شون بول

شون بول (ولد 9 يناير 1973)، هو فنان موسيقي جمايكي من كنغستون. والده برتغالي من أصول شرقية يهودية وأمه جمايكية من أصول صينية.

بدأ شون حياته كلاعب بولو ماء محترف، حيث مثل منتخب جمايكا لبولو الماء من سن 12 سنة حتى 21 سنة.

اعتزل شون بول الرياضة سنة 1994 واتجه لإنتاج وكتابة الأغاني هو وأخوه الأصغر "جيسون" وصديقه المنتج "ستيف واتسون" أصدر شون بول أول اغنية له سنة 1996 بعنوان Baby Girl. حققت هذه الأغنية نجاحًا محليًا في جمايكا.

في بداية سنة 1997 بدأ شون بول في كتابة الأغاني لعدة فنانين كبار مثل "دي أم أكس" و"بيني مان" و"واين مارشال" و"باستا رايمس".

أصدر شون بول أول البوم له سنة 2000 بعنوان ستيج وان ولكن هذا الألبوم لم يحقق نجاحًا كبيرًا إذ بيعت 300,000 نسخة فقط.

في سنة 2002 أصدر شون بول ثاني ألبوم له وعنوَّنَهُ Dutty Rock. حاز هذا الألبوم على جائزة الغرامي لأفضل البوم ريغاي لعام 2004.

Sean Paul

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques[1] OD (born 9 January 1973)[2] is a Jamaican rapper, singer and record producer.

His singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the charts in the United States, and most of his albums have been nominated for the Grammy's Best Reggae Album, with Dutty Rock winning the award. Sean Paul has also been featured in many other singles including chart-toppers "Baby Boy" by Beyoncé, "What About Us" by The Saturdays, and "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit.
Personal life
Sean Paul Henriques was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to parents Garth and Frances on 9 January 1973. His mother is a painter.[3][4] His paternal grandfather was of Portuguese Jewish descent, hence his Portuguese last name of Henriques; his father is of Portuguese and Indo-Jamaican descent. his paternal grandmother was Afro-Jamaican; his mother is of English and Chinese-Jamaican descent.[5][6] Sean Paul was raised as a Catholic.[7] Many members of his family are swimmers. His grandfather was on the first Jamaican men's national water polo team.[citation needed] His father also played water polo for the team in the 1960s, and competed in long-distance swimming, while Paul's mother was a butterfly swimmer.[5] Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of 13 to 21, when he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career.[citation needed] He attended Wolmer's Boys' School and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, now known as the University of Technology, where he was trained in commerce with an aim of pursuing an occupation in swimming.[citation needed]

In 2012, Paul married his longtime girlfriend Jodi Stewart, a Jamaican TV host.[8][9] In August 2016, it was announced that the couple was expecting their first child.[10] On 26 February 2017, Sean Paul announced the birth of his son, Levi Blaze.[11] Their second child, Remi, was born on 20 August 2019.[12]

Paul has suggested that Jamaican musicians making use of "hardcore patois", a mixture of English with several languages spoken in Jamaica, create a language barrier that prevents them from becoming successful in the United States and the United Kingdom.[13]

Career
1994–2000: Stage One
Manager and producer Jeremy Harding heard about Sean Paul[when?] when Harding's brother told him about seeing someone at a small open mic event in Kingston who sounded a lot like the dancehall DJ and toaster Super Cat.[14] Harding eventually met the singer when Paul came by his studio to ask for some advice. During the meeting Paul recorded a vocal over Harding's rhythm track and in the process created the song "Baby Girl".[14] Paul began hanging out at the studio every day, and the pair collaborated on several more tracks. When they recorded "Infiltrate" they decided they had something good enough to get on the radio. As Sean Paul started to attract local attention, Harding began looking after his affairs. He later told HitQuarters that his support of Paul's fledgling career initially led him assuming the roles of "DJ, manager, road manager and security guard."[14] Paul made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film Belly on stage performing. He made a successful collaboration with DMX and Mr. Vegas, "Top Shotter", to the soundtrack of the film. In 2000, Paul released his debut album, Stage One with VP Records.
In 2002, Sean Paul continued his work with manager/producer Jeremy Harding, and after a joint venture deal with his label VP Records and Atlantic Records, announced the release of his second album, Dutty Rock. Pushed by the success of the singles "Gimme the Light" and the Billboard Hot 100 topper, "Get Busy", the album was a worldwide success, eventually selling over six million copies. The album Dutty Rock won the Reggae Album of the year at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004. "Get Busy" was also nominated for best Rap Song in that year. Simultaneously, Sean Paul was heard on Beyoncé's U.S. #1 single "Baby Boy" and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe", a chart hit in Europe. Both helped to push his reputation further still in the United States. He appeared on Punk'd, 106 & Park, Sean Paul Respect, Making the Video ("Get Busy", "Gimme the Light", and "Like Glue") and his music videos have been broadcast on MTV and BET.

2005–08: The Trinity

Paul's third album The Trinity was released on 27 September 2005. The album produced five big hits, "We Be Burnin'", "Ever Blazin'", "Give It Up to Me", "Never Gonna Be the Same" and the U.S. chart-topping smash hit "Temperature". The video of "Give It Up to Me" (featuring Keyshia Cole) was featured in the film Step Up in 2006. He was nominated for four awards at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, including male artist of the year, rap artist of the year, hot 100 single of the year, and pop single of the year for "Temperature".[15] He also won an American Music Award for "Give It Up to Me" beating Kanye West and Nick Lachey who were also nominated for the award. "Send It On" from The Trinity featured on the 2005 Vauxhall Corsa advert. Sean Paul often contributes his songs to various Riddim Driven albums by VP Records. In March 2007, he returned to Jamaica to perform at the Cricket World Cup 2007 opening ceremony.

Paul appears in the video game Def Jam: Fight for NY as part of Snoop Dogg's crew and again in the game's sequel, Def Jam: Icon.

2009–10: Imperial Blaze

Imperial Blaze was released on 18 August 2009. The lead single, "So Fine", which was produced by Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, premiered on Sean Paul's website on 26 April 2009.[16][17]

The album consists of 20 tracks including "So Fine", "Press it Up", "She Want Me", "Private Party" which are party tracks and also love songs such as "Hold My Hand" (feat Keri Hilson), "Lately", "Now That I've Got Your Love" among others. Producers on the album include Don Corleone, Jeremy Harding, and Sean's brother Jason 'Jigzagula' Henriques.[18] All the songs of the album have been added to Sean Paul's Myspace page[19] on the day of release of the album.

The album spawned eight music videos: "Always On My Mind (with Da'Ville)", "Give It to You (with Eve)", "Watch Them Roll", "Back It Up" (with Leftside), "(I Wanna See You) Push It Baby" (with Pretty Ricky), "Hit 'Em" (with Fahrenheit and his brother Jason "Jigzagula" Henriques), "Come Over" with Estelle,[20] and also the video of his first single, "So Fine".

Sean Paul appeared in Shaggy's video, "Save A Life", which also includes appearances from Elephant Man and Da'Ville, among others. In an effort to raise money for a children's hospital, Shaggy, Sean Paul and others had a benefit concert. All proceeds went towards getting new equipment and technology 'For Aid to the Bustamante Hospital for Children'. During the premiere for MNET's Big Brother Africa: All-Stars on 18 July 2010, he performed his songs "Temperature", "Hold My Hand", and "So Fine".

2011–12: Tomahawk Technique

The first single "Got 2 Luv U" features vocals from American singer Alexis Jordan. It was released on 19 July 2011 by Atlantic Records. The song was written by Sean Paul, Ryan Tedder and Stargate and produced by Stargate.[21][22][23]

"She Doesn't Mind" is the second single from the album. It was written by Sean Paul, Shellback and Benny Blanco and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco. It was released on 29 September 2011 on NRJ and Skyrock (French radios), and to iTunes on 31 October.[24] Like its proceeder, "Got 2 Luv U", it topped the charts in Switzerland, but it debuted at that spot. Sean appeared on the Never Mind the Buzzcocks episode which aired on 21 November 2011.

Tomahawk Technique was released on 18 September 2012 in the U.S. The album was nominated for the best reggae album in the 55th Grammy awards.

Sean Paul is featured in the Simple Plan song "Summer Paradise".

In 2012, Sean Paul was asked to team up with electronic artist Congorock and Moombahton artist Stereo Massive to feature vocals on their song "Bless Di Nation".

2013–15: Full Frequency

During 2013, Paul worked on his sixth studio album Full Frequency, which was released on 18 February 2014.[25] The first single on the album, "Other Side of Love", was released to iTunes on 10 June 2013.[26][27] The second single, "Entertainment", which features 2 Chainz and Juicy J, was released on 25 June 2013.[28] Paul released the official remix to "Entertainment" on 3 September 2013 with an additional feature from Nicki Minaj.[29] "Turn It Up" was released as a single in the UK on 20 October 2013. It was to be released in Germany on 22 November 2013. "Want Dem All" was released as a single in the U.S. on 5 November 2013. The album features guest appearances from Damian Marley, Iggy Azalea, Brick & Lace, Konshens, Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz and Juicy J. Also in 2013, Paul was featured on the single "What About Us" by British girl group The Saturdays. The single went straight to the top of the Official UK Charts with over 100,000 sales in its first week, becoming the fastest selling single of the year at the time of release.

In January 2014, Paul was the main international artist at Fiestas Palmares 2014[30] in Costa Rica. Also in 2014, Paul was featured on the official English-language version of long-running Latin American chart topper "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias featuring Gente de Zona and Descemer Bueno. The video for the English version was shot concurrently with the video for the Spanish version in Santo Domingo. The English version reached top 10 status in the United States and topping the charts of several other countries.

Sean Paul appeared on the Apocalypse Soon EP by electronic group Major Lazer, on the track "Come On to Me", which was released as the second single from the album, after "Aerosol Can", a collaboration with Pharrell Williams.[31] He also collaborated with Nigerian recording artist Timaya on a remix of his song "Bum Bum". An accompanying video directed by Shutah Films was released online on 11 April.[32] The album was also nominated for Best Reggae Album at the Grammy's in 2015. But, in September 2014, Sean Paul confirmed that he had left Atlantic Records and will become an independent artist.[33] On 6 July 2015, Paul released the music video for his song "Take It Low" on the album Full Frequency.

2016–present: Mad Love the Prequel

Under new management of Steve "Urchin" & Jules Dougall, Sean Paul enjoyed a commercial resurgence in his career throughout 2016 after being featured on three largely successful hit singles by Australian singer Sia, girl band Little Mix and classical crossover group Clean Bandit. On 6 February 2016, Paul performed in the opening ceremony of Pakistan Super League. On 11 February 2016, Sia released a remix version of her song "Cheap Thrills" featuring Paul. The song became an international hit, reaching number one in more than 15 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden. On 11 April 2016, it was confirmed that Paul would be featured on a track by Little Mix called "Hair", from their third album Get Weird.

In June 2016, he signed with Island Records.[34] In November 2016, Paul cited Toots and the Maytals as inspiration when it comes to his own personal career longevity by saying, "I've seen some great people in my industry, you know, people like Toots... Toots and the Maytals. Toots he's a great reggae artist and he’s still doing it... He's up there in years and he's doing it. Those kind of artists inspire me. I know I'm just going to keep on doing music as long as I can."[35] In October 2016, Clean Bandit released the song "Rockabye", which features Paul and English singer Anne-Marie.[36] It spent nine consecutive weeks at number one of the UK Singles Chart, and gained the coveted Christmas number one.[37] On 18 November 2016, he released "No Lie" featuring Dua Lipa, which served as the lead single from his EP Mad Love The Prequel.[38]

In May 2019, Paul revealed he had recorded a track with Rita Ora titled "Call on Me".[39]

It was announced that he would receive the Order of Distinction, Commander class (CD) from the Jamaican government on 21 October 2019, "for contribution to the global popularity and promotion of reggae music".[12]

In August 2019, Sean Paul was nominated alongside Drake, DJ Snake, and Snow for the 'Favorite Crossover Artist' category of the 2019 Latin American Music Awards[40]

Discography

Main article: Sean Paul discography

Stage One (2000)

Dutty Rock (2002)

The Trinity (2005)

Imperial Blaze (2009)

Tomahawk Technique (2012)

Full Frequency (2014)

Locke and Key

Locke & Key is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez and published by IDW Publishing.
Plot summary
This plot is presented in non-chronological order. During the American Revolution, a group of Rebels, hiding beneath the future Keyhouse, discover a portal to another dimension, the plains of Leng filled with demons who can mesmerize anyone that sees them and possess through touch. However, when the demons attempt to enter the real world, they collapse into lumps of "whispering iron", which young smith Benjamin Locke forges into a variety of magical keys, including the Omega Key, which seals the entrance to the dimension. The magic of the Keyhouse gradually evolves over the years, including a spell which causes occupants to forget about the keys and the magic of the house when they pass their 18th birthday. In 1988, a group of teenagers, having used the keys extensively in their high school years to their great delight, decide to open the black door with the Omega Key, hoping to trick a demon into entering the real world in order to provide more metal with which to make more keys. However, Rendell Locke's younger brother follows the group and is mesmerized by the door. Attempting to walk through it, he is stopped by Dodge, who accidentally puts his hand through the door, becoming possessed. After plotting and attempting to kill his friends and enslave the others at the behest of the Child of Leng possessing him, Dodge is killed by Rendell.

Many years later, Dodge's spirit reenters the physical world through the well at Keyhouse, due to actions taken by Dodge prior to his death. Trapped in the well, Dodge's spirit reaches out to a young abused prodigy, Sam Lesser, and convinces him to attack the Lockes and kill Rendell, looking for the Omega Key, as well as the Anywhere Key, which is capable of freeing Dodge from the well. After the gruesome murder of their father, the Locke kids, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode move with their mother Nina across the country to Keyhouse and begin discovering its secrets. Sam escapes prison and follows the Lockes to Massachusetts. He attacks the family again at Keyhouse, at which time Dodge tricks Bode into bringing him the Anywhere Key. Dodge escapes from the well, kills Sam and returns to Lovecraft in the same body as he had thirty years before.

Dodge re-enters high school under the guise of a new student, intimidating his way into the home of one of Kinsey's teachers and Dodge's former friends. Over the next year, Dodge secretly tries to recover the various keys - in particular the Omega Key - from the children, collecting many though hindered by Tyler and Kinsey. Dodge is eventually discovered but manages to switch bodies and possess Bode before they can kill him. Now free to explore the house as Bode, Dodge finally finds the Omega Key and plans his takeover after-prom party in the caves. Releasing several demons, many of the students are killed. Dodge is ultimately undone by Tyler and Dodge's spirit is forced back into the well, though Bode's empty body is cremated before Bode's soul has a chance to return to it. In the epilogue, Tyler returns to the well to finally free Dodge's spirit from the demon, having used a sliver of whispering iron inherited from his father to forge an "Alpha Key" capable of undoing possession. Tyler is able to speak with his father one last time, and restore Bode's physical form.

Publication history
The narrative of Locke & Key is structured in three acts. Each act consists of two storylines of six monthly issues. Act One's first story arc, Welcome to Lovecraft, was a six-issue limited series published by IDW Publishing. The first issue of Welcome to Lovecraft was released on February 20, 2008 and sold out in a single day, requiring a second printing to be done immediately.[1] The second arc of Act One, entitled Head Games, commenced with the release of the first issue on January 22, 2009.[2] The actual Head Games story was printed in four issues, with a standalone prologue ("Intermission" or "The Joe Ridgeway Story") and a standalone conclusion ("Army Of One").[3]

Act Two of the Locke & Key story consists of two limited, six-issue miniseries; the first storyline of Act Two, Crown of Shadows, began in late 2009.[4] The second storyline, Keys to the Kingdom, began in August 2010.

The first storyline of Act Three was announced as Time & Tide,[5] but was retitled Clockworks.[6] The second, and concluding, storyline is entitled Alpha & Omega.

The first five story arcs were to have been released in a monthly format with the sixth published as an original graphic novel. The plan changed and the concluding story arc appeared in monthly installments.[7][8][9]

Keys
In the universe of Locke & Key, there are many keys created from whispering iron that have different magical properties. Some of them are extensively featured in the series, while others are featured very briefly. Some of the keys that play important roles in the plot arc are:

Omega Key: Opens the lock on the demonic door. The first key created.
Echo Key: Allows entry to the Keyhouse well house, and with the Echo Key in hand, allows a person to return a spirit from the dead to the world of the living. Leaving through the well house door, however, banishes the spirit back to wherever it came from.
Anywhere Key: Opens a door to anywhere the bearer can visualize in their mind.
Ghost Key: When used in the right door in Keyhouse, it separates the soul of whomever travels through the door from their body. Their body crumples dead, while their ghost is free to roam the Keyhouse grounds. Ghost souls can inhabit any other bodies nearby, and clash with other ghosts.
Head Key: Inserted into the base of someone's head, it allows one to peer inside the mind of a person, where memories and mental concepts (even "sanity" itself) are represented as tiny beings. The memories can be removed, and even swapped between people. Books inserted into a head with the Head Key transfer their contents to the bearer of the key, though in such a situation the knowledge of the text is accurate but superficial.
Shadow Key: Allows its wearer to control shadow creatures, and even the shadows of other people, which are themselves capable of interacting with the material world (often violently). Embedded in a crown, it is a tremendous source of power for whomever is wearing it, though the shadows can themselves be rendered immaterial by bright light.
Giant Key: This physically large key, once inserted into a keyhole-shaped window in Keyhouse, transforms the bearer into a massive giant.
Mending Key: Opens a magical cabinet in Keyhouse into which a broken object can be placed (the cabinet can resize itself to the size of the object). Once the object is locked inside the cabinet, it is repaired. While it can heal even severely wounded people, it cannot apparently resurrect the dead.
Skin Key: A key with a gazing mirror on its handle, it can change the race of whomever is using it.
Music Box Key: Inserted into a magical music box, it will cause the music box to play a song that compels whomever is listening to it to obey its lyrics. Whoever turns the key can supply the command to be carried out by the listener. Commands are carried out so long as the music is playing and the listener can hear it.
Jester Key: Opens a magical cabinet in Keyhouse that contains a number of other artifacts and keys.
Angel Key: Inserted into a harness with large feathered wings, it grants a person the power of winged flight.
Hercules Key: Embedded in a necklace, it grants the bearer considerable additional strength and bulk.
Animal Key: Used on the right door in Keyhouse, it allows anyone who travels through the door to transform into an animal. (It is unclear whether they have choice in the matter; it appears that they are assigned the animal by the key, according to some sort of spiritual affinity.) Returning back through the door transforms them back into a human, and works even for human ghosts that have possessed animal bodies.
Timeshift Key: Operates a grandfather clock that allows a user to observe (but not interact with) past events. However the clock is limited to a specific time period. The earliest date one can visit is January 13, 1775 & the latest date is December 31, 1999.
Alpha Key: Removes demons from possessed people; inserts into their chests. Because it turns the demons instantly into whispering iron while it is still inside the host, it is fatal.
Philosophoscope Key: Gives access to a device that provides viewing access to various people and places.

Signed limited editions

On November 11, 2007, Subterranean Press announced a pre-order for a hand-numbered, signed, limited edition of the six-issue run of Welcome To Lovecraft. This edition consisted of 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, both of which sold out within 24 hours of being announced.[44][45] This edition was a hardcover release in a specially designed and illustrated slipcase, and featured exclusive dust jacket art by Vincent Chong and reprinted all 250 pages of Joe Hill's script in addition to the actual comic work.[46]

This was followed by the publication of Head Games, which was also limited to 250 hand-numbered and signed copies as well as 26 lettered copies.[47] The third volume, Crown of Shadows, is available for preorder, and like the previous editions is signed and numbered with the same limitations and also comes with an illustrated slipcase.[48] Cloth-bound trade editions limited to 1000 copies (unsigned, unnumbered, and without the slipcase) were also released. Trade editions for the first two volumes are sold out.

Awards and nominations

At the 2009 Eisner Awards, Locke & Key was nominated for "Best Limited Series" and Joe Hill was nominated for "Best Writer".[citation needed]

It won the 2009 British Fantasy Award for Best Comic or Graphic Novel.[citation needed]

It won the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Writer (Joe Hill), and was nominated for Best Single Issue, Best Continuing Series, and Best Penciller.

It won the 2012 British Fantasy Award for Best Comic or Graphic Novel.[49]

Adaptations

Film

A film trilogy was officially announced at the 2014 Comic Con. Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Bobby Cohen and Ted Adams would produce the film with Universal Pictures and Kurtzman and Orci's production company K/O Paper Products.[50]

In October 2015, Joe Hill confirmed that the films are no longer happening. However, he stated that TV series is still possible.[51] In May 2016, Joe Hill announced he would write a TV pilot, serve as executive producer and pitch the show to various networks and streaming companies.[52]

Television

Fox pilot (2010–2011)

Dimension Films acquired the film and television rights for Welcome to Lovecraft from IDW Publishing with the intent of developing the property as a feature with John Davis producing.[53] In February 2010, it was announced that Dimension had lost the adaptation rights to Dreamworks[54] with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci signed on to develop and produce the project.[55] In August 2010 Steven Spielberg also joined as a producer, and the production became a TV series rather than a movie adaptation, with Josh Friedman writing episodes for the show and acting as show-runner.[56]

The TV series adaptation then landed at 20th Century Fox Television. The network greenlit a pilot, produced by Dreamworks TV and K/O Paper Products through the latter's deal with 20th Century Fox TV.[57]

Miranda Otto played Nina Locke, Sarah Bolger was Kinsey Locke[58][59] and Nick Stahl co-starred as Duncan Locke.[60] Skylar Gaertner played 6-year old Bode, and Harrison Thomas played a teenager possessed by an evil spirit.[61] Actor and singer Jesse McCartney appeared as Ty Locke, the series' male lead[62] and Ksenia Solo was cast as Dodge.[63]

Mark Romanek directed the pilot episode,[64] which was filmed at the mansion in Hartwood Acres and in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, in February 2011. The pilot was also shot throughout Pittsburgh that same month.[65] In May 2011, Fox announced that the project would not be picked up to the series.[66] The studio attempted to sell the project to other networks but eventually ceased efforts due to rising costs. The pilot was screened at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International, where it was well received.[67]

Hulu pilot (2017–2018)

On April 20, 2017, Hulu ordered a pilot based on the comic with Carlton Cuse, Scott Derrickson, and Lindsey Springer as producers.[68] In July 2017, Derrickson was replaced by Andy Muschietti as the pilot's director.[69] In August 2017, Frances O'Connor was cast as Nina in the show.[70] In a March 2018 interview, Samantha Mathis revealed that Hulu had passed on the show, and it was now being shopped around to other networks.[71]

Netflix series (2020)

On May 30, 2018, after Hulu had passed on Locke & Key, it was announced that Netflix was nearing a series order for a re-developed version of the show with Cuse and Hill involved once again, and Muschietti as executive producer. The show found a new director for the pilot and an entirely new cast with the exception of Jackson Robert Scott as Bode Locke, who was cast in the Hulu pilot as well.[72]

Audio drama

All six books of Locke & Key were adapted as a 13-hour audio drama released on 5 October 2015. Produced by the AudioComics Company for Audible Studios and directed by William Dufris, the work features the voices of Tatiana Maslany, Haley Joel Osment, Kate Mulgrew, with appearances by Hill, Rodríguez, and Stephen King in addition to almost 50 voice-over actors[73] and an original score by Peter Van Riet. The work received critical praise, and in 2016 was nominated for four Audie Awards from the Audiobook Publisher's Association of America, including "Best Original Work" and "Excellence in Production."

Card game

In 2012, Cryptozoic Entertainment released a card game based on the series

Gemma Collins

Gemma Clare Collins (born 31 January 1981)[1] is an English television personality and businesswoman. In 2011, she began appearing on the ITVBe reality series The Only Way Is Essex, and following further appearances on television, she became a contestant on the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice. In August 2019, she began starring in her own reality series, Gemma Collins: Diva Forever.
Early life
Collins was born in Romford, London, and attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School.[3] She also attended Frances Bardsley Academy.[4][5] Before her career in television, she was a used car sales person.[6]

Career
The Only Way Is Essex
In 2011, Julie Childs, mother of Collins' friend Amy, informed producers of the ITV2 reality series The Only Way Is Essex about Collins, who was a used car sales woman at the time. They went to Collins' house and then filmed her and her friends for two weeks.[7] After going back to work selling cars for a week, she was hired and joined the cast of The Only Way Is Essex from its second series in 2011; her first ever scene was selling a car to Kirk Norcross.[7] Her mother Joan joined in the fifth series in April 2012.[8]

Other television
Collins occasionally presents competition segments on ITV series This Morning, and has also made appearances on Loose Women, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Big Brother's Bit on the Side, Celebrity Juice and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!.

On 16 November 2014, she took part in the fourteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on ITV.[9] After a bumpy start in which she refused to parachute into the jungle along with her cast mates, she withdrew after spending 72 hours in the jungle, which led to widespread bad publicity and ridicule. This was allegedly due to health issues.[10]

On 5 January 2016, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to participate in the seventeenth series.[11] On 2 February 2016, she became the seventh housemate to be evicted, having received the fewest votes to be saved, spending a total of 29 days in the house. In 2017, she returned to Big Brother, as a special guest for a shopping task alongside fellow celebrity ex cast members Marnie Simpson and Nicola McLean.[12] Later in 2016, Collins stood in for Natalie Anderson, presenting a fashion segment on ITV's This Morning Summer.

In October 2017, Collins presented the BBC Radio 1 Teen Award for Best TV Show to Love Island, and after announcing the winner, she fell through the opening in the stage.[13] The clip later went viral on social media.[14][15] In an interview with Irish News, Collins said "The seriousness of it is, it could have been really fatal".[16]

In 2018, she appeared on Celebrity 100% Hotter and the fourth series of Celebs Go Dating. The same year, Collins also appeared in her own reality television show, Gemma Collins: Diva España, a one-off special aired on 29 August 2018.[citation needed] Collins also took part in Celebrity MasterChef, and guest starred in a promotional advert for Netflix's Orange Is the New Black.[17]

In 2019, Collins took part in the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice, alongside professional partner Matt Evers.[18] Collins was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated in Week 6, after a skate-off against Ryan Sidebottom.[19]

In April 2019, Collins began filming for her own reality series, Gemma Collins: Diva Forever.[20] The series premiered on 7 August 2019 on ITVBe.[21] The pilot episode premiered to a total of 673,038 viewers, and was the most watched series on ITVBe in that week.[22]

Writing
In June 2013, Collins released her debut autobiography Basically: My Real Life as an Essex Girl, which became a bestseller in its first week of release.[23] In 2018, she released her second book, titled The GC: How to Be a Diva, in which she provides advice and self help for women to gain confidence.[24] In an interview on Loose Women, she admitted to using a ghostwriter.[25]

Business ventures
Collins opened up an eponymous boutique in Brentwood, Essex, and has since opened up a pop up shop in Marbella. Collins has also collaborated with fashion website Boohoo.com on a collection of swimwear for plus-sized women in 2018.[26]

In September 2019, Collins released her debut perfume, Diva Pink.[27] Meetings for the perfume were documented in her reality series, Gemma Collins: Diva Forever.[27]

Music
In September 2018, Collins recorded a cover of "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" as part of Strongbow's university-based reality series, ReFreshers Week presented by Strongbow.[28] In November 2018, she was featured on Tallia Storm's song "It's the GC" recorded for the advert of Collins' BooHoo collection.[29] The following month, she came third on the BBC Christmas celebrity special of the singing series All Together Now.[30] In 2019, she began working with Naughty Boy, and signed a record deal with Universal Music.[31] Collins is set to release a Christmas single titled "Come Home" in winter 2019.[31]

Podcast
In August 2019, Collins began hosting a podcast on BBC Sounds, titled The Gemma Collins Podcast

Jonas Brothers

The Jonas Brothers are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas.[1][2][3] Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Jonas Brothers moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote their first record that made its Hollywood Records release.[4] In the summer of 2008, they starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock and its sequel, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. They also starred as Kevin, Joe, and Nick Lucas from the band, JONAS, in their own Disney Channel series Jonas, which was rebranded as Jonas L.A. after the first season and cancelled after the second. The band have released five albums: It's About Time (2006), Jonas Brothers (2007), A Little Bit Longer (2008), Lines, Vines and Trying Times (2009), and Happiness Begins (2019).

In 2008, the group was nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 51st Grammy Awards and won the award for Breakthrough Artist at the American Music Awards. As of May 2009, before the release of Lines, Vines and Trying Times, they had sold over eight million albums worldwide.[5] After a hiatus during 2010 and 2011 to pursue solo-projects, the group reconciled in 2012 to record a new album, which was cancelled following their break-up on October 29, 2013.

They have sold over 17 million albums worldwide as of 2013.[6][7] Six years following their split, the group reunited with the release of "Sucker" on March 1, 2019.[8] The song became the 34th song in history to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and became the Jonas Brothers' first number one single on the chart.[9] A month later, they released their second single titled "Cool" on April 5, 2019.[10] Their fifth studio album, Happiness Begins, was released on June 7, 2019, topping the US Billboard 200
History
2005–2007: It's About Time
In 2005, Joe, Kevin and Nick recorded "Please Be Mine", their first song recorded.[12] Upon hearing the song, the Columbia Records president Steve Greenberg decided to sign the brothers as a group.[13] They considered naming their group "Sons of Jonas" before settling on the name Jonas Brothers.[14] While working on their debut studio album, the band toured throughout 2005 with artists such as Jump5, Kelly Clarkson, Jesse McCartney, the Backstreet Boys, and The Click Five among others.[15] They spent the latter portion of the year on a tour with Aly & AJ and The Cheetah Girls. Additionally, they opened for The Veronicas in early 2006. For their first album, titled It's About Time, the band collaborated with several writers, including Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), Michael Mangini (Joss Stone), Desmond Child (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi), Billy Mann (Destiny's Child, Jessica Simpson) and Steve Greenberg. The album was initially supposed to be released in February 2006, but was pushed back several times, due to executive changes at Sony (the parent company of Columbia) and the executives' desire to have "another lead single" on the album. For the album, the Jonas Brothers covered two hit songs by UK band Busted – "Year 3000" and "What I Go to School For". The Jonas Brothers' first single, "Mandy", was released on December 27, 2005. Its music video was shown on MTV's Total Request Live on February 22, 2006 and reached number four. Another song, "Time for Me to Fly", was released on the Aquamarine soundtrack, also in February. In March, "Mandy" was featured in the Nickelodeon television film Zoey 101: Spring Break-Up and the Zoey 101: Music Mix soundtrack album, with Nicholas Jonas listed as the artist name. The group's music was also featured on Cartoon Network's Friday night programming block Fridays.[15]

The band covered "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" from Pirates of the Caribbean for the Disneymania 4 album, released on April 4, 2006.[16] Over the summer of 2006, the Jonas Brothers went on tour with Aly & AJ. The Jonas Brothers also created the theme song for the second season of American Dragon: Jake Long, airing from June 2006 to September 2007 on the Disney Channel.[17] It's About Time was finally released on August 8, 2006.[18] According to the band's manager, it was only a "limited release" of 50,000 copies, so the album's price can rise as high as $200–$300 USD on auction sites like eBay. Because Sony was not interested in further promoting the band, the Jonas Brothers considered switching labels. On October 3, 2006, Nick's 2004 solo single, "Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)", was re-released on Joy to the World: The Ultimate Christmas Collection.[19] The same month, the Jonas Brothers covered "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid. Along with a music video, the song was released on a two-disc special-edition release of The Little Mermaid soundtrack.[20] The second single from It's About Time was "Year 3000", the music video of which premiered on the Disney Channel in January 2007. The band was ultimately dropped by Columbia Records in early 2007.

2007–2008: Jonas Brothers
After being without a label for a short time, the Jonas Brothers signed with Hollywood Records in February 2007.[21] Around the same time, the brothers began appearing in commercials for Baby Bottle Pops, singing the jingle.[22] On March 24, two additional songs on two different albums were released: "Kids of the Future", from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack[23] (based on Kim Wilde's "Kids in America"), and "I Wanna Be Like You", from Disneymania 5.[24] The Jonas Brothers made their first appearance at the White House on Monday, April 9, 2007, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, where they sang the National Anthem.[25] They returned on Wednesday June 27, 2007, during a Celebrating Women in Sports Tee Ball game on the South Lawn. They sang the National Anthem again, and, after the game, the Jonas Brothers entertained at the picnic-reception with a selection of their hits.[26] Their self-titled second album was released on August 7, 2007.[27] It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 200 chart in its first week. Two singles with music videos were also released around this time — "Hold On" two weeks before, and "S.O.S.", four days before the release of the album. In August 2007, the Jonas Brothers made several appearances on television. On August 17, they guest-starred in an episode of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana titled "Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas".
They also performed "We Got the Party" with Miley Cyrus in the episode, which premiered after High School Musical 2 and was viewed by 10.7 million people that night. On August 24, the Jonas Brothers performed two songs at the Miss Teen USA contest.[28] On August 26, the Jonas Brothers co-presented an award with Miley Cyrus at the Teen Choice Awards. On November 18, 2007, they performed at the American Music Awards, performing the song "S.O.S." On November 22, the brothers appeared in the 81st annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. For their final performance of 2007, the three brothers performed their singles "Hold On" and "S.O.S." at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. The Jonas Brothers kicked off their Look Me In The Eyes Tour on January 31, 2008, in Tucson, Arizona. They performed several new songs on the tour that were slated to be on their third studio album, A Little Bit Longer. The Jonas Brothers made their acting debut in Season 2 of the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, where they guest starred and performed "We Got The Party With Us" on the episode "Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas". In 2008, they collaborated with Miley Cyrus on her 3D concert film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, filmed during Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds Tour, where they sang "We Got The Party With Us" with Cyrus as Hannah Montana. While on the Look Me in the Eyes Tour, the Jonas Brothers filmed a Disney Channel reality short series entitled, Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream, that premiered on Disney Channel.

2008–2009: A Little Bit Longer and acting
The Jonas Brothers' third studio album, A Little Bit Longer, was released in the United States on August 12, 2008. On June 24, 2008, iTunes announced that it would release four songs from A Little Bit Longer, one roughly every two weeks.[29] The purchase of each of the songs applies to the cost of the entire album, which could be purchased via iTunes' Complete the Album feature after release. Each song released also featured a podcast. Each song occupied the number one spot on iTunes for at least three days. After the Look Me In The Eyes Tour ended on March 22, 2008, the Jonas Brothers announced that they would be opening up for Avril Lavigne's Best Damn Tour along with Boys Like Girls, for the second leg of the tour in Europe, which lasted from late May to late June 2008.[30] While filming Camp Rock, the Jonas Brothers co-wrote and co-produced six songs for fellow Disney Channel star and close friend Demi Lovato, for her upcoming album, Don't Forget.[31] The album, co-produced by the Jonas Brothers, was released on September 23, 2008.[32] A soundtrack was released for the film Camp Rock on June 17, 2008, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 188,000 copies sold in its first week.[33] The Jonas Brothers also did a half-hour variety special on Disney Channel special entitled, Studio DC: Almost Live, that featured The Muppets and other Disney Channel stars. During this time, the Jonas Brothers also appeared on the Olympics-based special miniseries the Disney Channel Games, for the third annual show.
During the summer of 2008, the Jonas Brothers started the Burnin' Up Tour in North America, promoting A Little Bit Longer. The tour began on July 4, 2008, at Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, Ontario. The band made their film debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock, in which they played a band called Connect Three. Joe Jonas plays the lead male role and lead singer Shane Gray, Nick Jonas plays the role of Nate, a guitarist, and Kevin Jonas plays the role of Jason, another guitarist. The film premiered on June 20, 2008, in the United States on Disney Channel, and Canada on Family, receiving mixed reviews. A Disney Digital 3-D production crew filmed the two shows of their Burnin' Up Tour in Anaheim on July 13 and 14, 2008. Both shows and additional footage recorded while on tour were used for the theatrical release of their 3D concert biopic Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience on February 22, 2009.[34] A Disney Digital 3-D production crew filmed the two shows of theirs Burnin' Up Tour in Anaheim on July 13 and 14, 2008, including a performance by Lovato with the Jonas Brothers on "This Is Me" and Taylor Swift with the brothers on "Should've Said No". Both shows and additional footage recorded while on tour were used for the theatrical release of their 3D concert biopic, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, on February 22, 2009.[35]

On July 14, they announced on stage that the band had already written five songs for their fourth studio album. The band was featured in the July 2008 issue of Rolling Stone magazine and became the youngest band to be on the cover of the magazine. The Jonas Brothers visited downtown Cleveland, Ohio's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before their sold-out concert on the evening of August 22, 2008, at Blossom Music Center. They presented the suits and pants they wore on the cover artwork of A Little Bit Longer to Jim Henke, vice president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The suits are part of the Right Here, Right Now! exhibit.[36] In December 2008, the Jonas Brothers were nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 51st Grammy Awards. It was confirmed that the brothers were collaborating with R&B producer Timbaland on a song called "Dumb" for his new album Shock Value 2. In an interview, Chris Brown told JustJared.com that he was collaborating with the Jonas Brothers, saying, "I'm possibly doing something with them. If they want me on the record, I'll stay on the record, but I just wanted to write a record for those guys." The Jonas Brothers appeared as musical guest on Saturday Night Live's 34th season on February 14, 2009, making their SNL debut.[37] The band also announced on March 11, 2009, that they will be embarking on a world tour in mid-2009. They were joined by the popular Korean girl band Wonder Girls, who debuted in America, as their opening act.[38] In April 2009, the Jonas Brothers finished filming the first season of their Disney Channel Original Series, Jonas and was premiered on May 2, 2009.

2009–2010: Jonas and Lines, Vines and Trying Times
The brothers finished recording their fourth studio album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times, and began to talk about the album in the beginning of 2009. They said on several occasions that they had been working on writing and recording songs since their Burnin' Up tour in mid-2008. On March 11, 2009, the Jonas Brothers announced that their fourth studio album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times, would be released on June 15, 2009.[39] They said about the title in the interview with Rolling Stone that, "Lines are something that someone feeds you, vines are the things that get in the way, and trying times, well, that's obvious." They also told Billboard, "We're trying to learn as much as we can, continuing to grow." Kevin added that, "The overall message is it's the same old Jonas Brothers, in a sense, but we're adding more and more music, including different musical instruments that are going to add and build to the sound we already have." Nick also said the songs on the album are "our journal in songs, about all things we've gone through, personal experiences we get inspiration from. We've also been working on trying to use metaphors.. to kind of mask a literal thing that happens to us.". Before the release of Lines, Vines and Trying Times, they released two singles, "Paranoid" (a month before) and "Fly with Me" (seven days before). Lines, Vines and Trying Times became their second No. 1 album.[40] It debuted at number one.

On July 7, 2009, the Jonas Brothers announced that they had signed Honor Society to the record label they started with Hollywood Records. A month later, "Send It On" was released on Radio Disney. The radio single was performed with Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato for Disney's Friends for Change. On August 9, 2009, the Jonas Brothers hosted and performed on the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.[41] Hollywood Records announced via YouTube Demi Lovato and Jonas Brothers' Walmart CD+DVD Soundcheck. Joe was a guest judge on American Idol during the Dallas auditions, which aired January 27, 2010.[42][43] After the success of Camp Rock, a sequel was in immediate development.[44] Production on the film began on September 3, 2009 and wrapped on October 16, 2009.[45] The film, entitled Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, was aired on Disney Channel on September 3, 2010. The movie was filmed in Ontario, Canada.[42] In late 2010, the Brothers took part in a concert at the White House honoring Paul McCartney's reception of a Gershwin Prize for Popular Music by U.S. President Barack Obama. As a personal request from McCartney, they covered "Drive My Car" from The Beatles' Rubber Soul.

2011–2013: Hiatus, LiVe and split

In 2011, the brothers took a hiatus to focus on their solo careers – Joe released his debut album Fastlife, Nick embarked on 2011 Tour with his band Nick Jonas & the Administration and Kevin studied music production.[46] In addition, they parted ways with Hollywood Records, who had been their label since February 2007. In December 2011, a new song leaked on the internet, "Dance Until Tomorrow", but they never released it.[47][48] Despite rumors that they had split, Kevin said the band would release new material in the future: "I think the tides are perfectly lining up for the future of the Jonas Brothers again".[49][50] On August 2012, Kevin starred the E! reality series Married to Jonas alongside his wife Danielle and brothers Nick and Joe, documenting the young couple's domestic.[51]

On August 17, 2012, after two years of their last work together, they announced a new concert tour, the World Tour 2012/2013.[52][53][54] On October 3, 2012, a preview of the song "Meet You In Paris" was released on Cambio.[55][56] The new tour started on October 11, 2012 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, where they performed several songs from their previous albums along with a new song entitled "Let's Go".[57] During the reunion concert, they also performed other new songs: "Wedding Bells", "First Time" and "Neon".[58][59][60][61] They performed at Jingle Ball at L.A. Live on December 1, 2012, and announced several tour dates to take place in South America. They performed at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival on February 28, 2013, in Chile.[62] Their fifth studio album, which would have been their first not to be released through Hollywood Records since 2006 and their first record since 2009's Lines, Vines and Trying Times, was scheduled to be released in 2013.[63] The album would be titled V (pronounced: Five), the Roman numeral for five, a reference to the project to be the band's fifth studio album. The lead single, "Pom Poms" was released on April 2, 2013.[64] The music video for the song was filmed in February 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana and premiered on E! on April 2, 2013.[65] "First Time", the second single from their fifth album, was released on June 25, 2013.[66] In June they embarked at Live Tour to promote the new songs.

On October 9, 2013, the group cancelled 23 tour dates between October and December, citing a "deep rift within the band" over "creative differences".[67] On October 29, 2013, the Jonas Brothers officially confirmed their split.[68] During an interview, Nick Jonas stated that the album wouldn't be released but decided to release songs in a live album: "We want to do something special for our fans because they've been so supportive of us for so many years. What we've decided to do is package an album with 10 live tracks from the summer tour and four of the songs that would have been on 'V', and if you count 'Pom Poms' and 'First Time', it's actually 6 songs that would have been on 'V'. We’ll be sending that out soon for the fans."[69] The album was released with the title Live, noting the letter "V" in caps as a reference to their would-be fifth studio album of the same name.

2019–present: Return and Happiness Begins

On February 28, 2019, the Jonas Brothers announced their comeback via social media.[70] On March 1, they released a new single, "Sucker" under Republic Records.[71][72] They appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden each night from March 4 to 7 to promote the track.[72] The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the US Hot Digital Songs chart, with 88,000 copies sold in its first week, becoming the Jonas Brothers' first number-one song and the first number one by a boy band on the chart since 2003's "Bump, Bump, Bump" by B2K.[73] It became the band's first entry on the chart since 2013's "Pom Poms" and their first top 10 since 2008's "Tonight". The Jonas Brothers also became the second group in a lead role in history to have a song debut at number one after Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and the first group in this century to achieve this.[9] In its April 13, 2019 issue, "Sucker" became the Jonas' first top 10 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, surging 20–6 in its third week of charting.[74] On April 5, the group released the single "Cool".[75] On April 22, the band announced their upcoming album Happiness Begins, which was released on June 7, 2019[76] and preceded by a documentary titled Chasing Happiness, which premiered on June 4 on Amazon Prime Video.[77] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, marked the biggest debut of 2019[78] and maintained the record until Taylor Swift's Lover was released on August 23.[79]

On June 8, the band performed at Capital's Summertime Ball 2019 in the United Kingdom; the setlist included performing "Year 3000" with the original band behind the song, Busted.[80] On June 18, the band released the promotional single "Greenlight" from their episode of Songland.[citation needed] On June 21, they were featured on Latino singers Sebastián Yatra, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha's single called "Runaway".[81] On July 2, the band released "Only Human", the third single off Happiness Begins, followed by the music video on August 13.[82] On September 27, Diplo released a single titled "Lonely", which featured the Jonas Brothers.[83] On November 8, the group released a Christmas song titled "Like It's Christmas".[84]

On January 17, 2020, the band released the single "What a Man Gotta Do".[85] On January 24, they announced a residency show in Las Vegas named Jonas Brothers in Vegas at the Park Theater at Park MGM beginning on April 1, with eight other dates during the month keeping them in place until the 18th.[86] The band performed at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, revealing a new song titled "Five More Minutes", which will appear on their upcoming album.[87]

Philanthropy

The Jonas Brothers earned an estimated $12 million in 2007, and have donated 10% of their earnings to their charity, Change for the Children Foundation.[88][89] Change for the Children Foundation, started by the Jonas Brothers, has contributors donate to charities such as "Nothing But Nets", "American Diabetes Foundation", "St. Jude Children's Research Hospital", "Children's Hospital Los Angeles", and "Summer Stars: Camp for the Performing Arts". Since August 6, 2008, Bayer Diabetes Care has partnered with Nick Jonas as a diabetes ambassador to promote the idea that young people should manage their diabetes, as Nick was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 13.[90] Jonas testified in the U.S. Senate to promote more research funding for the disease.[91]

The Jonas Brothers have been strong supporters of Do Something. In 2007, the brothers filmed a public service announcement raising awareness about teenage homelessness and encouraging teens to begin "jeans drives" in their communities to donate to the homeless. In 2010, Nick further volunteered his efforts for Do Something by offering his time as a prize to teens who donated jeans to Do Something and Aeropostale's "Teens for Jeans" campaign.[92] Further, Nick filmed another public service announcement, this one in support of Do Something's "Battle of the Bands" campaign for the advancement of music education in schools.

The Jonas Brothers have made several appearances at WE Day, an event that encourages young people to do local and global acts of charity.[93][94] In a post on Twitter, the band also announced that a portion of every ticket purchased for their Toronto show would be donated to WE to help provide secondary school scholarships to young girls in Kenya.[95]

Musical style

The Jonas Brothers' musical style has generally been described as rock,[96][97] pop rock,[68][98][99][100] pop punk,[101] and power pop.[102]

Members

Current members

Nick Jonas – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2005–2013, 2019–present)

Joe Jonas – lead vocals (2005–2013, 2019–present)

Kevin Jonas – lead guitar, backing vocals (2005–2013, 2019–present)

Current touring members

Jack Lawless – drums, percussion (2006–2013, 2019–present)

Demian Arriaga – percussion (2010, 2019–present)

Tom "Liminal" Crouch – lead and rhythm guitars (2019–present)

Tarron Crayton – bass guitar (2019–present)

Michael Wooten – keyboards (2019–present)

KellyeAnn – backing vocals (2019–present)

Mark Joseph – backing vocals (2019–present)

Former touring members

Alexander Noyes – drums (2005–2006)

John Lloyd Taylor – lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals, musical director (2005–2013)

Greg Garbowsky – bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals (2005–2013)

Ryan Liestman – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, banjo (2008–2013)

Paris Carney-Garbowsky – backing vocals, percussion, guitar (2010–2013)

Megan Mullins – violin, backing vocals (2010–2013)

Marcus Kincy – keyboards (2012–2013)

Iain Dale

Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and publisher. Dale writes the British political blog Iain Dale's Diary (founded in 2002) and frequently appears on UK news channels. In September 2003, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to contest a Parliamentary election.[1]

Dale was the managing director of Biteback Publishing until May 2018, and was the publisher of Total Politics magazine, 2008–12.[2] Since September 2010, he has hosted a regular, major discussion show on LBC radio station. In both July 2013 and 2016, he won Radio Presenter of the Year at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards.
Education and early career
Dale was born in Cambridge, but grew up in Essex, where he attended Ashdon County Primary School and Saffron Walden County High School. He obtained an upper second BA honours degree in German, Linguistics, and Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of East Anglia in 1985.[3] Prior to going to university, Dale spent his gap year as a nursing assistant at the Werner Wicker Klinik in West Germany. During his degree course he spent a year teaching English at the gymnasium in Besigheim.

Dale was research assistant to the Conservative Member of Parliament Patrick Thompson (1985–87), Public Affairs Manager for the British Ports Federation (1987–89), Financial Journalist with Lloyd's List (1989–90), and then deputy managing director of the Waterfront Partnership and managing director of the Waterfront Conference Company (1990–96).

Bookseller and publisher
In 1997, he opened Politico's Bookstore and Coffee House in Westminster, selling a mix of political books, memorabilia and novelty items. The shop spawned sister publishing and web design businesses using the Politico's brand. He founded Politico's Publishing in 1998, and sold it in 2003 to Methuen Publishing. In 2004, Dale announced the closure of the walk-in bookshop and relocated the business to Kent as a mail-order operation. Later that year the Westminster premises re-opened as the Westminster Bookshop under the ownership of Methuen.

In 2006, Dale sold the Politico's Bookstore business to Harriman House. In 2012, Dale relaunched Politico's online as part of the Biteback Publishing business. Dale was also the publisher of Total Politics magazine from June 2008 until its sale to Dods (Group) PLC in December 2012.[2]

Writer and author
Dale's fortnightly comment column for The Daily Telegraph, which he began writing in February 2007, was discontinued in January 2009. He has also written for The Guardian, The Independent, GQ, The Spectator and the New Statesman.

Between 2006 and 2013, Dale wrote a weekly diary column for the Eastern Daily Press. In December 2018, it was announced Dale would commence a new weekly column for both the Eastern Daily Press and its Archant stablemate, the East Anglian Daily Times.

On 16 December 2018, The Sunday Times Magazine published a long-read profile of UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson by Dale. On 30 December 2018 The Mail on Sunday published an op-ed by Dale calling for greater civility in political debate and on social media.

Dale has edited or written 46 political books. This includes co-authoring, in May 2006, a book with fellow blogger Paul Staines (responsible for the Guido Fawkes website) about alleged instances of sleaze from the Labour government since it took office in 1997.[4] A second edition was published in June 2007.[5]

He has written histories of West Ham United and Norwich City for Haynes Publishing, and in 2015, wrote a book called The NHS: Things That Need to be Said for Elliott & Thompson. His most recent book is co-edited by former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and is a collection of biographical essays of every female MP elected to the House of Commons since 1918. Titled Honourable Ladies, a second volume is due to appear later in 2019.

Radio broadcaster
Dale got his break in radio on BBC Radio 5 Live, where he was the regular cover for Andrew Pierce on Sunday Service with Fi Glover and Charlie Whelan. He presented a documentary on how the BBC covers general election results, Counting Chickens on the night of the 2001 United Kingdom general election, 7 June 2001. He also presented BBC Radio Four's The Westminster Hour, People & Politics on the BBC World Service and a number of episodes of What the Papers Say between 2010 and 2016.

Dale was a stand-in presenter for London radio station LBC 97.3 during the first nine months of 2010 after doing a couple of test programmes with other journalists. He co-presented LBC's six-hour election night programme on 7 May 2010, with Gaby Hinsliff. In May and June 2010, he presented the Petrie Hosken, Clive Bull, James Max and Jeni Barnett phone-in shows, and on 22 June 2010 fronted LBC's budget coverage.

In late July 2010, Dale started a six-week stint on LBC covering for Petrie Hosken and Andrew Pierce, which later turned into a regular show. Dale was the weekly evening presenter on LBC from 7 to 10 pm until March 2013, when Clive Bull took over. Dale instead replaced broadcaster James Whale as the presenter of the Drivetime show between 4 pm and 7 pm Monday to Friday. Dale continued to present the station's Sunday Politics show between 10 am and 1 pm each weekend for a further few weeks in March 2013 until Andrew Gilligan took over. On 3 September 2018, LBC changed their autumn schedule. Dale moved to the evening show (7–10pm), whilst Eddie Mair joined the station to take over Drivetime.

Dale formerly presented Planet Politics on Oneword Radio. He was also chief presenter on the failed internet TV station 18 Doughty Street.

Dale was shortlisted for Speech Radio Programme of the Year at the 2013 Sony Radio Academy Awards, and then went on to win Radio Presenter of the Year at the 2013 and 2016 Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards. He won a Silver Sony for Interview of the Year at the 2014 Sony Awards for his interview with James from Woolwich who was an eyewitness to the murder of Lee Rigby.

Television broadcaster
Dale’s main television platform is as a thrice-weekly panellist on CNN International’s daily midday show CNNtalk, presented by Max Foster. He is also a regular pundit on Newsnight, The Andrew Marr Show, Jeremy Vine and Good Morning Britain.

Conservative candidate and blogger
In May 2005, Dale stood in the general election as Conservative candidate for North Norfolk, losing to the Liberal Democrat incumbent, Norman Lamb; Lamb was elected with a 10,000 plus majority compared with 483 at the previous election, which he fought against David Prior. Subsequently, Dale acted as chief of staff to the losing leadership candidate David Davis in the run-up to the 2005 Conservative Party leadership campaign.[6]

In August 2006, it was confirmed that he had been added to the Conservative A-List of candidates to fight the next general election.[7] However his ambitions were further frustrated in 2007 when he applied for the Conservative candidacy for the safe seat Maidstone and The Weald, but failed to get past the first interview stage.[8]

In October 2009, Dale ran for selection for the Conservative safe seat of Bracknell[9] in order to succeed Andrew MacKay, who stepped down at the 2010 general election. Dale came third in the run-off ballot behind Rory Stewart and the eventual winner Philip Lee.

Dale's blog, entitled Iain Dale's Diary, had been one of the most widely read political blogs in the UK. It was nominated by The Guardian for the Political Blog of the Year Award in 2005.[10] On 17 June 2010, Dale announced on his blog that he was resigning from the Conservative Party candidates list and would not be standing at any forthcoming parliamentary election.[11] On 14 December 2010, Dale announced that he was quitting both blogging at Iain Dale's Diary and party politics.[12][13]

In July 2011, Dale started a collaborative blog site, Dale & Co, with many contributors from the political spectrum, including himself. He continues to author a blog entitled West Ham Till I Die where he writes on West Ham United.[14]

Dale writes a weekly diary column for the website ConservativeHome,[15] where he also publishes his annual list of the '100 most influential people on the Right'.[16]

In the 2016 EU referendum, Dale voted for "Leave".[17]

Police caution for assault
On 24 September 2013, Dale became involved in a scuffle with Manchester pensioner Stuart Holmes, an anti-nuclear protester, on the Brighton seafront.[18] Holmes' placard had appeared on-screen behind Damian McBride, during an interview with McBride on breakfast television, coinciding with the Labour Party annual conference there.[19] McBride, a former special advisor to Gordon Brown, is one of Dale's authors at Biteback Publishing. Dale, who was not involved in the television interview, attempted to physically remove Holmes from the shot, resulting in the two men grappling on the ground.

On 26 September, Dale accepted a police caution for the assault.[20] Sussex Police had interviewed both men about the incident.[21] Dale subsequently posted an apology "to Mr Holmes, Mr Miliband [Labour Party leader Ed Miliband], the Police, my family, friends and colleagues".[22]

Personal life
Dale has been openly gay since he was 40.[23] He entered into a civil partnership with his long-term partner John Simmons on 15 June 2008 at Wadhurst Castle in East Sussex.[24] This was converted to a marriage in 2015.[25] They have been together since 1995.

Bibliography
Iain Dale has edited/compiled/written forty books:

Unofficial Book of Political Lists, Robson Books, 1997
As I Said to Denis: The Margaret Thatcher Book of Quotations, Robson Books, 1997
The Blair Necessities, Robson Books, 1998
Bill Clinton Joke Book, Robson Books, 1998
Tony Blair New Labour Joke Book, Robson Books, 1998
Dictionary of Conservative Quotations, Politico's Publishing, 1999
Wit & Wisdom of Tony Banks, Robson Books, 1999
Labour Party General Election Manifestos 1900–97, Routledge 1999
Liberal Party General Election Manifestos 1900–97, Routledge, 1999
Conservative Party General Election Manifestos 1900–1997, Routledge, 1999
Memories of Maggie, Politico's Publishing, 2000
Tony Blair New New Labour Joke Book (2nd ed), Robson Books, 2000
Directory of Political Lobbying, Politico's Publishing, 2001
Directory of Political Websites, Politico's Publishing, 2001
Directory of Think Tank Publications, Politico's Publishing, 2001
Memories of the Falklands, Politico's Publishing, 2002
Prime Minister Portillo & Other Things That Never Happened, Politico's Publishing, 2003
Times Guides to the House of Commons 1906–10, Politico's Publishing, 2003
Times Guides to the House of Commons 1929–35, Politico's Publishing, 2003
Directory of Political Lobbying, Politico's Publishing, 2003
Politico's Book of the Dead, Politico's Publishing, 2003
Margaret Thatcher: A Tribute in Words & Pictures, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005
Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze, Politico's Media, 2006
Big Red Book of New Labour Sleaze, Harriman House, 2007
500 of the Most Witty, Acerbic & Erudite Things Ever Said About Politics, Harriman House, 2007
Guide to Political Blogging in the UK, Harriman House, 2007
Little Book of Boris, Harriman House, 2007
Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging 2008–9, Total Politics, 2008
Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging 2009–10, Biteback Publishing, 2009
Total Politics Guide to the General Election, Biteback Publishing, 2009
Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging 2010–11, Biteback Publishing, 2010
Margaret Thatcher: In Her Own Words, Biteback Publishing, 2010
Talking Politics: Political Conversations With Iain Dale, Biteback Publishing, 2010
West Ham United: When Football Was Football, Haynes Publishing, 2011
Prime Minister Boris and Other Things That Never Happened, Biteback Publishing, 2011
The Bigger Book of Boris, Biteback Publishing 2011
Memories of the Falklands, Biteback Publishing (March 2012)
Norwich City: When Football Was Football, Haynes Publishing (April 2012)
The Margaret Thatcher Book of Quotations, Biteback Publishing (August 2012)
The Blogfather: The Best of Iain Dale's Diary, Biteback Publishing (December 2012)
Memories of Margaret Thatcher, Biteback Publishing (April 2013)
Politico’s Guide to the 2015 General Election, Biteback Publishing (September 2014)
Seat by Seat, Biteback Publishing (February 2015)
Gay Shorts (Collected Attitude Columns), Biteback Publishing (February 2015)
The NHS: Things That Need to be Said, Elliott & Thompson (February 2015)
The Honourable Ladies Volume 1: Women MPs 1918–1996, Biteback Publishing (September 2018)
The Honourable Ladies Volume 2: Women MPs 1997–2019, Biteback Publishing (November 2019)
The Big Book of Boris, Biteback Publishing (October 2018)
Why Can't We All Just Get Along, HarperCollins (to be published June 2020)

Dolittle

Dolittle (also referred to as The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle) is a 2020 American fantasy adventure film directed by Stephen Gaghan, from a screenplay by Gaghan, Dan Gregor, and Doug Mand, from a story by Thomas Shepherd. A reboot of the original Doctor Dolittle film and its modern comedy counterparts, the film is based on the titular character created by Hugh Lofting, and primarily inspired by The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. Robert Downey Jr. stars as the title character, alongside Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen in live-action roles. The voice cast includes Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, and Marion Cotillard.

The project was announced in March 2017 with Downey Jr. set to star, and the rest of the cast joined over the following year. Filming began in March 2018 and lasted through June, taking place around the United Kingdom. The film underwent three weeks of reshoots in the spring of 2019, under the supervision of Jonathan Liebesman and Chris McKay, after initial test screenings yielded poor results.

Dolittle was theatrically released in the United States on January 17, 2020, by Universal Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics for its humor and its incoherent story, and has grossed $130.9 million worldwide against a production budget of $175 million.
Plot
Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), is a vet who has the ability to communicate with animals. After his wife, Lily (Kasia Smutniak) dies at sea, Dolittle confines himself to his home, tending to only animals and refusing to contact or assist with other humans. One day, a boy named Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett), accidentally shoots and wounds a squirrel named Kevin (Craig Robinson), and decides to go to Dolittle for help.

Meanwhile, Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley), sends a message, ordering Dolittle to come in order to try to cure her of a deadly sickness. After being persuaded by Polynesia the Macaw (Emma Thompson), Dolittle finally decides to go. Upon reaching her, he finds that the Queen has eaten a poisonous type of nightshade. To be cured, she must eat a fruit from a land far away. Dolittle, Tommy, and a crew of animals put to sail, hoping to find the cure while trying to avoid Dolittle's lifelong rival, Dr. Blair Müdfly (Michael Sheen). Dolittle leaves his dog, Jip (Tom Holland) and a stick insect behind to watch over the Queen while he's away. Along the way, Dolittle's boat is attacked by Dr. Blair Müdfly, but they manage to escape by attaching a harness to a humpback whale that pulls the boat to safety.

However, Dolittle is soon captured by King Rassouli (Antonio Banderas), his former father-in-law, and is locked in a cage with Barry (Ralph Fiennes), a cranky tiger only looking for his mother's approval. Just when it seem Dolittle is in trouble, Chee-Chee the Gorilla (Rami Malek) breaks in and attacks Barry. Dolittle and Stubbins escape only to be captured by Müdfly and have their ship destroyed. After seeing a saddened Dolittle, Rassouli loans him a boat to honour his daughter.

Dolittle and company arrive at an island where they meet Ginko-Who-Soars (Frances de la Tour), a fire breathing dragon. Ginko begins attacking before she collapses due to internal pain. Dolittle figures out what is hurting the dragon and proceeds to remove armour and bagpipes (from previously eaten trespassers) from her behind. Relieved and thankful, Ginko shows Dolittle the tree with the cure. Stubbins gives the queen the plant which cures her. Dolittle’s stick bug reveals that Lord Thomas Badgley (Jim Broadbent), one of the Queen's chairmen, poisoned her in order to take the crown for himself; the queen has him arrested for treason.

Dolittle re-opens the doors to his sanctuary, now including Stubbins.

In a mid-credits scene, we see Müdfly trying to communicate with bats that turn around and attack him.

Cast
See also: List of Doctor Dolittle characters
Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. John Dolittle, a widowed veterinarian who has the ability to speak to animals.
Antonio Banderas as Rassouli, the king of pirates, who was Lily's father and Dolittle’s father-in-law.
Michael Sheen as Dr. Blair Müdfly, an old schoolmate and rival of Dolittle.
Harry Collett as Tommy Stubbins, Dolittle's self-appointed apprentice.
Jim Broadbent as Lord Thomas Badgley, one of the Queen's chairmen.
Jessie Buckley as Queen Victoria, the Queen of England.
Carmel Laniado as Lady Rose, a maid of honor to the Queen and Tommy's friend.
Ralph Ineson as Arnall Stubbins, Tommy's uncle and Dolittle's favorite shoemaker.
Joanna Page as Bethan Stubbins, Tommy's aunt.
Sonny Ashbourne Serkis as Arnall Stubbins Jr., Tommy's cousin.
Kasia Smutniak as Lily Dolittle, Dolittle's deceased wife.[5]
Voices
Emma Thompson as Polynesia, a wise and headstrong macaw and Dolittle’s most trusted advisor.
Rami Malek as Chee-Chee, an anxious but noble gorilla.
John Cena as Yoshi, an upbeat polar bear who wears a bashlyk.
Kumail Nanjiani as Plimpton, a cynical and fussy but well-meaning ostrich who wears striped stockings and quarrels with Yoshi.
Octavia Spencer as Dab-Dab, an enthusiastic and crazy duck with a wooden leg.
Tom Holland as Jip, a loyal lurcher who wears glasses.
Craig Robinson as Kevin, a crazy squirrel with attitude.
Ralph Fiennes as Barry, a ferocious tiger with gold-tipped fangs who has a past with Dolittle.
Selena Gomez as Betsy, a friendly giraffe.
Marion Cotillard as Tutu, a French fox who is friends with Betsy.
Jason Mantzoukas as James, a wisecracking dragonfly who meets Dolittle in a prison cell from which he helps him escape.
Frances de la Tour as Ginko-Who-Soars, a fire-breathing dragon who guards a magical fruit.
Nick. A. Fisher as Mini, a sweet sugar glider.
Production
On March 20, 2017, it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. would star in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, a feature adaptation of The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.[6] In December 2017, Harry Collett and Jim Broadbent were cast.[7][8] In February 2018, Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen were cast in live-action roles, while Tom Holland, Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes, and Selena Gomez were cast to voice animals, including a tiger, bear, and a lioness.[9][10] In March 2018, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, John Cena, Rami Malek, Craig Robinson, Marion Cotillard, Frances de la Tour and Carmen Ejogo joined the voice cast.[11] The character of Regine, a lioness voiced by Ejogo, was cut from the finished film.[citation needed]

Principal production commenced mid-February in 2018. Live-action scenes began filming in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria in May 2018, with further location filming at South Forest, Windsor Great Park and on the Menai Suspension Bridge in North West Wales, in June 2018.[12]

In April 2019, it was reported the film had undergone 21 days of re-shoots following poor test screenings. Director Jonathan Liebesman helped to oversee the filming alongside Gaghan, while Chris McKay helped write new material after it became clear from first cuts that the comedy elements of the film were not coming together as well as the producers had hoped.[2] Prior to this, Universal had turned towards Seth Rogen and Neighbors co-writer Brendan O'Brien to help make the film funnier. However, neither could remain committed to the project and dropped out. McKay was assigned to storyboard sequences and assemble different edits before later leaving to instead direct The Tomorrow War. Liebesman took over McKay's duties and finished the film alongside Gaghan. The Lego Batman Movie scribe John Whittington had performed rewrites on the script amid reshoots and had flown to London to meet with Downey, who allegedly tore Whittington's script apart in favor of "new ideas". The Hollywood Reporter claims that despite a "challenged production" there were no fights for power and no competing cuts for the film.[13] In August 2019, it was reported that the film's title had been changed from The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle to simply Dolittle.[14]

In January 2020, Robert Downey Jr discussed on Joe Rogan's podcast (The Joe Rogan Experience) that the premise of the Dr. Dolittle character in his film stemmed from a Welsh neo-pagan physician called William Price. In the podcast he said: "Same way I did with Iron Man.. all right there's something here and then before I signed on, I was just googling 'weirdest Welsh doctor', I just wanted to think of, I don't want to just do another English accent.. so there was this guy called William Price, who's a nutty Welsh doctor, he was a neo-druidist, he believed that he could communicate with all nature and all that stuff, so I sent a picture of this wild looking guy wearing this kind of suit with stars on it and like a staff in his hand, so I sent that to Gaghan and he goes, "That looks good to me" and I was like "great let's do this movie"".[15]

Music artist Sia performed a new song of hers called "Original" for the end credits, while Danny Elfman composed the film's score.[16]

Release
The film was originally going to be released on May 24, 2019, by Universal Pictures but was moved to April 12, 2019, to avoid competition with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (which was later moved to December 20, 2019).[17] It was later pushed back to January 17, 2020.[18]

Reception
Box office
As of February 6, 2020, Dolittle has grossed $56.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $74.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $130.9 million, against a production budget of $175 million.[3][4] Due to its high production and marketing costs, the film will need to gross around $500 million in order to break-even;[19] following its debut weekend, it was estimated the film would lose the studio between $50–100 million.[20][21]

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $20–22 million from 4,155 theaters in its opening weekend, and a total of around $27 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.[22][23] It made $6.3 million on its first day, including $925,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $22 million (and $29.5 million over the four-day frame), finishing third behind fellow newcomer Bad Boys for Life and holdover 1917.[20] The film made $12.1 million in its second weekend and $7.7 million in its third, remaining in third both times.[24][25]

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 16% based on 179 reviews with an average rating of 3.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Dolittle may be enough to entertain very young viewers, but they deserve better than this rote adaptation's jumbled story and stale humor."[26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported an average 3 out of 5 stars.[20]

Courtney Howard of Variety called the film a "frenetic, crass kids' flick" and wrote: "What should have been an awe-filled adventure quickly curdles into an awful one, thanks to a pedestrian formula and the filmmakers' fixation on fart jokes."[28] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy said that "From the very first scene, it's clear something is terribly off with this lavishly misbegotten attempt to repopularize an animal-loaded literary franchise that was born exactly a century ago. The oddly diffident star and executive producer Robert Downey Jr. never finds the power-supplying third rail needed to energize a tale that fails to make a real case for being reinterpreted