 2 February 2005, Doherty was arrested after an altercation with documentary filmmaker Max Carlish, who was making the rockumentary "Stalking Pete Doherty" about the singer and sold photos of a heroin-smoking Doherty to the tabloids. Doherty and his friend Alan Wass had been charged with robbery and blackmail. On 7 February, he was released on bail after his record company Rough Trade put up £150,000 in bonds. All charges against him were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service due to a lack of evidence.


title: Pete Doherty

text: The sensitivity surrounding the issue became apparent in an edition of the BBC Two documentary series "Arena" about Doherty, on 12 November 2006, which included footage of him talking about this aspect of his personal life. He was visibly upset and had to politely ask the interviewer at one point to stop filming. In October 2007, Doherty explained in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 show "Front Row" that he had briefly reconciled with his father after three years when his father visited him in rehab, but were estranged again over drugs. Doherty's mother, Jacqueline, has published a book about Doherty and his drug problems entitled "Pete Doherty: My Prodigal Son".


title: Pete Doherty

text: In late 2007, a photo was published in several newspapers of Doherty allegedly forcing his pet cat to inhale from a crack pipe.


title: Pete Doherty

text: Doherty made another attempt to fight his drug addiction in September 2007, when he underwent rehab for six weeks at Clouds House. However, he relapsed in November 2007 following his appearance at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007 in Munich.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 8 April 2008, Doherty was jailed for 14 weeks by a court for breaching a probation order after a string of brushes with the law for drugs and driving offences. On 18 April, he was moved to a private area of Wormwood Scrubs prison after learning that fellow inmates were planning to attack him. On 6 May, he was released after his sentence was cut in half and a further 18 days were remitted due to a government plan to reduce overcrowding. He also had another two days off for being in police custody (after serving just over four weeks of a 14-week sentence). He described prison life as "a lot of gangsters and Radio 4" and showed a certificate confirming he had passed a drugs test while inside.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In June 2009, Doherty was arrested in Gloucester and charged with driving dangerously, while drunk, and in possession of heroin. He was released on a £50,000 bail and after 'guilty' pleas were entered, was asked to return to court on 21 December for sentencing. He was spared jail but was ordered to pay £2,050 in fines, and was banned from driving for 18 months, despite the court hearing Doherty had 21 previous drug offences and six motoring offences. Following his release from court, he was escorted by officers to the nearest police station and re-arrested for possession of a controlled substance, later revealed to be heroin. The following day, 22 December, it emerged that Doherty could be charged with offences linked to a hit-and-run incident, which left a pedestrian in a critical condition. His manager, Andrew Boyd, appeared in court charged with a number of offences relating to the incident. While Doherty was in Gloucester court on 21 December, heroin fell out of his coat pocket. He was arrested for possession and was convicted for this offence at the same court on 27 January 2010. He was fined £750 and ordered to pay £85 court costs.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 11 March 2010, Lowestoft magistrates fined Doherty £500 and banned him from driving for 12 months for allowing his Daimler car to be used uninsured by his manager. On 19 March 2010, he was arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs. He was reported to be on bail until April 2010.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In June 2010, Doherty was refused entry into the United States after spending 10 hours in detention in JFK Airport, despite having a visa.


title: Pete Doherty

text: On 18 October 2010, Doherty was summoned to court for cocaine possession. In March 2011 he pleaded guilty to possession, and was granted unconditional bail until sentencing on 20 May. On 20 May, Doherty was sentenced to six months in jail for possession of cocaine, following the inquiry into the death of Robin Whitehead.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In October 2014, Doherty was admitted to the Hope Rehab Centre in Thailand. He announced plans to start a foundation with the centre to help struggling addicts.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In January 2015, it was announced that Doherty had successfully completed his rehab treatment. In August 2017 it was revealed that he had been found with heroin in his car while travelling through Italy. He was also found to be driving with an invalid licence. Doherty received a fine.


title: Pete Doherty

text: In a 2019 interview, when asked whether he would like to be drug-free, Doherty responded: "Yes, a part of me would. Just so I can feel things. There are so many people in my life who deserve better. It really is a mental deficiency... I'd be a force to be reckoned with! I'd have money and self-respect and clean hands."


title: Pete Doherty

text: In November 2019, Doherty was fined €10,000 in Paris and given a three-month suspended prison sentence for cocaine possession and affray.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: The Battle of Stamford Bridge () took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king's brother Tostig Godwinson. After a bloody battle, both Hardrada and Tostig, along with most of the Norwegians, were killed. Although Harold Godwinson repelled the Norwegian invaders, his army was defeated by the Normans at Hastings less than three weeks later. The battle has traditionally been presented as symbolising the end of the Viking Age, although major Scandinavian campaigns in Britain and Ireland occurred in the following decades, such as those of King Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark in 1069–1070 and King Magnus Barefoot of Norway in 1098 and 1102–1103.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: The death of King Edward the Confessor of England in January 1066 had triggered a succession struggle in which a variety of contenders from across north-western Europe fought for the English throne. These claimants included the King of Norway, Harald Hardrada. According to the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" Manuscript D (p. 197), the Norwegians assembled a fleet of 300 ships to invade England. The authors, however, did not seem to differentiate between warships and supply ships. In "King Harald's Saga", Snorri Sturluson states, "it is said that King Harald had over two hundred ships, apart from supply ships and smaller craft". Combined with reinforcements picked up in Orkney, the Norwegian army most likely numbered between 7,000 and 9,000 men. Arriving off the English coast in September Hardrada was joined by further forces recruited in Flanders and Scotland by Tostig Godwinson. Tostig was at odds with his elder brother Harold (who had been elected king by the Witenagemot on the death of Edward). Having been ousted from his position as Earl of Northumbria and exiled in 1065, Tostig had mounted a series of abortive attacks on England in the spring of 1066.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: In the late summer of 1066, the invaders sailed up the Ouse before advancing on York. On 20 September they defeated a northern English army led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, and his brother Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, at the Battle of Fulford, outside York. Following this victory they received the surrender of York. Having briefly occupied the city and taken hostages and supplies from the city they returned towards their ships at Riccall. They offered peace to the Northumbrians in exchange for their support for Hardrada's bid for the throne, and demanded further hostages from the whole of Yorkshire.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: At this time King Harold was in Southern England, anticipating an invasion from France by William, Duke of Normandy, another contender for the English throne. Learning of the Norwegian invasion he headed north at great speed with his huscarls and as many thegns as he could gather, travelling day and night. He made the journey from London to Yorkshire, a distance of about , in only four days, enabling him to take the Norwegians completely by surprise. Having learned that the Northumbrians had been ordered to send the additional hostages and supplies to the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge, Harold hurried on through York to attack them at this rendezvous on 25 September. Until the English army came into view the invaders remained unaware of the presence of a hostile army anywhere in the vicinity.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: Manuscripts C, D and E of the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" all mention Stamford Bridge by name. Manuscript C contains a passage which states "... came upon them beyond the bridge ...". Henry of Huntington mentions Stamford Bridge and describes part of the battle being fought across the bridge.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: The exact location of the battle site is not known for certain. Sources indicate that it took place along the Derwent River, where a wooden bridge crossed the water. There are indications of a meadow on the west side of the river and higher ground on the eastern side. The original bridge no longer exists, and no archaeological traces of it remain. The traditional locating of part of the battle at Battle Flats is based on no contemporary references. Statements that in the 18th-century skeletons and weapons were found there have not been corroborated by modern finds.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: According to Snorri Sturluson, before the battle a single man rode up alone to Harald Hardrada and Tostig. He gave no name, but spoke to Tostig, offering the return of his earldom if he would turn against Hardrada. Tostig asked what his brother Harold would be willing to give Hardrada for his trouble. The rider replied "Seven feet of English ground, as he is taller than other men" (implies that both Hardrada and his army will be killed and buried on English soil). Then he rode back to the Saxon host. Hardrada was impressed by the rider's boldness, and asked Tostig who he was. Tostig replied that the rider was Harold Godwinson himself. According to Henry of Huntingdon, Harold said "Six feet of ground or as much more as he needs, as he is taller than most men."


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: The sudden appearance of the English army caught the Norwegians by surprise. The English advance was then delayed by the need to pass through the choke-point presented by the bridge itself. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has it that a giant Norse axeman (possibly armed with a Dane Axe) blocked the narrow crossing and single-handedly held up the entire English army. The story is that this axeman cut down up to 40 Englishmen and was defeated only when an English soldier floated under the bridge in a half-barrel and thrust his spear through the planks in the bridge, mortally wounding the axeman.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: This delay had allowed the bulk of the Norse army to form a shieldwall to face the English attack. Harold's army poured across the bridge, forming a line just short of the Norse army, locked shields and charged. The battle went far beyond the bridge itself, and although it raged for hours, the Norse army's decision to leave their armour behind left them at a distinct disadvantage. Eventually, the Norse army began to fragment and fracture, allowing the English troops to force their way in and break up the Scandinavians' shield wall. Completely outflanked, and with Hardrada killed with an arrow to his windpipe and Tostig slain, the Norwegian army disintegrated and was virtually annihilated.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: In the later stages of the battle, the Norwegians were reinforced by troops who had been guarding the ships at Riccall, led by Eystein Orre, Hardrada's prospective son-in-law. Some of his men were said to have collapsed and died of exhaustion upon reaching the battlefield. The remainder were fully armed for battle. Their counter-attack, described in the Norwegian tradition as "Orre's Storm", briefly checked the English advance, but was soon overwhelmed and Orre was slain. The Norwegian army were routed. As given in the Chronicles, pursued by the English army, some of the fleeing Norsemen drowned whilst crossing rivers.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: So many died in an area so small that the field was said to have been still whitened with bleached bones 50 years after the battle.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: King Harold accepted a truce with the surviving Norwegians, including Harald's son Olaf and Paul Thorfinnsson, Earl of Orkney. They were allowed to leave after giving pledges not to attack England again. The losses the Norwegians had suffered were so severe that only 24 ships from the fleet of over 300 were needed to carry the survivors away. They withdrew to Orkney, where they spent the winter, and in the spring Olaf returned to Norway. The kingdom was then divided and shared between him and his brother Magnus, whom Harald had left behind to govern in his absence.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: Harold's victory was short-lived. Three days after the battle, on 28 September, a second invasion army led by William, Duke of Normandy, landed in Pevensey Bay, Sussex, on the south coast of England. Harold had to immediately turn his troops around and force-march them southwards to intercept the Norman army. Less than three weeks after Stamford Bridge, on 14 October 1066, the English army was decisively defeated and King Harold II fell in action at the Battle of Hastings, beginning the Norman conquest of England, a process facilitated by the heavy losses amongst the English military commanders.


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: The first memorial is located in the village on Main Street (A116). The monument's inscription reads (in both English and Norwegian):


title: Battle of Stamford Bridge

text: A second monument is located at the battlefield site, at the end of Whiterose Drive. It has memorial stone and plaque that shows the events and the outcome of the battle.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup consisted of guitarists Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bassist Eddie Jackson, and lead vocalist Geoff Tate.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Queensrÿche has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, including over six million albums in the United States. They are considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and often referred to as one of the "Big Three" of the genre, along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning. The band received worldwide acclaim after the release of their 1988 album "", which is often considered one of the greatest heavy metal concept albums of all time. Their next album, "Empire" (1990), was also very successful and included the hit single "Silent Lucidity". The band has received three Grammy Award nominations for songs from both albums. In 1998, drummer Rockenfield received an individual Grammy nomination.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Also in 1998, guitarist and primary songwriter Chris DeGarmo left the band for personal reasons, returning briefly in 2003 to write and record the "Tribe" album. Over the years, his replacements have been Kelly Gray, Mike Stone, and Parker Lundgren. Following a highly publicized backstage altercation before a show in São Paulo, Brazil, in April 2012, Tate was fired from the band and replaced with then-Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre. In response to his dismissal, Tate and his wife Susan (who served as the band's manager from 2005 to 2012) filed a lawsuit in a Washington court, claiming that he was wrongfully terminated. The ruling in the preliminary injunction was that both parties were allowed to use the name Queensrÿche until a court ruling or a settlement decided who would get to use the name. A settlement was reached on April 17, 2014, in which founding members Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson were awarded the rights to the band trademark, continuing to perform with the lineup that additionally includes lead vocalist La Torre and guitarist Lundgren.


title: Queensrÿche

text: During the time both parties could use the name Queensrÿche, Tate created his own lineup featuring former guitarist Gray and musicians from bands including Blue Öyster Cult, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio, AC/DC and Quiet Riot. This version of Queensrÿche with Geoff Tate released the album "Frequency Unknown" on April 23, 2013, while Queensrÿche (with La Torre replacing Tate) released their eponymous album on June 24 and 25, 2013 (European and American release date, respectively). Both bands toured in 2013 and 2014, after which Tate changed the name of his version of Queensrÿche to . The La Torre-fronted Queensrÿche has since recorded three more albums with him: "Condition Hüman" (2015), "The Verdict" (2019) and their newest release "Digital Noise Alliance" (2022).


title: Queensrÿche

text: The foundations for Queensrÿche began in the late 1970s. Guitarist Michael Wilton started the band Joker with friends in 1978, and they were joined by guitarist Chris DeGarmo in 1979. In 1980, Wilton met drummer Scott Rockenfield at Easy Street Records in Seattle, and they formed the band Cross+Fire together on July 18 that year. They covered songs from popular heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and practiced in the garage of Rockenfield's parents which they called "The Dungeon" and fitted with egg cartons as acoustic cladding. Before long, DeGarmo and bassist Eddie Jackson joined Cross+Fire, and the band name was changed to the Mob, after the Black Sabbath song "The Mob Rules". In need of a singer for a one-off performance at a local rock festival, they recruited Babylon frontman Geoff Tate. After Babylon broke up, Tate performed a few shows with the Mob, but left because he was not interested in performing heavy metal covers.


title: Queensrÿche

text: In 1981, the Mob put together sufficient funds to record a demo tape. Still without a singer, Tate was once again enlisted to help, much to the disapproval of his then-current band, Myth. The group recorded the four songs "Queen of the Reich", "Nightrider", "Blinded", and "The Lady Wore Black", the latter of which Tate had written the lyrics for. For an entire year, they brought their demo to various labels and were rejected by all of them. The Mob were ultimately offered a management contract by Kim and Diana Harris, the owners of Easy Street Records. However, as Tate remained committed to staying in Myth, the band reluctantly searched for another singer.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Because the name "the Mob" was not available, their manager urged them to choose a different name. They reportedly ran out of ideas, and decided to name the band after the first song on their demo tape, "Queen of the Reich". The spelling "Queensreich" was modified to prevent association of the band with Nazism; "ryche" is a Middle English cognate to "Reich" which, like the German word, can mean "realm", "kingdom" or "empire". The name "Queensrÿche" is written with a metal umlaut over the letter 'y'. As the band later joked: "The umlaut over the 'y' has haunted us for years. We spent eleven years trying to explain how to pronounce it." The umlaut is used on all of Queensrÿche's releases, except for their 2011 album, "Dedicated to Chaos".


title: Queensrÿche

text: Kim Harris sent the demo tape and a band photo to a friend who wrote for "Kerrang!" magazine, resulting in a glowing review. On the strength of the growing buzz that surrounded them in both the United States and Europe following this review, the Harrises released Queensrÿche's demo tape as a self-titled EP on their independent label 206 Records in 1983. After the EP garnered international praise, receiving much airplay and selling an unusual number of copies for a small independent release, Tate agreed to leave Myth and become Queensrÿche's permanent lead singer.


title: Queensrÿche

text: On June 29 and 30, 1983, Queensrÿche was the opening act for Zebra in Portland and Seattle respectively. Kim Harris knew A&R manager Mavis Brodey of EMI-America from the time she was the music director of KZOK-FM, and he convinced her to come to one of these shows. Brodey offered Queensrÿche a contract with EMI, spanning 15 years and encompassing seven albums. EMI re-released the EP "Queensrÿche" to moderate success, peaking at No. 81 on the Billboard charts. The band toured with Quiet Riot through the South and with Twisted Sister to the East Coast and Canada, and opened for Dio in Seattle.


title: Queensrÿche

text: After the EP tour, Queensrÿche travelled to London to record their first full-length album. The band worked with producer James Guthrie, who had worked with Pink Floyd and Judas Priest. Released in September 1984, "The Warning" showed the band in an early stage of development, playing classic heavy metal songs. It peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard album chart, a moderate commercial success. While none of the singles released from "The Warning" charted domestically, "Take Hold of the Flame" was a hit for the band outside the U.S., and particularly in Japan. The band's first full-scale U.S. tour (in support of this album) was as the opening act for Kiss on their "Animalize" tour and Iron Maiden on their "Powerslave" tour. They also opened for Dio and Accept on their tours for "The Last in Line" and "Metal Heart" respectively.


title: Queensrÿche

text: "Rage for Order", released in 1986, introduced a much more polished look and sound for Queensrÿche, while the band was pressured by their management to adopt an image more closely associated with glam metal. Tate later described the period as "we were really into [that] image and we failed miserably." However, the album itself was slightly more progressive than the band's previous releases, having a layered and complex musical structure, and featuring keyboards as prominently as guitars. A video was filmed for the song "Gonna Get Close to You", written and originally recorded in 1984 by Dalbello. The song "Rage for Order" was written and demoed for the album, but it was not included on the final release. The main riff from this song was worked into an instrumental piece played during some shows on the tour in support of this album, and eventually morphed into the track "Anarchy-X" on their next album. Queensrÿche supported "Rage for Order" with a tour that included opening for AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne and Ratt, and playing with other bands such as Black 'n Blue, Fates Warning, Gang Green, Keel and Raven.


title: Queensrÿche

text: In 1988, Queensrÿche released "", a narrative concept album that proved a massive critical and commercial success. The album's story revolved around a junkie named Nikki, who is brainwashed into performing assassinations for an underground movement. Nikki is torn over his misplaced loyalty to the cause and his love for Mary, a reformed hooker-turned-nun (vocals by Pamela Moore), who gets in the way. The band's progressive metal style was fully developed on this album. The band toured through much of 1988 and 1989 with several bands, including Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses and Metallica. The album gained critical acclaim and achieved gold status, while its singles "Eyes of a Stranger" and "I Don't Believe in Love" gave Queensrÿche their first charting hits in America.


title: Queensrÿche

text: The release of "Empire" (1990) brought Queensrÿche to the height of their commercial popularity. It peaked at No. 7 and sold more than three million copies in the United States, more than their previous four releases combined (it was also certified silver in the UK). The power ballad "Silent Lucidity", which featured an orchestra, became the band's first Top 10 single. The arrangements on "Empire" were more straightforward than the band's previous efforts.


title: Queensrÿche

text: The subsequent "Building Empires" tour was the first full-fledged tour to feature Queensrÿche as a headlining act (the band had previously headlined a tour in Japan in support of "Operation: Mindcrime", and had headlined a handful of club and theater shows in the U.S. between 1984 and 1988, and the UK in 1988). The group used its headlining status to perform "Operation: Mindcrime" in its entirety, as well as songs from "Empire". The tour lasted 18 months, longer than any tour the band had undertaken before or has since. The tour also added a black page to the band's history, when during a show in a sports hall in Ichtegem, Belgium on November 20, 1990, a scuffle in the audience resulted in an American fan stabbing a Belgian fan fatally in the chest. Tour manager Howard Ungerleider immediately stopped the show as the band was only playing the seventh song on the set list, "Roads to Madness". A live album, recorded May 10–12, 1991, was released later that year as "". The tour also included an MTV Unplugged appearance at Warner Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles on April 27, 1992.


title: Queensrÿche

text: After taking time off to deal with the burnout resulting from the "Building Empires" tour and with other personal issues, the band released "Promised Land" in October 1994 (a companion CD-ROM, featuring a "Promised Land"-themed game and other interactive features, was released in March 1996). It was a dark and intensely personal album, reflecting the mental state of the band at the time. Although the album debuted at No. 3 and was eventually certified platinum, it was clearly not the commercial success "Empire" had been. As with many other heavy metal and hard rock acts, Queensrÿche's commercial fortunes waned with the surge in popularity of genres such as alternative rock and grunge.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Queensrÿche released their sixth full-length studio album, "Hear in the Now Frontier", in March 1997, to mixed critical and fan reception. The album debuted at No. 19 but quickly vanished from the charts. Toby Wright, who produced Alice in Chains’ self-titled 1995 album, was brought on board for this effort as engineer. The result was a sound that is more dry and stripped down than anything the band had ever released. The wall of guitar, drums, and vocals that had become synonymous with Queensrÿche was gone, replaced by a much more immediate and less powerful style.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Compounding the disappointing sales of the album were issues that plagued the band on the subsequent tour. Less than one month into the "Hear in the Now Frontier" tour, Tate became seriously ill and the band was forced to cancel concert dates for the first time. In an even bigger blow, the band's longtime label, EMI America Records, went bankrupt during the same period. Queensrÿche was forced to use its own money to finance the remaining two months of the tour. The band played a handful of December shows in South America because of contractual obligations, and it was during this time, late 1997, that founding member Chris DeGarmo announced he was leaving Queensrÿche. However, his departure was not announced to the public until January 24, 1998. Members of the band have later cited burnout and a desire to pursue interests outside of Queensrÿche as reasons for his departure. For example, Rockenfield has said: "He wanted to pursue other things. He felt like he had done what he wanted musically in his life, and wanted to move on." After leaving Queensrÿche, DeGarmo began a full-time career as a professional business jet pilot. His involvement with music has since been sporadic. He remains highly regarded in the eyes of Queensrÿche's fan base.


title: Queensrÿche

text: DeGarmo was replaced by guitarist and producer Kelly Gray. Gray's connections with Queensrÿche went back to the early '80s, when he was the guitarist for Myth, which was also the band Tate fronted prior to joining Queensrÿche. Gray had previously worked as a producer for bands such as Dokken and Candlebox. Queensrÿche recorded one studio album with Gray, "Q2K" from 1999, which was also the first album for their new label, Atlantic Records. Musically, "Q2K" bore little resemblance to the progressive metal of the band's past, and also displayed a similar stripped-down sound as "Hear in the Now Frontier". Tate has described "Q2K" as a continuation of the experimentation of "Hear in the Now Frontier". Declining popularity forced the band to tour in clubs and theaters, rather than in the larger arenas and outdoor amphitheaters where they played before. Following the "Q2K" tour, Rockenfield and Gray formed the side project Slave to the System with band members from Brother Cane and recorded a self-titled album.


title: Queensrÿche

text: After the release of a greatest hits collection in 2000, Queensrÿche embarked on another tour, this time in support of Iron Maiden. This enabled the band to play Madison Square Garden for the first time. Unhappy with the lack of support they felt they received from Atlantic Records, Queensrÿche moved to Sanctuary Records in 2001. In July of that year, the band performed a handful of dates at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington. The shows were recorded and released in September 2001 as "Live Evolution", the band's second live album. In 2001 and 2002, Tate worked on his self-titled first solo album, which was released on June 25, 2002.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Gray was fired from the band in May 2002, which according to Rockenfield was "because of [his] personal abuse habits and ongoing problems".


title: Queensrÿche

text: The band entered the studio as a quartet in the spring of 2003 to record their eighth full-length album, while a compilation of greatest hits was released as part of the Classic Masters series on March 9, 2003. In April, they announced they had been joined by Chris DeGarmo, although his future status with the band was uncertain. In July, Queensrÿche released its first and only album of new material on the Sanctuary label, "Tribe". DeGarmo, who played on and co-wrote four songs, neither officially rejoined the band nor took part in the supporting tour.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Queensrÿche found a replacement for Gray in Mike Stone, who had previously worked on Tate's solo album. Stone accompanied the band on the "Tribe" tour as second guitarist to Wilton's lead, though he never was a full member of the band. In June 2003, Queensrÿche launched a co-headlining tour featuring another progressive metal band, Dream Theater. The two bands alternated the opening and closing slots, and ended the shows by playing a handful of songs together. Fates Warning was the special guest for the tour. A recording from this tour was released to CD and DVD as "The Art of Live", which included two covers performed with Dream Theater.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Over the course of the five album releases ('Q2K', 'Tribe', 'Operation: Mindcrime II', 'American Soldier' and 'Dedicated To Chaos') after DeGarmo left, the band had gone through three guitar players, five record companies and four management firms. Q-Prime had taken over management duties before 'Operation: Mindcrime'; they were eventually replaced by Ray Daniels during the 'Q2K' sessions, who was then subsequently replaced by Lars Sorensen. Following the "Tribe" tour, Lars Sorensen was dismissed, and Geoff Tate's wife Susan was promoted to band manager, after having worked as an assistant manager for the band since 2001. In this period, Wilton spent time recording the self-titled album of his side project Soulbender.


title: Queensrÿche

text: In July 2004, Queensrÿche announced its plans to record a follow-up to 1988's "". To generate fan interest in the upcoming album, the band hit the road in the fall of 2004 with the "An Evening With Queensrÿche" tour. The tour opened with a shortened greatest hits set, followed by a revised production of "Operation: Mindcrime" with live actors and video; Pamela Moore reprised her role as Sister Mary. The band played a pre-recorded version of "Hostage," a track from the upcoming album, through the PA as an encore after the end of their set. The second leg of the tour began in early 2005. Before embarking on a third leg in the fall of 2005, Queensrÿche toured with Judas Priest across North America, playing an hour-long set consisting mostly of the band's older works and one song from the soon-to-be released sequel, entitled "I'm American".


title: Queensrÿche

text: "" was released internationally on March 31, 2006. The album was Queensrÿche's first for their new label, Rhino Entertainment, to which it signed in 2005. Ronnie James Dio provided the vocals for Dr. X, the villain. The album debuted at No. 14, the highest chart position for a Queensrÿche album since 1997. The group embarked on a headlining tour in support of the album, joined by Pamela Moore in her role as Sister Mary. The tour featured performances of both "Mindcrime" albums in their entirety. Dio appeared at the Gibson Amphitheatre show in Universal City, California to perform his vocals as Dr. X on "The Chase", and was shown on a video screen at the other shows. Dio's appearance was recorded, and included as an extra on the 2007 DVD release "Mindcrime at the Moore".


title: Queensrÿche

text: On August 9, 2007, the band announced that it would release a new greatest hits album, entitled "". The album was released on August 28, 2007, and a special collector's edition featured a bonus disc including various demos and a new song, "Justified", featuring Chris DeGarmo on guitar. On November 13, 2007, the band released an album of covers entitled "Take Cover". The album contains covers of songs by Queen, U2, The Police, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, and Pink Floyd, and was the band's second release for Rhino Records. On February 3, 2009, Stone announced the end of his association with Queensrÿche to focus on his side project Speed-X, although court declarations later revealed Geoff and Susan Tate fired him for "making too many grand demands", without discussing their decision with the other band members.


title: Queensrÿche

text: Wilton recorded both lead and rhythm guitar on the band's eleventh studio album, "American Soldier", released on March 31, 2009. The concept album regards war from the perspective of those on the front lines of American wars from World War II through to the present, especially the Iraq War. Parker Lundgren (formerly of The Nihilists and Sledgeback, who also played on Tate's solo tour and was in a relationship with Tate's stepdaughter Miranda) replaced Stone on the ensuing tour.


title: Queensrÿche

text: In late 2009 and early 2010, the band toured for The Queensrÿche Cabaret. In November 2010, Queensrÿche played several shows for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. While at a U.S. military position, explosive shells began falling on the base as the result of a bomb attack. Contrary to some news reports stating that some band members were injured, Tate has said in several interviews that he was misquoted and none of the band members suffered any injuries.


title: Queensrÿche

text: The band's twelfth studio album, "Dedicated to Chaos", was released on June 28, 2011 on Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records, to which the band had signed on August 25, 2010. The album was a drastic departure from the band's previous efforts, featuring a greater emphasis on the bass and drums, and with minimal guitar work. The album was released to mixed reviews and was the lowest charting full-length album for the band in its history.


title: Queensrÿche

text: According to Tate, Queensrÿche was already writing new material for a follow-up to "Dedicated to Chaos" as of June 2011, and were discussing re-recording "Operation: Mindcrime" in late 2012, so they could do something special for a 25th anniversary edition.


title: Queensrÿche

text: In a band meeting on April 12, 2012, which Tate did not attend, the band fired both Tate's stepdaughter, Miranda, from running the fan club, and his wife Susan, their band manager since 2005. According to Wilton, the reasons were that "the last 3 years, basically it just came to a point that we didn't have a voice in the band anymore. It was all run by the singer and his manager, the wife." On April 14, 2012, before the soundcheck for a show in São Paulo, Brazil, Tate had an argument with the other members about the firing of his family. This confrontation became heated, leading to Tate retaliating by knocking down the drum kit, throwing several punches and physically assaulting and spitting on Rockenfield and Wilton. Over the course of the band's next three shows, Wilton, Rockenfield, and Jackson felt that Tate continued to misbehave and they came "to the conclusion that they can no longer work or perform with Mr. Tate." They called a band meeting on June 5 (some sources say June 6). Tate withdrew from this conference call, after which the other band members voted to "consider Geoff Tate expelled from the band" and "continue to use the Queensrÿche name with a new lead singer", prompting Tate to take legal action.