1.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
–
The
Canal Saint-Denis with swing bridge, pedestrian overpass leading to the
Stade de France and the
Basilique Saint-Denis in the background.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Battle of Saint-Denis (1567)
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Saint-Denis 1830
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur de Saint-Denis.
2.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
4.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
Seating capacity
–
The
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has the largest seating capacity of any venue in the world.
Seating capacity
–
An aerial view of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground during the 1992
Cricket World Cup final packed with 90,000 people.
5.
France national football team
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The France national football team represents France in international football. The teams colours are blue, white and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol, France are colloquially known as Les Bleus. France play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, and they have won one FIFA World Cup, two UEFA European Football Championships, an Olympic tournament, and two FIFA Confederations Cups. France experienced much of its success in three major, in the 1950s, 1980s, and late 1990s/early 2000s respectively, which resulted in numerous major honours. In 1958, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, in 1984, France, led by Ballon dOr winner Michel Platini, won UEFA Euro 1984. Under the leadership of Didier Deschamps and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, two years later, the team triumphed at UEFA Euro 2000. France won the Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003, and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the team also reached the final of UEFA Euro 2016, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time. France, Argentina and Brazil are the national teams that have won the three most important mens titles recognized by FIFA, the World Cup, the Confederations Cup. They have also won their continental championship. The following year, on 12 February 1905, France contested their home match against Switzerland. The match was played at the Parc des Princes in front of 500 supporters, France won the match 1–0 with the only goal coming from Gaston Cyprès. Due to disagreements between FIFA and the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, the sports union. In 1919, the CFI transformed themselves into the French Football Federation, in 1921, the USFSA finally merged with the FFF. In July 1930, France appeared in the inaugural FIFA World Cup, in their first-ever World Cup match, France defeated Mexico 4–1 at the Estadio Pocitos in Montevideo. Lucien Laurent became notable in the match as he scored not only Frances first World Cup goal, conversely, France also became the first team to not score in a match after losing 1–0 to fellow group stage opponents Argentina. Another loss to Chile resulted in the team bowing out in the group stage, the following year saw the first selection of a black player to the national team. Raoul Diagne, who was of Senegalese descent, earned his first cap on 15 February in a 2–1 defeat to Czechoslovakia. Diagne later played with the team at the 1938 World Cup, alongside Larbi Benbarek, at the 1934 World Cup, France suffered elimination in the opening round, losing 3–2 to Austria
France national football team
–
Michel Platini captained France to victory at
UEFA Euro 1984.
France national football team
–
France
France national football team
–
Didier Deschamps captained the French team that won both the
1998 FIFA World Cup and
UEFA Euro 2000.
France national football team
–
Zinedine Zidane at the
2006 FIFA World Cup
6.
France national rugby union team
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The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and they have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Years Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match – against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament in 1910, France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. The national team came of age during the 1950s and 1960s and they won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the stage of every tournament. They have reached the three times, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students, on 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson Desailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne. Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place till New Years Day,1906 against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910, in 1913 France faced South Africas Springboks for the first time, losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak, France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II. French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, they won their first Five Nations championship and their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959, they won with two wins, a draw and a defeat, France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to fighting amongst the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australias Wallabies and they won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years
France national rugby union team
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France playing Wales during the
Six Nations Championship.
France national rugby union team
–
France
France national rugby union team
–
The jersey of the French rugby team, with the traditional
Gallic rooster symbol
France national rugby union team
–
France hosting the
All Blacks at the
Stade de France which is in
Saint-Denis, Paris
7.
National stadium
–
Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a countrys national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to a football stadium. Usually, a stadium will be in or very near a countrys capital city or largest city. It is generally the countrys largest and most lavish sports venue with a history of hosting a major moment in sports. In many, but not all cases, it is used by a local team. Many countries, including Spain and the United States, do not have a national stadium designated as such, Stadium Australia, currently known under a sponsorship deal as ANZ Stadium, the 2000 Sydney Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 84,000. There exists a popular rivalry between ANZ Stadium and the MCG due to lasting rivalries between football codes and the respective cities, there was an implied claim to being the new national stadium when it opened in 1999 with the name Stadium Australia. Cricket is no longer played at the venue, while Australian rules will not be played there beyond 2016, large sports events are commonly held in alternate venues. The second largest and most well known stadium in Brazil is Estádio do Maracanã located at Rio de Janeiro, the national team plays at several venues throughout the country. Likewise, Canadian football and lacrosse, two prominent sports unique to Canadian culture, play at venues across the nation. Prior to confederation into Canada, the Dominion of Newfoundland used King George V Park as its national stadium, Estádio da Várzea Stade Barthélemy Boganda Stade Idriss Mahamat Ouya Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos Beijing National Stadium Chinese football national team does not have a national stadium. The team plays games in Beijing Workers Stadium, Shanghai Hongkou Stadium, Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, Stade Omar Bongo Independence Stadium Boris Paichadze Stadium The German national football team usually plays at different stadiums throughout the country. See the Northern Ireland section for other cases, teddy Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium Nokia Arena Canada Stadium The Italian national football team usually plays at different stadiums throughout the country. Stadio Olimpico In the case of union, the national team plays matches throughout the country. Previously, Stadio Flaminio served the same purpose, darius and S. Mexicos national baseball and basketball teams play at various venues throughout the country. Zimbru Stadium Stade Louis II Podgorica City Stadium Marrakesh Stadium Hage Geingob Stadium Olympisch Stadion The national football team has no dedicated stadium and it plays at venues around the country. However the most commonly used stadium is the Amsterdam ArenA in Amsterdam, Stadion Narodowy - home stadium of Poland national football team. National Rugby Stadium, rugby union national stadium Estádio do Jamor, however, the national football team very seldom plays there
National stadium
National stadium
National stadium
National stadium
8.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Paris
–
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."
Paris
Paris
–
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)
Paris
–
The
Palais de la Cité and
Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the
Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)
9.
List of European stadiums by capacity
–
The following is a list of the largest European stadiums. They are ordered by their capacity, i. e. the maximum number of spectators the stadium can normally accommodate. this means that if standings are allowed they are not counted. The capacity figures are for permanent total capacity, including seating and any standing areas. For the few stadiums that support both retractable and moveable seating a capacity number will be required for the deployed movable seating capacity. Such multi-capacity stadiums will be sorted in the list based on the largest of these capacity values, all stadiums with a capacity of 25,000 or more are included. An asterisk indicates that a team does not play all of its matches at that venue. The Category column indicates whether the stadium has been designated by UEFA as capable of hosting Champions League or Europa League matches, not having a category does not imply an inability or failure of the stadiums capabilities to host such games. The stadium owners may simply have never applied to host a UEFA fixture, the following is a list of all European stadiums which are currently under construction and will have a capacity of 25,000 or more
List of European stadiums by capacity
–
Camp Nou is the highest capacity stadium in Europe.
10.
1998 FIFA World Cup
–
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998, the country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the time that France staged the competition. Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997, for the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the match and final staged at the Stade de France. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3–0 in the final, France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals, France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7, Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFAs requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively, France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, blazer stated that we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup. Since France won the selection process it was thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the payment was from the failed Moroccan bid. The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, as tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was Brazil the defending champions. 174 teams from six confederations participated, up 24 from the previous round, in Europe, fourteen countries qualified excluding France. Ten were determined after group play, nine group winners and the best second-placed team, the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches – the winners of which qualifying for the finals as well. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced through to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament, chile qualified for the first time since 1982
1998 FIFA World Cup
–
Saint-Denis
1998 FIFA World Cup
–
1998 FIFA World Cup official logo
1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
11.
Michel Platini
–
Michel François Platini is a French former football player, manager and administrator. Nicknamed Le Roi for his ability and leadership, he is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon dOr three times, in 1983,1984 and 1985, and came sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. In recognition of his achievements, he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1985, during his career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus. Together with the midfielders Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, Platini was his countrys record goalscorer until 2007, and holds the record for most goals scored in the European Championship despite only appearing in the victorious 1984 edition. Following his retirement as a player, Platini was the French national team coach for four years, from 2007, he served as the president of the Union of European Football Associations. He also held the positions of chairman of FIFAs Technical and Development Committee, in 2015, however, he was banned from football administration for conflict of interest by the FIFA Ethics Committee. Born in Jœuf, in the Lorraine region, Platini is the son of Aldo and Anna, Aldo was a professional footballer and a long-time director for AS Nancy, the club where Michel started his professional career. Platini was called up for a trial with Metz, but missed out on the opportunity due to injury and he returned to regional league football with Jœuf. Another trial at Metz went horribly wrong when a breathing test on a spirometer caused Platini to faint, the doctors verdict on Platinis breathing difficulties and weak heart ended any hopes Platini had of playing for his boyhood favorites. He then joined the side of his fathers club Nancy in September 1972. Platini was quick to make a big impression at his new club, further outstanding displays put him in contention for a place in the Nancy first team. His introduction to the squad was inauspicious. On the substitutes bench for a match against Valenciennes, Platini was spat on, playing for the reserves a few days later, a hefty challenge from an opponent left Platini with a bad ankle injury. His season would finish on a positive note, and he would go on to make his league debut against Nîmes on 3 May 1973. In March 1974, he suffered a setback when he sustained a fracture of his left arm in a match at OGC Nice. Platini missed the remainder of the season as a result, unable to assist Nancy in a bid to avoid relegation from Ligue 1. The following season saw Nancy win promotion back to the French first division with ease, Platini became the teams most important player, scoring 17 goals, a number of which were scored from free-kicks, as was becoming Platinis specialty. Saint-Étienne, the then reigning French league champions, were knocked out of the French Cup with two goals from Platini free-kicks, Platini practised his free-kicks with the help of his friend, goalkeeper Moutier, and using a row of dummies to form a defensive wall of sorts
Michel Platini
–
Platini in Poland in September 2010
Michel Platini
–
Platini holding aloft the
Ballon d'Or in
Juventus colours.
Michel Platini
–
Michel Platini visiting the construction site of a
Stadium in Maślice, 2009
12.
Brazil national football team
–
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international mens association football. Brazil is administered by the Brazilian Football Confederation, the body for football in Brazil. They have been a member of the FIFA since 1923 and member of the CONMEBOL since 1916, Brazil is the most successful national football team in the FIFA World Cup with five championships,1958,1962,1970,1994 and 2002. Brazil is the national team to have played in all World Cup editions without any absence nor need for playoffs. The seleção is also the most successful team in the FIFA Confederations Cup with four titles,1997,2005,2009 and 2013. They have also won their continental championship. Brazil is the national team to have won the World Cup on four different continents, once in Europe, once in South America, twice in North America. They also share with Spain a record of 35 consecutive international matches undefeated, a common quip about football is, Os ingleses o inventaram, os brasileiros o aperfeiçoaram. Brazil won 2–0 with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, though it is claimed that the match was a 3–3 draw, in contrast to its future success, the national teams early appearances were not brilliant. Other early matches played during that time include several friendly games against Argentina, Chile, however, led by the goalscoring abilities of Arthur Friedenreich, they were victorious at home in the South American Championships in 1919, repeating their victory, also at home, in 1922. In 1930, Brazil played in the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, the squad defeated Bolivia but lost to Yugoslavia, being eliminated from the competition. They lost in the first round to Spain in 1934 in Italy, Brazil were the only South American team to participate in this competition. After being victorious in a third South American Championship in 1949 Brazil first achieved prominence when it hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The team went into the last game of the round, against Uruguay at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio. Uruguay, however, won the match and the Cup in a known as the Maracanazo. The match led to a period of national mourning, Brazil reached the quarter-final, where they were beaten 4–2 by tournament favourites Hungary in one of the ugliest matches in football history, known as the Battle of Berne. For the 1958 World Cup, Brazil were drawn in a group with England and they beat Austria 3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. Before the match, coach Vicente Feola made three substitutions that were crucial for Brazil to defeat the Soviets, Zito, Garrincha and Pelé
Brazil national football team
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The first Brazil national team ever, 1914.
Brazil national football team
–
Brazil
Brazil national football team
–
Brazil's first match at home against
Exeter City in 1914.
Brazil national football team
–
The Brazil national team at the
1959 Copa América.
13.
1998 FIFA World Cup Final
–
The 1998 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that was played on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to determine the winner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. France won the match 3–0 to claim the World Cup for the first time, zinedine Zidane, who was named man of the match, scored twice before half-time and Emmanuel Petit added a third goal in the last minute. The match had an attendance in the region of 75,000, after a 4–1 win over Chile and a 3–2 success against Denmark, they reached the final with a penalty shoot-out victory over the Netherlands. As for France, they won their three matches and defeated Paraguay in the knockout stages on golden goals. They had a penalty-shootout with Italy in the quarter-finals, and defeated recently formed Croatia to reach the final, the match also saw speculation on the condition of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who suffered a convulsive fit on the eve of the match. After initially being left out of the sheet, in spite of his physical state. In the match, he sustained an injury in a clash with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, France followed up their victory by qualifying for and winning UEFA Euro 2000 held in the Netherlands and Belgium. Brazil took the Copa America title in 1999, and then won the next FIFA World Cup in Japan, Ronaldo went on to set the record for goals in World Cups, which was later broken by Miroslav Klose of Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. For Brazil, this only the second time that they had lost a World Cup final. The 3–0 scoreline was also Brazils previous largest loss at any World Cup match prior to their 7–1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil were drawn in Group A for the group stages alongside Scotland, Morocco and Norway. They recorded victories over Scotland and Morocco to progress but lost their final game 2–1 to Norway and they next faced Group B runners-up Chile in the last-16 and comprehensively won 4–1, Ronaldo and César Sampaio each scoring twice. In the quarter-finals, they played Denmark, who had won their previous game 4–1. Despite being 1–0 down to a Martin Jorgensen goal in the minute, Brazil turned the game around in their favour with goals from Bebeto. Brian Laudrup equalised for Denmark after 50 minutes but Brazil won the game 10 minutes later courtesy of a second from Rivaldo, in the semi-finals, Brazil faced the Netherlands in Marseille. The game finished 1–1 at full-time, Ronaldo scoring just after half-time and Patrick Kluivert equalising for the Netherlands in the 87th minute, the match had to be settled by penalties which Brazil won 4–2 to reach their second successive World Cup final. France were drawn in Group C alongside Denmark, South Africa and they started their campaign with an easy 3–0 win over South Africa followed by a convincing 4–0 win over Saudi Arabia. France secured top spot in their group courtesy of a 2–1 win over Denmark with goals from Youri Djorkaeff, in the second round they faced Group D runners-up Paraguay. France won a close encounter 1–0 in extra time thanks to a goal scored by Laurent Blanc
1998 FIFA World Cup Final
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The
Stade de France held the final
14.
2024 Summer Olympics
–
The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event. Bidding for the games started in 2015, with five cities in contention. The two remaining candidate sites are Los Angeles and Paris, the host of the Summer Olympic Games is scheduled to be announced at the 130th International Olympic Committee Session in Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017. However, IOC President Thomas Bach has suggested to both cities the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics at the session in Lima. On 17 March 2017, the International Olympic Committee has moved closer toward picking both Los Angeles and Paris to host a Summer Games in a double vote that year. The candidature process was announced at the time as the names of the five candidates cities on 16 September 2015. olympic. Hamburg withdrew its bid due to a referendum held on November 29,2015, while, citing fiscal difficulties, on February 22,2017, it was reported that Budapest withdrew its bid, after a petition against the bid collected more signatures than necessary for a referendum. In a statement released the IOC’s evaluation commission praised the candidates for “creativity, the International Olympic Committee wanted feedback on the formation of a working group that will consider giving 2024 to one city and 2028 to the other. On April 5,2017 the race between Los Angeles and Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics caused a debate from Facebook fans. On 19 February 2013, the United States Olympic Committee sent letters to the mayors of 37 American cities to gauge their interest in hosting the 2024 Olympics, the cities included were Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D. C. On 10 June 2014, the USOC met in Boston to confirm the shortlist of cities drawn up for the 2024 Olympics, on 13 June 2014, the USOC announced its shortlist for potential host cities, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington. On 26 September 2014, The U. S. Olympic Committee received near-unanimous support from the sports federations in a poll asking whether they would support a bid for the 2024 Olympics. Forty of the 47 national governing bodies took part in the poll and all 40 answered positively to the question, during the closed door meeting each of the four cities were given two hours to present their citys bids. Following the final presentation, the USOC announced that the United States would bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but did not announce which city would bid. On 8 January 2015, the USOC selected Boston to be the city from the United States but on 27 July 2015 Bostons bid was withdrawn. On 1 September 2015 the USOC announced that Los Angeles was chosen for the United States bid for the 2024 Summer Games, Baku, Azerbaijan Baku submitted a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics and submitted a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Baku failed to become a candidate both times, upon failing to become a candidate for the 2020 Games, it was stated that Baku would come back again next time even stronger. Baku National Stadium also hosted the 2015 European Games, istanbul is expected to bid for the 2019 European Games, as European Olympic Committee president Spyros Capralos stated that hosting the European Games would help with its future Olympic bids
2024 Summer Olympics
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Summer Games
15.
UEFA
–
The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973
UEFA
–
Henri Delaunay, the first general secretary of UEFA
UEFA
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Union of European Football Associations
16.
2006 UEFA Champions League Final
–
It was the final match of the 2005–06 season of Europes primary cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were appearing in their final, having won the competition once in 1992. Arsenal were appearing in the final for the first time and in doing so became the first club from London to feature in the final, each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Barcelona won their group and progressed to the final after beating Chelsea, Benfica and Milan, Arsenal won their group to move into the knockout stage, and progressed without conceding a goal against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal, respectively. A crowd of 79,500 watched as Jens Lehmann was sent off early in the game, despite this setback, Arsenal took the lead through Sol Campbell towards the end of the first half. The game turned with the 61st minute introduction of Henrik Larsson as a Barcelona substitute, Larsson provided two assists, one each for Samuel Etoo and Juliano Belletti. The 2–1 victory was Barcelonas second triumph in the competition 14 years after they won the European Cup in 1992, both Arsenal and Barcelona entered the competition in the group stages, Arsenal by finishing second in the 2004–05 FA Premier League, and Barcelona by winning La Liga. The group stages were contested as eight double round robin groups of four teams, knockout matches were decided based on home and away matches, with the away goals rule, extra time and penalty shootouts as tiebreakers if needed. UEFA also conducted a variety of site visits, saint-Denis was chosen to host the final in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first European Cup final in 1956, held in nearby Paris at the Parc des Princes, now home of Paris Saint-Germain. The Parc des Princes also hosted the 1975 and 1981 European Cup finals, the 1978 and 1995 UEFA Cup Winners Cup finals, Barcelona were to show the match live from their Mini Estadi on a 70-metre television screen for an estimated audience of 15,276. Before the final an estimated 1.2 million people converged on to the streets of Barcelona, Arsenal went into the match with the record for the longest time without a conceding a goal. They had gone 919 minutes without conceding since conceding against AFC Ajax in the group stages, Arsenal were featuring in their first European final six years to the day since their last final. They faced Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final, the match had finished goalless after 90 minutes, Arsenal lost the subsequent penalty shootout 4–1. Of the players who featured in final, only Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp remained at the club, whilst Sylvinho. The 2006 final was the first time that Arsenal had reached the showpiece match, Barcelona were appearing in the final for the fifth time, their last appearance had been in a 4–0 loss to Milan in 1994. Two more losses preceded the 1994 final, and their success in the competition came in 1992 when they beat Sampdoria. Barcelona went into the final as domestic champions, having won La Liga a fortnight earlier. They were regarded as being the best side on the continent because they possessed players such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Etoo
2006 UEFA Champions League Final
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The two teams line up before kick off
2006 UEFA Champions League Final
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2006 UEFA Champions League Final
2006 UEFA Champions League Final
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The team flags hoisted above the pitch before the kick-off
2006 UEFA Champions League Final
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Play during the first half
17.
1999 Rugby World Cup
–
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia and this was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sports professional era. Although the majority of matches were played outside Wales the opening ceremony, the first match, qualification for the final 16 places took place between 63 other nations. The 1999 tournament saw the introduction of a repechage, effectively a chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone. The tournament began with the ceremony in the newly-built Millennium Stadium, with Wales beating Argentina 23–18. The overall attendance for the tournament was 1.75 million, the following 20 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Of the 20 teams, only four of those places were automatically allocated and these went to the champions, runners-up and the third-placed nations at the 1995 and the tournament host, Wales. A record 65 nations from five continents were involved in the qualification process designed to fill the remaining 16 spots. Wales won the right to host the World Cup in 1999, other venues in Wales were the Racecourse Ground and Stradey Park. An agreement was reached so that the unions in the Five Nations Championship also hosted matches. Venues in England included Twickenham and Welford Road, rugby union venues, as well as Ashton Gate in Bristol and the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield, venues in Ireland included Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Ravenhill and Thomond Park. France used five venues, the most of any nation, including the French national stadium, Stade de France, the five pool runners-up and the best third-placed side qualified for the quarter-final play-offs. The unusual format meant that two winners in the quarter-finals would have to play each other. From the quarter-final stage it became a knockout tournament. The semi-final losers played off for third place, the draw and format for the knock-out stage was set as follows. The tournament began on 1 October 1999 in the newly built Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the Pool stage of the tournament played out as was widely expected with the Tri Nations teams of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia all winning their pools easily without losing a single game. For the then Five Nations Championship teams who all played their matches in their own countries it was a case of mixed fortunes with France winning their pool without losing a game. Host Wales also won their pool, though they suffered 31–38 defeat at the hands of Samoa in front of a crowd at the Millennium Stadium
1999 Rugby World Cup
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1999 Rugby World Cup
18.
2007 Rugby World Cup
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The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days,42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, the top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup. The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. The stadium was also the venue of the final, played between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won 15–6 to win their second World Cup title, both England and France bid to host the tournament. The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 2001, both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans. The International Rugby Board stated that countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option. The IRB said Englands original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional, new and hybrid format all on offer. The French bid, while complying with the document in all other respects. Englands bids included a tournament and altering the structure of the qualifying tournament. It was announced in April 2003 that France had won the right to host the tournament, the tournament was moved to the proposed September–October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was. It was also announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, the eight quarter-finalists from the 2003 World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other 12 nations coming from qualifying series around the world. Ten of the 20 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, the qualifying tournament was divided into five regional groups, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007, including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament. In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively, in July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26–0 in Buenos Aires. Americas 2 was filled in August when Canada defeated the United States 56–7 in Newfoundland, the United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October. Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November, in late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong, georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place
2007 Rugby World Cup
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The opening ceremony of the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
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2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
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The
Eiffel Tower in Paris decorated with a giant rugby ball for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
2007 Rugby World Cup
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The 2007 World Cup was hosted by France, with additional venues at Edinburgh and Cardiff.
19.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America
FIFA World Cup
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The 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony
FIFA World Cup
–
Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in
Montevideo,
Uruguay
20.
FIFA World Cup Final
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The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition established in 1930. It is contested by the national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association. The tournament has taken every four years, except in 1942 and 1946. The most recent World Cup, hosted by Brazil in 2014, was won by Germany, the World Cup final match is the last of the competition, and the result determines which country is declared world champions. If after 90 minutes of play the score is a draw. If such a game is tied after extra time it is decided by kicks from the penalty shoot-out. The winning penalty shoot-out area team are then declared champions, the tournament has been decided by a one-off match on every occasion except 1950, when the tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams. Uruguays 2–1 victory over Brazil was the match which put them ahead on points. Therefore, this match is regarded by FIFA as the de facto final of the 1950 World Cup, in the 20 tournaments held,77 nations have appeared at least once. Of these,12 have made it to the final match, with five titles, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have participated in every World Cup finals tournament. Italy and Germany have four titles, the other former champions are Uruguay and Argentina with two titles each, and England, France, and Spain with one each. The current champions, Germany, took their title in 2014. The 2014 German team also became the first European team to win in South America, the team that wins the finals receive the FIFA World Cup Trophy, and their name is engraved in the bottom side of the trophy. The 1970 and 1994 along with the 1986,1990 and 2014 games are to date the only matches competed by the same teams, as of 2014, the 1934 final remains the latest final to have been between two teams playing their first final. The final match of the upcoming 2018 World Cup in Russia is scheduled to take place at the countrys biggest sports complex, the 1930 and the 1966 games are the only ones that did not take place on Sunday. The former did on a Wednesday and the latter on a Saturday, as of 2014, only nations from Europe and South America have competed in a World Cup Final. The Year column refers to the year the World Cup was held, the wikilinks in the Final score column point to the article about that tournaments final game. Links in the Winners and Runners-up columns point to the articles for the football teams of the countries
FIFA World Cup Final
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Germany celebrating after their win against
Argentina in the
2014 World Cup final
21.
Rugby World Cup
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The Rugby World Cup is a mens rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand, New Zealand are the current champions, having defeated Australia in the final of the 2015 tournament in England. Four countries have won the trophy, New Zealand have won it three times, two teams have won twice, Australia and South Africa, while England have won it once, the tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sports international governing body. Sixteen teams were invited to participate in the tournament in 1987. Japan will host the event in 2019. Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the tournament, where eight of the sixteen places were contested in a twenty-four-nation tournament. The remaining twelve positions were filled by continental qualifying tournaments, positions were filled by three teams from the Americas, one from Asia, one from Africa, three from Europe and two from Oceania. Another two places were allocated for repechage, the second repechage position was determined between the runners-up from the Asia and Oceania qualifiers. The qualification system for the eight places is region-based, with a total eight teams allocated for Europe, five for Oceania. The last place is determined by an intercontinental play-off, the 2015 tournament involved twenty nations competing over six weeks. There were two stages, a pool and a knockout, Nations were divided into four pools, A through to D, of five nations each. The teams were seeded before the start of the tournament, with the seedings taken from the World Rankings in December 2012, the four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The next four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The remaining positions in each pool were filled by the qualifiers, Nations play four pool games, playing their respective pool members once each. A bonus points system is used during pool play, if two or more teams are level on points, a system of criteria is used to determine the higher ranked, the sixth and final criterion decides the higher rank through the official World Rankings. The winner and runner-up of each pool enter the knockout stage, the knockout stage consists of quarter- and semi-finals, and then the final. The winner of each pool is placed against a runner-up of a different pool in a quarter-final, the winner of each quarter-final goes on to the semi-finals, and the respective winners proceed to the final. Losers of the semi-finals contest for third place, called the Bronze Final, if a match in the knockout stages ends in a draw, the winner is determined through extra time
Rugby World Cup
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The Webb Ellis Cup is awarded to the winner of the Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
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The opening ceremony of the 2007 tournament
Rugby World Cup
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A scrum between
Samoa (in blue) and
Wales (in red) during the 2011 World Cup
Rugby World Cup
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Gavin Hastings is one of four players to have kicked a record eight penalties in a single World Cup match.
22.
Race of Champions
–
The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the worlds best racing and rally drivers. The race was first organised in 1988 by former rally driver Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnsson, the top individual overall in The Race Of Champions is given the title Champion of Champions, and receives the Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy. The ROC Nations Cup was added in 1999 and now features teams of two drivers who compete for their country, the event has taken place in several venues, including 12 years on Gran Canaria from 1992 to 2003. In 2014, the event was held at the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados, the 2015 event took place in November at the 2012 Olympic Stadium in London. The 2017 ROC took place in January at Marlins Park in Miami, in the Race of Champions, the individual drivers compete head-to-head in one race around the track. The drivers are eliminated using a round-robin format, with the best eight entering a knockout tournament. Prior to the Race of Champions, eight teams of two compete in the ROC Nations Cup using a similar format. In both the ROC Nations Cup and the Race of Champions, the final consists of three runs, with the team or driver that achieves two victories first crowned champion, the cars used in The Race Of Champions vary from year to year. Prior to each run, a type of car is assigned to both of the drivers, with each machine being identical in every respect, over the course of the event, each driver will get to drive several different cars. The final was a battle between two Flying Finns, in which Kankkunen beat Salonen to become the first Champion of Champions. The cars used at the first event were Audi Quattro S1, BMW M3, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Lancia Delta Integrale, Opel Manta 400, the following years saw new events in addition to the main race. The International Rally Masters, started in 1990, was designed to offer the seasons best drivers, who were yet to win a championship title, the Classic Rally Masters, first contested in 1994, was a historic Race of Champions competed with pre-1965 Porsche 911s. These two events have since been discontinued and it was during this period that the emphasis on rally champions faded, as evidenced by victories for Andrea Aghini and François Delecour, neither of whom had won a WRC title. 2003 was the last time the event would be held on Gran Canaria, the 2004 Race of Champions took place on December 6 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The individual event was won by Heikki Kovalainen, the first non-rally driver to win the crown, there was also a special World Champions Challenge race held between 2004 Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and 2004 World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb, which Schumacher won. The 2005 event took place on December 3, the individual event was won by Sébastien Loeb after Tom Kristensen crashed out of the final, and the Nations Cup event was won by Tom Kristensen and Mattias Ekström representing Scandinavia. The 2006 event took place on December 16, the Nations Cup was competed first and the event was won by Finland, with Heikki Kovalainen beating United States Travis Pastrana on the final round. The individual event and the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy was won by Mattias Ekström of Sweden and he beat Kovalainen by 0.0002 seconds in the semi-finals, and then defending champion, Sébastien Loeb of France, in the finals
Race of Champions
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Race of Champions
Race of Champions
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2007 Race of Champions at
Wembley Stadium.
Race of Champions
–
Marcus Grönholm and
Henning Solberg driving
Ford Focus RS WRC 07 cars at the 2007 Nations' Cup.
Race of Champions
–
Sebastian Vettel driving the ROC buggy.
23.
UEFA Euro 2016
–
It was held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. Spain were the defending champions, having won the 2008 and 2012 tournaments. Portugal won the tournament for the first time, following a 1–0 victory after extra time over the host team, France, for the first time, the European Championship final tournament was contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996. Under the new format, the finalists contested a group consisting of six groups of four teams. France was chosen as the host nation on 28 May 2010, after a process in which they beat Italy. The matches were played in ten stadiums in ten cities, Bordeaux, Lens, Lille Métropole, Décines-Charpieu, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Étienne and it was the third time that France hosted the finals, after the inaugural tournament in 1960 and the 1984 finals. As the winners, Portugal earned the right to compete at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, four bids came before the deadline on 9 March 2009. France, Italy and Turkey put in single bids while Norway, Norway and Sweden eventually withdrew their bid in December 2009. The host was selected on 28 May 2010, Round 1, Each of the thirteen members of the UEFA Executive Committee ranked the 3 bids first, second, and third. First place ranking received 5 points, second place 2 points, Executive members from the countries bidding were not allowed to vote. Round 2, The same thirteen-member committee voted for either of the two finalists, the qualifying draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis in Nice, on 23 February 2014, with the first matches being played in September 2014. A total of 53 teams competed for 23 places in the tournament to join France. Gibraltar competed in a European Championship qualifying for the first time since their affiliation to UEFA in 2013, the seeding pots were formed on the basis of the UEFA national team coefficients, with the Euro 2012 champions Spain and hosts France automatically top seeded. The 53 national sides were drawn into eight groups of six teams, the group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team qualify directly for the final tournament. The remaining eight third-placed teams contested two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers, in March 2012, Gianni Infantino, the UEFA General Secretary at the time, stated that UEFA would review the qualification competition to ensure that it was not boring. In May 2013, Platini confirmed a similar qualifying format would be discussed during the September 2013 UEFA executive committee meeting in Dubrovnik. Thirteen of the sixteen teams qualified for Euro 2012 qualified again for the 2016 final tournament. Romania, Turkey, Austria and Switzerland all returned after missing out in 2012, with the Austrians qualifying for just their second final Euro tournament, five teams secured their first-ever qualification to a UEFA European Championship final tournament, Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales
UEFA Euro 2016
–
Saint-Denis
UEFA Euro 2016
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UEFA Euro 2016 official logo Le Rendez-Vous
UEFA Euro 2016
UEFA Euro 2016
24.
Portugal national football team
–
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in international mens association football competition since 1921. It is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the body for football in Portugal. Portugals first participation in a tournament finals, at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup finals were in 1986 and 2002, going out in the first round both times. Portugal also made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 1984 final tournament, losing 3–2 after extra time to the hosts and eventual winners France. The team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2000, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012, as well as the final of Euro 2004, the latter on home soil. At Euro 2016, Portugal won its first ever trophy, defeating hosts France 1–0 after extra time. With the win, Portugal qualified and will make its first appearance in the FIFA Confederations Cup held the year in Russia. The teams home stadium is the Estádio Nacional, in Oeiras, the current head coach is Fernando Santos and the captain is Cristiano Ronaldo, who holds the team records for most caps and goals. Portugal was not invited to the 1930 World Cup, which featured a final stage. In the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Seleção played one game against Switzerland in a ground, held in Milan, losing 2–1 against the Swiss. Because of the conflict due to the World War II, there was no World Cup held until the 1950 competition and subsequently. On the restart of games, the team was to play a round against Spain. After a 5–1 defeat in Madrid, they managed to draw in the second game 2–2, for the qualification of the 1954 World Cup, the team would play Austria. The Austrians won the first game with a humiliating 9–1 result, the best the national team could do was hold the team to a goalless draw in Lisbon, and the round ended with a 9–1 defeat. In the 1958 qualification, Portugal won a match for the first time. Nevertheless, they finished last in the stage that also featured Northern Ireland, only the first-placed team, Northern Ireland. The year 1960 was the year that UEFA created the European Football Championship, the first edition was a knock-out tournament, the last four teams participating in final stage that only featured one leg while the older stages had two legs
Portugal national football team
–
Eusébio in 1972
Portugal national football team
–
Portugal
Portugal national football team
–
Luís Figo playing for Portugal at the
2006 FIFA World Cup
Portugal national football team
–
Portuguese fans supporting the national team
25.
Single-elimination tournament
–
Where more than two competitors can play in each match, such as in a shootout poker tournament, players are removed when they can no longer play until one player remains from the group. This player moves on to the next round, some competitions are held with a pure single-elimination tournament system. Others have many phases, with the last being a final stage called playoffs. The round before the quarterfinals is sometimes called the round of sixteen, Last Sixteen, or pre-quarterfinals, earlier rounds are typically numbered counting forwards from the first round, or by the number of remaining competitors. If some competitors get a bye, the round at which they enter may be named the first round, with the matches called a preliminary round. Many Olympic single-elimination tournaments feature the bronze medal if they do not award bronze medals to both losing semifinalists. The FIFA World Cup has long featured the third place match, the number of distinct ways of arranging a single-elimination tournament is given by the Wedderburn–Etherington numbers. Brackets are set up so that the top two seeds could not possibly meet until the round, none of the top four can meet prior to the semifinals. If no seeding is used, the tournament is called a random knockout tournament. One version of seeding is where brackets are set up so that the quarterfinal pairings would be the 1 seed vs. the 8 seed,2 vs.7,3 vs.6 and 4 vs. This may be done after each round, or only at selected intervals, in American team sports, for example, the MLS, NFL and WNBA employ this tactic, but the NBA does not. MLB does not have teams in its playoff tournament where re-seeding would make a large difference in the matchups. In international fencing competitions, it is common to have a group stage, participants are divided in groups of 6–7 fencers who play a round-robin tournament, and a ranking is calculated from the consolidated group results. Single elimination is seeded from this ranking, the single-elimination format enables a relatively large number of competitors to participate. There are no dead matches, and no matches where one competitor has more to play for than the other, the format is less suited to games where draws are frequent. In chess, each fixture in a single-elimination tournament must be played multiple matches, because draws are common. In association football, games ending in a draw may be settled in extra time, another perceived disadvantage is that most competitors are eliminated after relatively few games. Variations such as the tournament allow competitors a single loss while remaining eligible for overall victory
Single-elimination tournament
–
Example of a single-elimination tournament bracket
26.
Coupe de France
–
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation. The final is played at the Stade de France and the winner of the Coupe de France qualifies for the stage of the UEFA Europa League. The reigning champions are Paris Saint-Germain who defeated Marseille in the final of the 2015–16 competition, the Coupe de France was first held in 1917–18 and, during the 2007–08 season, celebrated its 90th anniversary. Combined with random draws and one-off matches, the Coupe de France can be difficult for the clubs to win. However, despite the advantages, only one club has actually reached the final since professionalism was introduced in French football in 1932. Both clubs who have won the competition and were not playing in Ligue 1 were professional, Le Havre in 1959, the Coupe de France is managed and run by the Coupe de France Commission, whose president is former French international Willy Sagnol. 7,422 clubs participated in the 2011–12 cup competition, furthermore, an improved 7,656 clubs competed in the 2013–14 edition. The Coupe de France was created on 15 January 1917 by the French Interfederal Committee, the major clubs in France objected to the notion that all clubs should be allowed to enter. However, the federation dispelled their complaints and declared the competition would remain as is, due to the minimal requirements to enter, the first competition featured 48 clubs. By 1948, the number had increased to 1,000 and at present, due to the initial increase in clubs, the federation created preliminary rounds beginning with the 1919–20 season. The following season, they added a second preliminary round, as of today, the competition contains eight regional rounds with some regions containing as much as ten. The first Coupe de France victors were Olympique de Pantin who defeated FC Lyon 3–0 at the Stade de la Légion Saint-Michel in Paris in front of 2,000 spectators. The following year, the competition was shifted to the Parc des Princes, the competition alternated between many stadiums during its early years playing at the Stade Pershing from 1920–1924 before switching to the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. The competition lasted a decade there before returning to the Parc des Princes in 1938, in 1941, the final was held at the Stade de Paris. Since the ratio between amateur and professional clubs in France is extremely one-sided, the competition regularly produces surprises, the best performance by an amateur club in the competition is usually awarded the Petit Poucet Plaque. One of the recent successes of an amateur club occurred during the 1999–2000 competition when Championnat de France amateur club Calais RUFC reached the final. Calais, composed of doctors, dock workers, and office clerks, started the competition in the 5th round and, after defeating fellow amateurs, Calais, after 120 minutes, were level 1–1 with Lille and defeated their Northern foes 7–6 on penalties. In the following two rounds, Calais defeated Langon-Castets and Cannes, in the quarter-finals, Calais defeated Strasbourg 2–1 and on 12 April 2000, eclipsed Bordeaux 3–1 in the semi-finals to advance to the final
Coupe de France
–
1920 final between
CA Paris and
Le Havre
Coupe de France
–
Coupe de France
Coupe de France
–
Paris Saint-Germain celebrating their 7th Coupe de France title (
2006).
27.
Coupe de la Ligue
–
The Coupe de la Ligue, known outside France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. Paris Saint-Germain are the current champions, having defeated Monaco 4–1 for a seventh title in the 2016-2017 competition. Competitions similar to the Coupe de la Ligue had been held in France. The Coupe Charles Drago was held from 1953 to 1965, it involved teams eliminated from the Coupe de France, the winner of the first Coupe Charles Drago final was decided by a coin-toss when Sochaux and Toulouse tied 3–3 after extra time. Another competition named Coupe de la Ligue existed from 1963 to 1965, in 1982, a Coupe dEté was held before the start of the French league season, the cup was won by Stade Laval. This tournament continued under the name of Coupe de la Ligue, until 1994, entrance to the UEFA Cup, now called the UEFA Europa League, is offered to the winning team. Its first winner was Paris Saint-Germain, after their 2–0 victory over Bastia, the first final decided by a penalty shootout was in 1996 when Metz beat Lyon. The first three finals were held at Parc des Princes, since the 1998 cup, all finals have been held at the Stade de France, strasbourg and Paris Saint-Germain have won the competition at both stadiums. Gueugnon became the first team below the top division of France to win the cup after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the 2000 final, overall, there have been 14 winners of the competition since 1995. The current holders of the cup are Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Lille in the 2016 final to win the cup for a sixth time. Most tournament wins, seven, Paris Saint-Germain, most final appearances, eight, Paris Saint-Germain. Most goals scored in a season, Stéphane Guivarch, seven goals in 1997–98, in France, the Coupe de la Ligue is broadcast by France Television until the 2008–09 season and will continue to do so until at least the 2015–16 season. In Spain, the Coupe de la Ligue is broadcast by beIN Sports, in Australia the Coupe de la Ligue is broadcast by Setanta Sports Australia. In many parts of the world the game is broadcast live on TV5Monde, Coupe de France, the nations football cup Coupe de la Ligue information on LFP. fr
Coupe de la Ligue
–
Coupe de la Ligue trophy
Coupe de la Ligue
–
Coupe de la Ligue
28.
Coupe Gambardella
–
The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-19s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation. The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their skills in a national competition. A victory in the finals of the cup is as sought after by players trying to start their career. The tournament is the day version of the Coupe nationale des juniors. The competition was renamed, in 1955, to honour Emmanuel Gambardella, president of the French Football Federation from 1949 to 1953. The Coupe Gambardella begins in December, of the year of the final. Home advantage is given out randomly, until the stage when games are played at neutral venues. Games which are drawn after ninety minutes, go to a penalty shootout as opposed to extra time, the final is always played on the same day as the Coupe de France and have traditionally taken place at the Stade de France. Teams shown in italics are no longer in existence
Coupe Gambardella
–
2007–08 final between
Stade Rennais and
Girondins de Bordeaux in the
Stade de France.
Coupe Gambardella
–
Founded
29.
Top 14
–
The Top 14 is a rugby union club competition that is played in France created in 1892. The Top 14 is at the top of the league system operated by the French National Rugby League. There is promotion and relegation between the Top 14 and the level down, the Rugby Pro D2. The fourteen best rugby teams in France participate in the competition, the competition was previously known as the Top 16. The first ever took place in 1892, between two Paris-based sides, Stade Français and Racing Club, with the latter becoming the inaugural champions. The competition has been held on a basis since, except from 1915 to 1919—because of World War I—and from 1940 to 1942—because of World War II. Toulouse is the most successful club in the competition with 19 titles, the first competition was held in 1892, as a one-off championship game between the Racing Club de France and Stade Français. The Racing Club defeated Stade Français four points to three to win the first ever title, though the stadistes got their revenge the following year in a repeat of the final, the match official for that first final was Pierre de Coubertin. Stade Français would go on to win a number of titles thereafter, the 1897 and 1898 series were awarded on a points system after a round-robin. Although the competition was called the French championship, entry was confined to Parisian clubs. The 1899 season was the first to clubs from outside of Paris, and led to Stade Bordelais winning the final that season. The competition was won by a number of different clubs before World War I, with teams like FC Lyon, Stade Toulousain, Aviron Bayonnais. Due to the war, operations were suspended for a number of years, in its place, a competition known as the Coupe de lEspérance was held which consisted mostly of young boys who had not yet been drafted. The competition was four times but is not normally considered a full championship. The normal competition returned for the 1920 season, and Stadoceste Tarbais became the first post-war champions, during the 1920s Stade Toulousain would create its now famous rugby history, winning five championships during the decade. USA Perpignan would also win two championships, during the 1930s the championship game was held only in Bordeaux and Toulouse. The 1930 championship game won by Agen over US Quillan, was the first final to go into extra-time and it would also see Toulon and Lyon OU win their first championship games. During the latter part of the decade, RC Narbonne, CS Vienne and Perpignan all won titles, after the war the championship final returned to Paris, and was played at Parc des Princes for the next four seasons
Top 14
–
Final ASM vs
Stade Français
Top 14
–
Top 14
30.
Rugby union
–
Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match
Rugby union
–
South African
Victor Matfield takes a line-out against New Zealand in 2006.
Rugby union
–
Rugby School in
Rugby, Warwickshire, with a rugby football pitch in the foreground
Rugby union
–
James Ryan, captain of the New Zealand Army team, receiving the Kings Cup from George V.
Rugby union
–
Sébastien Chabal (far left) in number eight position before entering the scrum.
31.
The Rolling Stones
–
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The original line-up consisted of Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued as a touring member until his death in 1985. Jones left the less than a month prior to his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and has been on guitar in tandem with Richards ever since, following Wymans departure in 1993, Darryl Jones joined as their touring bassist. Other touring keyboardists for the band have been Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, the band was first led by Jones, but after teaming as the bands songwriters, Jagger and Richards assumed leadership while Jones dealt with legal and personal troubles. The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964, and identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the group began a period of musical experimentation in the mid-1960s that peaked with the psychedelic album Their Satanic Majesties Request. During this period, they were first introduced on stage as The Worlds Greatest Rock, the band continued to release commercially successful records in the 1970s and sold many albums, including Some Girls and Tattoo You, which were their most popular albums worldwide. From 1983 to 1987, tensions between Jagger and Richards almost caused the band to split, however, they managed to patch up their friendship in 1987. They separated temporarily to work on projects and experienced a comeback with Steel Wheels. Since the 1990s, new recorded material from the group has been increasingly less well-received, despite this, the Rolling Stones have continued to be a huge attraction on the live circuit, with stadium tours in the 1990s and 2000s. By 2007, the band had four of the top five highest-grossing concert tours of all time, Voodoo Lounge Tour, Bridges to Babylon Tour, Licks Tour and A Bigger Bang Tour. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Rolling Stone magazine ranked them fourth on the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list and their estimated album sales are above 250 million. They have released 30 studio albums,18 live albums and numerous compilations, Let It Bleed was their first of five consecutive number one studio and live albums in the UK. Sticky Fingers was the first of eight number one studio albums in the US. In 2008, the band ranked 10th on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists chart, in 2012, the band celebrated its 50th anniversary. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were childhood friends and classmates in Dartford, Kent, Jagger had formed a garage band with Dick Taylor, mainly playing Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin Wolf and Bo Diddley material. Jagger met Richards again in 1960 on platform two of Dartford railway station, the Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records that Jagger carried revealed a common interest that prompted their musical partnership
The Rolling Stones
–
The Rolling Stones performing at
Summerfest festival in June 2015 Left to right:
Charlie Watts (drums),
Ronnie Wood (rhythm guitar),
Mick Jagger (vocals),
Keith Richards (lead guitar)
The Rolling Stones
–
The back room of what was the
Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, London where the Rolling Stones had their first residency in 1963
The Rolling Stones
–
The Rolling Stones performing at Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, Georgia, May 1965
The Rolling Stones
–
A trade ad for the 1965 Rolling Stones' North American tour.
32.
U2
–
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, initially rooted in post-punk, U2s sound grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music, yet has maintained an anthemic sound. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal themes, popular for their live performances, the group has staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency, within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album Boy. Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album War, by the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The groups fifth album, The Joshua Tree, made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, With or Without You, facing a backlash and creative stagnation, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. This experimentation continued through their album, Pop, and the PopMart Tour. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Cant Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The groups thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence, was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the worlds best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The band formed in Dublin on 25 September 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. then a 14-year-old student at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, posted a note on the schools notice board in search of musicians for a new band—six people responded. Mullen later described it as The Larry Mullen Band for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge. Martin, who had brought his guitar and amplifier to the first practice but could not play, did not remain with the group, the group settled on the name Feedback because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Most of their material consisted of cover songs, which the band admitted was not their forte. Some of the earliest influences on the band were emerging punk rock acts, such as the Jam, the Clash, Buzzcocks, the popularity of punk rock convinced the group that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to being successful. In April 1977, Feedback played their first gig for an audience at St. Fintans High School. Shortly after, the changed their name to The Hype
U2
–
U2 performing at
Madison Square Garden in November 2005, from left to right: The Edge; Larry Mullen, Jr. (drumming); Bono; Adam Clayton
U2
–
Bono performs in Norway during the
War Tour in 1983.
U2
–
The tree pictured on
The Joshua Tree album sleeve.
Adam Clayton said, "The desert was immensely inspirational to us as a mental image for this record."
U2
–
The Zoo TV Tour was a multimedia-intensive event, featuring a stage that used dozens of video screens.
33.
Muse (band)
–
Muse are an English rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, Muse released their debut album, Showbiz, in 1999, showcasing Bellamys falsetto and a melancholic alternative rock style. Their second album, Origin of Symmetry, expanded their sound, incorporating wider instrumentation and romantic classical influences, Absolution saw further classical influence, with orchestra on tracks such as Butterflies and Hurricanes, and became the first of five consecutive UK number-one albums. Black Holes and Revelations incorporated electronic and pop elements, influenced by 1980s groups such as Depeche Mode, the album brought Muse wider international success. The Resistance and The 2nd Law explored themes of government oppression and civil uprising and their seventh album, Drones, was a concept album about drone warfare and returned to a harder rock sound. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, the members of Muse played in separate school bands during their stay at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s. Guitarist Matt Bellamy successfully auditioned for drummer Dominic Howards band, Carnage Mayhem and they renamed the band Gothic Plague. They asked Chris Wolstenholme – at that time the drummer for Fixed Penalty – to join as bassist, he agreed, the band was renamed Rocket Baby Dolls and adopted a goth-glam image. In 1994, Rocket Baby Dolls won a battle of the bands. Bellamy said, It was supposed to be a protest, a statement, so, when we won, it was a real shock. After that, we started taking ourselves seriously, the band quit their jobs, changed their name to Muse, and moved away from Teignmouth. The name Muse was supposedly inspired by Matthew Bellamys art teacher Samuel Theoun, the band liked that it was short and thought that it looked good on a poster. After a few years building a fanbase, Muse played their first gigs in London and they had a significant meeting with Dennis Smith, the owner of Sawmills Studio, situated in a converted water mill in Cornwall. He had seen the three boys grow up as he knew their parents, and had a company with their future manager Safta Jaffery. The meeting led to their first serious recordings and the release of the Muse EP on 11 May 1998 on Sawmills in-house Dangerous label and their second EP, the Muscle Museum EP, also produced by Reeve, was released on 11 January 1999. It reached number 3 in the singles chart and attracted the attention of British radio broadcaster Steve Lamacq. Later in 1999, Muse performed on the Emerging Artists stage at Woodstock 1999 and signed with Smith, despite the success of their second EP, British record companies were reluctant to sign Muse. After a trip to New Yorks CMJ Festival, Nanci Walker, director of A&R at Columbia Records, flew Muse to the US to showcase for Columbia Records then-Senior Vice-President of A&R, Tim Devine, as well as for American Recordings Rick Rubin
Muse (band)
–
Muse performing at
Big Day Out 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. From left to right: Howard, Bellamy, touring member
Morgan Nicholls (background), and Wolstenholme.
Muse (band)
–
Muse performing at
Roskilde Festival in Denmark, July 2000
Muse (band)
–
Chris Wolstenholme of Muse performing at the
Mod Club Theatre, Toronto in 2004. The international Absolution tour included the band's first shows in North America since 1999.
Muse (band)
–
Muse playing "
Starlight " at
Reading and Leeds Festivals on 28 August 2006
34.
Rihanna
–
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, she first entered the industry by recording demo tapes under the direction of record producer Evan Rogers in 2003. She ultimately signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its then-president. She assumed creative control for her studio album Good Girl Gone Bad. Its successful lead single Umbrella became a breakthrough in her career. After releasing four consecutive platinum albums, including the Grammy Award winner Unapologetic. Her eighth studio album Anti and its lead single Work reached number-one on the Billboard 200, with sales exceeding 230 million records worldwide, Rihanna is one of the best-selling artists of all time. Widely recognized for reinventing her style, she received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2014. Forbes ranked Rihanna the fourth most powerful celebrity of 2012, and was named one of Times 100 Most Influential People in the World later that year, Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20,1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. Her mother, Monica, is an accountant of African American background. Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her fathers side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships. She grew up in a bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. Rihannas childhood was affected by her fathers addiction to crack cocaine. As a child, she went through a lot of CT scans for the excruciating headaches she suffered, even thought it was a tumor, by the time she was fourteen, Rihanna’s parents had divorced and her health began to improve. Rihanna grew up listening to music and began singing at around the age of seven. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere High School, Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme, the singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant. Although she initially wanted to graduate high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead. In 2003, Rihanna formed a trio with two of her classmates
Rihanna
–
Rihanna grew up in the city of
Bridgetown, Barbados.
Rihanna
–
Rihanna performing during the
Diamonds World Tour in 2013
Rihanna
–
Rihanna performing at the
KIIS-FM Jingle Ball, 2005
Rihanna
–
Rihanna in
Minneapolis performing on her
Loud Tour, June 2011
35.
AC/DC
–
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. A hard rock/blues rock band, they have also considered a heavy metal band, although they have always dubbed their music simply rock. AC/DC underwent several changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, in 1975, Malcolm. Membership subsequently stabilised until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage, within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980 after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The group considered disbanding, but buoyed by support from Scotts parents, decided to continue, ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was auditioned and selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the released the new album, Back in Black. The album launched them to new heights of success and became their all-time best-seller, the bands next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. Drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and replaced by ex-A II Z drummer Simon Wright, the band experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s with the release of The Razors Edge. Phil Rudd returned in 1994 after Chris Slade, who was with the band from 1989 to 1994, was asked to leave in favour of him, Stiff Upper Lip, released in 2000, was well received by critics. The bands line-up remained the same until 2014 with Malcolm Youngs retirement, in 2016, Johnson was advised to stop touring on account of worsening hearing loss and Guns N Roses frontman Axl Rose stepped in as the bands vocalist for the remainder of that years dates. Long-term bass player Cliff Williams subsequently indicated that he would retire from the band on the completion of their current world tour, Back in Black has sold an estimated 50 million units worldwide, making it the second-highest-selling album by any artist – and the highest-selling album by any band. The album has sold 22 million units in the US alone, AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and were named the seventh Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time by MTV. In 2004, AC/DC ranked No.72 on the Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Producer Rick Rubin, who wrote an essay on the band for the Rolling Stone list, referred to AC/DC as the greatest rock, in 2010, AC/DC were ranked number 23 in the VH1 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Brothers Malcolm, Angus, and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland, George was the first to learn to play the guitar. He became a member of The Easybeats, one of Australias most successful bands of the 1960s, in 1966, they became the first local rock act to have an international hit, with the song Friday on My Mind. Malcolm followed in Georges footsteps by playing with a Newcastle, New South Wales and their oldest brother Alex Young chose to remain in Britain to pursue musical interests. Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the name after their sister, Margaret Young
AC/DC
–
AC/DC, from left to right:
Brian Johnson,
Malcolm Young,
Phil Rudd,
Angus Young,
Cliff Williams, performing at the
Tacoma Dome in
Tacoma on 31 August 2009.
AC/DC
–
Former vocalist
Bon Scott (centre) pictured with guitarist
Angus Young (left) and bassist
Cliff Williams (back), performing at the
Ulster Hall in August 1979
AC/DC
–
Bronze statue of Bon Scott, unveiled in
Fremantle, Western Australia, in October 2008
AC/DC
–
Brian Johnson Live with AC/DC in 2008
36.
Justin Timberlake
–
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American singer-songwriter, actor and record producer. Born and raised in Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows Star Search, in the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. With his first two albums exceeding sales of 10 million copies worldwide, he was established as one of the most commercially successful singers of the decade, furthermore, he produced records and collaborated with other artists. For his live performances, including the concert tour for the albums, he began performing with his band The Tennessee Kids, composed by instrumentalists. Timberlake voiced the character in DreamWorks Animations Trolls, which soundtrack includes his fifth Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. Among numerous awards and accolades, Timberlake has won ten Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and 2013. His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, Timberlake was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lynn Harless and Charles Randall Timberlake, a Baptist church choir director. Timberlake grew up in Shelby Forest, a community between Memphis and Millington. He has two half-brothers, Jonathan and Stephen, from Charles second marriage to Lisa Perry and his half-sister Laura Katherine died shortly after birth on May 12,1997, and is mentioned in his acknowledgments in the album NSYNC as My Angel in Heaven. He was inspired to become a performer by Janet Jackson, saying She didnt just stand there and sing her song, fascinated by her energy, at the age of 11, Timberlake appeared on the television show Star Search, performing country music songs as Justin Randall. Timberlake then recruited Chasez to be in a singing group, organized by boy band manager Lou Pearlman. The boy band NSYNC formed in 1995, and began their career in 1996 in Europe, Timberlake and Chasez served as its two lead singers. In 1998, the rose to prominence in the United States with the release of their self-titled debut studio album. Their second album No Strings Attached sold 2.4 million copies in the first week, nSYNCs third album Celebrity was also financially successful. Upon the completion of the Celebrity Tour, the group went into hiatus in 2002, in late 1999, Timberlake appeared in the Disney Channel movie Model Behavior. He played Jason Sharpe, a model who falls in love with a waitress after mistaking her for another model and it was released on March 12,2000. The rise of his own stardom and the decline in the popularity of boy bands led to the dissolution of NSYNC. Band member Lance Bass was openly critical of Timberlakes actions in his memoir Out of Sync and his debut solo studio album Justified was released in November and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 439,000 copies, fewer than previous N Sync releases
Justin Timberlake
–
Timberlake at the
Cannes Film Festival, May 2013
Justin Timberlake
–
Timberlake in London on his
Justified World Tour, December 2003
Justin Timberlake
–
Timberlake performing at a concert in
St. Paul, Minnesota in January 2007 during the
FutureSex/LoveShow
Justin Timberlake
–
Timberlake (left) with
Andrew Garfield (right) at an event for
The Social Network in Madrid, October 2010
37.
Jay Z
–
Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and investor. He is one of the musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records. MTV ranked him the Greatest MC of all time in 2006, Rolling Stone ranked three of his albums—Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album —among the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2014, Forbes estimated his net worth at nearly $520 million, Jay Z co-owns the New York 40/40 Club sports bar, and is the co-creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. He also founded the sports agency Roc Nation Sports and is a certified NBA, as an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 13. He has also had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, in 2009, he was ranked the tenth-most successful artist of the 2000s by Billboard as well as the fifth top solo male artist and fourth top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent. He was also ranked the 88th-greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone, Jay Z married Singer-Songwriter Beyoncé in 2008. Shawn Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Marcy Houses and he and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter after their father, Adness Reeves abandoned the family. Reeves would later meet and reconcile with Jay Z before dying from liver failure in 2003, Jay Z claims in his lyrics that in 1982, at the age of 12, he shot his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Along with future rapper AZ, Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed down, according to his interviews and lyrics, during this period he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times. According to his mother, Carter used to wake up his siblings at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table and she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling and writing lyrics, known as Jazzy around the neighborhood, Carter later adopted the showbiz/stage name Jay-Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. He would drop the hyphen in 2013, Jay Z can be briefly heard on several of Jaz-Os early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including The Originators and Hawaiian Sophie. Jay Z became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 1990s and he first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut Show and Prove on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddys Home. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage. The young Jay Z appeared on a song by Big L, Da Graveyard, and on Mic Geronimos Time to Build. His first official rap single was called In My Lifetime, for which he released a music video, an unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side I Cant Get with That
Jay Z
–
Jay Z at the Shawn Carter Foundation Carnival, 2011
Jay Z
–
Jay Z (top) with a friend (bottom) in
Trenton, New Jersey, circa 1988
Jay Z
–
Jay Z in 2003
Jay Z
–
Jay Z at a concert in 2006.
38.
Coldplay
–
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist and keyboardist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed under the name Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as bassist, will Champion joined as drummer and backing vocalist, completing the performing line-up. Creative Director Phil Harvey is often referred to as the fifth member by the band. The band renamed themselves Coldplay in 1998, before recording and releasing three EPs, Safety in 1998, Brothers & Sisters as a single in 1999, the Blue Room was their first release on a major label, after signing to Parlophone. They achieved worldwide fame with the release of the single Yellow in 2000 and this was followed by their debut album Parachutes released the same year, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The bands second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, was released to acclaim and won multiple awards. Their next release, X&Y, the album worldwide in 2005, was met with mostly positive reviews upon its release. In May 2014, they released their album, Ghost Stories. In December 2015, the released their seventh album, A Head Full of Dreams. Coldplay have sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making one of the worlds best-selling music artists. In December 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted the group the fourth-best artist of the 2000s, Coldplay have been an active supporter of various social and political causes, such as Oxfams Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland first met during their week at University College London in September 1996. The pair spent the rest of the university year planning a band, Guy Berryman, a classmate of Martin and Buckland, later joined the group. By 1997, the group, who had renamed themselves Starfish, Martin also had recruited his longtime school friend Phil Harvey, who was studying classics at the University of Oxford, to be the bands manager. Coldplay have since accepted Harvey as the member of the group. The bands line-up was completed when Will Champion joined to take up percussion duties, Champion had grown up playing piano, guitar, bass, and tin whistle, he quickly learned the drums. The band finally settled on the name Coldplay which was suggested by Tim Crompton, by 1997, Martin had met Classics student Tim Rice-Oxley. During a weekend in the English village Virginia Water in Surrey they asked each other to play their own songs on the piano
Coldplay
–
Coldplay on stage following a 2009 performance during the Viva La Vida tour. From left to right:
Chris Martin,
Guy Berryman,
Jonny Buckland,
Will Champion
Coldplay
–
Live performances during their 2002 tour were noted for their use of
strobe lighting.
Coldplay
–
Coldplay performing in Barcelona during their
Twisted Logic Tour in 2005
Coldplay
–
Performing live outside the
BBC Television Centre during their
Viva la Vida Tour in 2008
39.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
–
Red Hot Chili Peppers, also sometimes shortened to The Chili Peppers or abbreviated as RHCP, are an American funk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The groups musical style consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk rock. When played live, their music elements of jam band due to the improvised nature of much of their performances. Currently, the band consists of founding members vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea, longtime drummer Chad Smith, in 2012, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The bands original line-up, originally named Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons, alongside Kiedis, because of commitments to other bands, Slovak and Irons did not play on the bands self-titled debut album. Slovak performed on the second and third albums, Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, as a result of his friends death, Irons chose to depart from the group. After short-lived replacements at guitar and drums, John Frusciante and Chad Smith joined in 1988, the line-up of Flea, Kiedis, Frusciante, and Smith was the longest-lasting and recorded five studio albums beginning with Mothers Milk. In 1990, the signed with Warner Bros. Records. This album became the bands first commercial success, but Frusciante grew uncomfortable with it, after two temporary guitarists, Dave Navarro joined the group in 1993 and played on their subsequent album, One Hot Minute. Although commercially successful, the failed to match the critical or popular acclaim of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Navarro was fired from the band in 1998, Frusciante, fresh out of drug rehabilitation, rejoined the band that same year at Fleas request. The reunited quartet returned to the studio to record Californication, which became the bands biggest commercial success with 16 million copies worldwide. That album was followed three years later by By the Way, and then four years later by the double album Stadium Arcadium, after a world tour, the group went on an extended hiatus. Frusciante announced he was leaving the band in 2009 to focus on his solo career. Klinghoffer, who had worked both as a sideman for the band on their Stadium Arcadium tour and on Frusciantes solo projects, the bands tenth studio album, Im with You, was released in 2011 and topped the charts in 18 different countries. The band released their studio album, The Getaway, in 2016. The album was produced by Danger Mouse, marking the first time since 1989s Mothers Milk that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had not worked with Rubin, and topped the charts in ten different countries. Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles by singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist Hillel Slovak, bassist Flea, and drummer Jack Irons, all of whom were classmates from Fairfax High School
Red Hot Chili Peppers
–
Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Environmental Summit 2013 in
Portland, Oregon. From left to right:
Chad Smith (with touring member
Mauro Refosco),
Flea,
Anthony Kiedis, and
Josh Klinghoffer.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
–
Founding guitarist
Hillel Slovak performing in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1983.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
–
Chad Smith became the band's drummer through open auditions in November 1988 replacing D.H. Peligro.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
–
Chili Peppers in Amsterdam (Aug. 1989)
40.
One Direction
–
The group signed with Simon Cowells record label Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Their awards include six Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, according to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012s Top New Artist by Billboard, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, by April 2013, they had an estimated personal combined wealth of £25 million making them the second-wealthiest musicians in the UK under 30 years of age. In 2014, Forbes listed them the second-highest earning celebrities under 30, in June 2015, Forbes listed their earnings at $130 million for the previous twelve months, and ranked them the fourth highest earning celebrities in the world. After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one and their third album, Midnight Memories, was the biggest-selling album worldwide of 2013 despite being released in late November. The bands Where We Are Tour in support of Midnight Memories and Four, was the concert tour in 2014. In 2014, Billboard named One Direction Artist of the Year, the band is temporarily on a hiatus that began in January 2016, which is expected to last around 18 months. In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, and Simon Cowell have both claimed to have come up with the idea of forming the band. In 2013, Cowell said that it took him 10 minutes to put together as a group. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to each other and to practice. Styles came up with the name One Direction, for their qualifying song at judges houses, and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of Torn. Cowell later commented that their performance convinced him that they were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were his last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK, shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a book licensed by One Direction, One Direction, Forever Young, was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour, during the tour, the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album, recording took place in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, and Rami Yacoub, among others. Subsequent singles, Gotta Be You and One Thing, peaked in the UK Singles Chart top ten, in November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America. Steve Barnett, the co-chairman of Columbia Records, said it was not a decision to sign One Direction, I just thought there was a void
One Direction
–
One Direction performing in
Glasgow on their
On the Road Again Tour, October 2015. From left to right:
Louis Tomlinson,
Niall Horan,
Liam Payne and
Harry Styles
One Direction
–
One Direction on The X Factor Live tour in 2011
One Direction
–
One Direction performing on their
Up All Night Tour, April 2012
One Direction
–
One Direction at red carpet of the
Logie Awards of 2012 in
Melbourne
41.
Eminem
–
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States, throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Globally, he has more than 172 million albums, thus being one of the worlds best-selling artists. Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and they were followed by Encore in 2004, another critical and commercial success. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005, releasing Relapse in 2009, both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year. Eminems eighth album, 2013s The Marshall Mathers LP2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album, it expanded his record for the most wins in that category and his Grammy total to 15. In addition to his career, Eminem is an original member of the Midwest hip hop groups Soul Intent. He is also known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 59, Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent. Eminem has also established his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, he starred in the hip hop film 8 Mile, Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash, Funny People, The Interview and the television series Entourage. Eminem was born on October 17,1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, Debbie was 14 when she met 18-year-old Bruce, at age 17, she nearly died during her 73-hour labor. Eminems parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before their separation, Bruce left the family, moving to California and having two other children, Michael and Sarah. Debbie had son Nathan Nate Kane Samara on February 3,1986, during his childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Michigan and Missouri, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members. In Missouri, they lived in places, including St. Joseph, Savannah. As a teenager Eminem wrote letters to his father, according to Debbie, friends and family remember Eminem as a happy child, but a bit of a loner who was often bullied. One bully, DeAngelo Bailey, severely injured Eminems head, Debbie filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, Eminem spent much of his youth in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood. He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten by black youths several times, as a child he was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic-book artist before discovering hip hop. Eminem heard his first rap song on the Breakin soundtrack, a gift from Debbies half-brother Ronnie Polkinghorn, when Polkinghorn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking for days and did not attend his funeral
Eminem
–
Eminem performing in June 2009
Eminem
–
Eminem in Germany, 1999
Eminem
–
Eminem and Proof at
Voodoo Experience in October 2000
Eminem
–
On the Anger Management Tour promoting Encore
42.
Lady Gaga
–
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She performed initially in theater, appearing in school plays. From there, Akon noticed her vocal abilities and helped her to sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and her debut album The Fame was a critical and commercial success that produced international chart-topping singles such as Just Dance and Poker Face. A follow-up EP, The Fame Monster, was met with a reception and Bad Romance, Telephone. Her second full-length album Born This Way was released in 2011, topping the charts in more than 20 countries, including the United States, the album produced the number-one single Born This Way. Her third album Artpop, released in 2013, topped the US charts, in 2014, Gaga released a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett titled Cheek to Cheek, which became her third consecutive number one in the United States. For her work in the television series American Horror Story, Hotel, with her fifth studio album Joanne, she became the first woman to have four US number one albums in the 2010s. In February 2017, Gaga headlined the Super Bowl LI halftime show which had an audience of over 150 million across various platforms worldwide. With global album and single sales of 27 million and 146 million respectively, as of January 2016 and her achievements include twelve Guinness World Records, three Brit Awards, and six Grammy Awards. She is also the first artist to win the Songwriters Hall of Fames Contemporary Icon Award, in 2013, Gaga finished second on Times readers poll of the most influential people of the past ten years, while in 2015, she was named Billboards Woman of the Year. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28,1986 and she is the elder daughter of Cynthia Louise Cindy and Internet entrepreneur Joseph Joe Germanotta. Gaga has three Italian grandparents and one American grandparent, as well as French Canadian ancestry, Gagas sister Natali is a fashion student. From age 11, she attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart and she described her academic life in high school as very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined but also a bit insecure. I used to get made fun of for being too provocative or too eccentric. I didnt fit in, and I felt like a freak, in 2014, Gaga said she was raped at the age of 19. She stated, I went through some things that Im able to laugh now, because Ive gone through a lot of mental and physical therapy. Gaga later said that she suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder because of the rape, and that support from doctors, family, and friends really saved my life. Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four, wrote her first piano ballad at 13 and she performed lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in Guys and Dolls and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga performing at the
Cheek to Cheek Tour in June 2015
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga (right) performing with
Lady Starlight at
Lollapalooza 2007
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga performing in a bar, sporting one of her earlier looks, October 2008
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga performing at
The Fame Ball Tour in 2009
43.
Tina Turner
–
Tina Turner, is an American-born Swiss recording artist, dancer, actress, and author, whose career has spanned more than half a century, earning her widespread recognition and numerous awards. Born and raised in the Southeastern United States, Turner obtained Swiss citizenship in 2013 and she began her musical career in the mid-1950s as a featured singer with Ike Turners Kings of Rhythm, first recording in 1958 under the name Little Ann. Her introduction to the public as Tina Turner began in 1960 as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of notable hits credited to the duo, including A Fool in Love, River Deep – Mountain High, Proud Mary, and Nutbush City Limits, a song which she herself wrote. In her autobiography, I, Tina, she revealed several instances of domestic abuse against her by Ike Turner prior to their 1976 split. After her divorce from Ike Turner, she rebuilt her career through live performances, Whats Love Got to Do with It, the lead single won three Grammy Awards including Record of the Year. Whats Love Got to Do with It was later used as the title of a loosely based biographical film adapted from her autobiography, One of the worlds best-selling artists of all time, she has also been referred to as The Queen of Rock n Roll. Turner has been termed the most successful female Rock n Roll artist, receiving eleven Grammy Awards, including eight competitive awards, Turner has also sold more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history. Her combined album and single sales total approximately 180 million copies worldwide and she is noted for her energetic stage presence, powerful vocals, and career longevity. In 2008, Turner returned from semi-retirement to embark on her Tina, Turners tour became one of the highest selling ticketed shows of 2008–09. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Turner no.63 on their list of 100 greatest artists of all time, in 1991, Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Turner announced in December 2016 that she has been working on Tina, Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26,1939, in Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, Tennessee. Her parents were Zelma Priscilla and Floyd Richard Bullock, Anna Mae was born at Poindexter Farm on Highway 180, where her father worked as an overseer of the sharecroppers. She is of African-American descent, with approximately 33% European and 1% Native American ancestry, Anna Mae had an older sister, Ruby Aillene. As young children, Anna Mae and Aillene were separated when their parents relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, after the war, the sisters reunited with their parents and moved with them to Knoxville. Two years later, the returned to Nutbush to live in the Flagg Grove community. In 1889, her uncle had sold the land on which the school was built to the school trustees. As a youngster, Anna Mae sang in the choir at Nutbushs Spring Hill Baptist Church
Tina Turner
–
Turner performing in 1996
Tina Turner
–
Turner performing with
Ike Turner at
Hamburg, Germany, in 1972.
Tina Turner
–
Turner performing 1972
Tina Turner
–
Turner on tour with special guest
Eric Clapton, June 17, 1987 in
Wembley Arena, England
44.
Paul McCartney
–
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained fame with the rock band the Beatles, largely considered the most popular. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most celebrated of the post-war era, after the bands break-up, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine. McCartney has been recognised as one of the most successful composers and performers of all time, More than 2,200 artists have covered his Beatles song Yesterday, more than any other copyrighted song in history. Wings 1977 release Mull of Kintyre is one of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr all received The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1965, McCartney has released an extensive catalogue of songs as a solo artist and has composed classical and electronic music. He has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to subjects as animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty. He has married three times and is the father of five children, James Paul McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 in Walton Hospital, Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary Patricia, had qualified to practise as a nurse. His father, James McCartney, was absent from his sons birth due to his work as a firefighter during World War II. Paul has one brother, Michael. Though the children were baptised in their mothers Catholic faith, their father was a former Protestant turned agnostic, McCartney attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School in Speke from 1947 until 1949, when he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School in Belle Vale because of overcrowding at Stockton. In 1953, with three others out of ninety examinees, he passed the 11-Plus exam, meaning he could attend the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, he met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus from his home in Speke. The two quickly became friends, McCartney later admitted, I tended to talk down to him because he was a year younger. McCartneys mother Mary was a midwife and the primary wage earner, her earnings enabled them to move into 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. She rode a bicycle to her patients, McCartney described an early memory of her leaving at about three in the morning streets, on 31 October 1956, when McCartney was fourteen, his mother died of an embolism. McCartneys loss later became a point of connection with John Lennon, whose mother, McCartneys father was a trumpet player and pianist, who had led Jim Macs Jazz Band in the 1920s. He kept a piano in the front room, encouraged his sons to be musical and advised Paul to take piano lessons
Paul McCartney
–
Paul McCartney in 2010
Paul McCartney
–
McCartney's former home,
20 Forthlin Road. The McCartney family moved into this address in 1955
Paul McCartney
–
McCartney (second from left) with Lennon, Harrison and Starr, 1964
Paul McCartney
–
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "the most famous cover of any music album", wrote Beatles biographer
Bill Harry.
45.
Roger Waters
–
George Roger Waters is an English singer, songwriter, bassist, and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd with drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist Rick Wright and guitarist, singer, and songwriter Syd Barrett. Waters initially served as the groups bassist, but following the departure of Barrett in 1968, he became their lyricist, conceptual leader. Pink Floyd subsequently achieved success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals. By the early 1980s, they had one of the most critically acclaimed and best-selling acts in the history of popular music, as of 2013. Amid creative differences within the group, Waters left in 1985 and began a dispute with the remaining members over their intended use of the bands name. They settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed them again. Waters solo career has included three albums, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Radio K. A. O. S. In 1990, he staged one of the largest and most extravagant rock concerts in history, The Wall – Live in Berlin, with an official attendance of 200,000. As a member of Pink Floyd, he was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and that same year he released Ça Ira, an opera in three acts translated from Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gils libretto about the French Revolution. Later that year, he reunited with Pink Floyd bandmates Mason, Wright and David Gilmour for the Live 8 global awareness event and he has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tour of 2006–2008. In 2010, he began The Wall Live and in 2011 Gilmour, as of 2013, the tour is the highest-grossing of all time by a solo artist. George Roger Waters was born on 6 September 1943, the younger of two boys, to Mary and Eric Fletcher Waters, in Great Bookham, Surrey. His father, the son of a miner and Labour Party activist, was a schoolteacher, a devout Christian. In the early years of the Second World War, his father was a conscientious objector who drove an ambulance during the Blitz. He later changed his stance on pacifism, joined the Territorial Army and was commissioned into the 8th Battalion and he was killed five months later on 18 February 1944 at Aprilia, during the Battle of Anzio, when Roger was five months old. He is commemorated at the Cassino War Cemetery, on 18 February 2014, Waters unveiled a monument to his father and other war casualties in Aprilia, and was made an honorary citizen of Anzio. Following her husbands death, Mary Waters, also a teacher, Roger Waters earliest memory is of the V-J Day celebrations
Roger Waters
–
Waters at
The Wall Live,
Barcelona, in 2011
Roger Waters
Roger Waters
–
Waters performing with Pink Floyd at
Leeds University in 1970
Roger Waters
–
A live performance of The Dark Side of the Moon at
Earls Court, shortly after its release in 1973: (l-r) David Gilmour, Nick Mason,
Dick Parry, Roger Waters
46.
Prince (musician)
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Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer-songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, philanthropist, dancer and record producer. He was an innovator who was known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant dress and makeup. His music integrates a variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, new wave, soul, psychedelia. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe Award, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked Prince at number 27 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists, Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and developed an interest in music as a young child. He signed a contract with Warner Bros. at the age of 18. In 1984, he began referring to his band as the Revolution and released Purple Rain. It quickly became his most critically and commercially successful release, spending 24 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, after releasing the albums Around the World in a Day and Parade, The Revolution disbanded, and Prince released the double album Sign o the Times as a solo artist. He released three solo albums before debuting the New Power Generation band in 1991. He released five records between 1994 and 1996 before signing with Arista Records in 1998, in 2000, he began referring to himself as Prince again. He released 16 albums after that, including the platinum-selling Musicology and his final album, Hit n Run Phase Two, was first released on the Tidal streaming service on December 12,2015. Prince died from an overdose at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 21,2016. Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, to Mattie Della and his parents were both African-American and his family ancestry is centered in Louisiana, all four of his grandparents came from that state. Princes father was a pianist and songwriter, and his mother was a jazz singer, Prince was given his fathers stage name, Prince Rogers, which his father used while performing with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio. In 1991, Princes father told A Current Affair that I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do, Prince has said he was born epileptic and used to have seizures when he was young. He also said, My mother told me one day I walked in to her and said, Mom, Im not going to be sick anymore, Princes sister Tika Evene was born in 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, and this was encouraged by their father, Prince wrote his first tune, Funk Machine, on his fathers piano when he was seven
Prince (musician)
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Prince performing in 2008
Prince (musician)
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Ticket to Prince's first performance with his band in January 1979
Prince (musician)
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Prince performing in Brussels during the
Hit N Run Tour in 1986
Prince (musician)
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Prince performing during his
Nude Tour in 1990
47.
The Police
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The Police were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the band consisted of Sting, Andy Summers and they are also considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the United States. They disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a world tour that ended in August 2008. Their 1978 debut album, Outlandos dAmour, reached No.6 in the UK and their second album Reggatta de Blanc became the first of five consecutive UK No.1 albums with its lead single, Message in a Bottle, their first UK number one. Their next two albums, Zenyatta Mondatta and Ghost in the Machine, saw further critical and commercial success and their final studio album, Synchronicity, was No.1 in both the UK and the US, selling over 8 million copies in the US alone. Every Breath You Take became their fifth UK number one single, the Police have sold over 75 million records, making them one of the worlds best-selling artists of all time. They were the worlds highest-earning musicians in 2008, thanks to their reunion tour, four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Police were included among both Rolling Stones and VH1s lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, on 12 January 1977, Sting relocated to London and the very same day of his arrival, he sought out Copeland for a jam session. Curved Air had recently split up and Copeland, inspired by the then-current punk rock movement, was eager to form a new band and join the burgeoning London punk scene. While less keen, Sting acknowledged the commercial opportunities, so the duo formed the Police as a power trio with Corsican guitarist Henry Padovani recruited as the third member. After their debut concert on 1 March 1977 at Alexanders in Newport, Wales and their first single Fall Out, recorded at Pathway Studios in Islington, North London on 12 February 1977 with a budget of £150, was released in May 1977 by Illegal Records. Also in May 1977, former Gong musician Mike Howlett invited Sting to join him in the band project Strontium 90, the drummer Howlett had in mind, Chris Cutler, was unavailable to play, so Sting brought Copeland. The bands fourth member was guitarist Andy Summers from Lancashire in northwest England, a decade older than Sting and Copeland, Summers was a music industry veteran who had played with Eric Burdon and the Animals and Kevin Ayers among others. Strontium 90 performed at a Gong reunion concert in Paris on 28 May 1977, the band also recorded several demo tracks, these were released 20 years later in 1997 on the archive album Strontium 90, Police Academy. Summers musicality impressed Sting, who was becoming frustrated with Padovanis rudimentary abilities, shortly after the Strontium 90 gig, Sting approached Summers to join the band. He agreed, on the condition the band remain a trio, shortly after these two gigs, Summers delivered an ultimatum and Padovani was dismissed from the band. The Polices power trio line-up of Copeland, Sting, and Summers performed for the first time on 18 August 1977 at Rebeccas club in the English city of Birmingham in the West Midlands. A trio was unusual for the time, and this line-up endured for the rest of the bands history, few punk bands were three-pieces, while contemporary bands pursuing progressive rock, symphonic rock and other sound trends usually expanded their line-ups with support players
The Police
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Summers (far right),
Sting (front),
Copeland (drums). The Police performing,
Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1 August 2007
The Police
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Sting with the group at Madison Square Garden, August 2007
48.
Depeche Mode
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Depeche Mode /dᵻˌpɛʃˈmoʊd/ are an English electronic band that formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group consists of founders Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Depeche Mode released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Original band member Vince Clarke, left the band after the release of the album, leaving the band as a trio to record A Broken Frame, released the following year. Gore took over the songwriting duties and, later in 1982, Alan Wilder officially joined the band to fill Clarkes spot. Depeche Mode have been a trio again since 1995, when Wilder left, the bands last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force on the mainstream electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. In the new decade, Depeche Mode released Violator, a mainstream success, now a trio once again, the band released Ultra in 1997, recorded at the height of Gahans near-fatal drug abuse, Gores alcoholism and seizures, and Fletchers depression. Depeche Mode have had 50 songs in the UK Singles Chart and thirteen top 10 albums in the UK chart, Q included the band in the list of the 50 Bands That Changed the World. Depeche Mode also rank number 98 on VH1s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Depeche Modes origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a Cure-influenced band called No Romance In China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher would later recall, Why am I in the band and it was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band, I played the guitar and I had a bass, it was a question of them roping me in. In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an Ultravox rip-off band, in 1978–79, Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals. In 1979, Marlow, Gore and friend Paul Redmond formed a band called the French Look, with Marlow on vocals/keyboards, Gore on guitar and Redmond on keyboards. In March 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass. Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke heard Wirral band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, along with OMD, other early influences included the Human League, Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget. Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesisers, working odd jobs in order to buy or borrow the instruments from friends. Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a scout hut jam session, singing a rendition of David Bowies Heroes. When explaining the choice for the new name taken from a French fashion magazine, Dépêche mode, Gore said, I like the sound of that
Depeche Mode
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Depeche Mode in concert, 2006. Additional musicians
Peter Gordeno (far left) and
Christian Eigner (centre-left), with original members
Dave Gahan (centre),
Martin Gore (centre-right) and
Andy Fletcher (far right).
Depeche Mode
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Touring the Angel concert in
Bremen, June 2006.
Depeche Mode
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Tour of the Universe concert at London's O 2 Arena, December 2009.
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