United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
Too Far to Care
Too Far to Care is the third studio album by American country/rock band Old 97's, first released on June 17, 1997. The album's title comes from the song "Streets of Where I'm From." The album was the band's first on Elektra Records. Unlike the two Elektra recordings, the band retained some of their country twang, making this another fan favorite. Lyrically, the band's constant touring is evident in songs like "Barrier Reef", "Broadway", "Niteclub". "Four Leaf Clover", re-recorded from the band's first album, Hitchhike To Rhome, is performed here as a duet with Exene Cervenka of the band, X. "Big Brown Eyes" is re-recorded, this time from the second album, Wreck Your Life. Rhett has clarified that, although his name is Stewart Ransom Miller the song "Barrier Reef" is not autobiographical. Stewart Ransom Miller is technically Rhett's father, sometimes asked "are you the Stewart Ransom Miller?" and answers "yes, but I think you may have me confused with my son." Instead, it's "the guy in that song, the guy who gets laid and finds himself unsurprised at how little solace there is in the coupling."
"Broadway" was written while Miller was in a hotel room in New York City during their courtship with Elektra Records Miller felt out of place, saying "As I stood in that tiny room, I did the math. I could live for a month in my East Dallas garage apartment for the amount of money Elektra was paying per night at the Paramount Hotel. Granted, my accommodations in Dallas were humble to say the least, but this was some serious opulence. If you wonder why the old "major label" business model failed, look no further than the money lavished on our little Texas rock band by the dozen or so labels that wooed us that summer. Ridiculous." Miller used the biblical name "Salome" to "protect the, not-so-innocent... castigating female." Miller found no answer at her door. He "retrieved an inflatable pool float" fell asleep at her doorstep, he awoke to male and female laughter, kicked in her door, put his hand around the man's throat, decided to leave. The title of "Melt Show" comes from the band Melt which had one of Miller's best friends, Clark Vogeler as a member.
Miller says "I spent many a night in the front row at the Melt show." The song is about a Cuban girl from Miami that Miller fell in love with, proposed to, realized his mistake, parted ways with. The line, "I'm calling Time And Temperature just for some company" in the song "Big Brown Eyes" refers to calling the time and temperature line. Rhett says: "the phone in our kitchen had a twenty-five foot cord that stretched throughout the upstairs of the garage. Not only was this before cell phones, it was before the ubiquity of the cordless land line; that phone, with its unending silence, mocked me. I still remember dialing 844 and any four numbers in order to discover the time and temperature; the internet has since rendered such a service laughably archaic. At the time, the voice at the other end of that number soothed me in a way I can't quite explain, she was a constant in a mad changing world. And when I called, she would always answer." "Just Like California" is, according to Miller, "a simple fantasy about being in love with a girl named Clementine who lived in California until the San Andreas Fault gave way, dropping the whole state into the Pacific Ocean.""Curtain Calls" was written while Miller was visiting his brother in Breckenridge, Colorado in 1996 with his sister.
Miller went out to a local nightclub and came home "feeling lonely." He felt: "so many people, so much mirth, yet, in the end, we are all alone." He said that "like many songs I was writing at the time, it dealt with the allure of the itinerant life of a musician, the life onto which I was embarking, the strong ambivalence I felt about it." When writing "Niteclub", Miller "was living with a young woman, poised and destined to move to New York City to pursue her dream. And she did move, and the fuel that her departure provided my young songwriting machine burned hot indeed. I remember writing its lyrics anyway, in a phone booth in a nightclub in Cleveland, it was her 22nd birthday, I was not with her. But I was where I was meant to be." Miller has observed the irony of the lyrics: "the nightclub did steal my youth. And the nightclub does follow me around and eternal, and while I'm busy loving my job, I'm lamenting the life it precludes. You know, the normal life? The 9 to 5?" Miller wrote "House That Used to Be" around 3am while feeling lonely in his "two bedroom house a block off of White Rock Lake."
He wrote it with the assistance of a Rhyming Dictionary. "I gave myself a challenge: make a list of rhyming, two-syallable words, compound words or phrases that sounded juicy and turn that list into a song.'Graveyard/Co-starred,"Corn silk/Spilt milk,"Quaaludes/Corkscrewed' etc...""Four Leaf Clover" was recorded on Hitchhike To Rhome, the first Old 97's album. Rhett was searching for a duet to record with friend Exene Cervenka and "had started work on an old-fashioned duet that I thought we might sing, but Exene proclaimed it'too pretty'." That song became "Fireflies." Instead, Exene sang on "Four Leaf Clover", replacing the lyric "nothing to impress you" with "nothing to attract you" which Rhett found "much sexier." All songs written by Ken Bethea, Murry Hammond and Philip Peeples. "Timebomb" – 3:08 "Barrier Reef" – 3:49 "Broadway" – 3:22 "Salome" – 4:07 "W. TX Teardrops" – 3:05 "Melt Show" – 3:07 "Streets of Where
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph Isaak is an American musician and occasional actor. He is known for his hit "Wicked Game", as well as the popular hit songs "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" and "Somebody's Crying", he is renowned for his signature 1950s rock & roll style and crooner sound, as well as his soaring falsetto and reverb-laden music. He is associated with film director David Lynch, who has used his music in numerous films and gave him a role in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, his songs focus on the themes of love and heartbreak. With a career spanning four decades, he has amassed a total of 12 studio albums and has accumulated numerous award nominations and tours, he has been called the Roy Orbison of the 1990s and is also compared to Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Duane Eddy. Isaak was born in Stockton, California, at St. Joseph's Medical Center, the son of Dorothy, a potato chip factory worker, Joe Isaak, a forklift driver, his father's family is Catholic Black Sea German from North Dakota. Isaak's mother is Italian American, from Genoa.
Isaak attended Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in north Stockton, graduating in 1974. He was class president all three years, culminating with his election as student body president in his senior year, along with being the 1974 graduating class valedictorian and head of the all-male cheer squad, he subsequently attended a local college, San Joaquin Delta Community College, before transferring to the University of the Pacific, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and communications arts in 1981. He was in an exchange program that allowed him to study in Japan. After graduating from college, Isaak put together Silvertone; this rockabilly outfit consisted of James Calvin Wilsey, Rowland Salley, Kenney Dale Johnson, who remained with Isaak as his permanent backing band. In 1985 Isaak signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records, released his first album, Silvertone, to critical acclaim, including from John Fogerty; the name was taken from the band. The album's sound was diverse, mingling country blues with conventional folk ballads.
Although the album was a critical success, it failed to sell respectably. Two tracks from the album, "Gone Ridin'" and "Livin' for Your Lover," featured in David Lynch's cult classic Blue Velvet. Isaak's self-titled follow-up album was released in 1986 and managed to scrape into the Billboard Top 200; the album saw Isaak hone his style to sophisticated R&B. The artwork for Chris Isaak, was photographed by fashion photographer Bruce Weber. Isaak's contract was renewed in 1988. "Suspicion of Love" appears in the 1988 hit movie Married to the Mob starring Matthew Modine, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dean Stockwell. Isaak's best known song is "Wicked Game." First released on the 1989 album Heart Shaped World, an instrumental version of the song was subsequently featured in the 1990 David Lynch film Wild at Heart. Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director, obsessed with Lynch films, played the vocal version and it became the station's most-requested song. Chesnut spread the word to other radio stations and the single became a national Top 10 hit in February 1991.
It reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The music video for the song was a MTV and VH1 hit. Another less-seen version of "Wicked Game" is directed by David Lynch and comprises scenes from the film Wild at Heart. "Wicked Game" featured as the backing music in the 2001 TV advertisement for the Jaguar X-Type in the UK. In 1995 Isaak split with longtime guitarist James Calvin Wilsey; that year's Forever Blue album and the accompanying tour featured Hershel Yatovitz on guitar. In an interview with Mark Needham, an engineer who worked with Isaak on "Wicked Game," Needham claimed that it took several years to put the track together. In 1999 Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut; the song is on his 1995 Forever Blue album. The music video for the song is directed by Herb Ritts, it was shot in color and featured Isaak and French supermodel Laetitia Casta in a motel room; this was Isaak's second collaboration with Ritts. Isaak composed a theme song for U.
S. late-night television variety/talk The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. In 2001, Isaak starred in The Chris Isaak Show, it aired from March 2001 to March 2004 in the United States on the cable television network Showtime. This adult comedy show featured Isaak and his band playing themselves and the episode plots were based on fictional accounts of the backstage world of Isaak—the rock star next door. In 2004 his track "Life Will Go On" was featured on Chasing Liberty's soundtrack, which starred Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode, his track "Two Hearts" was featured in the closing credits of the 1993 film True Romance, directed by Tony Scott, written by Quentin Tarantino, starring Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. Isaak's producer, Erik Jacobsen, was instrumental in his sound for 15 years. Jacobsen is known for his production work with The Lovin' Spoonful, solo albums from Spoonful's John Sebastian and Jerry Yester. Isaak ceased working with Jacobsen on Always Got Tonight. In 2007 Isaak opened for Stevie Nicks on her Crystal Visions Tour during the first leg of the tour.
In 2006 he appeared on a duet with Johnny Hallyday covering Fats Domino's hit Blueberry Hill. The duet was rec
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. It is known for its low student-to-faculty ratio and individualized course of study; the school models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials, which are a key component in all areas of study. Sarah Lawrence emphasizes scholarship in the humanities, performing arts, writing, places high value on independent study. Sarah Lawrence College is ranked 53rd in the National Liberal Arts Colleges category in 2018 by U. S. News & World Report. Sarah Lawrence was named the higher education institution with the "best classroom experience" in all of America by Princeton Review in 2016. Sarah Lawrence College was established by real-estate mogul William Van Duzer Lawrence on the grounds of his estate in Westchester County and was named in honor of his wife, Sarah Bates Lawrence; the College was intended to provide instruction in the arts and humanities for women. A major component of the College's early curriculum was "productive leisure," wherein students were required to work for eight hours weekly in such fields as modeling, typewriting, applying makeup, gardening.
Its pedagogy, modeled on the tutorial system of Oxford University, combined independent research projects, individually supervised by the teaching faculty, seminars with low student-to-faculty ratio—a pattern it retains to the present, despite its cost. Sarah Lawrence was the first liberal arts college in the United States to incorporate a rigorous approach to the arts with the principles of progressive education, focusing on the primacy of teaching and the concentration of curricular efforts on individual needs. In addition to founding Sarah Lawrence College, William Lawrence played a critical role in the development of the neighboring community of Bronxville, New York, his name can be found on the affluent Lawrence Park and Lawrence Park West neighborhoods, the Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate Corporation, on Lawrence Hospital in downtown Bronxville, an institution, created when Lawrence's son, nearly died en route to a hospital in neighboring New York City. Lawrence embodied ideas from the Progressivist movement of the 1890s his view that the arts were a crucial element in the social evolution of individuals and families, in developing both private and public sensibilities, in creating equal relations between men and women.
Harold Taylor, President of Sarah Lawrence College from 1945 to 1959 influenced the college. Taylor, elected president at age 30, maintained a friendship with educational philosopher John Dewey, worked to employ the Dewey method at Sarah Lawrence. Taylor spent much of his career calling for educational reform in the United States, using the success of his own College as an example of the possibilities of a personalized and rigorous approach to higher education. Sarah Lawrence became a coeducational institution in 1968. Prior to this transition, there were discussions about relocating the school and merging it with Princeton University, but the administration opted to remain independent. At the undergraduate level, Sarah Lawrence offers an alternative to traditional majors. Students pursue a wide variety of courses in four different curricular distributions: the Creative Arts. Classes are structured around a seminar-conference system through which students learn in small interactive seminars and private tutorials with professors.
Each student is assigned to a faculty advisor, known as a "don," who helps the student plan a course of study and provides ongoing academic guidance. Most courses, apart from those in the performing arts, consist of two parts: the seminar, limited to 15 students, conferences, a meeting with a seminar professor. In these conferences, students develop individual projects that extend the course material and link it to their personal interests. Sarah Lawrence has no required courses, traditional examinations have been supplanted by research papers. Additionally, grades are recorded only for transcript purposes—narrative evaluations are given in lieu of grades; the College sponsors international programs in Florence, at Wadham College, Oxford, at Reid Hall in Paris, at the British American Drama Academy in London. Sarah Lawrence has the longest-running study abroad program in Havana, Cuba. Sarah Lawrence offers Master's-level programs in Writing, the Art of Teaching, Child Development, Theatre and Dance/Movement Therapy and is home to the nation's oldest graduate program in Women's History and the nation's first master's degree programs in Human Genetics and Health Advocacy.
Sarah Lawrence offers a program for people wishing to seek a B. A. or a Master have been out of school for any period. Eugene Lang College Exchange Program: In 1996 the college began its exchange program with Eugene Lang College, the undergraduate division of the New School in New York City. Eugene Lang has particular strengths in the social sciences. Qualified students may cross-register in courses in other divisions of the New School, including the graduate divisions. Students must have completed the first and sophomore years. Qualified students have the opportunity to participate in Lang's exchange program at the Universi
Texas
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U. S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast. Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth largest in the U. S. while San Antonio is the second-most populous in the state and seventh largest in the U. S. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, respectively. Other major cities include Austin, the second-most populous state capital in the U. S. and El Paso. Texas is nicknamed "The Lone Star State" to signify its former status as an independent republic, as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico; the "Lone Star" can be found on the Texan state seal.
The origin of Texas's name is from the word taysha. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U. S. Southern and Southwestern regions. Although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10% of Texas's land area is desert. Most of the population centers are in areas of former prairies, grasslands and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the desert and mountains of the Big Bend; the term "six flags over Texas" refers to several nations. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the union as the 28th state; the state's annexation set off a chain of events that led to the Mexican–American War in 1846.
A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, joined the Confederate States of America on March 2nd of the same year. After the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. Four major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle and bison, cotton and oil. Before and after the U. S. Civil War the cattle industry, which Texas came to dominate, was a major economic driver for the state, thus creating the traditional image of the Texas cowboy. In the 19th century cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry became less lucrative, it was though, the discovery of major petroleum deposits that initiated an economic boom which became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the mid-20th century.
As of 2015, it is second on the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with 54. With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including agriculture, energy and electronics, biomedical sciences. Texas has led the U. S. in state export revenue since 2002, has the second-highest gross state product. If Texas were a sovereign state, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world; the name Texas, based on the Caddo word táyshaʼ "friend", was applied, in the spelling Tejas or Texas, by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves the Hasinai Confederacy, the final -s representing the Spanish plural. The Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was completed near the Hasinai village of Nabedaches in May 1690, in what is now Houston County, East Texas. During Spanish colonial rule, in the 18th century, the area was known as Nuevo Reino de Filipinas "New Kingdom of the Philippines", or as provincia de los Tejas "province of the Tejas" also provincia de Texas, "province of Texas", it was incorporated as provincia de Texas into the Mexican Empire in 1821, declared a republic in 1836.
The Royal Spanish Academy recognizes both spellings and Texas, as Spanish-language forms of the name of the U. S. State of Texas; the English pronunciation with /ks/ is unetymological, based in the value of the letter x in historical Spanish orthography. Alternative etymologies of the name advanced in the late 19th century connected the Spanish teja "rooftile", the plural tejas being used to designate indigenous Pueblo settlements. A 1760s map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin shows a village named Teijas on Trinity River, close to the site of modern Crockett. Texas is the second-largest U. S. state, with an area of 268,820 square miles. Though 10% larger than France and twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Zambia. Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers; the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas to the south.
The Red River forms a natural border with Arkansas to the north. The Sabine River forms a natural border with Louisiana to the east; the Texas Panhandle has an eastern border with Oklahoma at 100° W, a northern border with Oklahoma at 36°30' N and a western
Mythologies (album)
Mythologies is the first studio album by American country/rock band performer, Rhett Miller, who became the lead singer and songwriter of the Old 97's. Miller recorded the album with friend, future Old 97's bassist, Murry Hammond, his next solo effort would wait more than a decade. "Iron Child" – 2:40 "Days Between Stations" – 2:44 "Song for Truman Capote" – 3:32 "Fishbowl" – 2:26 "Still They Sing" – 4:28 "Redbird Song" – 4:12 "Cicada Song" – 4:07 "Honey in My Tea" – 3:45 "I'm Coming Home" – 3:19 "Sea Shell Girl" – 4:07 "Candy Apple Corkscrew Hair" – 1:57 "Staten Island Ferry Boat" – 2:32 "Between Timid and Timbuktu" – 2:09
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist in popular music is the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer either sets against the ensemble as the dominant sound. In vocal group performances, notably in soul and gospel music, early rock and roll, the lead singer takes the main vocal part, with a chorus provided by other band members as backing vocalists. In rock music, the lead singer or solo singer is the front man or front woman, who may play one or more instruments and is seen as the leader or spokesman of the band by the public; as an example in rock music, Freddie Mercury was the lead singer of Queen. In soul music, Smokey Robinson was the lead singer of The Miracles, it is uncertain when the term "lead vocals" was first used, but it may have emerged in the late 1930s, when rich vocal interplay with multiple voices where one or more voices may dominate began to impact on North American popular music, dominated by solo vocals.
The practice of using a lead singer in vocal groups, has a longer history: an early form is the "call and response" found in work songs and spirituals sung by African-American slaves. Songs of the late nineteenth century used a leading solo voice, followed by a choral response by other singers; as the style developed through early commercial recordings and performances in the early 20th century, the role of the lead vocalist became more established, although popular groups of the 1930s and 1940s such as the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers used different lead singers on different songs rather than keeping the same lead singer throughout. By the 1950s, singers such as Sam Cooke and Clyde McPhatter took on more defined roles as lead singers, by the end of the decade credited group names changed to reflect the leading roles of the main vocalists, with examples such as Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and Dion & the Belmonts. Academic David Horn has written:The influence of US rhythm and blues recordings may well be a crucial one in the assimilation of the format of lead singer plus backing group into the guitar-based British'beat' groups of the 1960s, in US groups such as The Beach Boys.
From these various points - including Motown - it went on to become a standard device in much rock and pop music. In some bands - most famously, The Beatles - the role of lead singer alternated, while in others - for example, Herman's Hermits - one lead singer dominated. There are as many styles of lead singer as there are styles and genres of music. However, the lead singer of a group or band is the main focus of audiences' attention; the lead vocalist of band is sometimes called the "front man" or "front woman," as the most visible performer in a group. While most bands have a singular lead singer, many others have dual lead singers, or other member of the band that sing lead on particular songs. While the lead singer defines the group's image and personality to the general public, this is not always the case. In modern rock music, the lead singer is but not always the band's leader and spokesperson. While lead singers or spokespersons for any musical ensembles can be called a front man, the term is used widely in rock music.
Since the position has an expanded role from simple lead vocalists, there have been cases in which the front man for a band is someone other than the lead vocalist. For example, while the lead vocalist for the band Fall Out Boy is guitarist Patrick Stump, the bassist and lyricist, Pete Wentz, is called the front man, both in the media and by the band members themselves, since he represents the band in most interviews and contributes most to the band's image in the popular media. Another example is Angus Young of AC/DC, the band's lead guitarist, co-leader with his brother Malcolm Young. In many bands, such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, Living Colour, The Stone Roses and Oasis, the lead guitarist may share spokesman responsibilities with the lead singer; this is derived from that guitarist's specific role as a co-songwriter, co-founder and/or co-vocalist. In some cases, there are two frontmen, such as Alice in Chains, with singer Layne Staley sharing vocal duties with guitarist Jerry Cantrell, or Underoath, with singers Spencer Chamberlain and Aaron Gillespie sharing vocal duties.
Another example is Blink-182, in which vocal duties are split between bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge. Hoppus carries out most media either by himself or together with DeLonge, while the band's other member, drummer Travis Barker remains quiet. Linkin Park had two vocalists as well, Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington, both considered as frontmen. Another example is the thrash metal band Metallica, in which James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich share the spokesperson duties for being both founders and the only members who have never left the band. List of lead vocalists
