Nelio Guerson & Carlos Guerson

<H1>MP3 Player</H1><H1>MP3</H1><H1>MP3 Players</H1>

Digital audio player

Apple iPod nano (fourth generation)A digital audio player, usually referred to as an MP3 player, is a consumer electronic device that has the primary function of storing, organizing and playing audio files. Some DAPs are also referred to as portable media players as they have image-viewing and/or video-playing support.

Contents

1 History

2 Operation

3 Types

3.1 Recording

3.2 Radio

4 Common audio formats

5 Controversy

5.1 Lawsuit with RIAA

6 Risk of hearing damage

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

==History==

Grundig MPAXX MP-100 player with a 32 MB MMC cardThe immediate predecessor in the market place of the digital audio player was the portable CD player, or "portable audio device."

Kane Kramer designed one of the earliest digital audio players, which he called the IXI. His 1979 prototype was capable of approximately 3.5 minutes of audio playback but it did not enter commercial production. His UK patent application was not filed until 1981, patent 2115996 issued in 1985, and U.S. Patent 4,667,088 in 1987. Apple Inc. hired Kramer as a consultant and presented his work as an example of prior art in the field of digital audio players during their litigation with Burst.com almost two decades later.

One of the chips making it possible to create portable MP3 players before market for mass produced devices took off was the Micronas MAS3507D ASIC MP3 Decoder chip. Several electronics DIY projects used this circuit. As a software based approach would have limited battery time severely. This chip allowed the microcontroller to read data from a flash memory and feed the decoder chip, creating a low power solution.

The world's first mass-produced hardware MP3 player was created in 1997 by Saehan Information Systems, which domestically sold its “MPMan” player in the middle of 1998. The South Korean company then licensed the players to Eiger Labs which distributed them—now branded as Eiger Labs MPMan F10—to the North American market during the summer of 1998. The flash-based players were available in 32 MB storage capacity.

The Rio PMP300 from Diamond Multimedia was introduced in September 1998, a few months after the MPMan. It was a success during the holiday season, with sales exceeding expectations. Interest and investment in digital music were subsequently spurred from it. Because of the player's notoriety as the target of a major lawsuit, the Rio is erroneously assumed to be the first DAP.

In 1998, Compaq developed the first hard drive based DAP using a 2.5" laptop drive. It was licensed to HanGo Electronics (now known as Remote Solution), which first sold the PJB-100 (Personal Jukebox) in 1999. The player had an initial capacity of 4.8 GB, with an advertised capacity of 1200 songs.

In 2000, Creative released the 6GB hard drive based Creative NOMAD Jukebox. The name borrowed the jukebox metaphor popularised by Remote Solution and also used by Archos. Later players in the Creative NOMAD range used microdrives rather than laptop drives.

In October 2001, Apple Computer (now known as Apple Inc.) unveiled the first generation iPod, a 5 GB hard drive based DAP with a 1.8" Toshiba Microdrive. With the development of a spartan user interface and a smaller form factor, the iPod was initially popular within the Macintosh community. In July 2002, Apple introduced the second generation update to the iPod. It was compatible with Windows computers through Musicmatch Jukebox. The iPod series, which grew to include microdrive and flash-based players, has become the market leader in DAPs.

In 2002, Archos released the first "portable media player" (PMP), the Archos Jukebox Multimedia. Manufacturers have since implemented abilities to view images and play videos into their devices.

In 2001 the first MP3 players were installed into mobile phones in South Korea and the first artist to sell songs as MP3 file downloads directly to mobile phones was Ricky Martin. The innovation spread rapidly and by 2005, more than half of all music sold in South Korea was sold directly to mobile phones. The idea spread across the globe and by 2005 all five major handset makers, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG and SonyEricsson had released musicphones. By 2006, more MP3 players were sold in musicphones than all stand-alone MP3 players put together. The rapid rise of the musicphone was quoted by Apple as a primary reason for developing the iPhone. In 2007, the installed base of musicphones passed the 1 billion level, and today more than half of all mobile phones in the world have an MP3 player.

Although online music services such as RealNetworks’ Rhapsody also offer legal downloads through a subscription plan, the launch of the iTunes Store in 2003 established the model of selling individual songs and albums for purchase.

==Operation==

Connecting a computer to a SanDisk Sansa Clip.Digital sampling is used to convert an audio wave to a sequence of binary numbers that can be stored in a digital format, such as MP3. Common features of all MP3 players are a memory storage device, such as flash memory or a miniature hard disk drive, an embedded processor, and an audio codec microchip to convert the compressed file into an analogue sound signal.

Most DAPs are powered by rechargeable batteries, some of which are not user-replaceable. They have a 3.5 mm stereo jack; music can be listened to with earbuds or headphones, or played via an external amplifier. Some devices also contain internal speakers, through which music can be listened to, although these built-in speakers are typically of very low quality.

Nearly all DAPs consists of some kind of display screen, although there are exceptions, such as the iPod Shuffle, and a set of controls with which the user can browse through the library of music contained in the device, select a track, and play it back. The display, if the unit even has one, can be anything from a simple one or two line monochrome LCD display, similar to what are found on typical calculators, to large full-color displays capable of displaying photographs or viewing video content on. The controls can range anywhere from the simple buttons as are found on most typical CD players, such as for skipping through tracks or stopping/starting playback to full touch-screen controls, such as that found on the iPod Touch or the Zune HD. One of the more common methods of control is some type of the scroll wheel with associated buttons. This method of control was first introduced with the Apple iPod and many other manufacturers have created variants of this control scheme for their respective devices.

Content is placed on DAPs typically through a process called "syncing", by connecting the device to a personal computer, typically via USB, and running any special software that is often provided with the DAP on an enclosed CD-ROM, or downloaded from the manufacturer's website. Some devices simply appear as an additional disk drive on the host computer, to which music files are simply copied like any other type of file. Other devices, most notably the Apple iPod or Microsoft Zune, requires the use of special management software, such as iTunes or Zune Software. The music, or other content such as TV episodes or movies, is added to the software to create a "library". The library is then "synced" to the DAP via the software. The software typically provides options for managing situations when the library is to large to fit on the device being synced to. Such options include allowing manual syncing, in that the user most manually "drag-n-drop" the desired tracks to the device, or allow for the creation of playlists. Some of the more advanced units are now starting to allow syncing through a wireless connection, such as via WiFi or Bluetooth.

Content can also be obtained and placed on some DAPs, such as the iPod Touch or Zune HD by allowing access to a "store" or "marketplace", most notably the iTunes Store or Zune Marketplace, from which content, such as music and video, and even games, can be purchased and downloaded directly to the device.

==Types==

Close-up view of the Philips GoGear SA1110 flash-based player

An embedded hard drive-based player (Creative ZEN Vision:M)

An MP3 CD player (Philips Expanium)Digital audio players are generally categorized by storage media:

Flash-based Players: These are non-mechanical solid state devices that hold digital audio files on internal flash memory or removable flash media called memory cards. Due to technological advancements in flash memory, these originally low-storage devices are now available commercially ranging up to 64 GB. Because they are solid state and do not have moving parts they require less battery power and may be more resilient to hazards such as dropping or fragmentation than hard disk-based players. Basic MP3 player functions are commonly integrated into USB flash drives.

Hard drive-based Players or Digital Jukeboxes: Devices that read digital audio files from a hard disk drive (HDD). These players have higher capacities currently ranging up to 250 GB.[11] At typical encoding rates, this means that tens of thousands of songs can be stored on one player.

MP3 CD Players: Portable CD players that can decode and play MP3 audio files stored on CDs.

Networked audio players: Players that connect via (WiFi) network to receive and play audio.

==Recording==

Many players have a built-in electret microphone which allows recording. Usually recording quality is poor, suitable for speech but not music.

There are also professional-quality recorders suitable for high-quality music recording with external microphones, at prices starting at a few hundred dollars.

==Radio==

Some DAPs have FM radio tuners built in.

==Common audio formats==

Most audio formats use lossy compression, to produce as small as possible a file compatible with the desired sound quality. There is a trade-off between size and sound quality of lossily compressed files; most formats allow different combinations—e.g., MP3 files may use between 32 (worst) and 320 (best) kilobits per second. Different lossy formats may give files of different sizes for the same perceived quality.

The formats supported by a particular DAP depend upon its firmware; sometimes a firmware update adds more formats. To listen to a file on a player, it must be in a supported format; format conversion on a computer is usually possible, but with loss of quality.

MP3 is the dominant format, and is almost universally supported.[14] It is a proprietary format; manufacturers must pay a small royalty to be allowed to support it.

The main proprietary alternative formats are AAC and WMA. Unlike MP3, these formats support DRM restrictions that are often enforced by files from paid download services.

Open source formats, which do not require manufacturers or music distributors to pay a fee, are available, though less widely supported. Examples include Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, and Speex.

Most players can also play uncompressed PCM in a container such as WAV or AIFF.

==Controversy==

Further information: iTunes Store, and Digital Rights Management

Although these issues aren't usually controversial within digital audio players, they are matters of continuing controversy and litigation, including but not limited to content distribution and protection, and digital rights management (DRM).

==Lawsuit with RIAA==

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit in late 1998 against Diamond Multimedia for its Rio players, alleging that the device encouraged copying music illegally. But Diamond won a legal victory on the shoulders of the Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios case and DAPs were legally ruled as electronic devices.

==Risk of hearing damage==

According to SCENIHR, the risk of hearing damage from digital audio players depends on both sound level and listening time. The listening habits of most users are unlikely to cause hearing loss, but some people are putting their hearing at risk, because they set the volume control very high or listen to music at high levels for many hours per day. Such listening habits may result in temporary or permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, and difficulties understanding speech in noisy environments.

==See also==

Comparison of portable media players

USB mass storage device class

Internet radio device

Media Transfer Protocol

MP3 Players - The Basics and History

<H1>MP3</H1>

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 Filename extension .mp3

Internet media type audio/mpeg, audio/MPA, audio/mpa-robust

Type of format Audio

Standard(s) ISO/IEC 11172-3, ISO/IEC 13818-3

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on digital audio players.

MP3 is an audio-specific format that was designed by the Moving Picture Experts Group as part of its MPEG-1 standard. The group was formed by several teams of engineers at Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen, Germany, AT&T-Bell Labs (now a division of Alcatel-Lucent) in Murray Hill, NJ, USA, Thomson-Brandt, and CCETT as well as others. It was approved as an ISO/IEC standard in 1991.

The use in MP3 of a lossy compression algorithm is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording and still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio for most listeners. An MP3 file that is created using the setting of 128 kbit/s will result in a file that is about 1/11th the size of the CD file created from the original audio source. An MP3 file can also be constructed at higher or lower bit rates, with higher or lower resulting quality.

The compression works by reducing accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the auditory resolution ability of most people. This method is commonly referred to as perceptual coding. It internally provides a representation of sound within a short-term time/frequency analysis window, by using psychoacoustic models to discard or reduce precision of components less audible to human hearing, and recording the remaining information in an efficient manner.

This technique is often presented as relatively conceptually similar to the principles used by JPEG, an image compression format. The specific algorithms, however, are rather different: JPEG uses a built-in vision model that is very widely tuned (as is necessary for images), while MP3 uses a complex, precise masking model that is much more signal dependent.

==History==

==Development==

The MP3 lossy audio data compression algorithm takes advantage of a perceptual limitation of human hearing called auditory masking. In 1894, Alfred Marshall Mayer reported that a tone could be rendered inaudible by another tone of lower frequency. In 1959, Richard Ehmer described a complete set of auditory curves regarding this phenomenon. Ernst Terhardt et al. created an algorithm describing auditory masking with high accuracy. This work added on a variety of reports from authors dating back to Fletcher, and to the work that initially determined critical ratios and critical bandwidths.

The psychoacoustic masking codec was first proposed in 1979, apparently independently, by Manfred R. Schroeder, et al. from AT&T-Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ, and M. A. Krasner both in the United States. Krasner was the first to publish and to produce hardware for speech, not usable as music bit compression, but the publication of his results as a relatively obscure Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report did not immediately influence the mainstream of psychoacoustic codec development. Manfred Schroeder was already a well-known and revered figure in the worldwide community of acoustical and electrical engineers, and his paper had influence in acoustic and source-coding (audio data compression) research. Both Krasner and Schroeder built upon the work performed by Eberhard F. Zwicker in the areas of tuning and masking of critical bands, that in turn built on the fundamental research in the area from Bell Labs of Harvey Fletcher and his collaborators. A wide variety of (mostly perceptual) audio compression algorithms were reported in IEEE's refereed Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. That journal reported in February 1988 on a wide range of established, working audio bit compression technologies, some of them using auditory masking as part of their fundamental design, and several showing real-time hardware implementations.

The immediate predecessors of MP3 were "Optimum Coding in the Frequency Domain" (OCF), and Perceptual Transform Coding (PXFM). These two codecs, along with block-switching contributions from Thomson-Brandt, were merged into a codec called ASPEC, which was submitted to MPEG, and which won the quality competition, but that was mistakenly rejected as too complex to implement. The first practical implementation of an audio perceptual coder (OCF) in hardware (Krasner's hardware was too cumbersome and slow for practical use), was an implementation of a psychoacoustic transform coder based on Motorola 56000 DSP chips.

MP3 is directly descended from OCF and PXFM. MP3 represents the outcome of the collaboration of Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg, working as a postdoc at AT&T-Bell Labs with Mr. James D. Johnston of AT&T-Bell Labs, collaborating with the Fraunhofer Society for Integrated Circuits, Erlangen, with relatively minor contributions from the MP2 branch of psychoacoustic sub-band coders.

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 2 encoding began as the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) project managed by Egon Meier-Engelen of the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (later on called Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, German Aerospace Center) in Germany. The European Community financed this project, commonly known as EU-147, from 1987 to 1994 as a part of the EUREKA research program.

As a doctoral student at Germany's University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Karlheinz Brandenburg began working on digital music compression in the early 1980s, focusing on how people perceive music. He completed his doctoral work in 1989 and became an assistant professor at Erlangen-Nuremberg. While there, he continued to work on music compression with scientists at the Fraunhofer Society (in 1993 he joined the staff of the Fraunhofer Institute).

In 1991 there were two proposals available: Musicam and ASPEC (Adaptive Spectral Perceptual Entropy Coding). The Musicam technique, as proposed by Philips (The Netherlands), CCETT (France) and Institut für Rundfunktechnik (Germany) was chosen due to its simplicity and error robustness, as well as its low computational power associated with the encoding of high quality compressed audio. The Musicam format, based on sub-band coding, was the basis of the MPEG Audio compression format (sampling rates, structure of frames, headers, number of samples per frame).

Much of its technology and ideas were incorporated into the definition of ISO MPEG Audio Layer I and Layer II and the filter bank alone into Layer III (MP3) format as part of the computationally inefficient hybrid filter bank. Under the chairmanship of Professor Musmann (University of Hannover) the editing of the standard was made under the responsibilities of Leon van de Kerkhof (Layer I) and Gerhard Stoll (Layer II).

A working group consisting of Leon van de Kerkhof (The Netherlands), Gerhard Stoll (Germany), Leonardo Chiariglione (Italy), Yves-François Dehery (France), Karlheinz Brandenburg (Germany) and James D. Johnston (USA) took ideas from ASPEC, integrated the filter bank from Layer 2, added some of their own ideas and created MP3, which was designed to achieve the same quality at 128 kbit/s as MP2 at 192 kbit/s.

All algorithms were approved in 1991 and finalized in 1992 as part of MPEG-1, the first standard suite by MPEG, which resulted in the international standard ISO/IEC 11172-3, published in 1993. Further work on MPEG audio was finalized in 1994 as part of the second suite of MPEG standards, MPEG-2, more formally known as international standard ISO/IEC 13818-3, originally published in 1995. There is also MPEG-2.5 audio, a proprietary unofficial extension developed by Fraunhofer IIS. It enables MP3 to work satisfactorily at very low bitrates and added lower sampling frequencies.

Compression efficiency of encoders is typically defined by the bit rate, because compression ratio depends on the bit depth and sampling rate of the input signal. Nevertheless, compression ratios are often published. They may use the Compact Disc (CD) parameters as references (44.1 kHz, 2 channels at 16 bits per channel or 2×16 bit), or sometimes the Digital Audio Tape (DAT) SP parameters (48 kHz, 2×16 bit). Compression ratios with this latter reference are higher, which demonstrates the problem with use of the term compression ratio for lossy encoders.

Karlheinz Brandenburg used a CD recording of Suzanne Vega's song "Tom's Diner" to assess and refine the MP3 compression algorithm. This song was chosen because of its nearly monophonic nature and wide spectral content, making it easier to hear imperfections in the compression format during playbacks. Some jokingly refer to Suzanne Vega as "The mother of MP3". Some more critical audio excerpts (glockenspiel, triangle, accordion, etc.) were taken from the EBU V3/SQAM reference compact disc and have been used by professional sound engineers to assess the subjective quality of the MPEG Audio formats. This particular track has an interesting property in that the two channels are almost, but not completely, the same, leading to a case where Binaural Masking Level Depression causes spatial unmasking of noise artifacts unless the encoder properly recognizes the situation and applies corrections similar to those detailed in the MPEG-2 AAC psychoacoustic model.

==Going public==

A reference simulation software implementation, written in the C language and known as ISO 11172-5, was developed by the members of the ISO MPEG Audio committee in order to produce bit compliant MPEG Audio files (Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3). Working in non-real time on a number of operating systems, it was able to demonstrate the first real time hardware decoding (DSP based) of compressed audio. Some other real time implementation of MPEG Audio encoders were available for the purpose of digital broadcasting (radio DAB, television DVB) towards consumer receivers and set top boxes.

Later, on July 7, 1994, the Fraunhofer Society released the first software MP3 encoder called l3enc. The filename extension .mp3 was chosen by the Fraunhofer team on July 14, 1995 (previously, the files had been named .bit). With the first real-time software MP3 player Winplay3 (released September 9, 1995) many people were able to encode and play back MP3 files on their PCs. Because of the relatively small hard drives back in that time (~ 500 MB) lossy compression was essential to store non-instrument based (see tracker and MIDI) music for playback on computer.

==Internet==

From the first half of 1994 through the late 1990s, MP3 files began to spread on the Internet. The popularity of MP3s began to rise rapidly with the advent of Nullsoft's audio player Winamp (released in 1997), and the Unix audio player mpg123. In 1998, the Rio PMP300, one of the first portable MP3 players was released, despite legal suppression efforts by the RIAA.

In November 1997, the website mp3.com was offering thousands of MP3s created by independent artists for free. The small size of MP3 files enabled widespread peer-to-peer file sharing of music ripped from CDs, which would have previously been nearly impossible. The first large peer-to-peer filesharing network, Napster, was launched in 1999.

The ease of creating and sharing MP3s resulted in widespread copyright infringement. Major record companies argue that this free sharing of music reduces sales, and call it "music piracy". They reacted by pursuing lawsuits against Napster (which was eventually shut down and later sold) and against individual users who engaged in file sharing.

Despite the popularity of the MP3 format, online music retailers often use other proprietary formats that are encrypted or obfuscated in order to make it difficult to use purchased music files in ways not specifically authorized by the record companies. Attempting to control the use of files in this way is known as Digital Rights Management. Record companies argue that this is necessary to prevent the files from being made available on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. This has other side effects, though, such as preventing users from playing back their purchased music on different types of devices. However, the audio content of these files can usually be converted into an unencrypted format. For instance, users are often allowed to burn files to audio CD, which requires conversion to an unencrypted audio format.

Unauthorized MP3 file sharing continues on next-generation peer-to-peer networks. Some authorized services, such as Beatport, Bleep, Juno Records, eMusic, Zune Marketplace, Walmart.com, and Amazon.com sell unrestricted music in the MP3 format.

==Encoding audio==

The MPEG-1 standard does not include a precise specification for an MP3 encoder, but does provide example psychoacoustic models, rate loop, and the like in the non-normative part of the original standard. At the present, these suggested implementations are quite dated. Implementers of the standard were supposed to devise their own algorithms suitable for removing parts of the information from the audio input. As a result, there are many different MP3 encoders available, each producing files of differing quality. Comparisons are widely available, so it is easy for a prospective user of an encoder to research the best choice. It must be kept in mind that an encoder that is proficient at encoding at higher bit rates (such as LAME) is not necessarily as good at lower bit rates.

During encoding, 576 time-domain samples are taken and are transformed to 576 frequency-domain samples. If there is a transient, 192 samples are taken instead of 576. This is done to limit the temporal spread of quantization noise accompanying the transient. (See psychoacoustics.)

==Decoding audio==

Decoding, on the other hand, is carefully defined in the standard. Most decoders are "bitstream compliant", which means that the decompressed output - that they produce from a given MP3 file - will be the same, within a specified degree of rounding tolerance, as the output specified mathematically in the ISO/IEC standard document (ISO/IEC 11172-3). Therefore, comparison of decoders is usually based on how computationally efficient they are (i.e., how much memory or CPU time they use in the decoding process).

==Audio quality==

When performing lossy audio encoding, such as creating an MP3 file, there is a trade-off between the amount of space used and the sound quality of the result. Typically, the creator is allowed to set a bit rate, which specifies how many kilobits the file may use per second of audio. Using a lower bit rate provides a relatively lower audio quality and produces a smaller file size. Likewise, using a higher bit rate outputs a higher quality audio, but also results in a larger file.

Files encoded with a lower bit rate will generally play back at a lower quality. With too low a bit rate, compression artifacts (i.e. sounds that were not present in the original recording) may be audible in the reproduction. Some audio is hard to compress because of its randomness and sharp attacks. When this type of audio is compressed, artifacts such as ringing or pre-echo are usually heard. A sample of applause compressed with a relatively low bit rate provides a good example of compression artifacts.

Besides the bit rate of an encoded piece of audio, the quality of MP3 files also depends on the quality of the encoder itself, and the difficulty of the signal being encoded. As the MP3 standard allows quite a bit of freedom with encoding algorithms, different encoders may feature quite different quality, even with identical bit rates. As an example, in a public listening test featuring two different MP3 encoders at about 128 kbit/s, one scored 3.66 on a 1–5 scale, while the other scored only 2.22.

Quality is dependent on the choice of encoder and encoding parameters. However, in 1998, MP3 at 128 kbit/s was providing quality only equivalent to AAC at 64 kbit/s and MP2 at 192 kbit/s.

The simplest type of MP3 file uses one bit rate for the entire file — this is known as Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding. Using a constant bit rate makes encoding simpler and faster. However, it is also possible to create files where the bit rate changes throughout the file. These are known as Variable Bit Rate (VBR) files. The idea behind this is that, in any piece of audio, some parts will be much easier to compress, such as silence or music containing only a few instruments, while others will be more difficult to compress. So, the overall quality of the file may be increased by using a lower bit rate for the less complex passages and a higher one for the more complex parts. With some encoders, it is possible to specify a given quality, and the encoder will vary the bit rate accordingly. Users who know a particular "quality setting" that is transparent to their ears can use this value when encoding all of their music, and not need to worry about performing personal listening tests on each piece of music to determine the correct bit rate.

Perceived quality can be influenced by listening environment (ambient noise), listener attention, and listener training and in most cases by listener audio equipment (such as sound cards, speakers and headphones).

A test given to new students by Stanford University Music Professor Jonathan Berger showed that student preference for MP3 quality music has risen each year. Berger said the students seem to prefer the 'sizzle' sounds that MP3s bring to music. Others have reached the same conclusion, and some record producers have begun to mix music specifically to be heard on iPods and mobile phones.

==Bit rate==

Several bit rates are specified in the MPEG-1 Audio Layer III standard: 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256 and 320 kbit/s, and the available sampling frequencies are 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz.[21] Additional extensions were defined in MPEG-2 Audio Layer III: bit rates 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160 kbit/s and sampling frequencies 16, 22.05 and 24 kHz.

A sample rate of 44.1 kHz is almost always used, because this is also used for CD audio, the main source used for creating MP3 files. A greater variety of bit rates are used on the Internet. 128 kbit/s is the most common, offering adequate audio quality in a relatively small space. As Internet bandwidth availability and hard drive sizes have increased, higher bit rates like 160 and 192 kbit/s have increased in popularity.

Uncompressed audio as stored on an audio-CD has a bit rate of 1,411.2 kbit/s, so the bitrates 128, 160 and 192 kbit/s represent compression ratios of approximately 11:1, 9:1 and 7:1 respectively.

Non-standard bit rates up to 640 kbit/s can be achieved with the LAME encoder and the freeformat option, although few MP3 players can play those files. According to the ISO standard, decoders are only required to be able to decode streams up to 320 kbit/s.

==VBR==

MPEG audio may use variable bitrate (VBR). Layer III can use bitrate switching and bit reservoir. Variable bitrate is used when the goal is to achieve a fixed level of quality. The final file size of a VBR encoding is less predictable than with constant bitrate. Average bitrate is a compromise between the two - the bitrate is allowed to vary for more consistent quality, but is controlled to remain near an average value chosen by the user, for predictable file sizes. Although technically an MP3 decoder must support VBR to be standards compliant, historically some decoders have bugs with VBR decoding, particularly before VBR encoders became widespread.

==File structure==

An MP3 file is made up of multiple MP3 frames, which consist of a header and a data block. This sequence of frames is called an elementary stream. Frames are not independent items ("byte reservoir") and therefore cannot be extracted on arbitrary frame boundaries. The MP3 Data blocks contain the (compressed) audio information in terms of frequencies and amplitudes. The diagram shows that the MP3 Header consists of a sync word, which is used to identify the beginning of a valid frame. This is followed by a bit indicating that this is the MPEG standard and two bits that indicate that layer 3 is used; hence MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 or MP3. After this, the values will differ, depending on the MP3 file. ISO/IEC 11172-3 defines the range of values for each section of the header along with the specification of the header. Most MP3 files today contain ID3 metadata, which precedes or follows the MP3 frames; as noted in the diagram.

==Design limitations==

This section does not cite any references or sources.

Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)

There are several limitations inherent to the MP3 format that cannot be overcome by any MP3 encoder. Newer audio compression formats such as Vorbis, WMA Pro and AAC no longer have these limitations. In technical terms, MP3 is limited in the following ways:

Time resolution can be too low for highly transient signals and may cause smearing of percussive sounds.

Due to the tree structure of the filter bank, pre-echo problems are made worse, as the combined impulse response of the two filter banks does not, and cannot, provide an optimum solution in time/frequency resolution.

The combining of the two filter banks' outputs creates aliasing problems that must be handled partially by the "aliasing compensation" stage; however, that creates excess energy to be coded in the frequency domain, thereby decreasing coding efficiency.

Frequency resolution is limited by the small long block window size, which decreases coding efficiency.

There is no scale factor band for frequencies above 15.5/15.8 kHz.

Joint stereo is done only on a frame-to-frame basis.

Internal handling of the bit reservoir increases encoding delay.

Encoder/decoder overall delay is not defined, which means there is no official provision for gapless playback. However, some encoders such as LAME can attach additional metadata that will allow players that can handle it to deliver seamless playback.

The data stream can contain an optional checksum, but the checksum only protects the header data, not the audio data.

==ID3 and other tags==

Main articles: ID3 and APEv2 tag

A "tag" in an audio file is a section of the file that contains metadata such as the title, artist, album, track number or other information about the file's contents.

As of 2006, the most widespread standard tag formats are ID3v1 and ID3v2, and the more recently introduced APEv2.

APEv2 was originally developed for the MPC file format. APEv2 can coexist with ID3 tags in the same file or it can be used by itself.

Tag editing functionality is often built into MP3 players and editors, but there also exist tag editors dedicated to the purpose.

==Volume normalization==

Since volume levels of different audio sources can vary greatly, it is sometimes desirable to adjust the playback volume of audio files such that a consistent average volume is perceived. The idea is to control the average volume across multiple files, not the volume peaks in a single file. This gain normalization, while similar in purpose, is distinct from dynamic range compression (DRC), which is a form of normalization used in audio mastering. Gain normalization may defeat the intent of recording artists and audio engineers who deliberately set the volume levels of the audio they recorded.

A few standards for storing the average volume of an MP3 file in its metadata tags, enabling a specially designed player to automatically adjust the overall playback volume for each file, have been proposed. A popular and widely implemented such proposal is "Replay Gain", which is not MP3-specific. When used in MP3s, it is stored differently by different encoders, and as of 2008, Replay Gain-aware players don't yet support all formats.

==Licensing and patent issues==

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (November 2008)

Many organizations have claimed ownership of patents related to MP3 decoding or encoding. These claims have led to a number of legal threats and actions from a variety of sources, resulting in uncertainty about which patents must be licensed in order to create MP3 products without committing patent infringement in countries that allow software patents.

The various MP3-related patents expire on dates ranging from 2007 to 2017 in the U.S. The initial near-complete MPEG-1 standard (parts 1, 2 and 3) was publicly available in December 6, 1991 as ISO CD 11172. In the United States, patents cannot claim inventions that were already publicly disclosed by the inventor more than a year prior to the filing date, but for patents filed prior to June 8, 1995, submarine patents made it possible to extend the effective lifetime of a patent through application extensions. Patents filed for anything disclosed in ISO CD 11172 a year or more after its publication are questionable; if only the known MP3 patents filed by December 1992 are considered MP3 decoding, then MP3 may be patent free in the US by December of 2012.

Thomson Consumer Electronics claims to control MP3 licensing of the Layer 3 patents in many countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada and EU countries. Thomson has been actively enforcing these patents.

MP3 license revenues generated about €100 million for the Fraunhofer Society in 2005.

In September 1998, the Fraunhofer Institute sent a letter to several developers of MP3 software stating that a license was required to "distribute and/or sell decoders and/or encoders". The letter claimed that unlicensed products "infringe the patent rights of Fraunhofer and Thomson. To make, sell and/or distribute products using the [MPEG Layer-3] standard and thus our patents, you need to obtain a license under these patents from us."

However, there exist both free and/or proprietary alternatives, with free formats such as Vorbis, AAC, and others. Microsoft's usage of its own proprietary Windows Media format allows it to avoid licensing issues associated with these patents by avoiding usage of the MP3 format entirely. Until the key patents expire, unlicensed encoders and players could be infringing in countries where the patents are valid.

In spite of the patent restrictions, the perpetuation of the MP3 format continues. The reasons for this appear to be the network effects caused by:

familiarity with the format,

the large quantity of music now available in the MP3 format,

the wide variety of existing software and hardware that takes advantage of the file format,

the lack of DRM restrictions, which makes MP3 files easy to edit, copy and play in different portable digital players (Samsung, Apple, Creative, etc.),

the majority of home users not knowing or not caring about the patents' controversy and often not considering such legal issues when choosing their music format for personal use.

Additionally, patent holders declined to enforce license fees on free and open source decoders, which allows many free MP3 decoders to develop. Thus, while patent fees have been an issue for companies that attempt to use MP3, they have not meaningfully impacted users, which allows the format to grow in popularity.

Sisvel S.p.A. and its U.S. subsidiary Audio MPEG, Inc. previously sued Thomson for patent infringement on MP3 technology, but those disputes were resolved in November 2005 with Sisvel granting Thomson a license to their patents. Motorola also recently signed with Audio MPEG to license MP3-related patents.

In September 2006, German officials seized MP3 players from SanDisk's booth at the IFA show in Berlin after an Italian patents firm won an injunction on behalf of Sisvel against SanDisk in a dispute over licensing rights. The injunction was later reversed by a Berlin judge, but that reversal was in turn blocked the same day by another judge from the same court, "bringing the Patent Wild West to Germany" in the words of one commentator.

On February 16, 2007, Texas MP3 Technologies sued Apple, Samsung Electronics and Sandisk with a patent-infringement lawsuit regarding portable MP3 players. The suit was filed in Marshall, Texas; this is a common location for patent infringement suits due to the speed at which trials are conducted there.

Texas MP3 Technologies claimed infringement with U.S. patent 7,065,417, awarded in June 2006 to multimedia chip-maker SigmaTel, covering "an MPEG portable sound reproducing system and a method for reproducing sound data compressed using the MPEG method."

Alcatel-Lucent also claims ownership of several patents relating to MP3 encoding and compression, inherited from AT&T-Bell Labs. In November 2006 (prior to the companies' merger), Alcatel filed a lawsuit against Microsoft (see Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft), alleging infringement of seven of its patents. On February 23, 2007, a San Diego jury awarded Alcatel-Lucent a record-breaking US$1.52 billion in damages. The judge, however, reversed the jury verdict and ruled for Microsoft, and this ruling was upheld by the court of appeals. The appeals court actually ruled that Fraunhofer was a co-owner of one patent claimed to be owned by Alcatel-Lucent, due to work by James D. Johnston while Dr. Brandenburg worked at AT&T.

In short, with Thomson, Fraunhofer IIS, Sisvel (and its U.S. subsidiary Audio MPEG), Texas MP3 Technologies, and Alcatel-Lucent all claiming legal control of relevant MP3 patents related to decoders, the legal status of MP3 remains unclear in countries where those patents are valid.

==Security issues==

Microsoft Windows Media Format Runtime in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server contained a coding error that permitted "remote code execution if a user opened a specially crafted media file". Such a file would allow the attacker to "then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights", if the account on which the file was played had administrator privileges. The problem was addressed in a critical update issued on September 8, 2009 (KB968816).

==Alternative technologies==

Main article: List of codecs

Many other lossy and lossless audio codecs exist. Among these, mp3PRO, AAC, and MP2 are all members of the same technological family as MP3 and depend on roughly similar psychoacoustic models. The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft owns many of the basic patents underlying these codecs as well, with others held by Dolby Labs, Sony, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and AT&T. In addition, there is also the open source file format Ogg Vorbis that has been available free of charge and without patent restrictions.

==See also==

Audio compression (data)

Comparison of audio codecs

Copyright infringement

Digital audio player

ID3

Joint stereo

LRC (file format)

Media player

MP3 blog

MP3 Surround

Streaming Media

DJ digital controller

AAC

Ogg Vorbis

<H1>Beatles Biography Beatles Biografia</H1> The Beatles The Beatles in 1964 George Harrison Background information OriginLiverpool, England GenresRock, pop Years active 1960 - 1970 Labels EMI, Parlophone, Capitol, Odeon, Apple, Vee-Jay, Polydor, Swan, Tollie, UA Associated acts The Quarrymen, Plastic Ono Band Websitewww.TheBeatles.com Members John Lennon Paul McCartney George Harrison Ringo Starr Former members Stuart Sutcliffe Pete Best History of The Beatles The Quarrymen The Beatles in Hamburg The Beatles at The Cavern Club Beatlemania in the United Kingdom American releases The Beatles in the United States 1966 Studio years Breakup Reunions Line-ups Timeline The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. In their heyday, the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from folk rock to psychedelic pop, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as the "Beatlemania" fad, transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. The group came to be perceived as the embodiment of progressive ideals, seeing their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. With an early five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums), The Beatles built their reputation in Liverpool and Hamburg clubs over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best was replaced by Starr the following year. Moulded into a professional outfit by music store owner Brian Epstein after he offered to act as the group's manager, and with their musical potential enhanced by the hands-on creativity of producer George Martin, The Beatles achieved UK mainstream success in late 1962 with their first single, "Love Me Do". Gaining international popularity over the course of the next year, they toured extensively until 1966, then retreated to the recording studio until their breakup in 1970. Each then found success in an independent musical career. McCartney and Starr remain active; Lennon was shot and killed in 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in 2001. During their studio years, The Beatles produced what critics consider some of their finest material including the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), widely regarded as a masterpiece. Nearly four decades after their breakup, The Beatles' music continues to be popular. The Beatles have had more number one albums on the UK charts, and held down the top spot longer, than any other musical act. According to RIAA certifications, they have sold more albums in the US than any other artist. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the all-time top-selling Hot 100 artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with The Beatles at number one. They have been honoured with 7 Grammy Awards, and they have received 15 Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. The Beatles were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most important and influential people. ==History== Formation and early years (1957 - 1962) Aged sixteen, singer and guitarist John Lennon formed the skiffle group The Quarrymen with some Liverpool schoolfriends in March 1957. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a guitarist after he and Lennon met that July. When McCartney in turn invited George Harrison to watch the group the following February, the fourteen-year-old joined as lead guitarist. By 1960,Lennon's schoolfriends had left the group, he had begun studies at the Liverpool College of Art and the three guitarists were playing rock and roll whenever they could get a drummer. Joining on bass in January, Lennon's fellow student Stuart Sutcliffe suggested changing the band name to "The Beetles" as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and they became "The Beatals" for the first few months of the year. After trying other names including "Johnny and the Moondogs", "Long John and The Beetles" and "The Silver Beatles", the band finally became "The Beatles" in August. The lack of a permanent drummer posed a problem when the group's unofficial manager, Allan Williams, arranged a resident band booking for them in Hamburg, Germany. Before the end of August they auditioned and hired drummer Pete Best, and the five-piece band left for Hamburg four days later, contracted to fairground showman Bruno Koschmider for a 48-night residency. "Hamburg in those days did not have rock'n'roll music clubs. It had strip clubs", says biographer Philip Norman. Bruno had the idea of bringing in rock groups to play in various clubs. They had this formula. It was a huge nonstop show, hour after hour, with a lot of people lurching in and the other lot lurching out. And the bands would play all the time to catch the passing traffic. In an American red-light district, they would call it nonstop striptease. Many of the bands that played in Hamburg were from Liverpool...It was an accident. Bruno went to London to look for bands. But he happened to meet a Liverpool entrepreneur in Soho, who was down in London by pure chance. And he arranged to send some bands over. Harrison, only seventeen in August 1960, obtained permission to stay in Hamburg by lying to the German authorities about his age. Initially placing The Beatles at the Indra Club, Koschmider moved them to the Kaiserkeller in October after the Indra was closed down due to noise complaints. When they violated their contract by performing at the rival Top Ten Club, Koschmider reported the underage Harrison to the authorities, leading to his deportation in November. McCartney and Best were arrested for arson a week later when they set fire to a condom hung on a nail in their room; they too were deported. Lennon returned to Liverpool in mid-December, while Sutcliffe remained in Hamburg with his new German fiancée, Astrid Kirchherr, for another month. Kirchherr took the first professional photos of the group and cut Sutcliffe's hair in the German "exi" (existentialist) style of the time, a look later adopted by the other Beatles. During the next two years, the group were resident for further periods in Hamburg. They used Preludin both recreationally and to maintain their energy through all-night performances. Sutcliffe decided to leave the band in early 1961 and resume his art studies in Germany, so McCartney took up bass. German producer Bert Kaempfert contracted what was now a four-piece to act as Tony Sheridan's backing band on a series of recordings. Credited to "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers", the single "My Bonnie", recorded in June and released four months later, reached number 32 in the Musikmarkt chart. The Beatles were also becoming more popular back home in Liverpool. During one of the band's frequent appearances there at The Cavern Club, they encountered Brian Epstein, a local record store owner and music columnist. When the band appointed Epstein manager in January 1962, Kaempfert agreed to release them from the German record contract. After Decca Records rejected the band with the comment "Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein", producer George Martin signed the group to EMI's Parlophone label. News of a tragedy greeted them on their return to Hamburg in April. Meeting them at the airport, a stricken Kirchherr told them of Sutcliffe's death from a brain haemorrhage. Abbey Road Studios main entranceThe band had its first recording session under Martin's direction at Abbey Road Studios in London in June 1962. Martin complained to Epstein about Best's drumming and suggested the band use a session drummer in the studio. Instead, Best was replaced by Ringo Starr. Starr, who left Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to join The Beatles, had already performed with them occasionally when Best was ill. Martin still hired session drummer Andy White for one session, and White played on "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You". Released in October, "Love Me Do" was a top twenty UK hit, peaking at number seventeen on the chart. After a November studio session that yielded what would be their second single, "Please Please Me", they made their TV debut with a live performance on the regional news programme People and Places. The band concluded their last Hamburg stint in December 1962. By now it had become the pattern that all four members contributed vocals, although Starr's restricted range meant he sang lead only rarely. Lennon and McCartney had established a songwriting partnership; as the band's success grew, their celebrated collaboration limited Harrison's opportunities as lead vocalist. Epstein, sensing The Beatles' commercial potential, encouraged the group to adopt a professional attitude to performing. Lennon recalled the manager saying, "Look, if you really want to get in these bigger places, you're going to have to change ”stop eating on stage, stop swearing, stop smoking." Lennon said, "We used to dress how we liked, on and off stage. He'd tell us that jeans were not particularly smart and could we possibly manage to wear proper trousers, but he didn't want us suddenly looking square. He'd let us have our own sense of individuality ... it was a choice of making it or still eating chicken on stage." Beatlemania and touring years (1963 - 1966) UK popularity, Please Please Me and With The Beatles McCartney, Harrison, Swedish pop singer Lill-Babs and Lennon on the set of the Swedish television show Drop-In, 30 October 1963In the wake of the moderate success of "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" met with a more emphatic reception, reaching number two in the UK singles chart after its January 1963 release. Martin originally intended to record the band's debut LP live at The Cavern Club. Finding it had "the acoustic ambience of an oil tank", he elected to create a "live" album in one session at Abbey Road Studios. Ten songs were recorded for Please Please Me, accompanied on the album by the four tracks already released on the two singles. Recalling how the band "rushed to deliver a debut album, bashing out Please Please Me in a day", an Allmusic reviewer comments, "Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh, precisely because of its intense origins." Lennon said little thought went into composition at the time; he and McCartney were "just writing songs à la Everly Brothers, à la Buddy Holly, pop songs with no more thought of them than that ”to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant." Released in March 1963, the album reached number one on the British chart. This began a run during which eleven of The Beatles' twelve studio albums released in the United Kingdom through 1970 hit number one. The band's third single, "From Me to You", came out in April and was also a chart-topping hit. It began an almost unbroken run of seventeen British number one singles for the band,including all but one of those released over the next six years. On its release in August, the band's fourth single, "She Loves You", achieved the fastest sales of any record in the UK up to that time, selling three-quarters of a million copies in under four weeks. It became their first single to sell a million copies, and remained the biggest-selling record in the UK until 1978 when it was topped by "Mull of Kintyre", performed by McCartney and his post-Beatles band Wings. The popularity of the Beatles' music brought with it increasing press attention. They responded with a cheeky, irreverent attitude that defied what was expected of pop musicians and inspired even more interest. The Beatles' drop-T logo The Beatles' iconic "drop-T" logo, based on an impromptu sketch by instrument retailer and designer Ivor Arbiter, also made its debut in 1963. The logo was first used on the front of Starr's bass drum, which Epstein and Starr purchased from Arbiter's London shop. The band toured the UK three times in the first half of the year: a four-week tour that began in February preceded three-week tours in March and May–June. As their popularity spread, a frenzied adulation of the group took hold, dubbed "Beatlemania". Although not billed as tour leaders, they overshadowed other acts including Tommy Roe, Chris Montez and Roy Orbison, US artists who had established great popularity in the UK. Performances everywhere, both on tour and at many one-off shows across the UK, were greeted with riotous enthusiasm by screaming fans. Police found it necessary to use high-pressure water hoses to control the crowds, and there were debates in Parliament concerning the thousands of police officers putting themselves at risk to protect the group. In late October, a five-day tour of Sweden saw the band venture abroad for the first time since the Hamburg chapter. Returning to the UK, they were greeted at Heathrow Airport in heavy rain by thousands of fans in "a scene similar to a shark-feeding frenzy", attended by fifty journalists and photographers and a BBC Television camera crew. The next day, The Beatles began yet another UK tour, scheduled for six weeks. By now, they were indisputably the headliners. Please Please Me was still topping the album chart. It maintained the position for thirty weeks, only to be displaced by With The Beatles which itself held the top spot for twenty-one weeks. Making much greater use of studio production techniques than its "live" predecessor, the album was recorded between July and October. With The Beatles is described by Allmusic as "a sequel of the highest order ”one that betters the original by developing its own tone and adding depth." In a reversal of what had until then been standard practice, the album was released in late November ahead of the impending single "I Want to Hold Your Hand", with the song excluded in order to maximize the single's sales. With The Beatles caught the attention of Times music critic William Mann, who went as far as to suggest that Lennon and McCartney were "the outstanding English composers of 1963". The newspaper published a series of articles in which Mann offered detailed analyses of The Beatles' music, lending it respectability. With The Beatles became the second album in UK chart history to sell a million copies, a figure previously reached only by the 1958 South Pacific soundtrack. ==The British Invasion== Beatles releases in the United States were initially delayed for nearly a year when Capitol Records, EMI's American subsidiary, declined to issue either "Please Please Me" or "From Me to You". Negotiations with independent US labels led to the release of some singles, but issues with royalties and derision of The Beatles' "moptop" hairstyle posed further obstacles. Once Capitol did start to issue the material, rather than releasing the LPs in their original configuration, they compiled distinct US albums from an assortment of the band's recordings, and issued songs of their own choice as singles. American chart success came suddenly after a news broadcast about British Beatlemania triggered great demand, leading Capitol to rush-release "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in December 1963. The band's US debut was already scheduled to take place a few weeks later. The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964 When The Beatles left the United Kingdom on 7 February 1964, an estimated four thousand fans gathered at Heathrow, waving and screaming as the aircraft took off. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had sold 2.6 million copies in the US over the previous two weeks, but the group were still nervous about how they would be received. At New York's John F. Kennedy Airport they were greeted by another vociferous crowd, estimated at about three thousand people. They gave their first live US television performance two days later on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by approximately 74 million viewers—over 40 percent of the American population. The next morning one newspaper wrote that The Beatles "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic", but a day later their first US concert saw Beatlemania erupt at Washington Coliseum. Back in New York the following day, they met with another strong reception at Carnegie Hall. The band appeared on the weekly Ed Sullivan Show a second time, before returning to the UK on 22 February. During the week of 4 April, The Beatles held twelve positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the top five. That same week, a third American LP joined the two already in circulation; all three reached the first or second spot on the US album chart. The band's popularity generated unprecedented interest in British music, and a number of other UK acts subsequently made their own American debuts, successfully touring over the next three years in what was termed the British Invasion. The Beatles' hairstyle, unusually long for the era and still mocked by many adults, was widely adopted and became an emblem of the burgeoning youth culture. The Beatles toured internationally in June. Staging thirty-two concerts over nineteen days in Denmark, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, they were ardently received at every venue. Starr was ill for the first half of the tour, and Jimmy Nicol sat in on drums. In August they returned to the US, with a thirty-concert tour of twenty-three cities. Generating intense interest once again, the month-long tour attracted between ten and twenty thousand fans to each thirty-minute performance in cities from San Francisco to New York. However, their music could hardly be heard. On-stage amplification at the time was modest compared to modern-day equipment, and the band's small Vox amplifiers struggled to compete with the volume of sound generated by screaming fans. Forced to accept that neither they nor their audiences could hear the details of their performance, the band grew increasingly bored with the routine of concert touring. At the end of the August tour they were introduced to Bob Dylan in New York at the instigation of journalist Al Aronowitz. Visiting the band in their hotel suite, Dylan introduced them to cannabis. Music historian Jonathan Gould points out the musical and cultural significance of this meeting, before which the musicians' respective fanbases were "perceived as inhabiting two separate subcultural worlds": Dylan's core audience of "college kids with artistic or intellectual leanings, a dawning political and social idealism, and a mildly bohemian style" contrasted with The Beatles' core audience of "veritable 'teenyboppers'kids in high school or grade school whose lives were totally wrapped up in the commercialized popular culture of television, radio, pop records, fan magazines, and teen fashion. They were seen as idolaters, not idealists." Within six months of the meeting, "Lennon would be making records on which he openly imitated Dylan's nasal drone, brittle strum, and introspective vocal persona." Within a year, Dylan would "proceed, with the help of a five-piece group and a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, to shake the monkey of folk authenticity permanently off his back"; "the distinction between the folk and rock audiences would have nearly evaporated"; and The Beatles' audience would be "showing signs of growing up". ==A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, Help! and Rubber Soul== Capitol Records' lack of interest throughout 1963 had not gone unnoticed, and a competitor, United Artists Records, encouraged United Artists' film division to offer The Beatles a motion picture contract in the hope that it would lead to a record deal. Directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night had the group's involvement for six weeks in March–April 1964 as they played themselves in a boisterous mock-documentary of the Beatles phenomenon. The film premiered in London and New York in July and August, respectively, and was an international success. The Observer's reviewer, Penelope Gilliatt, noted that "the way the Beatles go on is just there, and that's it. In an age that is clogged with self-explanation this makes them very welcome. It also makes them naturally comic." According to Allmusic, the accompanying soundtrack album, A Hard Day's Night, saw The Beatles "truly coming into their own as a band. All of the disparate influences on their first two albums had coalesced into a bright, joyous, original sound, filled with ringing guitars." That "ringing guitar" sound was primarily the product of Harrison's 12-string electric Rickenbacker, a prototype given him by the manufacturer, which made its debut on the record. Harrison's ringing 12-string inspired Roger McGuinn, who obtained his own Rickenbacker and used it to craft the trademark sound of The Byrds. Beatles for Sale, the band's fourth studio album, saw the emergence of a serious conflict between commercialism and creativity. Recorded between August and October 1964, the album had been intended to continue the format established by A Hard Day's Night which, unlike the band's first two LPs, had contained no cover versions. Acknowledging the challenge posed by constant international touring to the band's songwriting efforts, Lennon admitted, "Material's becoming a hell of a problem". Six covers were eventually included on the album. Released in early December, its eight self-penned numbers nevertheless stood out, demonstrating the growing maturity of the material produced by the Lennon-McCartney partnership. In April 1965, Lennon and Harrison's dentist spiked their coffee with LSD while they were his guests for dinner. The two later deliberately experimented with the drug, joined by Starr on one occasion. McCartney was reluctant to try it, but eventually did so in 1966, and later became the first Beatle to discuss it publicly. Controversy erupted in June 1965 when Queen Elizabeth II appointed the four Beatles Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) after Prime Minister Harold Wilson nominated them for the award. In protest”the honour was at that time primarily bestowed upon military veterans and civic leaders”some conservative MBE recipients returned their own insignia. The US trailer for Help! with (from the rear) Harrison, McCartney, Lennon and (largely obscured) Starr The Beatles' second film, Help!, again directed by Lester, was released in July. Described as "mainly a relentless spoof of Bond", it inspired a mixed response among both reviewers and the band. McCartney said, "Help! was great but it wasn't our film ”we were sort of guest stars. It was fun, but basically, as an idea for a film, it was a bit wrong." The soundtrack was dominated by Lennon, who was lead singer and songwriter on the majority of songs, including the two singles performed on it: "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride". The accompanying album, the group's fifth studio LP, again contained a mix of original material and covers. Help! saw the band making increased use of vocal overdubs and incorporating classical instruments into their arrangements, notably the string quartet on the pop ballad "Yesterday". Composed by McCartney, "Yesterday" would inspire the most recorded cover versions of any song ever written. The LP's closing track, "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", became the last cover the band would include on an album. With the exception of Let It Be's brief rendition of the traditional Liverpool folk song "Maggie Mae", all of their subsequent albums would contain only self-penned material. On 15 August, The Beatles' third US visit opened with the first major stadium concert in history when they performed before a crowd of 55,600 at Shea Stadium, New York. A further nine successful concerts followed in other US cities. Towards the end of the tour the group were introduced to Elvis Presley, a foundational musical influence on the band, who invited them to his home. Presley and the band set up guitars in his living room, jammed together, discussed the music business and exchanged anecdotes. September saw the launch of an American Saturday morning cartoon series featuring the Beatles and echoing A Hard Day's Night's slapstick antics. Original episodes appeared for the next two years, and reruns aired through 1969. Rubber Soul, released in early December, was hailed by critics as another major step forward in the maturity and complexity of the band's music. Biographer and music critic Ian MacDonald observes that with Rubber Soul, The Beatles "recovered the sense of direction that had begun to elude them during the later stages of work on Beatles for Sale". After Help!'s foray into the world of classical music with flutes and strings, Rubber Soul's introduction of a sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" marked a further progression outside the traditional boundaries of rock music. The album also saw Lennon and McCartney's collaborative songwriting increasingly supplemented by distinct compositions from each (though they continued to share official credit). Their thematic reach was expanding as well, embracing more complex aspects of romance and other concerns. As their lyrics grew more artful, fans began to study them for deeper meaning. There was speculation that "Norwegian Wood" might refer to cannabis. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" ranked Rubber Soul at number five, and the album is today described by Allmusic as "one of the classic folk rock records". According to both Lennon and McCartney, however, it was "just another album". Recording engineer Norman Smith saw clear signs of growing conflict within the group during the Rubber Soul sessions; Smith later said that "the clash between John and Paul was becoming obvious" and "as far as Paul was concerned, George could do no right." ==Controversy, studio years and breakup (1966-1970)== Events leading up to final tour In June 1966, Yesterday and Today ”one of the compilation albums created by Capitol Records for the US market ”caused an uproar with its cover, which portrayed the smiling Beatles dressed in butcher's overalls, accompanied by raw meat and mutilated plastic dolls. A popular, though apocryphal, story was that this was meant as a response to the way Capitol had "butchered" their albums. Thousands of copies of the album had a new cover pasted over the original; an uncensored copy fetched $10,500 at a December 2005 auction. During a tour of the Philippines the month after the Yesterday and Today furore, The Beatles unintentionally snubbed the nation's first lady, Imelda Marcos, who had expected the group to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace. When presented with the invitation, Epstein politely declined on behalf of the group, as it had never been his policy to accept such official invitations. The group soon found that the Marcos regime was unaccustomed to taking "no" for an answer. The resulting riots endangered the group and they escaped the country with difficulty. Almost as soon as they returned home, they faced a fierce backlash from US religious and social conservatives (as well as the Ku Klux Klan) over a comment Lennon had made in a March interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave. Lennon had offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now". The comment went virtually unnoticed in England, but when US teenage fan magazine Datebook printed it five months later” on the eve of the group's final US tour ”it created a controversy in the American South's "Bible belt". South Africa also banned airplay of Beatles records, a prohibition that would last until 1971. Epstein publicly criticised Datebook, saying they had taken Lennon's words out of context, and at a press conference Lennon pointed out, "If I'd said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it." Lennon said he had only been referring to how other people saw The Beatles, but "if you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then okay, I'm sorry." Revolver and Sgt. Pepper Rubber Soul had marked a major step forward; Revolver, released in August 1966 a week before the band's final tour, marked another. Pitchfork identifies it as "the sound of a band growing into supreme confidence" and "redefining what was expected from popular music." Described by Gould as "woven with motifs of circularity, reversal, and inversion", Revolver featured sophisticated songwriting and a greatly expanded repertoire of musical styles ranging from innovative classical string arrangements to psychedelic rock. Abandoning the group photograph that had become the norm, its cover—designed by Klaus Voorman, a friend of the band since their Hamburg days ”was a "stark, arty, black-and-white collage that caricatured the Beatles in a pen-and-ink style beholden to Aubrey Beardsley." The album was preceded by the single "Paperback Writer", backed by "Rain". The Beatles shot short promo films for both songs, described as "among the first true music videos", which aired on Top of the Pops and The Ed Sullivan Show. Among Revolver's most experimental tracks was "Tomorrow Never Knows", for whose lyrics Lennon drew from Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The song's creation involved eight tape decks distributed about the recording studio building, each manned by an engineer or band member, who randomly varied the movement of a tape loop while Martin created a composite recording by sampling the incoming data. McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby" made prominent use of a string octet; it has been described as "a true hybrid, conforming to no recognizable style or genre of song." Harrison was developing as a songwriter, and three of his compositions earned a place on the record. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Revolver as the third greatest album of all time. On the US tour that followed, The Beatles played none of its songs. The final show, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on 29 August, was their last commercial concert. It marked the end of a four-year period dominated by touring that included nearly 60 US concert appearances and over 1400 internationally. Freed from the burden of touring, the band's creativity and desire to experiment grew as they recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, beginning in December 1966. Emerick recalled, "The Beatles insisted that everything on Sgt. Pepper had to be different. We had microphones right down in the bells of brass instruments and headphones turned into microphones attached to violins. We used giant primitive oscillators to vary the speed of instruments and vocals and we had tapes chopped to pieces and stuck together upside down and the wrong way round." Parts of "A Day in the Life" required a forty-piece orchestra. Nearly seven hundred hours of studio time were devoted to the sessions. They first yielded the non-album double A-side single "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" in February 1967; Sgt. Pepper followed in June. The musical complexity of the records, created using only four-track recording technology, astounded contemporary artists seeking to outdo The Beatles. For Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson, in the midst of a personal crisis and struggling to complete the ambitious Smile, hearing "Strawberry Fields" was a crushing blow and he soon abandoned all attempts to compete. Sgt. Pepper met with great critical acclaim. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number one among its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and it is widely regarded as a masterpiece. Jonathan Gould describes it as a rich, sustained, and overflowing work of collaborative genius whose bold ambition and startling originality dramatically enlarged the possibilities and raised the expectations of what the experience of listening to popular music on record could be. On the basis of this perception, Sgt. Pepper became the catalyst for an explosion of mass enthusiasm for album-formatted rock that would revolutionize both the aesthetics and the economics of the record business in ways that far outstripped the earlier pop explosions triggered by the Elvis phenomenon of 1956 and the Beatlemania phenomenon of 1963. Front cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "probably the most famous album cover in popular musical history" Sgt. Pepper was the first major pop album to include its complete lyrics, which were printed on the back cover. Those lyrics were the subject of intense analysis; fans speculated, for instance, that the "celebrated Mr K." in "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" might in fact be the surrealist fiction writer Franz Kafka. The American literary critic and professor of English Richard Poirier wrote an essay, "Learning from the Beatles", in which he observed that his students were "listening to the group's music with a degree of engagement that he, as a teacher of literature, could only envy." Poirier identified what he termed the "mixed allusiveness" of the material: "It's unwise ever to assume that they're doing only one thing or expressing themselves in only one style ... one kind of feeling about a subject isn't enough ... any single induced feeling must often exist within the context of seemingly contradictory alternatives." McCartney said at the time, "We write songs. We know what we mean by them. But in a week someone else says something about it, and you can't deny it ... You put your own meaning at your own level to our songs". Sgt. Pepper's remarkably elaborate album cover also occasioned great interest and deep study. The heavy moustaches worn by the band swiftly became a hallmark of hippie style. Cultural historian Jonathan Harris describes their "brightly coloured parodies of military uniforms" as a knowingly "anti-authoritarian and anti-establishment" display. On 25 June, the band performed their newest single, "All You Need Is Love", to TV viewers worldwide on Our World, the first live global television link. Appearing amid the Summer of Love, the song was adopted as a flower power anthem. Two months later the group suffered a loss that threw their career into turmoil. After being introduced to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, they travelled to Bangor for his Transcendental Meditation retreat. During the retreat, Epstein's assistant Peter Brown called to tell them Epstein had died. The coroner ruled Epstein's death an accidental overdose, but it was widely rumoured that a suicide note had been discovered among his possessions. Epstein had been in a fragile emotional state, stressed by both personal issues and the state of his working relationship with The Beatles. He worried that the band might not renew his management contract, due to expire in October, based on discontent with his supervision of business matters. There were particular concerns over Seltaeb, the company that handled Beatles merchandising rights in the United States. Epstein's death left the group disoriented and fearful about the future. Lennon said later, "I didn't have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music and I was scared." He also looked back on Epstein's death as marking the beginning of the end for the group: "I knew that we were in trouble then ... I thought, We've fuckin' had it now." ==Magical Mystery Tour, White Album and Yellow Submarine== Magical Mystery Tour, the soundtrack to a forthcoming Beatles television film, appeared as a six-track double extended play disc (EP) in early December 1967. In the United States, the six songs were issued on an identically titled LP that also included tracks from the band's recent singles. Allmusic says of the US Magical Mystery Tour, "The psychedelic sound is very much in the vein of Sgt. Pepper, and even spacier in parts (especially the sound collages of 'I Am the Walrus')", and calls its five songs culled from the band's 1967 singles "huge, glorious, and innovative". It set a new US record in its first three weeks for highest initial sales of any Capitol LP, and it is the one Capitol compilation later to be adopted in the band's official canon of studio albums. Aired on Boxing Day, the Magical Mystery Tour film, largely directed by McCartney, brought The Beatles their first major negative UK press. It was dismissed as "blatant rubbish" by the Daily Express, which described it as "a great deal of raw footage showing a group of people getting on, getting off, and riding on a bus". The Daily Mail called it "a colossal conceit", while the Guardian labelled it "a kind of fantasy morality play about the grossness and warmth and stupidity of the audience". It fared so dismally that it was withheld from the US at the time. In January, the group filmed a cameo for the animated movie Yellow Submarine, a fantasia featuring a cartoon version of The Beatles. The group's only other involvement with the film was the contribution of several unreleased studio recordings. Released in June 1968, it was well received for its innovative visual style and humour in addition to its music. It would be seven months, however, before the film's soundtrack album appeared. McCartney, Starr, Harrison and Lennon in the trailer for Yellow Submarine. Their cameo was filmed 25 January 1968, three weeks before they left for India.In the interim came The Beatles, a double LP popularly known as the White Album for its virtually featureless cover. Creative inspiration for the album came from an unexpected quarter when, with Epstein's guiding presence gone, the group turned to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as their guru. At his ashram in Rishikesh, India, a three-month "Guide Course" became one of their most creative periods, yielding a large number of songs including most of the thirty recorded for the album. Starr left after ten days, likening it to Butlins, and McCartney eventually grew bored with the procedure and departed a month later. For Lennon and Harrison, creativity turned to questioning when Yanni Alexis Mardas, the electronics technician dubbed Magic Alex, suggested that the Maharishi was attempting to manipulate the group. After Mardas alleged that the Maharishi had made sexual advances to women attendees, Lennon was persuaded and left abruptly, taking the unconvinced Harrison and the remainder of the group's entourage with him. In his anger Lennon wrote a pointed song called "Maharishi", but later modified it to avoid a legal suit, resulting in "Sexy Sadie". McCartney said, "We made a mistake. We thought there was more to him than there was." During recording sessions for the album, which stretched from late May to mid-October 1968, relations among the band's members grew openly divisive. Starr quit for a period, leaving McCartney to perform drums on several tracks. Lennon's romantic preoccupation with avant-garde artist Yoko Ono contributed to tension within the band and he lost interest in co-writing with McCartney. Flouting the group's well-established understanding that they would not take partners into the studio, Lennon insisted on bringing Ono, anyway disliked by Harrison, to all of the sessions. Increasingly contemptuous of McCartney's creative input, he began to identify the latter's compositions as "granny music", dismissing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" as "granny shit". Recalling the White Album sessions, Lennon gave a curiously foreshortened summing-up of the band's history from that point on, saying, "It's like if you took each track off it and made it all mine and all Paul's... just me and a backing group, Paul and a backing group, and I enjoyed it. We broke up then." McCartney also recalled that the sessions marked the start of the breakup, saying, "Up to that point, the world was a problem, but we weren't" which had always been "the best thing about The Beatles". Issued in November, the White Album was the band's first Apple Records album release. The new label was a subsidiary of Apple Corps, formed by the group on their return from India, fulfilling a plan of Epstein's to create a tax-effective business structure. The record attracted more than two million advance orders, selling nearly four million copies in the US in little over a month, and its tracks dominated the playlists of US radio stations. Despite its popularity, it did not receive flattering reviews at the time. According to Jonathan Gould, The critical response... ranged from mixed to flat. In marked contrast to Sgt. Pepper, which had helped to establish an entire genre of literate rock criticism, the White Album inspired no critical writing of any note. Even the most sympathetic reviewers... clearly didn't know what to make of this shapeless outpouring of songs. Newsweek's Hubert Saal, citing the high proportion of parodies, accused the group of getting their tongues caught in their cheeks. General critical opinion eventually turned in favor of the White Album, and in 2003 Rolling Stone ranked it as the tenth greatest album of all time. Pitchfork describes the album as "large and sprawling, overflowing with ideas but also with indulgences, and filled with a hugely variable array of material ... its failings are as essential to its character as its triumphs." Allmusic observes, "Clearly, the Beatles' two main songwriting forces were no longer on the same page, but neither were George and Ringo"; yet "Lennon turns in two of his best ballads", McCartney's songs are "stunning", Harrison is seen to have become "a songwriter who deserved wider exposure" and Starr's composition is "a delight". By now the interest in Beatles lyrics was taking a serious turn. When Lennon's song "Revolution" had been released as a single in August ahead of the White Album, its messages seemed clear: "free your mind", and "count me out" of any talk about destruction as a means to an end. In a year characterized by student protests that stretched from Warsaw to Paris to Chicago, the response from the radical left was scathing. However, the White Album version of the song, "Revolution 1", added an extra word, "count me out ... in", implying a change of heart since the single's release. The chronology was in fact reversed—the ambivalent album version was recorded first—but some felt that The Beatles were now saying that political violence might indeed be justifiable. The Yellow Submarine LP finally appeared in January 1969. It contained only four previously unreleased songs, along with the title track (already issued on Revolver), "All You Need Is Love" (already issued as a single and on the US Magical Mystery Tour LP) and seven instrumental pieces composed by Martin. Because of the paucity of new Beatles music, Allmusic suggests the album might be "inessential" but for Harrison's "It's All Too Much", "the jewel of the new songs... resplendent in swirling Mellotron, larger-than-life percussion, and tidal waves of feedback guitar... a virtuoso excursion into otherwise hazy psychedelia". ==Abbey Road, Let It Be and breakup== Apple Corps building at 3 Savile Row, site of the Let It Be rooftop concertAlthough Let It Be was the band's final album release, most of it was recorded before Abbey Road. Initially titled Get Back, Let It Be originated from an idea Martin attributes to McCartney: to prepare new material and "perform it before a live audience for the very first time on record and on film. In other words make a live album of new material, which no one had ever done before." In the event, much of the album's content came from studio work, many hours of which were captured on film by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Martin said that rehearsals and recording for the project, which occupied much of January 1969, were "not at all a happy ... experience. It was a time when relations between the Beatles were at their lowest ebb." Aggravated by both McCartney and Lennon, Harrison walked out for a week. He returned with keyboardist Billy Preston, who participated in the last ten days of sessions and was credited on the "Get Back" single”the only other musician to receive such acknowledgment on an official Beatles recording. The band members had reached an impasse on a concert location, rejecting among several concepts a boat at sea, the Tunisian desert and the Colosseum. Ultimately, the final live performance by The Beatles, accompanied by Preston, was filmed on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building at 3 Savile Row, London, on 30 January 1969. Engineer Glyn Johns worked for months assembling various iterations of a Get Back album, while the band turned to other concerns. Conflict arose regarding the appointment of a financial adviser, the need for which had become evident without Epstein to manage business affairs. Lennon favoured Allen Klein, who had negotiated contracts for The Rolling Stones and other UK bands during the British Invasion. McCartney's choice was John Eastman, brother of Linda Eastman, whom McCartney married on 12 March (eight days before Lennon and Ono wed). Agreement could not be reached, so both were appointed, but further conflict ensued and financial opportunities were lost. Martin was surprised when McCartney contacted him and asked him to produce another album, as the Get Back sessions had been "a miserable experience" and he had "thought it was the end of the road for all of us... they were becoming unpleasant people ”to themselves as well as to other people." Recording sessions for Abbey Road began in late February. Lennon rejected Martin's proposed format of "a continuously moving piece of music", and wanted his own and McCartney's songs to occupy separate sides of the album. The eventual format, with individually composed songs on the first side and the second largely comprising a medley, was McCartney's suggested compromise. On 4 July, while work on the album was in progress, the first solo single by a member of The Beatles appeared: Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance", credited to the Plastic Ono Band. The completion of the Abbey Road track "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" on 20 August was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio. Lennon announced his departure to the rest of the group on 20 September, but agreed that no public announcement would be made until a number of legal matters were resolved. Released six days after Lennon's declaration, Abbey Road sold four million copies within two months and topped the UK chart for eleven weeks. Its second track, the ballad "Something", was also issued as a single ”the first and only song by Harrison to appear as a Beatles A side. Abbey Road received mixed reviews, although the medley met with general acclaim. Allmusic considers it "a fitting swan song for the group" containing "some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record". MacDonald calls it "erratic and often hollow": "Had it not been for McCartney's input as designer of the Long Medley... Abbey Road would lack the semblance of unity and coherence that makes it appear better than it is." Martin singled it out as his personal favourite of all the band's albums; Lennon said it was "competent" but had "no life in it", calling "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" "more of Paul's granny music". Recording engineer Geoff Emerick noted that the replacement of the studio's valve mixing console with a transistorised one produced a less punchy sound, leaving the group frustrated at the thinner tone and lack of impact. For the still uncompleted Get Back album, the final new Beatles song, Harrison's "I Me Mine", was recorded on 3 January 1970. Lennon, in Denmark at the time, did not participate. To complete the album, now retitled Let It Be, in March Klein gave the Get Back session tapes to American producer Phil Spector. Known for his Wall of Sound approach, Spector had recently produced Lennon's solo single "Instant Karma!" In addition to remixing the Get Back material, Spector edited, spliced and overdubbed several of the recordings that had been intended as "live". McCartney was unhappy with Spector's treatment of the material and particularly dissatisfied with the producer's orchestration of "The Long and Winding Road", which involved a choir and thirty-four-piece instrumental ensemble. He unsuccessfully attempted to halt the release of Spector's version. McCartney publicly announced his departure from the band on 10 April, a week before the release of his first, self-titled solo album. Pre-release copies of McCartney's record included a press statement with a self-written interview, explaining the end of his involvement with The Beatles and his hopes for the future. On 8 May, the Spector-produced Let It Be was released. The accompanying single, "The Long and Winding Road", was the band's last; it was released in the United States, but not Britain. The Let It Be documentary film followed later in the month; at the Academy Award ceremony the next year, it would win the Oscar for Best Original Song Score. The Sunday Telegraph called it "a very bad film and a touching one ... about the breaking apart of this reassuring, geometrically perfect, once apparently ageless family of siblings." More than one reviewer commented that some of the Let It Be tracks sounded better in the film than on the album. Observing that Let It Be is the "only Beatles album to occasion negative, even hostile reviews", Allmusic describes it as "on the whole underrated... McCartney in particular offers several gems: the gospel-ish 'Let It Be', which has some of his best lyrics; 'Get Back', one of his hardest rockers; and the melodic 'The Long and Winding Road', ruined by Spector's heavy-handed overdubs." McCartney filed a suit for the dissolution of The Beatles on 31 December 1970. Legal disputes continued long after the band's breakup, and the dissolution of the partnership did not take effect until 1975. ==Post-breakup (since 1970)== See also: Collaborations between ex-Beatles 1970s Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr all released solo albums in 1970. Further albums followed from each, sometimes with the involvement of one or more of the others. Starr's Ringo (1973) was the only album to include compositions and performances by all four, albeit on separate songs. With Starr's collaboration, Harrisonstaged The Concert for Bangladesh in New York City in August 1971 with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Other than an unreleased jam session in 1974 (later bootlegged as A Toot and a Snore in '74), Lennon and McCartney never recorded together again. Two double-LP sets of The Beatles' greatest hits compiled by Allen Klein, 1962 - 1966 and 1967 - 1970, were released in 1973, at first under the Apple Records imprint. Commonly known as the Blue Album and Red Album respectively, each earned a Multi-Platinum certification in the United States and a Platinum certification in the United Kingdom. Between 1976 and 1982, EMI/Capitol released a wave of Beatles compilation albums without input from the band members. The only one to feature previously unreleased material was The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (1977). The first officially issued concert recordings by the group, it contained selections from two shows The Beatles played during their 1964 and 1965 US tours. After the international release of the original British albums on CD in 1987, EMI deleted this latter group of compilations ”including the Hollywood Bowl record—from its catalogue. The Beatles' music and enduring fame were commercially exploited in various other ways, outside the band members' creative control. The Broadway musical Beatlemania, a nostalgia revue featuring four musicians performing as The Beatles, opened in early 1977 and proved popular, spinning off five separate touring productions. The Beatles tried and failed to block the 1977 release of Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962. The independently issued album compiled recordings made during the group's Hamburg residency, taped on a basic recording machine with one microphone. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), a musical film starring the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton, was a commercial failure and "artistic fiasco". In 1979, the band sued the producers of Beatlemania, settling for several million dollars in damages. "People were just thinking The Beatles were like public domain", said Harrison. "You can't just go around pilfering The Beatles' material. ==1980s== Lennon was shot and killed on 8 December 1980, in New York City. In a personal tribute Harrison wrote new lyrics for "All Those Years Ago", a song about his time with The Beatles recorded the month before Lennon's death. With McCartney and his wife, Linda, contributing backing vocals, and Starr on drums, the song was overdubbed with the new lyrics and released as a single in May 1981. McCartney's own tribute, "Here Today", appeared on his Tug of War album in April 1982. The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, their first year of eligibility. Harrison and Starr attended the ceremony along with Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and his two sons, Julian and Sean. McCartney declined to attend, issuing a press release saying, "After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven't been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion." The following year, EMI/Capitol settled a decade-long lawsuit by The Beatles concerning royalties, clearing the way to commercially package previously unreleased material. ==1990s== Live at the BBC, the first official release of previously unissued Beatles performances in 17 years, appeared in 1994. That same year McCartney, Harrison and Starr reunited for the Anthology project, the culmination of work begun in the late 1960s by Neil Aspinall. Initially The Beatles' road manager, and then their personal assistant, Aspinall began to gather material for a documentary after he became director of Apple Corps in 1968. The Long and Winding Road, as Aspinall provisionally titled his Beatles history, was shelved, but as executive producer for the Anthology project Aspinall was able to complete his work. Documenting the history of The Beatles in the band's own words, the project saw the release of many previously unissued Beatles recordings; McCartney, Harrison and Starr also added new instrumental and vocal parts to two demo songs recorded by Lennon in the late 1970s. During 1995 and 1996 the project yielded a five-part television series, an eight-volume video set and three two-CD box sets. The two songs based on Lennon demos, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", were each released as singles. The CD box sets featured artwork by Klaus Voorman, creator of the Revolver album cover in 1966. The releases were commercially successful and the television series was viewed by an estimated 400 million people worldwide. ==2000s== 1, a compilation album of every Beatles number one British and American hit, was released on 13 November 2000. It became the fastest-selling album of all time, with 3.6 million sold in its first week and over 12 million in three weeks worldwide. It was a number one chart hit in at least 28 countries, including the UK and the US. As of April 2009, it had sold 31 million copies globally, and is the highest selling album of the decade in the United States. Harrison died from lung cancer on 29 November 2001. McCartney and Starr were among the musicians who performed at the Concert for George, organized by Eric Clapton and Harrison's widow, Olivia. The tribute event took place at the Royal Albert Hall on the first anniversary of Harrison's death. As well as songs he composed for The Beatles and his own solo career, the concert included a celebration of Indian classical music, Harrison's interest in which had influenced the band. In 2003, Let It Be, a reconceived version of the album with McCartney supervising production, was released to mixed reviews. It was a top ten hit in both the UK and the US. As a soundtrack for Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas Beatles stage revue Love, George Martin and his son Giles remixed and blended 130 of the band's recordings to create "a way of re-living the whole Beatles musical lifespan in a very condensed period". The show premiered in June 2006, and the Love album was released that November. Attending the show's first anniversary, McCartney and Starr were interviewed on Larry King Live along with Ono and Olivia Harrison. Also in 2007, reports circulated that McCartney was hoping to complete "Now and Then", a third Lennon demo worked on during the Anthology sessions. It would be credited as a "Lennon/McCartney composition" with the addition of new verses, and feature a new drum track by Starr and archival recordings of Harrison playing guitar. Lawyers for The Beatles sued in March 2008 to prevent the distribution of unreleased recordings purportedly made during Starr's first performance with the group at Hamburg's Star-Club in 1962. In November, McCartney discussed his hope that "Carnival of Light", a 14-minute experimental recording The Beatles made at Abbey Road Studios in 1967, would receive an official release. McCartney headlined a charity concert on 4 April 2009 at Radio City Music Hall for the David Lynch Foundation with guest performers including Starr. The Beatles: Rock Band, a music video game in the style of the Rock Band series, was released on 9 September 2009. On the same day, remastered versions of the band's twelve original studio albums plus Magical Mystery Tour and the compilation Past Masters were issued. ==Musical style and evolution== See also: Lennon/McCartney In Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever, Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz sum up The Beatles' musical evolution: In their initial incarnation as cheerful, wisecracking moptops, the Fab Four revolutionized the sound, style, and attitude of popular music and opened rock and roll's doors to a tidal wave of British rock acts. Their initial impact would have been enough to establish the Beatles as one of their era's most influential cultural forces, but they didn't stop there. Although their initial style was a highly original, irresistibly catchy synthesis of early American rock and roll and R&B, the Beatles spent the rest of the 1960s expanding rock's stylistic frontiers, consistently staking out new musical territory on each release. The band's increasingly sophisticated experimentation encompassed a variety of genres, including folk-rock, country, psychedelia, and baroque pop, without sacrificing the effortless mass appeal of their early work. In The Beatles as Musicians, Walter Everett points out Lennon and McCartney's contrasting motivations and approaches to composition: "McCartney may be said to have constantly developed—as a means to entertain ”a focused musical talent with an ear for counterpoint and other aspects of craft in the demonstration of a universally agreed-upon common language that he did much to enrich. Conversely, Lennon's mature music is best appreciated as the daring product of a largely unconscious, searching but undisciplined artistic sensibility."Ian MacDonald, comparing the two composers in Revolution in the Head, describes McCartney as "a natural melodist ”a creator of tunes capable of existing apart from their harmony". His melody lines are characterised as primarily "vertical", employing wide, consonant intervals which express his "extrovert energy and optimism". Conversely, Lennon's "sedentary, ironic personality" is reflected in a "horizontal" approach featuring minimal, dissonant intervals and repetitive melodies which rely on their harmonic accompaniment for interest: "Basically a realist, he instinctively kept his melodies close to the rhythms and cadences of speech, colouring his lyrics with bluesy tone and harmony rather than creating tunes that made striking shapes of their own." MacDonald praises Harrison's lead guitar work for the role his "characterful lines and textural colourings" play in supporting Lennon and McCartney's parts, and describes Starr as "the father of modern pop/rock drumming... His faintly behind-the-beat style subtly propelled The Beatles, his tunings brought the bottom end into recorded drum sound, and his distinctly eccentric fills remain among the most memorable in pop music." ==Influences== The band's earliest influences include Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, whose songs they covered more often than any other artist's in performances throughout their career. During their co-residency with Little Richard at the Star Club in Hamburg from April to May 1962, he advised them on the proper technique for performing his songs. Of Presley, Lennon said, "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been Elvis, there would not have been The Beatles". Other early influences include Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison. The Beatles continued to absorb influences long after their initial success, often finding new musical and lyrical avenues by listening to their contemporaries, including Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, The Byrds and The Beach Boys, whose 1966 album Pet Sounds amazed and inspired McCartney. Martin stated, "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." ==Genres == A Hoffner "violin" bass guitar and Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar, models played by McCartney and Harrison, respectively. The small Vox amplifier behind them is the kind The Beatles used in concert.Originating as a skiffle group, The Beatles soon embraced 1950s rock and roll. The band's repertoire ultimately expanded to include a broad variety of pop music. Reflecting the range of styles they explored, Lennon said of Beatles for Sale, "You could call our new one a Beatles country-and-western LP", while Allmusic credits the band, and Rubber Soul in particular, as a major influence on the folk rock movement. Beginning with the use of a string quartet on Help!'s "Yesterday", they also incorporated classical music elements. As Jonathan Gould points out however, it was not "even remotely the first pop record to make prominent use of ”although it was the first Beatles recording to do so ... it was rather that the more traditional sound of strings allowed for a fresh appreciation of their talent as composers by listeners who were otherwise allergic to the din of drums and electric guitars." The group applied strings to various effect. Of "She's Leaving Home", for instance, recorded for Sgt. Pepper, Gould writes that it "is cast in the mold of a sentimental Victorian ballad, its words and music filled with the clichés of musical melodrama." The band's stylistic range expanded in another direction in 1966 with the B-side to the "Paperback Writer" single: "Rain", described by Martin Strong in The Great Rock Discography as "the first overtly psychedelic Beatles record". Other psychedelic numbers followed, such as "Tomorrow Never Knows" (actually recorded before "Rain"), "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", and "I Am the Walrus". The influence of Indian classical music was evident in songs such as Harrison's "Love You To" and "Within You Without You", whose intent, writes Gould, was "to replicate the raga form in miniature". Summing up the band's musical evolution, music historian and pianist Michael Campbell identifies innovation as its most striking feature. He writes, "'A Day in the Life' encapsulates the art and achievement of the Beatles as well as any single track can. It highlights key features of their music: the sound imagination, the persistence of tuneful melody, and the close coordination between words and music. It represents a new category of song ”more sophisticated than pop, more accessible and down to earth than pop, and uniquely innovative. There literally had never before been a song—classical or vernacular—that had blended so many disparate elements so imaginatively." Music theorist Bruce Ellis Benson agrees: "Composers may be able to conceive new rhythms and chord progressions,

<H1>Roberto Carlos Biography Roberto Carlos Biografia</H1>

Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos no início dos anos 1970.

Informação geral

Nome completo Roberto Carlos Braga

Apelido Rei da MPB, Rei da Juventude, Rei Roberto, Zunga

Data de nascimento 19 de abril de 1941 (68 anos)

Origem Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, ES

País Brasil

Gêneros MPB, Jovem Guarda, rock

Período em atividade 1959-Presente

Gravadoras Polydor (1959)

CBS

Sony Music

Afiliações Erasmo Carlos

Página oficial Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos Braga (Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, 19 de abril de 1941), conhecido simplesmente por Roberto Carlos ou ainda Rei Roberto Carlos, é um cantor e compositor brasileiro, sendo um dos principais representantes da Jovem Guarda. É freqüentemente referenciado no Brasil como "rei", notório ainda por seus grandiosos shows de final de ano e sua aversão pela cor marrom.

1 Biografia

1.1 Infância

1.2 Início: mudança para o Rio de Janeiro

1.3 Anos 1960: a Jovem Guarda

1.4 Anos 1970: fase romântica

1.5 Anos 1980: reconhecimento internacional

1.6 Anos 1990: campeão de vendas e morte de Maria Rita

1.7 Anos 2000-presente

2 Discografia

2.1 Compactos

2.2 Álbuns

2.3 DVDs

3 Filmografia

4 Curiosidades

5 Notas e referências

6 Ligações externas

==Biografia==

Infância

Nascido no interior do Espírito Santo, na cidade de Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, é o quarto e último filho do relojoeiro Robertino Braga e da costureira Laura Moreira. A família morava no bairro do Recanto, numa casa modesta, no alto de uma ladeira. Os demais membros da família eram: Lauro Roberto Braga, Carlos Alberto Braga e Norma Moreira Braga, a qual Roberto Carlos carinhosamente chamava Norminha.

Apelidado na infância como "Zunga", ainda criança aprendeu a tocar violão e piano - a princípio com sua mãe e, posteriormente, no Conservatório Musical de Cachoeiro de Itapemirim. O ídolo na época era Bob Nelson, um artista brasileiro que se vestia de cowboy e cantava música "country" em português.

Incentivado pela mãe, cantou pela primeira vez em um programa infantil na Rádio Cachoeiro, aos nove anos. Apresentou-se cantando o bolero "Amor y más amor". Como prêmio pelo primeiro lugar, recebeu balas. O cantor recordaria anos depois o momento, relatado na obra "Roberto Carlos em Detalhes", de Paulo Cesar de Araújo: "Eu estava muito nervoso, mas muito contente de cantar no rádio. Ganhei um punhado de balas, que era como o programa premiava as crianças que lá se apresentavam. Foi um dia lindo." Tornou-se então presença assídua do programa, todos os domingos acreditando no seus sonhos de cantar. Aos seis anos de idade, no dia da festa de São Pedro, que é o padroeiro da cidade de Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, ele foi atropelado por uma locomotiva a vapor e sua perna direita teve de ser amputada até pouco abaixo do joelho. Roberto e a coleguinha de escola Fifinha estavam na plataforma da estação. Quando o trem se aproximava, a professora puxou repentinamente a menina com medo que ela caísse. Roberto, que estava de costas para os trilhos, assustou-se e acabou caindo. O cantor usou muletas até os 15 anos, quando colocou a sua primeira prótese – essa parte de sua perna é mecânica.

Início: mudança para o Rio de Janeiro

Na segunda metade dos anos cinqüenta, mudou-se para Niterói. Seguindo a tendência juvenil da época, entrou em contato com um novo ritmo musical, o Rock, passando a ouvir Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Gene Vincent e Chuck Berry.

Em 1957, Arlênio Lívio, um colega de escola, levou Roberto Carlos para conhecer um grupo de amigos que se reunia na Rua do Matoso, no bairro da Tijuca, no Rio de Janeiro. Lá conheceu Sebastião (Tim) Maia, Edson Trindade, José Roberto "China" e Wellington. Formou com Arlênio, Trindade e Wellington o primeiro conjunto musical, The Sputniks. Certa vez, ele precisava da letra de "Hound Dog" - e o grande fã de Elvis Presley daquela turma de amigos era Erasmo (Carlos) Esteves. Desta forma, Roberto Carlos conheceu aquele que se tornaria o maior parceiro musical.

Tim Maia saiu dos Sputiniks e o grupo foi desfeito.

Edson Trindade, Arlênio e China formaram o grupo The Snakes, chamando Erasmo para ser crooner.

A carreira solo de Roberto foi iniciada no mesmo ano como "crooner" da boate do Hotel Plaza, em Copacabana, cantando samba-canção e bossa nova.

The Snakes acompanhavam tanto Roberto Carlos quando Tim Maia, contudo ambos nunca fizeram parte do grupo, Roberto Carlos passou a se apresentar com freqüência em clubes e festas. Roberto foi convidado por Carlos Imperial a se apresentar no programa musical "Clube do Rock", da TV Tupi. Carlos Imperial costumava apresentar Roberto Carlos como o "Elvis brasileiro" e Tim Maia como o "Little Richard brasileiro". No final daquela década, Roberto gravou alguns compactos e iniciava sua carreira oficialmente.

Em 1959, Roberto Carlos lançou "João e Maria/Fora do Tom", um compacto simples. Dois anos depois, ele lançava o primeiro álbum, "Louco Por Você". Imperial compôs boa parte das canções deste disco. O LP não teve sucesso, e hoje Roberto Carlos renega este LP.

Anos 1960: a Jovem Guarda

Roberto Carlos insistiu em investir na música jovem da época, o rock, e em 1962 lançou "Splish Splash". Com o amigo Erasmo, Roberto compunha versões de hits do álbum e canções próprias como "Splish Splash" e "Parei na Contramão", que se tornaram grandes sucessos. No ano seguinte, o cantor novamente esteve nas paradas de sucesso com o LP É Proibido Fumar, em que, além da faixa-título, destacou-se a canção "O Calhambeque". Assim nascia a Jovem Guarda.

Conhecido nacionalmente, Roberto Carlos começou a apresentar o programa Jovem Guarda em 1965, da TV Record, ao lado de Erasmo Carlos e Wanderléa. O programa popularizou ainda mais o movimento e consagrou o cantor, que se tornou um dos primeiros ídolos jovens da cultura brasileira. Ainda em 1965, foram lançados os álbuns "Roberto Carlos Canta Para A Juventude" - com sucessos "História de Um Homem Mau", "Os Sete Cabeludos", "Eu Sou Fã do Monoquini" e "Não Quero Ver Você Triste", parcerias com Erasmo Carlos - e "Jovem Guarda", com os sucessos "Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno", "Lobo Mau", "O Feio" (de Getúlio Côrtes) e "Não é Papo Pra Mim".

Em 1966, Roberto Carlos apresentou os programas "Roberto Carlos à Noite", "Opus 7", "Jovem Guarda em Alta Tensão" e "Todos os Jovens do Mundo", todos de vida efêmera e da TV Record. Mas o que mais marcaria aquele ano seria uma briga por motivos profissionais, que quase colocou fim à parceria entre Roberto e Erasmo Carlos. A razão da separação foi uma falha da produção do programa "Show em Si… Monal", da TV Record, que homenageava Erasmo. A produção do programa havia preparado um pot-pourri com as composições mais famosas de Erasmo, entre as quais "Parei na Contramão" e "Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno". O problema criado foi que estas canções foram compostas em parceria com Roberto Carlos, mas se deu créditos unicamente a Erasmo. Os dois se desentenderam, e a parceria ficou suspensa por mais de um ano. Neste período, Roberto compôs "Querem Acabar Comigo" e "Namoradinha de um Amigo Meu", que foram lançadas no LP "Roberto Carlos" daquele ano (o disco ainda tinha os sucessos "Eu Te Darei o Céu", "Esqueça" (versão de Roberto Corte Real), "Negro Gato" (de Getúlio Côrtes) e "Nossa Canção" (de Luiz Airão).

Em 1967, a amizade Erasmo-Roberto seguia estremecida, embora os dois apresentassem - junto com Wanderléa - o programa "Jovem Guarda", na TV Record. Roberto Carlos compôs sozinho sucessos como "Como É Grande O Meu Amor Por Você", "Por Isso Corro Demais", "Quando" e "de Que Vale Tudo Isso", que seriam lançados no LP "Roberto Carlos Em Ritmo de Aventura", trilha sonora do filme homônimo, lançado no ano seguinte, e que teve produção e direção de Roberto Farias e elenco com José Lewgoy e Reginaldo Farias. O filme tornou-se um grande sucesso de bilheteria do cinema nacional. A relação entre Erasmo e Roberto Carlos voltaria ao normal por causa de "Em Ritmo de Aventura". Envolvido com diversos compromissos profissionais, Roberto não conseguia finalizar a letra da canção de "Eu Sou Terrível", que Seria a faixa inicial da trilha sonora do longa-metragem. Então, ele pediu auxílo ao velho parceiro Erasmo Carlos, que o ajudou a finalizar a letra. Assim, a amizade e a parceria dos dois foram retomadas. Ainda naquele ano, Roberto Carlos fez em Cannes (França) os primeiros espetáculos no exterior e participou de alguns festivais de Música Popular Brasileira. Com "Maria, Carnaval e Cinzas" (de Luís Carlos Paraná), o cantor ficou em quinto lugar. Algumas pessoas hostilizaram a presença de um ícone da Jovem Guarda - tido como "alienado" sob a óptica da época.

Em 1968 foi lançado o LP "O Inimitável". Disco de transição na carreira do cantor, o álbum teve influências na black music (Soul/Funk) estadunidense e emplacou vários sucessos, como "Se Você Pensa", "Eu Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo", "É Meu, É Meu, É Meu", "As Canções que Você Fez Pra Mim" (todas parcerias com Erasmo Carlos), "Ciúme de Você" (de Luiz Ayrão) e "E Não Vou Deixar Você Tão Só" (de Antônio Marcos). Ainda naquele ano, Roberto Carlos se tornaria o primeiro e único brasileiro a vencer o Festival de San Remo (da Itália), com a canção "Canzone Per Te", de Sergio Endrigo e Sergio Bardotti, e se casaria, em Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolívia), com Cleonice Rossi, mãe dos filhos Roberto Carlos Segundo (o Segundinho, mais conhecido como Dudu Braga, nascido em 1969), e Luciana (nascida em 1971).

A mudança de estilo do cantor viria definitivamente em 1969. O álbum "Roberto Carlos" foi marcado por um maior romantismo em lugar dos tradicionais temas juvenis típicos da Jovem Guarda. Entre os sucessos deste LP estão "As Curvas da Estrada de Santos", "Sua Estupidez" e "As Flores do Jardim da Nossa Casa", todas parcerias com Erasmo Carlos. Ainda naquele ano, foi lançado o "Roberto Carlos e o Diamante Cor-de-Rosa", segundo filme dirigido por Roberto Farias e novo êxito de bilheteria.

Anos 1970: fase romântica

A partir da década de 1970, marcaria o fim da Jovem Guarda e consolidaria o prestígio de Roberto Carlos como intérprete romântico no Brasil e no exterior (Estados Unidos, Europa e América Latina). O cantor seria o artista brasileiro que mais venderia discos no país. Várias das suas canções foram gravadas por artistas como Julio Iglesias, Caravelli e Ray Conniff.

Em 1970, o cantor fez uma bem-sucedida temporada de shows no Canecão. No final daquele ano, foi lançado o álbum anual, que trouxe sucessos como "Ana", "Vista a Roupa Meu Bem" e "Jesus Cristo", canção que também marcava sua aproximação com a religião.

No ano seguinte, foi lançado "Roberto Carlos a 300 km por Hora", o último filme e também um grande sucesso nacional. Ainda em 1971, foi lançado "Roberto Carlos", disco contou com os sucessos "Detalhes", "Amada Amante","Todos Estão Surdos", "Debaixo dos Caracóis dos Seus Cabelos" (homenagem a Caetano Veloso) e "Como Dois e Dois" (de Caetano).

O álbum "Roberto Carlos", de 1972, repercutiu com "A Montanha" e "Quando as Crianças Saírem de Férias",além de ter sido o primeiro LP a atingir a marca de um milhão de cópias vendidas; e "Roberto Carlos", de 1973, com "Rotina" e "Proposta". Em 24 de dezembro de 1974, a Rede Globo exibiu um especial do cantor, que obteve um enorme índice de audiência. A partir daquele ano, o programa seria veiculado anualmente, sempre no final do ano.

Em 1975, o grande sucesso seria "Além do Horizonte". No ano seguinte, o cantor gravaria o novo LP nos estúdios da CBS em Nova Iorque. O álbum lançou as canções "Ilegal, Imoral ou Engorda" e "Os Seus Botões". Em 1977, Roberto Carlos gravou "Muito Romântico" (de Caetano Veloso) e "Cavalgada", lançadas no disco natalino e que alcançaram os primeiros lugares nas paradas musicais.

No ano seguinte, foi lançado "Roberto Carlos", de 1978, de onde se destacaram as famosas "Café da Manhã", "Força Estranha" (de Caetano Veloso) e "Lady Laura"- esta última dedicada a sua mãe. O disco vendeu um milhão e quinhentas mil cópias. Além de álbuns que vendiam mais de 1 milhão de cópias por ano, os shows de Roberto Carlos eram também disputados: em 1978, o cantor percorreu o país por seis meses, sempre com casas lotadas.

Quando visitou o México em 1979, o papa João Paulo II foi saudado com a canção "Amigo", cantada por um coro de crianças. O evento foi transmitido ao vivo para centenas de milhões de pessoas no mundo. Também naquele ano, o casamento com Cleonice se desfez, iniciando um romance com a atriz Mirian Rios, e se engajou da ONU em prol do Ano Internacional da Criança.

Anos 1980: reconhecimento internacional

No início da década de 1980, participou de outra campanha, dessa vez para o Ano Internacional da Pessoa Deficiente. Em 1981, o cantor fez excursões internacionais e gravou o primeiro disco em inglês - outros seriam lançados em espanhol, italiano e francês. Também gravou o disco anual, que contou com sucessos como "Emoções", "Cama e Mesa" e "As Baleias".

Em 1982, recebeu da gravadora CBS o Prêmio Globo de Cristal, oferecido aos artistas que ultrapassam a marca dos cinco milhões de discos vendidos fora do país de origem. Ainda naquele ano, Maria Bethânia participou do álbum anual, no dueto "Amiga". Era a primeira vez que o cantor convidava um outro artista para participar das gravações do disco. Roberto Carlos (1982) ainda teve o sucesso "Fera Ferida", outra parceria com Erasmo.

Em 1984, sua canção "Caminhoneiro" foi executada mais de três mil vezes nas rádios do país em um único dia e, no ano seguinte, "Verde e Amarelo" bateria esta marca ao ser tocada três mil e quinhentas vezes.. Ganhou em 1988 o Grammy de Melhor Cantor Latino-americano e, no ano seguinte, atingiu o topo da parada latina da Billboard. Ainda em 1989, teve grande repercussão com "Amazônia". No tradicional especial de fim de ano da Rede Globo cantou sucessos como Outra vez ao lado de Simone.

Anos 1990: campeão de vendas e morte de Maria Rita

Durante a década de 1990, o sucesso de Roberto Carlos prosseguiu tanto em nível nacional quanto internacional. Em 1994,Roberto Carlos conseguiu bater os Beatles em vendagens na América Latina, vendendo mais de 70 milhões de discos.

O cantor Roberto Carlos cumprimenta o Papa João Paulo II durante a sua visita ao Brasil, em 1997.Em 1995, liderados por Roberto Frejat, grandes nomes do pop-rock brasileiro como Cássia Eller, Chico Science & Nação Zumbi, Barão Vermelho e Skank homenagearam Roberto Carlos com a gravação de canções da época da Jovem Guarda. Ainda naquele ano, o cantor casou-se com a pedagoga Maria Rita Simões Braga. No ano seguinte, Roberto Carlos emplacou mais um sucesso em parceria com Erasmo Carlos: "Mulher de 40". Já em 1997, foi lançado o álbum em língua espanhola "Canciones que amo".

Em 1998, foi diagnosticado câncer em Maria Rita. Roberto Carlos teve de conciliar a gravação do disco anual e o apoio à esposa internada em São Paulo. "Seu disco anual", que quase não foi lançado, tinha apenas quatro canções inéditas, entre elas "O Baile da Fazenda", uma parceria com Erasmo Carlos e que contou com a participação especial de Dominguinhos. Em 1999, o agravamento do estado de saúde de Maria Rita, seguido de sua morte em dezembro daquele ano, fez com que o cantor deixasse de apresentar o tradicional especial de final de ano na Rede Globo e não gravasse o disco anual. A gravadora Sony acabou lançando "Os 30 Grandes Sucessos (Vol. 1 e 2)", uma coletânea dupla com os maiores sucessos da carreira de Roberto e uma faixa-inédita, a religiosa "Todas as Nossas Senhoras", escrita com Erasmo.

Anos 2000-presente

Depois de um período de reclusão, Roberto Carlos retomou sua carreira com a turnê "Amor Sem Limite", inaugurada em Recife, em novembro de 2000, título da canção - feita em homenagem a Maria Rita - de maior destaque no álbum lançado em dezembro daquele mesmo ano. Ainda naquele ano, o cantor rompeu o contrato com a gravadora Sony (ex-CBS), após 39 anos de parceria.

Em 2001, Roberto recebeu inúmeras homenagens pelo 60º aniversário e gravou o álbum "Acústico MTV", depois de meses de negociações entre a Rede Globo e a MTV Brasil. O álbum trouxe 14 releituras em versão acústica para antigos sucessos, alguns cantados com a participação de artistas como Samuel Rosa, do Skank (em "É Proibido Fumar"), Tony Bellotto, dos Titãs (em "É Preciso Saber Viver"), entre outros.

No ano seguinte, Roberto Carlos foi acusado pelo maestro Sebastião Braga de plagiar a melodia da sua composição "Loucuras de Amor" em "O Careta", de 1987. Também foi lançado o DVD "Acústico MTV", que logo seria retirado de circulação devido a problemas contratuais. Em comemoração aos 90 anos do bondinho do Pão de Açúcar, o cantor fez uma apresentação para 200 mil pessoas no Aterro do Flamengo, no Rio de Janeiro.

No final de 2003, ele fez uma apresentação no Ginásio do Maracanãzinho, de onde foram gravadas imagens para o tradicional especial natalino na Rede Globo e também divulgado "Pra sempre", álbum todo dedicado a Maria Rita. Com nove canções inéditas, o disco contou com "O Cadillac" (única escrita com Erasmo), "Acróstico" (cujas primeiras letras dos versos formam a frase "Maria Rita meu amor") e faixa-título "Pra Sempre".

Roberto Carlos ao vivoEm janeiro de 2004, Roberto fez um show no Ginásio do Ibirapuera, em São Paulo, como parte das comemorações dos 450 anos da cidade. Em outubro do mesmo ano, o cantor lotaria o Estádio do Pacaembu, também na capital paulista, na apresentação do show "Pra Sempre" e que seria lançado em DVD. Após iniciar tratamento terapêutico, ele também reconheceu publicamente sofrer de transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo, síndrome que o levou a um comportamento excessivamente supersticioso e o fez abandonar do repertório dos espetáculos canções famosas "Café da Manhã", "Outra Vez" e "Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno". Em entrevista coletiva, admitiu que poderia voltar a cantá-las, demonstrando os resultados do tratamento.. No final desse ano, comemorou o 30º aniversário do primeiro especial para a Rede Globo e foi lançado o primeiro volume de sua discografia, em uma caixa por década, que reúne seus discos em formato mini-LP e sonoridade remasterizada.

Em 2005, o Jornal do Brasil organizou uma votação sobre discos que emplacaram diversos sucessos ao mesmo tempo na música brasileira. Os primeiro e o segundo lugares ficaram com Roberto Carlos, com "Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura", de 1967 (com sucessos como "Eu Sou Terrível", "Quando" e "Como É Grande O Meu Amor Por Você") e "Roberto Carlos", de 1977 (com sucessos como "Amigo", "Outra Vez", "Cavalgada", "Falando Sério" e "Jovens Tardes de Domingo"). Ainda nesse ano, chegou a um acordo com o maestro Sebastião Braga, que o acusava de plagiar uma canção sua.. Apesar do sucesso de vendas, os trabalhos recentes de Roberto Carlos continuam a desagradar à crítica, que o considera repetitivo. Ainda naquele ano, recebeu uma indicação e venceu o Grammy Latino na categoria Melhor Álbum de Música Romântica, pelo álbum "Pra Sempre Ao Vivo no Pacaembu".

A polêmica biografia de RC, à venda mesmo depois da apreensão judicial (foto de André Oliveira/flickr)Em dezembro de 2006, foi lançado "Duetos", CD com 14 faixas e DVD com 16 números, que apresentava momentos tirados dos especiais gravados para a Rede Globo desde a década de 1970. No mesmo período, a Editora Planeta lançou o livro "Roberto Carlos Em Detalhes", de Paulo Cesar de Araújo, uma biografia não-autorizada sobre o cantor, resultado de uma pesquisa ao longo de 16 anos e reuniu depoimentos de cerca de 200 pessoas que participaram da trajetória de Roberto. Roberto Carlos repudiou a publicação, alegando haver nela inverdades, e anunciou sua intenção de retirar de circulação a obra. Ainda neste ano Roberto Carlos ganha o Grammy Latino pelo melhor álbum de música romântica (Álbum "Roberto Carlos", 2005)

Em janeiro de 2007, o cantor fez uma viagem à Espanha, onde gravou o primeiro álbum em espanhol em uma década. A Justiça deu ganho de causa a Roberto Carlos e o livro "Roberto Carlos em Detalhes" foi retirado das lojas ao final de fevereiro de 2007. Em 27 de abril de 2007, após longa audiência no Forum Criminal da Barra Funda, em São Paulo, foi determinado o recolhimento de todos os exemplares do livro. Em junho, fez apresentações no Canecão. Além de participações especiais dos cantores Gilberto Gil e Zeca Pagodinho, dos jornalistas Nelson Motta e Leda Nagle e atores e atrizes consagrados, o repertório do show contou com a íntegra de "É Preciso Saber Viver", canção cujo verso "se o bem e o mal existem" o cantor se recusava a cantar fazia muito tempo, em função do TOC (Transtorno Obsessivo-Compulsivo), de que falou descontraído e apontando melhoras. No final de julho, Roberto Carlos submeteu-se a uma cirurgia plástica para corrigir uma cicatriz do lado direito do pescoço, resultado de um acidente de carro que o cantor sofreu em julho de 1964, em Três Rios (Rio de Janeiro) - quando o automóvel que dirigia capotou e Roberto levou 16 pontos.

Em 2008, Roberto e Caetano Veloso fizeram juntos um show em tributo a Antonio Carlos Jobim que foi registrado no CD e DVD Roberto Carlos e Caetano Veloso e a música de Tom Jobim. Nesse show participaram com eles Jaques Morelenbaum, Daniel Jobim e Wanderlea.

Em 2009, o cantor iniciou sua turnê de 50 anos de carreira e 68 de idade em um show em sua cidade natal, Cachoeiro de Itapemirim. A apresentação foi realizada no Estádio do Sumaré, conhecido também como Campo Estrela. O show contou com cobertura de toda a mídia nacional e, inclusive, um canal de TV de Portugal. A apresentação, que teve transmissão de alguns trechos no programa Fantástico, da Rede Globo, foi iniciada com a clássica "Emoções", levando ao delírio os fãs conterrâneos, seguida por "Além do Horizonte", "Amor Perfeito", "Te Amo, te Amo, te Amo", "Detalhes" (que Roberto tocou ao violão), "Outra Vez" e "Meu Pequeno Cachoeiro", canção que iniciou o segundo ato do show, o mais difícil, como afirmou Roberto. "Esse segundo bloco é complicado, porque as músicas falam de trechos da minha vida aqui, como a família e a infância", disse. Nessa hora, cantou "Meu Querido, Meu Velho, Meu Amigo" e "Lady Laura", uma homenagem à mãe. Após executar faixas que não cantava há tempos, como "Alô" e "Caminhoneiro", Roberto entrou no último bloco do show, com músicas mais agitadas entre elas "É Proibido Fumar", "Quando" e "Namoradinha de um Amigo Meu". O tão aguardado "Parabéns Pra Você" veio após a música "Jovens Tardes de Domingo", seguida por "É Preciso Saber Viver" e "Jesus Cristo", cantada de pé pelo público e por familiares de Roberto (seus filhos, irmãos e parentes da ex-mulher, Maria Rita, estavam no estádio), que se espremiam para conseguir uma das dezenas de rosas que o Rei lançou à plateia, num gesto que pôs fim ao longo hiato que separava o cantor mais popular do Brasil dos fãs de sua cidade natal.

Em 26 de abril de 2009, aconteceu o show 'Elas Cantam Roberto - DIVAS', no Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, em homenagem aos seus 50 anos de carreira. O Show contou com a participação de grandes cantoras nacionais como Adriana Calcanhoto, Alcione, Ana Carolina, Claudia Leitte, Daniela Mercury, Fafá de Belém, Fernanda Abreu, Ivete Sangalo, Luiza Possi, Marina Lima, Mart'nália, Nana Caymmi, Paula Toller, Rosemary, Sandy, Wanderléa, Zizi Possi e Hebe Camargo e Marília Pêra

No dia 11 de julho, o cantor fez um show em comemoração aos 50 anos de carreira, no Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro. O mais importante show da turnê que vem apresentando pelo país. O Show iniciou-se às 21:40 daquele dia, e acabou 00:30 do dia seguinte. Contou com participações especiais de Wanderléa e do cantor Erasmo Carlos, que protagonizou o momento mais emocionante da noite. O tremendão interrompeu a canção Amigo, e falou sobre a amizade que tinha com Roberto, do telão, indo, logo em seguida, para o palco, onde terminou a música com Roberto, o fez chorar, e cantou outra música: Sentado à beira do caminho.

Na ocasião em que completou 50 anos de carreira, em 2009, iniciou uma turnê de comemoração de 50 anos, cuja primeira apresentação foi em Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, sua cidade natal, no dia em que completa 68 anos. O show foi no estádio do Sumaré, em 19 de abril daquele ano. Foi considerado pela Revista Época um dos 100 brasileiros mais influentes do ano de 2009.

==Discografia==

Compactos

Ano Título Canções

1959 Roberto Carlos João e Maria / Fora do Tom

1960 Roberto Carlos Canção de Amor Nenhum / Brotinho Sem Juízo

1961 Roberto Carlos Louco Por Você / Não é Por Mim

1962 Roberto Carlos Fim de Amor / Malena

1962 Roberto Carlos Susie / Triste e Abandonado

1963 Roberto Carlos Splish, Splash / Baby, Meu Bem

1964 Roberto Carlos Parei Na Contramão / Na Lua Não Há

1964 Roberto Carlos É Proibido Fumar / Minha História de Amor

==Álbuns==

Ano Título Canções

1961 Louco por Você Não é Por Mim / Olhando Estrelas (Look For a Star) / Só Você / Mr. Sandman / Ser Bem / Chore Por Mim (Cry Me A River) / Louco Por Você (Careful, Careful) / Linda / Chorei / Se Você Gostou / Solo Per Te / Eternamente (Forever)

1963 Splish Splash Parei Na Contramão / Quero Me Casar Contigo / Splish Splash / Só Por Amor / Não Lua Não Há / É Preciso Ser Assim / Onde Anda O Meu Amor / Nunca Mais Te Deixarei / Professor de Amor (I Gotta Know) / Baby, Meu Bem / Oração de Um Triste / Relembrando Malena

1964 É Proibido Fumar É Proibido Fumar / Um Leão Está Solto Nas Ruas / Rosinha / Broto Do Jacaré / Jura-Me / Meu Grande Bem / O Calhambeque (Road Hog) / Minha História de Amor / Nasci Para Chorar (Born To Cry) / Amapola / Louco Não Estou Mais / Desamarre O Meu Coração (Unchain My Heart)

1964 Roberto Carlos Canta A La Juventud Es Prohibido Fumar / Un Leon Se Escapo / Rosa, Rosita / La Chica Del Gorro / Jurame / Mi Gran Amor / Mi Cacharrito / Mi Historia de Amor / Naci Para Llorar / Amapola / Loco No Soy Mas / A Beira Do Pantanal

1965 Roberto Carlos Canta Para A Juventude História de Um Homem Mau (Ol’Man Mose) / Noite de Terror / Como É Bom Saber / Os Sete Cabeludos / Parei... Olhei / Os Velhinhos / Eu Sou Fã Do Monoquíni / Aquele Beijo Que Te Dei / Brucutu (Alley-Oop) / Não Quero Ver Você Triste / A Garota Do Baile / Rosita

1965 Jovem Guarda Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno / Lobo Mau (The Wanderer) / Coimbra / Sorrindo Para Mim / O Feio / O Velho Homem Do Mar / Eu Te Adoro Meu Amor / Pega Ladrão / Gosto Do Jeitinho Dela / Escreva Uma Carta Meu Amor / Não É Papo Para Mim / Mexerico Da Candinha

1966 Roberto Carlos Eu Te Darei O Céu / Nossa Canção / Querem Acabar Comigo / Esqueça (Forget Him) / Negro Gato / Eu Estou Apaixonado Por Você / Namoradinha de Um Amigo Meu / O Gênio / Não Precisas Chorar / É Papo Firme / Esperando Você / Ar de Bom Moço

1967 Roberto Carlos Em Ritmo de Aventura Eu Sou Terrível / Como É Grande O Meu Amor Por Você / Por Isso Corro Demais / Você Deixou Alguém A Esperar / de Que Vale Tudo Isso / Folhas de Outono / Quando / É Tempo de Amar / Você Não Serve Para Mim / E Por Isso Estou Aqui / O Sósia / Só Vou Gostar de Quem Gosta de Mim

1968 O Inimitável E Não Vou Mais Deixar Você Tão Só / Ninguém Vai Tirar Você de Mim / Se Você Pensa / É Meu, É Meu, É Meu / Quase Fui Lhe Procurar / Eu Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo / As Canções Que Você Fez Para Mim / Nem Mesmo Você / Ciúme de Você / Não Há Dinheiro Que Pague / O Tempo Vai Apagar / A Madrasta

1969 Roberto Carlos As Flores Do Jardim Da Nossa Casa / Aceito Seu Coração / Nada Vai Me Convencer / Do Outro Lado Da Cidade / Quero Ter Você Perto de Mim / Diamante Cor-de-Rosa / Não Vou Ficar / As Curvas Da Estrada de Santos / Sua Estupidez / Oh, Meu Imenso Amor / Não Adianta / Nada Tenho A Perder

1970 Roberto Carlos Ana / Uma Palavra Amiga / Vista A Roupa Meu Bem / Meu Pequeno Cachoeiro (Meu Cachoeiro) / O Astronauta / Se Eu Pudesse Voltar No Tempo / Preciso Lhe Encontrar / Minha Senhora / Jesus Cristo / Para Você / 120...150…200 km Por Hora / Maior Que O Meu Amor

1971 Roberto Carlos Detalhes / Como Dois E Dois / A Namorada / Você Não Sabe O Que Vai Perder / Traumas / Eu Só Tenho Um Caminho / Todos Estão Surdos / Debaixo Dos Caracóis Dos Seus Cabelos / Se Eu Partir / I Love You / de Tanto Amor / Amada, Amante

1972 Roberto Carlos À Janela / Como Vai Você / Você É Linda / Negra / Acalanto / Por Amor / À Distância / A Montanha / Você Já Me Esqueceu / Quando As Crianças Saírem de Férias / O Divã / Agora Eu Sei

1973 Roberto Carlos A Cigana / Atitudes / Proposta / Amigos, Amigos / O Moço Velho / Palavras / El Dia Que Me Quieras / Não Adianta Nada / O Homem / Rotina

1974 Roberto Carlos Despedida / Quero Ver Você de Perto / O Portão / Ternura Antiga / Você / É Preciso Saber Viver / Eu Quero Apenas / Jogo de Damas / Resumo / A Deusa Da Minha Rua / A Estação / Eu Me Recordo (Yo Te Recuerdo)

1975 Roberto Carlos Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno / O Quintal Do Vizinho / Inolvidable / Amanheceu / Existe Algo Errado / Olha / Além Do Horizonte / Elas Por Elas / Desenhos Na Parede / Seu Corpo / El Humahuaqueño / Mucuripe

1976 San Remo 1968 Canzone Per Te / Eu Daria A Minha Vida / Maria, Carnaval E Cinzas / Você Me Pediu / Com Muito Amor E Carinho / Sonho Lindo / Un Gatto Nel Blu / O Show Já Terminou / Ai Que Saudades Da Amélia / Custe O Que Custar / Eu Amo Demais / Eu Disse Adeus

1976 Roberto Carlos Ilegal, Imoral Ou Engorda / Os Seus Botões / O Progresso / Preciso Chamar Sua Atenção / O Dia-A-Dia / Pelo Avesso / Você Em Minha Vida / A Menina e o Poeta / Comentários / Minha Tia / Um Jeito Estúpido de Te Amar / Por Motivo de Força Maior

1977 Roberto Carlos Amigo / Nosso Amor / Falando Sério / Muito Romântico / Solamente Una Vez / Ternura (Somehow It Got To Be Tomorrow) (Today) / Cavalgada / Não Se Esqueça de Mim / Jovens Tardes de Domingo / Para Ser Só Minha Mulher / Outra Vez / Sinto Muito, Minha Amiga

1978 Roberto Carlos Fé / A Primeira Vez / Mais Uma Vez / Lady Laura / Vivendo Por Viver / Música Suave / Café Da Manhã / Tente Esquecer / Força Estranha / Por Fin Mañana / Todos Os Meus Rumos

1979 Roberto Carlos Na Paz Do Seu Sorriso / Abandono / O Ano Passado / Esta Tarde Vi Llover / Me Conte A Sua História / Desabafo / Voltei Ao Passado / Meu Querido, Meu Velho, Meu Amigo / Costumes / Às Vezes Penso

1980 Roberto Carlos A Guerra Dos Meninos / O Gosto de Tudo / A Ilha / Eu Me Vi Tão Só / Passatempo / Não Se Afaste de Mim / Procura-se / Amante à Moda Antiga / Tentativa / Confissão

1981 Roberto Carlos Ele Está Para Chegar / Simples Mágica / As Baleias / Tudo Pára / Doce Loucura / Cama E Mesa / Emoções / Quando O Sol Nascer / Eu Preciso de Você / Olhando Estrelas

1982 Roberto Carlos Amiga / Coisas Que Não Se Esquece / Fim de Semana / Pensamentos / Quantos Momentos Bonitos / Meus Amores Da Televisão / Fera Ferida / Como é Possível / Recordações / Como Foi

1983 Roberto Carlos O Amor é a Moda / Recordações e Mais Nada / Estou Aqui / Preciso de Você / Me Disse Adeus / Você Não Sabe / O Côncavo e o Convexo / No Mesmo Verão / Perdoa / A Partir Desse Instante

1984 Roberto Carlos Coração / Eu e Ela / Aleluia / Lua Nova / Cartas de Amor (Love Letters) / Caminhoneiro (Gentle On My Mind) / Eu Te Amo (And I Love Hair) / Sabores / As Mesmas Coisas

1985 Roberto Carlos Verde e Amarelo / de Coração Para Coração / Só Vou Se Você For / Paz Na Terra / Contradições / Pelas Esquinas de Nossa Casa / Símbolo Sexual / A Atriz / Você Na Minha Mente / Da Boca Para Fora

1986 Roberto Carlos Apocalipse / Do Fundo Do Meu Coração / Amor Perfeito / Quando Vi Você Passar / Eu Sem Você / Nêga / O Nosso Amor / Tente Viver Sem Mim / Aquela Casa Simples / Eu Quero Voltar Para Você

1987 Roberto Carlos Tô Chutando Lata / Menina / Águia Dourada / Coisas Do Coração / Canção Do Sonho Bom / O Careta*/ Antigamente Era Assim / Ingênuo e Sonhador / Aventuras / Todo Mundo Está Falando (Everybody’s Talking)

A canção foi retirada da discografia depois que ela se tornou objeto de um processo de plágio movido por Sebastião Braga, que alegou que sua melodia era semelhante à da canção Loucuras de amor, de sua autoria. Após anos de processo, houve um acordo entre ambas as partes, e Roberto Carlos aceitou pagar a quantia de R$ 3.800.172,24 a Sebastião, além de em novas edições do disco, aparecer o crédito dele na co-autoria. Na caixa Para sempre - anos 1980 esta canção foi suprimida do disco de 1987. Sebastião Braga faleceu em 2005.

1988 Roberto Carlos Ao Vivo (1988) Abertura / Proposta / Emoções / Lobo Mau (The Wanderer) / Eu Sou Terrível / Amante à Moda Antiga / Canzone Per Te / Outra Vez / Seu Corpo / Café da Manhã / Os Seus Botões / Falando Sério / O Côncavo e o Convexo / Eu e Ela / Detalhes / Imagine / Ele Está Para Chegar

1988 Roberto Carlos Se Diverte e Já Não Pensa Em Mim / Todo Mundo É Alguém / Se Você Disse Que Não Me Ama / Como as Ondas Do Mar / Se O Amor Se Vai (Si El Amor Se Va) / Papo de Esquina / Eu Sem Você / O Que é Que Eu Faço / Toda Vã Filosofia / Volver

1989 Roberto Carlos Na Paz Do Seu Sorriso / Abandono / O Ano Passado / Esta Tarde Vi Llover / Me Conta A Sua História / Desabafo / Voltei Ao Passado / Meu Querido, Meu Velho, Meu Amigo / Costumes / Às Vezes Penso

1989 Roberto Carlos Amazônia / Tolo / O Tempo e o Vento / Se Você Me Esqueceu (Si Me Vas a Olvidar) / Pássaro Ferido / Nem Às Paredes Confesso / Só Você Não Sabe / Sonrie (Smile) / Se Você Pretende

1990 Roberto Carlos Super Herói / Meu Ciúme / Por Ela (Por Ella) / Pobre de Quem Me Tiver Depois de Você / Cenário / Quero Paz / Um Mais Um / Porque a Gente se Ama / Como as Ondas Voltam Para o Mar / Mujer

1991 Roberto Carlos Todas as Manhãs / Primeira Dama / Se Você Quer (Si Piensas... Si Quieres) / Não Me Deixe / Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh / Luz Divina / Pergunte Pro Seu Coração / Diga-Me Coisas Bonitas / Mudança

1992 Roberto Carlos Você é Minha / Mulher Pequena / de Coração / Você Como Vai? (E Tu Como Stai?) / Dito e Feito / Herói Calado / Eu Preciso Desse Amor / Você Mexeu Com a Minha Vida / Dizem Que Um Homem Não Deve Chorar (Nova Flor / Los Hombres No Deben Llorar) / Una En Un Millón

1992 Roberto Carlos Emoções / Detalhes / Outra Vez / Os Seus Botões / Proposta / Ele Está Para Chegar / O Portão / Falando Sério / Cavalgada / Café Da Manhã / Desabafo / Eu e Ela

1993 Inolvidables Amigo (Amigo) / Desahogo (Desabafo) / Un Millon de Amigos (Eu Quero Apenas) / Inolvidable / La Distancia (A Distância) / Lady Laura (Lady Laura) / Propuesta (Proposta) / Amante A La Antiga (Amante à Moda Antiga) / El Dia Que Me Quieras / Amada, Amante (Amada, Amante)

1993 Roberto Carlos O Velho Caminhoneiro / Coisa Bonita / Hoje é Domingo / Obsessão / Nossa Senhora / Tanta Solidão / Se Você Pensa / Parabéns / Mis Amores

1994 Roberto Carlos Alô / Quero Lhe Falar Do Meu Amor / O Taxista / Custe O Que Custar / Jesus Salvador / Meu Coração Ainda Quer Você / Quando a Gente Ama / Silêncio / Eu Nunca Amei Alguém Como Eu Te Amei

1995 Roberto Carlos Amigo Não Chore Por Ela / O Charme dos Seus Óculos / O Coração Não Tem Idade / Para Ficar Com Você / Quando Eu Quero Falar com Deus / Romântico / Nunca Te Esqueci / Quase Fui Lhe Procurar / Sonho de Amor

1996 Roberto Carlos Mulher de 40 / Cheirosa / Quando Digo Que Te Amo / Amor Antigo / Como e Grande o Meu Amor Por Você / O Terço / Tem Coisas Que a Gente Não Tira Do Coração / Comandante Do Seu Coração / Assunto Predileto / O Homem Bom

1997 Canciones Que Amo Abrázame Asi / Adios / Niña / Las Muchachas de La Plaza España / El Manicero / Coração de Jesus / Mi Carta / Esta Tarde Vi Llover / Insensatez / Se Me Olvido Otra Vez

1998 Roberto Carlos Meu Menino Jesus / O Baile Da Fazenda / Eu Te Amo Tanto / Vê Se Volta Para Mim / de Tanto Amor / Debaixo dos Caracóis de Seus Cabelos / Nossa Canção / Amada, Amante / Falando Sério / Outra Vez

1999 Mensagem Jesus Cristo / Nossa Senhora / Luz Divina / O Terço / Jesus Salvador / Aleluia / Fé / A Montanha / Estou Aqui / Ele Está Para Chegar / Quando Eu Quero Falar Com Deus / Coração de Jesus

1999 Grandes Sucessos Disco 1: Todas As Nossas Senhoras / Detalhes /Lady Laura / Quando Eu Quero Falar Com Deus / Como É Grande O Meu Amor Por Você / O Calhambeque (Road Hog) / Não Quero Ver Você Triste / Nossa Senhora / Debaixo Dos Caracóis de Seus Cabelos / O Portão / Fera Ferida / Como Vai Você / Proposta / Cavalgada / Outra Vez / Canzone Per Te

Disco 2: Todas as Nossas Senhoras / Eu Te Amo Tanto / Jesus Salvador / Quero Lhe Falar Do Meu Amor / Emoções / Amigo (Amigo) / Caminhoneiro / Falando Sério / Desabafo / Amada, Amante (Amada, Amante) / Assunto Predileto / Café Da Manhã / Mulher de 40 / Alô / Aleluia

2000 Grandes Canciones Disco 1: Emociones (Emoções) / Detalles (Detalhes) / Jesucristo (Jesus Cristo) / Un millón de amigos (Eu Quero Apenas) / La distancia (A Distância) / El día que me quieras / Que será de ti (Como Vai Você) / Propuesta (Proposta) / Amada, Amante / La paz de tu sonrisa (Na Paz Do Teu Sorriso) / Cama y Mesa (Cama e Mesa) / Desahogo (Desabafo) / Si el amor se va / Desayuno (Café da Manhã) / No te apartes de mi (Não Se Afaste de Mim)

Disco 2: Luz Divina / Amigo / Lady Laura / Mujer Pequeña (Mulher Pequena) / La montaña (A Montanha) / Amante a la antigua (Amante à Moda Antiga) / Abrázame Así / Esta tarde vi llover / Símbolo sexual (Símbolo Sexual) / Por ella / El gato que está triste y azul (Un gatto nel blu) / Tengo que olvidar / Cóncavo y convexo (O Côncavo e o Convexo) / El amor y la moda (O Amor e a Moda) / Camionero (Caminhoneiro)

2000 Amor Sem Limite O Grande Amor Da Minha Vida / Amor Sem Limite / O Grude (Um Do Outro) / O Amor É Mais / Eu Te Amo Tanto / Tudo / Tu És a Verdade, Jesus / Mulher Pequena / Quando Digo Que Te Amo / Momentos Tão Bonitos

2001 Acústico MTV Além Do Horizonte / As Curvas Da Estrada de Santos / Parei Na Contramão / Detalhes / Por Isso Corro Demais / É Proibido Fumar / Todos Estão Surdos / Eu Te Amo Tanto / O Grude (Um Do Outro) / Eu Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo / O Calhambeque (Road Hog) / É Preciso Saber Viver / Emoções / Jesus Cristo

2002 Roberto Carlos Seres Humanos / Emoções (ao vivo) / Como É Grande O Meu Amor Por Você (ao vivo) / Amor Perfeito (ao vivo) / Parei Na Contramão (ao vivo) / Força Estranha (ao vivo) / E Por Isso Estou Aqui (ao vivo) / Proposta (ao vivo) / Luz Divina (ao vivo) / Eu Te Amo Tanto (ao vivo) / Amor Sem Limite / Jesus Cristo (ao vivo) / Se Você Pensa (Memê Super Club Mix 2002) / O Calhambeque (Road Hog)

2003 Para Sempre Para Sempre / Todo Mundo Me Pergunta / Acróstico / Com Você / O Encontro / Como Eu Te Amo / O Cadillac / Seres Humanos / História de Amor / Eu Vou Sempre Amar Você

2004 Para Sempre Ao Vivo Emoções / Café da Manhã / Ilegal, Imoral ou Engorda / O Calhambeque / O Cadillac / Acróstico / Olha / Os Seus Botões / Outra Vez / Para Sempre / Cavalgada

2005 Roberto Carlos Promessa / A Volta / O Amor é Mais / Arrasta uma Cadeira / O Baile da Fazenda / Coração Sertanejo / Índia / Meu Pequeno Cachoeiro / Loving You

2006 Roberto Carlos: Duetos Pot-Pourri:(Tutti-Fruti/Long Tall Sally/Hound Dog/Blue Suede Shoes/Love me Tender) / Ternura / Ligia / Coração de Estudante / Sua Estupidez / Mucuripe / Amazônia / Desabafo / Se Você Quer / Rei do Gado / Se Eu Não Te Amasse Tanto Assim / Alegria, Alegria / Além do Horizonte / Jovens Tardes de Domingo

2008 Roberto Carlos En Vivo Intro / Emociones / Qué Será de Ti / Cama y Mesa / Detalles / Desahogo / El Día Que Me Quieras / O Calhambeque (Mi Cacharrito) / Mujer Pequeña / Acróstico / Propuesta / Concavo y Convexo / La Distancia / Amigo / Jesus Cristo / Amada Amante / Un Gato en La Oscuridad (Un Gato Nel Blu) / Yo Solo Quiero (Un Millón de Amigos)

2008 Roberto Carlos e Caetano Veloso e a música de Tom Jobim Garota De Ipanema / Wave / Águas De Março / Por Toda Minha Vida / Ela É Carioca / Inútil Paisagem / Meditação / O Que Tinha De Ser / Insensatez (Insensatez) / Por Causa De Você / Lígia / Corcovado / Samba Do Avião / Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar - Soneto Da Fidelidade / Tereza Da Praia / Chega De Saudade

==DVDs==

Ano Título Canções

2001 Acústico MTV (DVD) Além Do Horizonte / As Curvas Da Estrada de Santos / Parei Na Contramão / Detalhes / Por Isso Corro Demais / É Proibido Fumar / Todos Estão Surdos / Eu Te Amo Tanto / O Grude (Um Do Outro) / Eu Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo / O Calhambeque (Road Hog) / É Preciso Saber Viver / Emoções / Jesus Cristo

2004 Para Sempre: Ao Vivo No Pacaembú (DVD) Abertura Instrumental / Emoções / Eu Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo / Amor Perfeito / Café Da Manhã / Detalhes / Ilegal, Imoral ou Engorda / E Probido Fumar / O Calhambeque (Road Hog) / O Cadillac / Acróstico / Por Isso Corro Demais / Como é Grande O Meu Amor por Você / Olha / Os Seus Botões / Outra Vez / Para Sempre / Força Estranha / Cavalgada / É Preciso Saber Viver / Despedida / Coracão / Jesus Cristo

2006 Roberto Carlos: Duetos (DVD) Pot-Pourri:(Tutti-Fruti/Long Tall Sally/Hound Dog/Blue Suede Shoes/Love me Tender) / Ternura / Lígia / Amiga / Alegria, Alegria / Coração de Estudante / Pot-Pourri:(Olha/ Você Em Minha Vida/Outra Vez/Falando Sério/Um Jeito Estúpido De Amar/Proposta) / Amazônia / Mucuripe / Desabafo / Rei do Gado / Se Você Quer / Sua Estupidez / Além do Horizonte / Se Eu Não Te Amasse Tanto Assim / Jovens Tardes de Domingo

2008 Roberto Carlos En Vivo (DVD) Intro / Emociones / Qué Será de Ti / Cama y Mesa / Detalles / Desahogo / El Día Que Me Quieras / O Calhambeque (Mi Cacharrito) / Mujer Pequeña / Acróstico / Propuesta / Concavo y Convexo / La Distancia / Amigo / Jesus Cristo / Amada Amante / Un Gato en La Oscuridad (Un Gato Nel Blu) / Yo Solo Quiero (Un Millón de Amigos)

2008 Roberto Carlos e Caetano Veloso e a música de Tom Jobim (DVD) Garota De Ipanema / Wave / Águas De Março / Por Toda Minha Vida / Ela É Carioca / Inútil Paisagem / Meditação / Caminho De Pedra / O Que Tinha De Ser / Surfboard / Insensatez (Insensatez) / Por Causa De Você / Lígia / Corcovado / Samba Do Avião / Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar - Soneto Da Fidelidade / Tereza Da Praia / Chega De Saudade

==Filmografia==

Ano Título Direção

1958 Agüenta O Rojão Watson Macedo

1958 Alegria de Viver Watson Macedo

1958 Minha Sogra é da Policia Aloísio de Carvalho

1961 Esse Rio que Eu Amo Carlos Hugo Christensen

1966(*) SSS Contra a Jovem Guarda Luís Sérgio Person

1968 Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura Roberto Farias

1970 Roberto Carlos e o Diamante Cor-de-Rosa Roberto Farias

1971 Som Alucinante Carlos Augusto de Oliveira

1972 Roberto Carlos a 300 Quilômetros Por Hora Roberto Farias

1974 Saravá, Brasil dos Mil Espíritos Miguel Schneider

2007 Person Marina Person

(*) filme inacabado

Curiosidades

Seções de curiosidades são desencorajadas sob as políticas da Wikipédia.

Este artigo pode ser melhorado integrando-se itens relevantes e removendo-se os inapropriados.

O primeiro especial natalino de Roberto Carlos teve como convidados Erasmo Carlos, Antônio Marcos e o ator Paulo Gracindo. De lá para cá, o programa recebeu nomes como Maria Bethânia, Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Titãs, Dorival Caymmi, Leandro e Leonardo, Cláudia Leitte, Ivete Sangalo, Mc Leozinho, Alcione dentre outros. No ano de 2006, alguns destes encontros foram reunidos no CD e no DVD "Duetos", lançado no fim do ano.

Roberto Carlos é o artista brasileiro que mais vendeu discos no mundo, e na América Latina supera as vendagens dos Beatles

Em seu repertório, Roberto Carlos homenageou seus pais (Lady Laura e Meu Querido, Meu Velho, Meu Amigo) e seus filhos (As Flores do Jardim da Nossa Casa, Quando As Crianças Saírem de Férias e Fim de Semana). Além de Dudu e Luciana, Roberto assumiu como filha Ana Paula, filha do primeiro casamento de Nice. No ano de 1996, o cantor descobriu, através de teste de paternidade, que é pai de Rafael, filho dele com uma fã de Minas Gerais. Rafael Braga tentou carreira como cantor, e chegou a cantar com o pai no especial daquele ano. Os dois interpretaram a canção As Curvas da Estrada de Santos.

Alguns artistas já fizeram participações em discos de Roberto Carlos. Além do parceiro Erasmo Carlos (em "Papo De Esquina" de 1988), já gravaram com o cantor Maria Bethânia (em Amiga, de 1982), Fafá de Belém (em Se Você Quer, de 1991) e a dupla sertaneja Chitãozinho e Xororó (em "Arrasta uma Cadeira", de 2005). Já Roberto fez participações em discos de Erasmo, Ângela Maria, Balão Mágico e de Chitãozinho e Xororó.

Lançou em Abril de 2008 Eau de Toilette "Emoções", da Racco cosméticos, seu primeiro produto assinado.

Roberto Carlos é torcedor do Vasco da Gama, assim como seu companheiro Erasmo Carlos.

Roberto Carlos

Álbuns: Louco por Você (1961) | Splish Splash (1963) | É Proibido Fumar (1964) | Roberto Carlos Canta para a Juventude (1965) | Jovem Guarda (1965) | Roberto Carlos (1966) | Roberto Carlos Em Ritmo de Aventura (1967) | O Inimitável (1968) | Roberto Carlos (1969) | Roberto Carlos (1970) | Roberto Carlos (1971) | Roberto Carlos (1972) | Roberto Carlos (1973) | Roberto Carlos (1974) | Roberto Carlos (1975) | San Remo 1968 (1976) | Roberto Carlos (1976) | Roberto Carlos (1977) | Roberto Carlos (1978) | Roberto Carlos (1979) | Roberto Carlos (1980) | Roberto Carlos (1981) | Roberto Carlos (1982) | Roberto Carlos (1983) | Roberto Carlos (1984) | Roberto Carlos (1985) | Roberto Carlos (1986) | Roberto Carlos (1987) | Roberto Carlos (1988) | Roberto Carlos (1989) | Roberto Carlos (1990) | Roberto Carlos (1991) | Roberto Carlos (1992) | Roberto Carlos (1993) | Roberto Carlos (1994) | Roberto Carlos (1995) | Roberto Carlos (1996) | Canciones que amo (1997) | Roberto Carlos (1998) | Amor Sem Limite (2000) | Pra Sempre (2003) | Roberto Carlos (2005) | Roberto Carlos: Duetos (2006) | Roberto Carlos En Vivo (2008) | Roberto Carlos e Caetano Veloso e a Música de Tom Jobim (2008)

EPs: João e Maria / Fora do Tom (1959) | Canção de Amor Nenhum / Brotinho Sem Juízo (1960) Louco Por Você / Não é Por Mim (1961) | Fim de Amor / Malena (1962) | Susie / Triste e Abandonado (1962) | Splish, Splash / Baby, Meu Bem (1963) | Parei Na Contramão / Na Lua Não Há (1964) | É Proibido Fumar / Minha História De Amor (1964) |

Álbuns ao vivo: Roberto Carlos (1988) | Acústico MTV (2001) | Roberto Carlos (2002) | Pra Sempre Ao Vivo (2004)

Coletâneas: Canta A La Juventud (1965) | Roberto Carlos (1992) | Inolvidables (1993) | Mensagens (1999) | Grandes Sucessos (1999) | Grandes Canciones (2000)

VHS e DVDs: Acústico MTV Roberto Carlos (2002) | Pra Sempre Ao Vivo (2004) | Roberto Carlos: Duetos (2006) | Roberto Carlos En Vivo (2008) | Roberto Carlos e Caetano Veloso e a música de Tom Jobim (2008)

Filmes: SSS Contra a Jovem Guarda (1966) | Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura (1968) | Roberto Carlos e o Diamante Cor-de-Rosa (1970) | Roberto Carlos a 300 Quilômetros Por Hora (1972)

Artigos relacionados: Erasmo Carlos

<H1>Miley Cyrus Biography Miley Cyrus Biografia</H1>

Miley Cyrus

Cyrus at the premiere for Hannah Montana: The Movie

on April 2, 2009

Background information

Birth name Destiny Hope Cyrus

Also known as Destiny Cyrus

Born November 23, 1992 (1992-11-23) (age 17)

Nashville, Tennessee,

United States

Genres Pop

Occupations Singer, actress, author, songwriter, musician

Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano

Years active 2003–present

Labels Hollywood Records

Fascination Records (UK)

Associated acts Billy Ray Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Timbaland

Website www.MileyCyrus.com

==Biography==

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Cyrus rose to fame starring as the title character in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Following the success of Hannah Montana, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released on which she sang eight songs from the show. Cyrus's solo music career began with the release of her debut album, Meet Miley Cyrus on June 23, 2007, which included her first top ten single "See You Again". Her second album, Breakout, was released on July 22, 2008. Breakout is Cyrus's first album that does not involve the Hannah Montana franchise. Both albums debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. Cyrus's first extended play, The Time Of Our Lives, was released on August 28, 2009. The lead single from the album, "Party in the U.S.A.", became Cyrus's highest charting and Hollywood Records' fastest selling single; it reached number two in the Billboard Hot 100 and the top ten in various nations. In 2008, she appeared in the Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert film.

Cyrus also starred in Bolt in 2008, and recorded "I Thought I Lost You" for the soundtrack for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. She starred in the film spin-off of Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009. In 2008, Cyrus was listed in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. Forbes magazine ranked her #35 on the "Celebrity 100" list for earning $25 million in 2008. Her rank improved to #29 in 2009.

==Early life==

Cyrus was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 23, 1992 to Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Cyrus has five siblings. Her elder siblings Trace and Brandi Cyrus are Tish's children from a previous relationship, whom Billy Ray adopted when they were very young. Trace is a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station, while Brandi has played guitar for Cyrus's concerts and formed a band with The Secret Life of the American Teenager star Megan Park. Cyrus also has an older half-brother, Christopher Cody, from her father's previous relationship, as well as a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress. She is the granddaughter of Democratic politician Ron Cyrus. Cyrus chose the name "Ronnie" for her character in the 2010 film The Last Song in honor of her grandfather.

Cyrus's parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things. She was nicknamed "Smiley", later shortened to "Miley", because she kept smiling as a baby. She is of part Cherokee descent. Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School, where she was a cheerleader. She currently attends school at Options For Youth Charter Schools and studies with a private tutor on the set of her TV show. Cyrus grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville where she regularly attended The People's Church.

==Career==

2001–2005: Early work

Cyrus became interested in acting when she was nine, and took classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio while her family lived in Toronto, Canada. Her early career was marked by minor roles, the first of which was playing a girl named Kylie on her father's television series Doc. In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish. Parton advised Cyrus's mother to sign Cyrus with Morey Management Group, which The Hollywood Reporter said "was the best advice she could on who should rep her daughter". The group's leader, Jim Morey, and his son, Jason, began co-managing Cyrus's career alongside Tish Cyrus.

When Cyrus was twelve, she auditioned for the role of "best friend" in a Disney Channel television show about a "secret pop star". Disney Channel executives at first judged her to be too young, but Cyrus's persistence resulted in her being called back for further auditions. She eventually auditioned for the lead role, Zoe Stewart. When she won the role, the character's name was changed to Miley Stewart. According to Disney Channel president Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen because of her energetic and lively performance and was seen as a person who "loves every minute of life," with the "everyday relatability of Hilary Duff and the stage presence of Shania Twain." Cyrus had tried for several years to lose her Southern accent, but Disney decided to include it in the storyline. Later, Cyrus had to audition her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, for the role of the main character's father. The show focuses on adolescence while incorporating a "secret identity" aspect to the storylines.

2006 – June 2008: Hannah Montana

Cyrus performing as Hannah Montana during the Best of Both Worlds Tour.

Hannah Montana first aired on March 24, 2006 in the United States and averaged more than 4 million viewers per episode. As of 2009, the series is in its third season on Disney Channel with plans for a fourth and final season in 2010.

As the star of Hannah Montana, Cyrus became popular with children and teenagers, leading to a successful career in music. Her recording debut was on April 4, 2006, when the fourth edition of DisneyMania was released. Cyrus sang a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," originally from the 1946 animated film Song of the South. On October 24 the same year, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the album performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to Hannah Montana and one, a duet with Billy Ray Cyrus titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 and sold 281,000 copies in its first week, beating such artists as John Legend and rock band My Chemical Romance. Cyrus, as Hannah Montana, opened for The Cheetah Girls on their The Party's Just Begun Tour. She performed at 20 dates of their 39-city tour, beginning on September 15, 2006. On June 26, 2007, Cyrus released a double album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The first disc was a second Hannah Montana soundtrack, while the second disc was Cyrus's first solo album credited to herself. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 326,000 copies, selling faster in its first week than the previous Hannah Montana soundtrack. It was certified Platinum three times by the RIAA after selling more than 3 million copies in the US. Cyrus voiced the recurring character Yatta on the Disney Channel animated series The Emperor's New School. She had a cameo appearance in High School Musical 2 which premiered August 17, 2007; She danced beside a pool in the movie's closing number and was credited as "girl at pool".

Cyrus performing during the Best of Both Worlds Tour.

Cyrus's first headlining tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, lasted from October 18, 2007 to January 31, 2008 with 69 concerts across the United States. She performed both as herself and as Hannah Montana. The Jonas Brothers were the opening act for most of the tour. Tour tickets for each date sold out in record time. The tour was recorded and released to theaters as a concert film in Disney Digital 3-D. Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records released the film's soundtrack on March 11, 2008. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

July 2008–present: Breakout, The Time of Our Lives EP and film career

Cyrus performed her Golden Globe nominated song, "I Thought I Lost You", during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

On July 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, entitled Breakout. Cyrus said Breakout was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year." Cyrus co-wrote all but two songs on the album. "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer." The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with a first week sales of about 371,000 copies. As of July 31, 2008, this was the second-biggest sales week of the year for a female artist; Mariah Carey's E=MC² previously sold 463,000 copies in its first week. "7 Things" was the first single to be released from Breakout and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April. In 2008, Cyrus hosted the Teen Choice Awards.

Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated feature film, Bolt, about a television star dog on his quest to find his owner. Cyrus co-wrote and recorded one of the two original songs on the soundtrack of Bolt, which features her Bolt co-star John Travolta. Titled "I Thought I Lost You", it was later nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Cyrus again played the title role in the Hannah Montana film spin-off, Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009. The film is about Stewart returning to her country roots and deciding which life to choose, her own normal life or as pop star Hannah Montana. Her single, "The Climb" from the movie's soundtrack peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, thus becoming her highest charting single since "See You Again" and "7 Things" which charted at #10 and #9 respectively; later "Party in the U.S.A." charted at # 2. The movie's soundtrack became the third album under the franchise to take the lead of the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

Cyrus sits in make-up on the set of The Last Song. Cyrus's role was imagined as a way to introduce her to older audiences.

In June 2009, Cyrus changed her TV and movie career representation from United Talent Agency to Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music. Also in June, Cyrus began filming her upcoming movie The Last Song, based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, in which she plays a rebellious teenage girl who spends a summer with her estranged father at his home in a quiet beach town. The film was conceived as a "star vehicle" with the intention of introducing Cyrus to older audiences. Cyrus recorded a song with the Jonas Brothers titled "Before the Storm" for their fourth studio album Lines, Vines and Trying Times. She also launched another Hannah Montana soundtrack (for the third season), titled Hannah Montana 3 on July 7, 2009.

"Party in the U.S.A." was officially released to radio on July 29, 2009. The song is from a Wal-Mart exclusive EP entitled The Time of Our Lives which released on August 31, 2009. It was released as promotion for Cyrus's clothing line. The song made it to number one on Hot Digital Songs with 226,000 paid downloads, making her the youngest artist to top the chart, which led its big debut on the Billboard Hot 100, where it was placed at number two, topping "The Climb" (that peaked at number four). The song thereby became the "fastest breaking single in Hollywood Records' history."

Cyrus announced her 2009 North American Tour. The tour began on September 14, 2009 in Portland, Oregon and span 45 dates across North America. Eventually, additional dates were announced for the United Kingdom making the tour change names to the Wonder World Tour. The tour will feature the band Metro Station as a special guest. Tickets went on sale to the general public on June 13, 2009 and for the UK dates on June 12, 2009. In July 2009, Disney acquired the film rights to Aprilynne Pike's novel Wings, in which Cyrus is expected to star. In early December 2009, Cyrus performed her hits "See You Again", "The Climb" and "Party in the U.S.A." at the 95.8 Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball at London's The O2 arena. On December 7, 2009, Cyrus performed for Queen Elizabeth II and numerous other members of the British Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, North West England, along with fellow American pop singer Lady GaGa. In December, Timbaland will release his album, Shock Value II, which features a track with Cyrus called "We Belong to the Music". The songwriters of Cyrus's song The Climb, Jessi Alexander and Jon Mabe, were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media songwriting for the 52nd Grammy Awards. However, the song was voluntarily withdrawn by Walt Disney Records. Cyrus was ranked number four on Billboard's list of the Top Female Artists of 2009, above artists such as Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson.

==Entrepreneurship==

Cyrus became a spokesperson for Daisy Rock Guitars in 2004, when she was presented with her first Daisy Rock guitar — the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle. Disney released a Hannah Montana clothing collection in late summer 2007. Cyrus helped to design some of the pieces from the collection. In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top Twenty Superstar Earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million. A wax figure of Cyrus was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in New York City. In April 2008, Cyrus signed a contract to pen an autobiography reflecting on her life up to the age of 16. The memoir, called Miles To Go (ISBN 978-1-42-311992-0) was written with Hilary Liftin and was published by Disney-Hyperion Books in March 2009. The memoir discusses Cyrus's relationship with her father, her thoughts on the media, her love life, her future ambitions and milestones she still has to reach in her life. Miles to Go reached #1 on the New York Times children’s best seller list. An initial printing run of one million copies of Miles to Go is planned.

In August 2009, Cyrus teamed with Max Azria to create a line of junior and girls' separates available only at Walmart. Cyrus's released her EP The Time of Our Lives in conjunction with the line and Walmart dedicated a page to the designers. The line consists of vests, tie-dye tank tops, dresses, and plaids. Critics claimed the clothes were "completely inoffensive but totally snoozeworthy" and "benign", but admitted that "it's the generic that sells, regardless of whether it has Hannah Montana's name on it" and predicted they would be high sellers.

Philanthropy

Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday with a charity fundraiser at Disneyland, which was closed early for the event attended by 5,000 fans at $250 per ticket. The proceeds went to the charity Youth Service America, a youth volunteering organization. Ten outstanding youth volunteers from Youth Service America were invited to attend, and later in the evening, Cyrus presented a $1 million check to the organization. In 2007, Cyrus made a large contribution to the City of Hope, giving $1 for every "Hannah Montana" concert ticket sold. She said that "the cool thing about being a part of City of Hope is that they are a cancer research center. They're not only helping kids that are there, but also finding out how they can heal them by figuring out what exactly is going on, which is amazing."

Cyrus has lent her musical talents to several charity benefits. Cyrus collaborated with fourteen other female singers to record a charity single titled "Just Stand Up!", which the singers performed live during a one-hour primetime event for the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer on September 5, 2008. On September 14, 2008, Cyrus, along with other performers, performed at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California for the City of Hope Benefit Concert to help raise money for cancer research and training programs.

Cyrus is involved in Disney's Friends for Change, an organization which promotes environmentally friendly behavior, and appears in the service's public service announcements to raise awareness for the cause on the Disney Channel. In addition, she joined fellow Disney stars Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and the Jonas Brothers, to record "Send It On", a charity single which serves as the theme song for Disney's Friends for Change. "Send it On" debuted on the Hot 100 at number twenty. Disney will direct 100% of the proceeds from "Send it On" to environmental charities through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF).

==Personal life==

Cyrus with dancers Ashlee Nino and best friend, Mandy Jiroux.

Cyrus suffers from a mild form of a heart condition called tachycardia. In her autobiography, Miles to Go, Cyrus writes, "There is never a time onstage when I'm not thinking about my heart". In January 2008, Cyrus announced her intent to officially change her name to "Miley Ray Cyrus," her middle name reflecting that of her father. The name change became official on May 1, 2008. In an interview with USA Today, Cyrus was quoted as saying her faith is "the main thing" and is the reason why she works in Hollywood. When interviewed by Parade, she added that she attends church regularly with her family. In an interview with Christianity Today, Billy Ray Cyrus said, "Being Christian, we believe in heaven," and "We also had a great church, and when you give up your church, your pastor, and the community you are involved in, you're making a big sacrifice. Let's face it, Hollywood is a completely different environment than Franklin, Tennessee."

In February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux (who is also a backup dancer for Cyrus) began creating videos on YouTube called The Miley and Mandy Show. The show, described as a "YouTube hit," is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together. It is filmed mainly in Cyrus's bedroom. Cyrus was also popular on the social networking site Twitter; her site was watched by approximately 2 million Twitter users in addition to the general public when she deleted it on October 8, 2009. In the September 2008 issue of Seventeen, Cyrus stated she had been in a relationship with Nick Jonas for two years, and that they "were in love". They broke up at the end of 2007. In June 2009, Cyrus ended a nine month long relationship with Nashville Star contestant and model Justin Gaston.

==Controversies==

Vanity Fair photos

On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus had posed topless for a photoshoot with Vanity Fair. The photo, and subsequently released behind-the-scenes photos, show Cyrus with her bare back exposed but her front covered with a bedsheet. The photoshoot was taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz. The full photograph was published with an accompanying story on The New York Times' website on April 27, 2008. On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless. Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation that was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted by Portfolio magazine to have said, “For Miley Cyrus to be a ‘good girl’ is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won’t get it back.” Branding consultants John Tantillo and Michael Stone appeared on Fox Business News to discuss possible repercussions for Cyrus's brand and her best marketing strategy going forward.

In response to the Internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27, 2008: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about." Leibovitz also released a statement: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful." On April 28, 2008, Vanity Fair published their full interview and photo shoot with Cyrus and her father Billy Ray Cyrus, as well as the behind-the-scenes photographs, on their website. According to the interview, Cyrus's parents or minders were present during the entire duration of the photo shoot. The idea to pose with the sheets on was suggested by Leibovitz. When asked if she was "anxious" about the pose, Cyrus stated to interviewer Bruce Handy: "No, I mean I had a big blanket on. And I thought, this looks pretty, and really natural. I think it's really artsy. It wasn't in a skanky way.... And you can't say no to Annie. She's so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look and you're like, okay." On December 2, 2008, TV Guide reported that Cyrus is interested in working with Leibovitz again in the future and is even considering a career in photography for herself, "That's what I want to do with my life. I would love to be a photographer... I want to come to London to study. I hear there are some great art schools here so I would love to do that."

2009 Teen Choice Awards performance

Main article: Party in the U.S.A.#Live performances

A female teen wearing a torn shirt, shorts, boots and a jean jacket, rides on a luggage cart. Beside her, four back-up dancers bend to the side while dancing

During her Wonder World Tour, Cyrus replaced the ice-cream push-cart she used in her 2009 Teen Choice Awards performance with a luggage cart due to claims the push-cart had a dance pole attached.

Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards on August 10 incited controversy. Critics of the performance complained that she danced provocatively alongside a dance pole that was on top of an ice-cream pushcart, and that another part of the performance seemed to poke fun at American culture. Some drew negative comparisons to Britney Spears, though Cyrus herself welcomed comparisons to the former teen pop star. Others defended Cyrus, arguing that still images of the performance made it seem more lewd than it actually was, and opining that the ensuing controversy took the focus away from the six awards she won that night. Others observed that Cyrus already had a risque image, and sought to broaden her appeal to audiences, with the performance a part of her transition into an entertainer for older audiences, much as had been observed years earlier with Britney Spears. Cyrus's label, Hollywood Records, and The Walt Disney Company, which produces Hannah Montana, offered no comment on the performance, though Disney asserted that all performances on the Disney Channel are appropriate for children age 6 – 14. The Fox Network, which broadcast the awards, also offered no comment, other than to confirm that the performance would be included in its broadcast of the ceremony.

==Filmography==

Film

Year Film Role Notes

2003 Big Fish Ruthie Billed as "Destiny Cyrus"

2007 High School Musical 2 Girl at Pool Cameo

2008 Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Herself Concert film

Bolt Penny Voice Role

2009 Hannah Montana: The Movie Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana Main Role

2010 The Last Song Veronica "Ronnie" Miller Main Role

Sex and the City 2 Herself Cameo

2011 Wings Laurel Main Role. Confirmed on July 14, 2009

Television

Year Title Role Notes

2003 Doc Kylie Guest appearance

2006–2010 Hannah Montana Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana Lead Role

2007 The Emperor's New School Yata Voice Role

2007–2008 The Replacements Celebrity Star Voice Role

==Discography==

Main article: Miley Cyrus discography

==Studio albums==

* Meet Miley Cyrus (2007)

* Breakout (2008)

* The Time of Our Lives (2009) – EP

As Hannah Montana

Main article: Hannah Montana discography

* Hannah Montana (2006)

* Hannah Montana 2 (2007)

* Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)

* Hannah Montana 3 (2009)

==Live albums==

* Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008) – CD + DVD

* iTunes Live from London (2009)

Tours

* "Best of Both Worlds Tour" (2007–2008)

* "Wonder World Tour" (2009)

==Awards and nominations==

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Miley Cyrus

Behind the Scenes of Miley Cyrus' YouTube Hit". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20183035,00.html. Retrieved August 21, 2009.