Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Fernando Alonso
birth date	July 29, 1981
nationality	Spanish
2011 team	Ferrari
2011 car number	5
races	171 (170 starts)
championships	2 (, )
wins	27
podiums	69
points	986
poles	20
fastest laps	19
first race	2001 Australian Grand Prix
first win	2003 Hungarian Grand Prix
last win	2011 British Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	2nd (252 pts) }}

Fernando Alonso Díaz (born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari.

On 25 September 2005, he won the Formula One World Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, at the time making him the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion. After retaining the title the following year, Alonso also became the youngest double Champion. Nicknamed , a typical pseudonym for ''Fernando'' in Asturias, his place of birth, Alonso acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Personal and early life

Fernando Alonso was born in Oviedo, Asturias in northern Spain. His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as a mechanic in an explosives factory near Oviedo. Alonso has an older sister, Lorena. Alonso's father José Luis, an amateur kart racer, wanted to pass on his passion to his children. He built a kart, originally meant for eight-year-old Lorena, but unlike her three-year-old brother, she showed no interest in the sport.

Alonso is married to Raquel del Rosario, lead singer of Spanish pop band . The two were married on November 17, 2006.

They lived in Oxford, England until they moved their residence to Switzerland in 2006. Alonso owned a house in Mont-sur-Rolle, near Lake Geneva from 2006 to 2010, and in February 2010 he moved house to Lugano in order to be closer to his new Formula One employer Ferrari. It is highly common for Formula One stars to take up residence in Switzerland to reduce their tax bills. In the winter of 2010–11, Alonso moved back to Oviedo in order to be closer to friends and family, costing him an estimated £50 million in tax.

He is an avid card tricks fan and usually demonstrates various tricks during the race weekend. He is also interested in other sports, like cycling, football and tennis. Alonso has hinted at running a cycling team in the 2011 edition of the Tour de France with Alberto Contador leading the team.

In addition to Spanish, he speaks English and Italian.

Early career

As a child, Alonso participated in karting competitions around Spain, supported by his father, who also doubled as his mechanic. His family lacked the financial resources needed to develop a career in motorsport, but his victories attracted sponsorship and the required funds. Alonso won four Spanish championships back-to-back in the junior category, between 1993 and 1996 and the Junior World Cup in 1996. He won the Spanish and Italian Inter-A titles in 1997 and in 1998 won the Spanish Inter-A title again as well as finishing second in the European Championship.

Former Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos gave Alonso his first test in a race car in October 1998. After three days of testing at the Albacete circuit, Alonso had matched the lap times of Campos' previous driver Marc Gené. Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series. In his second race, again at Albacete, Alonso won for the first time. He took the championship by one point from championship rival Manuel Giao by winning and setting fastest lap at the last race of the season. Alonso also tested for the Minardi Formula One team, lapping 1.5 seconds faster than the other drivers at the test.

The following season Alonso moved up to Formula 3000, which was often the final step for drivers before ascending to Formula One. Alonso joined Team Astromega and was the youngest driver in the series that year by eleven months. Alonso did not score a point until the seventh race of the year, but in the final two rounds he took a second place and a victory, enough for him to end the season fourth overall behind Bruno Junqueira, Nicolas Minassian and Mark Webber.

Formula One career

2001: Minardi

Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a Formula One race when he made his debut with Minardi at the . The team was in its first season under the control of new owner Paul Stoddart and their new car, the PS01, was neither fast nor reliable. However Alonso's qualifying performance was good, outqualifying team-mate Tarso Marques by 2.6 seconds on début. At the fourth round at Imola he outqualified both Benettons, a feat he repeated later in the season.

Notable performances over the season earned him some attention from the faster teams. It was reported in September 2001 by some of the European press that Sauber were looking to replace outgoing Kimi Räikkönen with Alonso although he was facing competition for the seat from Felipe Massa and then Jaguar test driver André Lotterer. A month later it was confirmed that Massa was going to take the vacant Sauber seat for 2002.

In September, his manager Flavio Briatore had begun planning to place Alonso at Benetton. Briatore considered promoting Alonso for 2002, in place of his race driver Jenson Button, but instead chose to take Alonso on as Renault test driver for 2002. At the final round of the season at Suzuka he finished eleventh—five places outside the points but ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Prost, the BAR of Olivier Panis, the two Arrows and his team-mate Alex Yoong. Four years later, his team boss from the Minardi days, Paul Stoddart, described his race as "53 laps of qualifying". He scored no points in the season; his best finish being tenth at the .

2002–2006: Renault

;2002–2003 Alonso became test driver for Renault in 2002 (Renault having taken over the Benetton team) and did 1,642 laps of testing that year. In 2003 Briatore dropped Button and put Alonso in the second seat alongside Jarno Trulli. Briatore was criticised by the British media for the decision, but technical director Mike Gascoyne later insisted to ''F1 Racing'' that the decision was correct, since the team had been impressed with Alonso's work rate and talent during his season as test driver.

The Spaniard became the youngest driver to achieve a Formula One pole position at the . Alonso had a 180 mph crash at the , the result of missing the double yellow flags and Safety Car boards brought out by Mark Webber's earlier crash and colliding with the debris. The race was red-flagged. He finished second at his home grand prix two races later, and at the time became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race at the . He finished the year sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.

;2004

Alonso remained with Renault for the season, scoring podiums in Australia, France, Germany and Hungary. At Indianapolis he suffered a high-speed accident while running in third place after a tyre deflated. In France he took pole position and finished second, running Michael Schumacher close for victory. Towards the end of the year teammate Jarno Trulli's performances deteriorated and he dropped Renault boss Flavio Briatore as his manager. Trulli's relationship with the team deteriorated to the extent that he signed for Toyota from 2005 onwards, and he was replaced for the final three races of the season by former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Alonso ended the year fourth in the championship standings with 59 points.

;2005

For the season, Alonso was joined at Renault by Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella. At the first race in Australia Alonso started near the back due to rain in qualifying but fought his way to third. He won the next two races in Malaysia and Bahrain from pole position, and took a third win in the after a 13-lap battle with Michael Schumacher.

McLaren's improving form saw Räikkönen win in Spain and Monaco while Alonso finished second and fourth, respectively. Räikkönen was on course to win the at the Nürburgring when his car's front-right suspension failed (due to a flat spot on the tyre caused by Räikkönen locking his wheels under braking while passing Jacques Villeneuve) on the last lap, giving victory to Alonso.

Alonso failed to score in the Canadian and United States Grands Prix. He crashed out of the former, and in the latter all the Michelin runners withdrew due to safety concerns over their tyres. Alonso took his third pole position and fifth win at the . He followed this with pole position a week later at the , where he finished second behind Montoya. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen led the until his car's hydraulics failed. Alonso went on to win the race.

Alonso qualified sixth in the but finished 11th after a collision with the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. As the season entered its final stages Alonso finished second in three consecutive races, collecting vital championship points. Räikkönen won in Turkey and Belgium, but was fourth at Monza after engine trouble in qualifying, meaning Alonso's lead had been reduced by only one point.

Alonso sealed the title by finishing third in Brazil while Montoya won from Räikkönen. The Spaniard became the youngest Drivers' Champion at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's record. He also ended the five-year dominance of Michael Schumacher.

Commenting on his victory, he said: "I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well — they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions — and they deserve this." In the May 2007 issue of ''F1 Racing'', Alonso said that the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was his greatest race. He said, "It was a dream come true and a very emotional day. In the last few laps I leaped, thinking I could hear noises from the engine- from everywhere! But all was okay and I can remember my relief when I crossed the finish line."

The Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix saw Alonso and Renault abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the drivers' title. Starting from 16th on the grid, he eventually finished third behind Räikkönen and Fisichella. The Chinese Grand Prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the first Constructors' Championship for the Renault F1 team.

In 2005, he was awarded with the Sports Prince of Asturias Award.

;2006

Alonso won the first race of the season in Bahrain, overtaking Michael Schumacher after coming out of the pit lane with 18 laps left, after starting fourth. He qualified seventh at the due to a fuelling error but finished second to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He won the after overtaking leader Jenson Button's Honda.

After poor qualifying at San Marino, Alonso was unable to pass Michael Schumacher in an encounter that echoed their battle the previous year. Schumacher beat Alonso again in the after the Spaniard started on pole, but Alonso hit back, becoming the first Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix. Alonso took pole position for the after Schumacher was penalised by the stewards for "deliberately [stopping] his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying", denying his rivals, Alonso included, the opportunity of recording fastest qualifying lap. Alonso won the race.

He extended his winning streak to four races with victories in Britain and Canada. Both wins came from pole position, and the British round was his first win, pole and fastest lap hat trick. He also became the first driver in history to finish first or second in the first nine races of the season, a record equalled by Sebastian Vettel in 2011. Schumacher's fight back began at Indianapolis where the German won and Alonso was fifth. Schumacher won the , with Alonso in second, and the Spaniard was fifth in the . That cut Alonso's championship lead to 11 points.

Alonso incurred a penalty for an infraction in practice at the which left him 15th on the grid. Schumacher started 11th after receiving a similar penalty. Alonso looked set for an unlikely win as he overtook most of the field, including Schumacher around the outside of turn five, as he showed prowess in the wet conditions, but he crashed out of the race when a wheel nut fell off his car following a pit stop. Schumacher scored one point after Robert Kubica was disqualified.

Alonso finished second in Turkey, holding back third-placed Schumacher to claim two vital points, but he lost a lot of ground after a controversial . He suffered a puncture during qualifying that damaged bodywork at the back of his car. He qualified fifth but was later punished by the stewards for impeding Felipe Massa's Ferrari, and he started the race from tenth. In the race he rose to third place before an engine failure forced him to retire. Schumacher won the Grand Prix and cut Alonso's Championship lead to two points.

At the following round in China, Alonso took pole position during a wet qualifying session but finished second to Schumacher in the race. The result tied Alonso and Schumacher on points in the drivers championship. At the , the Ferraris of Schumacher and Massa qualified first and second, more than half a second faster than the Renaults in fifth and sixth. But during the race Alonso rose to second and took the win after Schumacher's engine failed. It gave him a ten point advantage over Schumacher, needing only one point from the final round to retain the title. Second place in the on October 22 gave Alonso the championship. With Schumacher finishing fourth, the final difference was 13 points. Alonso thus became the youngest double champion in the sport's history. Renault also clinched the Constructors' Championship with a 5-point gap over Ferrari.

2007: McLaren

On December 19, 2005, Alonso announced that he would be moving to McLaren for 2007. His contract with Renault was set to expire on December 31, 2006. However, on December 15, 2006, Alonso was allowed by Flavio Briatore and the Renault F1 Team to test for one day for McLaren at Jerez, as a result of his successes with Renault. Driving an unbranded MP4-21 and wearing a plain white helmet and overalls, Alonso completed 95 laps. Lewis Hamilton was chosen as his partner for the season. McLaren were reported to be paying Alonso £ 20 million (approx $ 39 million c. 2007) in 2007. Alonso debuted with the new McLaren car on January 15, 2007, in the streets of Valencia.

On 8 April 2007 in his second race for the team, Alonso secured his first win for McLaren, and the team's first since 2005, by leading the majority of the . A difficult drive at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit a week later, saw him finishing fifth behind his rookie team mate who took a podium finish. In the fourth race of the year in Spain, his home grand prix, he qualified second, but suffered a first lap collision with Felipe Massa which caused some damage to his car and dropped him to fourth, before finishing third. On May 27, Alonso secured his second victory for McLaren at Monaco, scoring pole position, fastest lap and the race win and in the process lapping the entire field up to 3rd position. At the Nürburgring he took his third win of the year in a dramatic race affected by intermittent rain showers, overtaking Massa for the lead with just four laps remaining. After the controversy at the (see below), however, relations between Alonso and his team declined. It was reported in the media that he was no longer on speaking terms with Hamilton, and it was speculated that he might leave McLaren at the end of the season. On 7 August 2007 ''The Times'' reported that McLaren would let Alonso leave the team at the end of the season if he wished, two years earlier than his contract allowed. Alonso went on to finish third in the driver's championship, level on points with team-mate Hamilton and just one point behind World Champion Kimi Räikkönen (the closest 1–2–3 in WDC history).

As part of the espionage controversy between McLaren and Ferrari, the former were found guilty of breaching the Article 151c of the FIA's sporting regulations but went unpunished due to a lack of evidence. However, following the acquisition of new evidence by the FIA, a new hearing was held on September 13. The new evidence consisted largely of email traffic between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa. The FIA's World Motor Sport Council report following the hearing stated that Alonso and de la Rosa had obtained and used confidential Ferrari technical data and sporting strategy information from senior McLaren engineer Mike Coughlan via Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney, including during test sessions. Both drivers were spared sanctions in exchange for providing evidence.

On 2 November 2007, after a turbulent year with McLaren, it was announced that McLaren and Alonso had mutually agreed to terminate his contract and that he would be free to join any team for 2008 without paying McLaren any compensation.

2008–2009: Return to Renault

Alonso was linked with several teams for the 2008 season after his split with McLaren. Renault, Red Bull, Toyota and Honda were all suggested in the media. Renault's Flavio Briatore stated that he would welcome Alonso's return to the French team. On 10 December 2007, Alonso signed a two-year contract to drive for Renault alongside Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. for around £25 million.

In the first two rounds of the season, the Renault was not as competitive as it had previously been. Alonso finished fourth and eighth in Australia and Malaysia respectively, fuelling rumours that Alonso would leave the team because he was disappointed with his Renault and was either moving to BMW Sauber, Honda or Toyota. BMW boss Mario Theissen was keen to get Alonso to replace Nick Heidfeld in order to get the team their first win. Honda rumours started when Alonso said in an interview that he felt there was something about Honda and he wanted to drive for them in and switching to Ferrari in . Toyota said they were eager to give a top driver their seat. But the most likely place that Alonso would go was to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari in , especially in light of the general belief that there was an "out clause" in Fernando Alonso's contract with Renault which would give him the freedom to move to another team for the next season should he be able to secure a deal. However Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo stated that Massa's seat in the team was secure and would stay that way until the end of his contract in 2010. Räikkönen was also given a two-year contract extension to partner Massa until the end of 2010, essentially closing the door on Alonso for a possible move to Ferrari. In 2008, Alonso denied the "out clause" rumour.

In the , Lewis Hamilton ran into the back of Alonso's Renault, heavily damaging the rear wing of the Spaniard's car, as well as his own nosecone. Stewards did not seek to investigate the incident but critics alleged he braked (or did not accelerate as expected) in front of Hamilton causing Hamilton to crash into him. The telemetry data from Alonso's car proved these accusations to be wrong. Hamilton himself stated "I was behind him, and I moved to the right, and he moved to the right and that was it – a racing incident I guess". It was later revealed by McLaren that Hamilton's front wing, which was damaged when he hit Alonso earlier in the race, had broken seconds before the impact and has been identified as the cause of the crash. Alonso started the with promising pace, qualifying on the front row in second place behind Kimi Räikkönen even though he had a light fuel load. He was running in fifth place when his engine blew on lap 35. He praised his team after finishing sixth in the , as he was behind the more competitive BMW cars at the end, and said that the result "confirms the progress we have made, and is thanks to the hard work of everyone in the team".

Alonso failed to score in the next two races, finishing tenth at the , after puncturing a tyre against the barrier and a collision with Nick Heidfeld and retiring from the after crashing into the wall on lap 45, having qualified fourth. Alonso had been keeping pace with the BMW Saubers, who would eventually go on to record their maiden win with Robert Kubica after pitlane dramas plagued both Ferrari and McLaren. In France, Alonso qualified behind the two Ferraris in third, aided by Lewis Hamilton's grid penalty for the pit-lane accident in Canada. However, he was on a light fuel load, and his task was made much harder by being beaten by the slower Toyota of Jarno Trulli at the start. He then faded back to seventh and towards the end of the race while catching Mark Webber's Red Bull he ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin and slipped behind team-mate Piquet, Jr. to finish eighth.

Alonso finished sixth at Silverstone, saying that he had used up all of his available tyres for the unpredictable wet conditions, and that by using practically slick tyres towards the end, he lost a lot of time in certain places on the track. Despite qualifying fifth at the , he finished in eleventh after spinning off whilst battling with the Williams of Nico Rosberg. In the , he finished in fourth place having started seventh, aided by Lewis Hamilton's early puncture and Felipe Massa's engine failing in the closing stages.

In the , Alonso performed strongly in all three practice sessions and the first round of qualifying. However, he failed to make it through the second round of qualifying, starting 12th. During the opening lap of the race, Alonso was hit by Kazuki Nakajima in the rear wing of his car and sustained unrepairable damage to his gearbox, and was forced to retire from the race. In Belgium, Alonso ran in the top five for most of the race, but when heavy rain fell towards the end of the race, he gambled on pitting for wet tyres with one lap to go. He dropped four places, but a fast final lap saw him reclaim the lost spots, passing Kubica and Sebastian Vettel at the final corner. In the , Alonso achieved his second consecutive fourth place, and allowed Renault to equal Toyota for fourth in the constructors standings.

Alonso claimed his first victory and podium of the season by winning the . After performing strongly in practice, a fuel pressure problem in the second part of qualifying forced him to park the car, causing him to qualify 15th. In the race he started with a light fuel load on soft tyres, and pitted early when he realised that this would not be successful. However, team-mate Piquet crashed bringing out the safety car, which eliminated the lead of the frontrunners. When they pitted after the pit lane was reopened, they rejoined behind those who had already stopped. This moved Alonso up among top six, and he ultimately won the race, earning the 20th win and 50th podium of his career. In September 2009, after being dropped by Renault, Piquet said that the crash had been intentional and had been requested by Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. Alonso was declared to be innocent by the subsequent FIA investigation.

Alonso carried his good form into the , for which he qualified fourth. Running on a two stop strategy Alonso won his second successive race, finishing ahead of Kubica and Räikkönen. In the last 2 races in China and Brazil, Alonso scored a fourth and a second place respectively. In the last eight races of the season Alonso scored 48 points, which was more than any other driver (over the same period Massa scored 43 points and Hamilton scored 40 points). He finished the season fifth overall with 61 points, while also enabling Renault to finish fourth in the constructors standings with 80 points, ahead of fifth-placed Toyota.

On 5 November, Flavio Briatore confirmed that Renault had agreed a two year extension on Alonso's original contract, ending speculation about a supposed move to Ferrari, and a Renault contract "out-clause".

;2009

The new Renault R29 car did not meet up to Alonso's expectations at the start of the year, after it performed poorly in winter testing, despite the fact that there were no major reliability issues. For the second consecutive year, Nelson Piquet, Jr. would be his team-mate.

In the he avoided a first lap accident and benefited from the late safety car in the closing stages, deployed for Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel's collision, to finish fifth. Although pleased to score points, he was "disappointed" at how his KERS system worked during the race. He did not score points in Malaysia (eleventh) or China (ninth, after he qualified in second), finishing over a minute behind the race winner on both occasions.

He finished eighth in the , despite struggling with a broken drinks bottle during the race, which resulted in him collapsing with dehydration during a post-race TV interview. In Spain he spent most of the race in sixth despite an exciting battle with Mark Webber early on, before capitalising on Felipe Massa backing off with fuel conservation worries on the last lap, and going on to finish fifth. In Monaco, he benefited from the retirements of Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastian Vettel to score two points for seventh after a steady performance from ninth on the grid.

He failed to score any points in Turkey, as he was unable to keep pace with the frontrunners, and struggled on to finish tenth, while in Britain, he lost places at the start, and got stuck behind Nick Heidfeld early on. Despite some good fights, especially with former teammate Lewis Hamilton, the poor pace of his car meant he was always likely to struggle for points and finished in 14th, two places behind team-mate Piquet. At the Nurburgring, Alonso lost places at the first corner, before getting stuck in traffic. However, he went on to finish seventh, and was catching the two Brawn cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello towards the end. For the last stint, he was the fastest man on the track, half a second quicker than the leaders, which resulted in the fastest lap of the race.

In Hungary, he took his only pole position of the season (on a short fuel load), and led for the first stint of the race until his retirement, when his pit-crew fitted a wheel incorrectly. After replacing the wheel, Alonso retired with a fuel pump problem. In Valencia, he finished in sixth place, describing it was the best he could do, after his team appealed successfully over a one-race ban suspended for the race after the pit-stop incident in Hungary. However, his fastest race lap was slower than new team-mate Romain Grosjean, replacing the sacked Piquet, despite Grosjean spending most of the race towards the back.

Alonso was forced to retire in Belgium in a near repeat of the front tyre incident in Hungary, although this time the tyre was damaged after contact with Adrian Sutil's Force India on the first lap. This led to a chaotic pit stop when a replacement tyre could not be fitted properly and his team chose to retire him on safety grounds to avoid a further sanction following the Hungarian incident. At Monza he finished sixth, passing McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen during the race, despite again complaining about the car's KERS system, particularly after getting away from the grid poorly.

He finished in a strong third place in Singapore, admitting that it was a great result, "allowing to put behind us the past few weeks". However, this was his and Renault's only podium of 2009, a year after the Crashgate saga. Alonso controversially dedicated his podium afterwards to recently departed team boss Flavio Briatore, saying "he is part of the success we had today".

In Japan, he was penalised five grid places for failing to slow down for yellow flags after Sébastien Buemi crashed, scattering debris onto the track. The R29's pace was again disappointing, when he could only manage to climb up to 10th from 16th place on the grid, despite a late safety car period after Jaime Alguersuari crashed heavily. Alonso said that his race was pretty much decided in qualifying, although he admitted that his car seemed to be fairly competitive. In Brazil however, he retired on the first lap when Adrian Sutil and Jarno Trulli collided, and Alonso was unable to avoid the out-of-control Force India, which had spun onto the wet grass, terminally damaging a sidepod on the Spaniard's car, forcing him to retire.

He admitted that he had wanted to end his successful period at Renault on a high at the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi. However, he spent the whole race towards the back of the grid, and finished 14th after qualifying in 16th. After the race, he paid tribute to Renault, saying that he wanted "to thank the entire team for everything that we have achieved together", and wanted to concentrate on the positives during his time with Renault, which had included winning the and world championship titles. He finished ninth in the drivers standings overall, scoring all of Renault's 26 points during the season. As a result, Renault only finished eighth in the constructors ahead of two other teams, Force India and Toro Rosso.

2010–: Switch to Ferrari

2010

After much speculation, on 30 September 2009, Alonso was confirmed to be replacing Kimi Räikkönen at the Ferrari team, partnering Felipe Massa, a move known as "the worst-kept secret in F1". His contract covers three seasons (2010–2012), with speculated options until the end of 2014. Though his contract is said to have been signed as early as July 2008, Alonso confirmed only having a Summer-2009 agreement with Ferrari for a start, which was later changed to 2010. Ferrari and Räikkönen, whom Alonso will replace, had agreed to end their contract one year early. Though it was reported that Alonso's contract was worth €25-million per season, Ferrari released a statement that cast doubts over the salary offered, stating that "the numbers talked about have absolutely nothing to do with reality." Ferrari also cast doubt on "the arrival of technicians" with Alonso.

At the first race in Bahrain, Alonso qualified third behind team mate Massa and pole sitter Sebastian Vettel. At the start, Alonso got ahead of Massa to move up to second and later on in the race, leader Vettel had an engine problem and dropped to fourth and Alonso won the race, becoming the fifth man to win on his debut for Ferrari after Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956, Mario Andretti in 1971, Nigel Mansell in 1989, and Kimi Räikkönen in 2007. Team mate Massa came second taking a 1–2 for Ferrari and Alonso's former McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton came through to finish third.

In the , Alonso qualified third behind the two Red Bull cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. At the start, on a damp track, Alonso was tipped into a spin by eventual race winner Jenson Button, and rejoined last. Alonso charged back to fourth and then held off late race attacks from Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber to finish fourth, only two seconds behind teammate Felipe Massa.

In China, Alonso qualified third again, behind Vettel and Webber. Alonso jumped the start, for which he was later given a drive-through penalty, which dropped him down to 15th, over a minute behind race leader Nico Rosberg. With the help of a safety car which bunched the field together, and due to a series of overtaking manoeuvres, Alonso finished fourth. During the race, one of his overtaking maneuvers was on team-mate Massa as the two entered the pit lane to change to intermediate tyres when the rain came. This aggressive overtaking, in which Massa had to put two wheels on the grass to avoid a collision, and then had to wait behind Alonso during Alonso's stop which cost him a few places, raised questions that all was not well between the Ferrari teammates. However, both drivers quickly quashed the speculation, saying that the overtaking did not affect the relationship between the drivers at all, and that they are as friendly as they were before.

The first European round was in Spain where Alonso qualified fourth behind the Red Bulls and former McLaren team mate Hamilton. Alonso ran fourth until the final 15 laps of the race, when he first was elevated to third after Vettel suffered brake problems which forced him to go for an extra pit stop, and then gained another place when Hamilton's tyre failed on the penultimate lap. He finished second, thus getting his first podium after the win in Bahrain.

In Monaco, Alonso crashed his car in practice and was unable to take part in qualifying. He started 24th and last but charged up to sixth. On the last lap, Michael Schumacher passed him under the safety car to take the place, but was then penalized for the overtaking, giving sixth back to Alonso.

For the , Alonso qualified fourth and was promoted to third after Mark Webber's penalty for a gearbox change. He finished third after a racelong battle with the McLarens and Red Bulls, getting only his second podium after his win in Bahrain.

In the next round in Valencia, Alonso secured fourth on the grid in qualifying. During the race, he was right on the gearbox of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren when the Safety Car was deployed following Mark Webber's somersaulting crash after rear-ending Heikki Kovalainen. After a brief hesitation, Hamilton drove past the Safety Car, while Alonso and Massa took up position behind it. This allowed the McLaren driver (and several other drivers) to secure a significant advantage, and following their pitstops, the Ferrari drivers found themselves at the tail end of the field. Alonso was heard over the team radio insisting that Ferrari take up the matter with race director Charlie Whiting. The FIA stewards did ultimately award Hamilton a drive-through penalty, but the significant delay between the offence and the verdict (due to a delay in securing aerial footage of Hamilton's pass on the Safety Car) and the relatively short length of the pitlane at Valencia, meant that Hamilton was able to re-emerge from the pits without losing position. Finishing the race in eighth position, Alonso criticised the FIA for 'manipulating' the race result, a statement which he later moderated. Ferrari were equally critical of the FIA's stewarding of the event.

At the at Silverstone, Alonso lined up third on the grid. However, clutch problems at the start caused his Ferrari to bog down and Alonso had dropped several positions by the time the pack reached the first corner. Alonso attempted to stage a fightback, and while attempting to pass Robert Kubica's Renault down the outside at Vale, was forced on to the grass as Kubica closed the door on him. Alonso rejoined the track ahead of Kubica, and maintained track position ahead of the Pole. Alonso was heard on the radio explaining to his team that Kubica had forced him on to the grass, while Kubica informed his team that Alonso had illegally passed him by cutting the chicane. After some delay, the stewards awarded Alonso a drive-through penalty for failing to yield the position back to Kubica. The situation was further exacerbated by the untimely deployment of the Safety Car owing to debris on the track, which bunched the field up, and caused Alonso to drop to the tail of the pack once he served his penalty. Alonso crossed the line in fourteenth place, a minute behind race winner Mark Webber, setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, having changed tyres after a puncture. More accusations followed after the race, with Ferrari alleging that the FIA had not responded to their requests for clarification, and the FIA insisting that they had requested Ferrari to give back Alonso's position to Kubica and thus obviate the need for an inquiry.

For the at Hockenheim, Alonso missed pole position by 0.002 seconds to Vettel, with Massa qualifying third. In the race, Vettel made a poor start and attempted to compensate by squeezing Alonso towards the pitwall. Seizing this opportunity, Massa overtook both of them, and entered the first corner with Alonso and Vettel in second and third places. Alonso then controversially overtook Massa and they crossed the line in that order to give Ferrari a 1–2 finish.

For the , Alonso qualified in third place, behind the two Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber. As the lights went out, he passed Webber into second place, and then drew alongside Vettel on the outside going into the first corner. Alonso lost out to Webber at the pitstops, but got ahead of Vettel when the latter was given a drive-through penalty. He was able to hold off Vettel and finish the race in second place. After a promising start in Belgium, qualifying yielded a disappointing grid position of tenth place. When the race started, things went from bad to worse as Alonso was torpedoed from behind by Rubens Barrichello's sliding Williams. Alonso recovered to eighth before spinning out of the race in the closing stages.

At the , Alonso claimed pole position ahead of Jenson Button, but trailed Button by the first corner. Alonso and Massa pursued the McLaren until it pitted. Alonso pitted the next lap, with a quicker stop allowing Alonso to return to the track wheel to wheel with Button, and narrowly edged him out into the first corner. He pulled clear to claim his 24th career win, his third of the season, and Ferrari's first win at Monza since . As an added bonus, Alonso also claimed the fastest lap of the race, resulting in a hat-trick (pole, win and fastest lap).

At the , Alonso took pole position ahead of Vettel, the McLarens of Hamilton and Button and the second Red Bull of championship leader Webber. When the lights went out, Alonso made a solid start and led Vettel into the first corner. Alonso soaked up pressure from Vettel for the entire race and crossed the line less than 0.3 seconds ahead of the Red Bull. Once more, Alonso set the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages. In Japan, Alonso finished third, behind Vettel and Webber, then won in Korea after Vettel retired with engine failure. He also scored his fifth fastest lap of the year, enough to give him the 2010 DHL Fastest Lap Award after a countback with Lewis Hamilton. In Abu Dhabi, Alonso entered the event with an eight-point lead, and qualified third. At the start of the race he lost a place to Button and then a strategic error by his team meant that Alonso spent the rest of the race stuck behind Vitaly Petrov, and lost out on world championship honours to Sebastian Vettel.

2011

Alonso started the season with a fourth place in Australia, finishing half a minute behind race-winner Sebastian Vettel. He followed that up with sixth and seventh places in Malaysia and China, being outperformed by team-mate Massa in both races. He took his first podium of the season with third at the , having run second for a time and was only passed by Mark Webber on lap 51 of 58. Prior to his home race in Spain, he extended his contract with Ferrari for a further four years, until the end of 2016.

Controversies

At the 2003 European Grand Prix, David Coulthard and McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh accused Alonso of giving Coulthard a brake test. This was in relation to a passage of racing towards the end of the race when Coulthard was trying to overtake Alonso, who was holding him up. Coulthard swerved off the track and into retirement during an attempted overtake. After talking to the drivers and viewing telemetry and video data, the FIA stewards decided that the incident did not warrant any "further judicial action". At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Alonso was involved in an incident in which he brake tested Red Bull Racing test driver Robert Doornbos in the second free practice session. The stewards decided that Alonso's actions were "unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous", and awarded him a one second time penalty to be applied to his fastest lap time in each of the qualifying sessions. After a separate incident from the same race, when Michael Schumacher was asked whether he thought Alonso deliberately slowed down so that Schumacher had to pass him under red flags in practice, Schumacher replied, "You said that, I didn't." In the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, after stewards ruled Alonso had potentially blocked Felipe Massa in Saturday qualifying and relegated him five places on the starting grid, Alonso stated "I love the sport, love the fans coming here — a lot of them from Spain but I don't consider Formula One like a sport any more". In the qualifying for the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, while both McLarens were in the pits, Alonso remained stationary in the McLaren pit for a few seconds. This delayed the then provisional pole sitter and team-mate Lewis Hamilton long enough to prevent him from getting another 'hot lap' in. Alonso then went on to claim pole. McLaren boss Ron Dennis later said the team had got "out of sequence" when Hamilton did not as agreed allow Alonso past earlier in the qualifying session. He added that Alonso was "under the control of his engineer" when he was waiting in the pit lane. However, Alonso was subsequently given a five-place grid penalty and his McLaren team were docked the 15 constructors' World Championship points they would have earned in the race. As a result of this investigation, it emerged that some team members within McLaren, among them Alonso, were aware of confidential information belonging to the Ferrari team. This information was commented on to Alonso by McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa who had also received information from McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan. The email contained text suggesting that Alonso was surprised by the data and doubted its authenticity. According to the "spygate" related email exchanges between Alonso and de la Rosa, it was clear that Alonso knew about Ferrari's pit strategies in the Australian Grand Prix and Bahrain Grand Prix. Alonso finished 2nd and 5th respectively in those races. Ron Dennis told the FIA about the case during the . Amid media allegations that Alonso threatened Dennis with reporting the team to FIA himself if he was not given number one driver status, Ron Dennis stated in a televised interview that there had been an argument, and that Alonso had said something in the heat of the moment but immediately apologised. This was when Dennis found out about Ferrari data and immediately informed the FIA. Pitlane sources have suggested, from published FIA stewards data, that an argument involving reporting the McLaren team to the FIA was prompted by the fact that there was no stewards' investigation regarding the qualifying pitlane incident until Anthony and Lewis Hamilton made a formal complaint on the Saturday evening; costing Alonso a five-place grid penalty and loss of Constructors' Points for the team. FIA then revealed that it had had knowledge of the Spygate case thanks to a slip made by Coughlan. In what became known in the media as "Crashgate", Renault allegedly ordered Alonso's teammate Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, causing a safety-car incident at a moment where Alonso would get tremendous benefit from his race strategy, putting him towards the front of the field, and giving him a fighting chance to win the race, after a number of opponents (Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Kimi Räikkönen to name a few) suffered. However, the FIA confirmed that no evidence had shown that Alonso had knowledge of the plan, and neither did many of the personal mechanics of both drivers. In the 2010 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Alonso became involved in a controversy with team-mate Massa, as Ferrari were accused of using team orders during the race. The incident started when Massa was leading the race and Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley said "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?". Shortly after this, Massa slowed down and was overtaken by Alonso in what appeared to be team orders. Shortly after the race notable people of the senior personnel in Ferrari, Massa and Alonso were summoned to the stewards. The matter was then referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council. and Ferrari were given a $100,000 fine but the result of the race was unchanged. In the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alonso was seen gesticulating furiously at Vitaly Petrov on the slowing down lap in front of TV cameras, and initially it seemed that he had blamed the young Russian for costing him the world crown as he ended up being unable to find a way past the Renault driver while race winner Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion. However, Alonso denied accusations that he had accused him of denying the Spaniard the title.

Fan phenomenon: Alonsomanía

''Alonsomanía'' is the fan phenomenon about Alonso. In 2005 his success fuelled an increase in interest in Formula One in Spain. On September 25, 2005, a huge party began in Alonso's home town of Oviedo when he became the country's first Formula One World Champion and the youngest in the sport's history at the time. Alonso's fans are recognized by the light blue and yellow Asturias flags which are coincidentally the same colors used by the Mild Seven Renault team between 2002 and 2006. After his championship win, a widely-visited exhibition of Alonso's racing gear was held in Oviedo.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
! 1999	align=left	align=left	15	6	9	4	8	164
! 2000	align=left		9	1	1	2	2	17	4th
! 2001	align=left	align=left	17	0	0	0	0	0	23rd
! 2002	align=left	align=left
! 2003	align=left	align=left	16	1	2	1	4	55	6th
! 2004	align=left	align=left	18	0	1	0	4	59	4th
! 2005	align=left	align=left	19	7	6	2	15	133
! 2006	align=left	align=left	18	7	6	5	14	134
! 2007	align=left	align=left	17	4	2	3	12	109
! 2008	align=left	align=left| ING Renault F1 Team	18	2	0	0	3	61	5th
! 2009	align=left	align=left| ING Renault F1 Team	17	0	1	2	1	26	9th
! 2010	align=left	align=left	19	5	2	5	10	252
! 2011	align=left	align=left	12	1	0	1	6	157*

Season in progress.

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! DC

! Points

! Team Astromega

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Silverstone Circuit>SILEX

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! 4th

! 17

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

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! 17

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! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

2001 Formula One season

2001

European Aviation Air Charter>European Minardi F1 Team

Minardi Minardi PS01>PS01

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23rd

0

[[2003 Formula One season

2003">European Aviation Air Charter

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23rd

0

[[2003 Formula One season

2003

Mild Seven Renault F1

Renault F1 Team

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6th

55

[[2004 Formula One season

2004">Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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6th

55

[[2004 Formula One season

2004

Mild Seven Renault F1

Renault F1 Team

!

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4th

59

[[2005 Formula One season

2005">Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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4th

59

[[2005 Formula One season

2005

Mild Seven Renault F1

Renault F1 Team

!

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Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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Renault F1>Renault F1 Team

!

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Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-22>MP4-22

!

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! [[ING Group

! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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5th

61

rowspan=2

! [[ING Group

[[Renault F1

[[Renault F1

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Renault F1 Team">Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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bgcolor="DFFFDF"

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bgcolor="FFFFBF"

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! [[ING Group

! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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5th

61

rowspan=2

! [[ING Group

[[Renault F1

[[Renault F1

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Renault F1 Team

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Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

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Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

[[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari">Scuderia Ferrari

[[Scuderia Ferrari

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! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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Season in progress.

See also

List of Formula One drivers

List of Spaniards

Books

References

External links

Fernando Alonso's official site

Profile – from Formula 1 official website

Profile – from Scuderia Ferrari official website

FAster Inside with Fernando Alonso

Career statistics

Fernando Alonso statistics

|after= Incumbent}} }}

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:People from Oviedo Category:Spanish racecar drivers Category:Spanish Formula One drivers Category:Minardi Formula One drivers Category:Renault Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:International Formula 3000 drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Category:UNICEF people

ace:Fernando Alonso af:Fernando Alonso ang:Fernando Alonso ar:فرناندو ألونسو an:Fernando Alonso ast:Fernando Alonso az:Fernando Alonso bm:Fernando Alonso bjn:Fernando Alonso zh-min-nan:Fernando Alonso map-bms:Fernando Alonso be:Фернанда Алонса be-x-old:Фэрнанда Алёнса bi:Fernando Alonso bar:Fernando Alonso bs:Fernando Alonso br:Fernando Alonso bg:Фернандо Алонсо ca:Fernando Alonso ceb:Fernando Alonso cs:Fernando Alonso cy:Fernando Alonso da:Fernando Alonso de:Fernando Alonso et:Fernando Alonso el:Φερνάντο Αλόνσο eml:Fernando Alonso es:Fernando Alonso eo:Fernando Alonso eu:Fernando Alonso fa:فرناندو آلونسو fr:Fernando Alonso fy:Fernando Alonso ga:Fernando Alonso gl:Fernando Alonso ko:페르난도 알론소 ha:Fernando Alonso hy:Ֆերնանդո Ալոնսո hr:Fernando Alonso io:Fernando Alonso id:Fernando Alonso ie:Fernando Alonso zu:Fernando Alonso it:Fernando Alonso he:פרננדו אלונסו jv:Fernando Alonso ka:ფერნანდო ალონსო sw:Fernando Alonso ht:Fernando Alonso lv:Fernando Alonso lb:Fernando Alonso lt:Fernando Alonso lg:Fernando Alonso hu:Fernando Alonso mk:Фернандо Алонсо mr:फर्नांदो अलोन्सो ms:Fernando Alonso nl:Fernando Alonso ja:フェルナンド・アロンソ no:Fernando Alonso nn:Fernando Alonso oc:Fernando Alonso pap:Fernando Alonso tpi:Fernando Alonso pl:Fernando Alonso pt:Fernando Alonso ro:Fernando Alonso qu:Fernando Alonso ru:Алонсо, Фернандо sco:Fernando Alonso st:Fernando Alonso sq:Fernando Alonso scn:Fernando Alonso simple:Fernando Alonso ss:Fernando Alonso sk:Fernando Alonso sl:Fernando Alonso sr:Фернандо Алонсо sh:Fernando Alonso su:Fernando Alonso fi:Fernando Alonso sv:Fernando Alonso tl:Fernando Alonso th:เฟร์นันโด อาลอนโซ tr:Fernando Alonso uk:Фернандо Алонсо vec:Fernando Alonso vi:Fernando Alonso war:Fernando Alonso yi:פערנאנדא אלאנסא zh:费尔南多·阿隆索

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	David Coulthard
nationality	British
birth date	March 27, 1971
years	–
team(s)	Williams, McLaren, Red Bull
races	247 (246 starts)
championships	0
wins	13
points	535
podiums	62
poles	12
fastest laps	18
first race	1994 Spanish Grand Prix
first win	1995 Portuguese Grand Prix
last win	2003 Australian Grand Prix
last race	2008 Brazilian Grand Prix }}

David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, (; born 27 March 1971), sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.

Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons. Twice a winner in Monaco, Coulthard was team-mate to Mika Häkkinen in the Finn's two Drivers' Championship-winning seasons for McLaren Mercedes before helping establish the Red Bull team.

Coulthard amassed a notable points total placing him eleventh on the all-time scorers list. His best Drivers' Championship finish was second in 2001.

Coulthard is now a BBC F1 TV commentator and pundit while also being a team consultant for Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso.

Coulthard returned to racing sports as an active driver in the DTM series for 2010, piloting a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class for Mücke Motorsport. He finished his first DTM race at Hockenheim in 12th place.

Pre-Formula One

Coulthard began karting at an early age. Allan McNish credited the start given to him, David Coulthard, and Dario Franchitti largely to David Leslie, senior and junior.

Coulthard graduated to Formula Ford in 1989. He won the first ever McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year award. In 1990, he suffered a broken leg at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, but came back the following year to win Formula Three races at Zandvoort, Netherlands and Macau. In 1992, he raced in the Formula 3000 series, finishing ninth, and in 1993 he improved to third overall.

Formula One

1994–1995: Williams

In 1993, Coulthard became test driver for the world champion Formula One team Williams-Renault and played an important role in advancing the car's technology. For 1994 he stayed with Williams as tester, but following Ayrton Senna's death at Imola, he was promoted to the race team alongside Damon Hill for the Spanish Grand Prix. He spent much of the season driving the second car, but had to step aside for ex-champion Nigel Mansell on four occasions. Renault were keen to have a big name in the second Williams, and Mansell, at that time reigning Indycar champion, fitted the bill. Coulthard showed flashes of speed, but errors and bad luck saw him take just one podium, a second-place finish at Estoril. For the last three races he had to sit back and watch Mansell take his place, but it was he, and not Mansell, who would race for Williams full-time in 1995.

Entering the 1995 season, Coulthard was forced by the FIA Contract Recognition Board to fulfil his contract with Williams despite having an option to race for McLaren that season.

The 1995 season saw Coulthard win the 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix. There were other races where he could have won, but poor luck and mistakes once more cost him. He did score five pole positions, four of them consecutively. However, some unforced errors tarnished his season.

When Williams were firming up their driver lineup for in July 1995, Coulthard had already signed for McLaren.

1996–2004: McLaren

In 1996, Coulthard contracted with McLaren to drive alongside future champion Mika Häkkinen. His first season with McLaren was unremarkable, as the Mercedes-powered team struggled to find speed. He led at Imola and lost out to Olivier Panis at Monaco.

In 1997, in his second year with McLaren, he finished the drivers' championship tied with Jean Alesi for third place (after the disqualification of Michael Schumacher). He had taken two wins and could have added more, but for problems. At Montreal he was leading, but was brought into the pits for a precautionary stop. Coulthard stalled his engine twice whilst trying to exit the pits, losing his lead in the process. What made this even more frustrating for Coulthard was that the race was stopped just a few minutes later due to Olivier Panis' crash. If Coulthard had not pitted, he would have won the race. At Jerez, Coulthard was running in 2nd place towards the end of the race and was catching race leader Jacques Villeneuve after his earlier collision with Michael Schumacher. Due to team orders, Coulthard was forced by McLaren to allow his teammate, who was running close behind him, into 2nd place. On the final lap of the race, Villeneuve let both McLarens by and Coulthard thus felt he maybe should have won the race.

In 1998, the McLaren was consistently the fastest car on track, but it was Häkkinen who made the most of it, winning the title. Coulthard took just one win and spent most of the year in a supporting role.

In 1999, a combination of unreliability, under-performance and bad luck saw Coulthard finish the season in fourth place, and McLaren lost the constructors' title to Ferrari. Häkkinen became champion, whilst Coulthard won twice. In 2000, he was involved in a tight battle for the drivers' championship with Schumacher and Häkkinen, but eventually fell out of contention into a third place finish. In 2001, he finished the year in second place, but with barely half the points (65) tallied by runaway winner Schumacher (123).

Coulthard's subsequent years at McLaren, from 2002 through 2004, were disappointing as well, as he was regularly out-paced by younger teammate Kimi Räikkönen. Many of Coulthard's critics argue that his decline began in 2003, when the FIA introduced the single-lap qualifying format. Since his Formula Three days, Coulthard had the reputation of being a poor qualifier. He openly admitted that he did not like the format and was a vocal opponent of it. With the announcement that Juan Pablo Montoya was to join McLaren in 2005 alongside Räikkönen, 2004 was to be Coulthard's last year with the team. A poor tenth place finish in the final 2004 standings (24 points, equal with the injured Ralf Schumacher) had not helped Coulthard's cause for 2005 either.

In 2010 while working on air for the BBC F1 coverage, he admitted that Ferrari had approached him for a drive while he was racing with McLaren. He turned down the offer, because he realised that if he was in the lead of a Grand Prix race and Michael Schumacher was behind him, he would have to move out the way to let him through.

2005–2008: Red Bull

Red Bull Racing were attracted by Coulthard's experience and signed him for the 2005 Formula One season. He was teamed with the inexperienced Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Coulthard's contract at Red Bull Racing was also extended prior to the 2005 British Grand Prix, prolonging his Formula One career to at least the end of 2006.

For 2006, Coulthard continued at Red Bull, partnered again with Christian Klien. The team were powered by Ferrari engines, with a contract for Renault engines agreed for 2007 during the 2006 season. Technical director Adrian Newey joined the team from McLaren to design the 2007 car. These positive developments led Coulthard to state that he wished to remain with the team after the 2006 season, and to add to his victory tally with them. On 7 August 2006, the day after the Hungarian Grand Prix where Coulthard finished 5th, it was announced the he had extended his contract with Red Bull Racing for 2007 and would be teamed up with Mark Webber.

Coulthard is the highest-scoring British driver ever with 535 points, beating Nigel Mansell's previous record of 482 points. At the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix he also became the 8th member of Formula One's "200 Club", joining Riccardo Patrese, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Gerhard Berger, Andrea de Cesaris, Nelson Piquet and Jean Alesi in the list of drivers to have competed in 200 Grands Prix. In the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Coulthard scored his first podium finish with Red Bull Racing, his best result with the team and also the team's first podium finish. During the trophy presentation, Coulthard wore a red cape as the team was promoting the film "Superman Returns".

After a slow start to the 2007 season, Coulthard delivered two strong drives at the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix where he picked up the team's first points of the season. On 6 July 2007, Red Bull Racing announced that Coulthard's contract had been extended to the end of . Coulthard had a bad start to his 2008 campaign after a racing incident with Felipe Massa. In a live post-incident interview with ITV's Louise Goodman, he expressed dissatisfaction with Massa's aggressive on-track behaviour.

:"I know I screwed up the same way with Alex [Wurz] last year, and took full responsibility for it, and I would expect Felipe to do the same. If he doesn't, I'm going to kick three colours of shit out of the little bastard."David Coulthard, 2008, after tangling with Felipe Massa.

At the second race in Malaysia, Coulthard suffered a bad suspension failure which saw his Red Bull team investigated for car safety. Although cleared to drive, the lack of testing time had a negative impact on his race performance and he managed only a 9th place finish. Despite a series of poor performances over the course of the 2008 season, he came back and managed to secure a hard-fought 3rd place at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, the 62nd podium finish of his Formula One career.

On the Thursday before the 2008 British Grand Prix, Coulthard announced that he would retire at the end of the season, but would remain at Red Bull as a consultant. He retired on the first lap after colliding with Sebastian Vettel, the driver that would replace him at Red Bull in , in his last British Grand Prix.

For Coulthard's final race, he competed in a car with a one-off livery promoting the charity "Wings for Life". In the event, Coulthard retired in the second corner on the first lap after he was hit from behind by Nico Rosberg's Williams. In his final website blog before the race, Coulthard said, "I was thinking of asking the drivers to keep well clear of me into turn 1 to give me a better chance of finishing my last GP but I know all too well that when the lights go out racing instincts take over."

Helmet

Coulthard helmet is blue with a white saltire on the top (resembling the Scottish flag) with its 4 tips trepassing from the top to the chin area, In Mclaren it was added a white ring around the top and in Redbull was added a dark blue line in the middle (to higlight red bull's logo). At Japanese GP in 2007 he wore a gray helmet with a stylized saltire in its sides as a homage to the late Colin McRae.

Post-Formula One

At the 2008 Race of Champions, Coulthard made the final only to lose out to Sébastien Loeb.

From 2009, Coulthard has worked on the BBC's F1 coverage as an expert summariser (pundit). From the 2011 season onwards, he has been co-commentator to Martin Brundle, starting at the opening race in Australia. He was also the Red Bull Racing reserve driver for the first two Grands Prix of the 2009 season and is remaining with the team as a consultant and demonstration driver.

At certain Grands Prix in 2010, when regular Red Bull and Toro Rosso reserve drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Brendon Hartley competed elsewhere in the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season, Coulthard was available to step in as reserve driver.

In 2010, Coulthard competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, driving a 2008-spec Mercedes C-Class run by Mücke Motorsport. It was announced on 8 April 2011 that Coulthard would again race the C-Class for Mücke Motorsport in the DTM, with Ralf Schumacher as his team-mate.

Coulthard was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

Personal life

Coulthard has lived for some time in the tax haven principality of Monaco, and also owns homes in London, Belgium and Switzerland. He owns several luxury hotels in Britain and is a former owner of the Columbus Hotel Monaco, which is located in Monaco's Fontvieille.

On 2 May 2000, while he was leasing the Learjet of friend David Murray, the aeroplane developed engine trouble en route to Côte d'Azur International Airport in Nice, and crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Lyon-Satolas airport, France. Coulthard, his then-girlfriend the American model Heidi Wichlinski and personal trainer/bodyguard Andy Matthews survived; Murray's personal pilot David Saunders and co-pilot Dan Worley died.

On 2 June 2006, he became engaged to Karen Minier, a Belgian Formula One correspondent for French TV channel TF1. The couple planned to marry "in the near future". On 14 July 2008, in his ITV F1 column, Coulthard confirmed that he and Minier were expecting their first child; Dayton Minier Coulthard was born on 20 November 2008, weighing .

The museum in his home village dedicated to Coulthard is currently independently run by local fan Wendy McKenzie after previously being run by Coulthard's family. It is now the home of the "Twynosi" (a cross between Twynholm and the Italian word for "fans", ''tifosi'', as used by Ferrari fans), who gather on race days.

On 7 August 2007, Coulthard released his autobiography, entitled ''It is What It Is''. In it, he admitted that he had suffered from bulimia as a teenager.

In 2008, Coulthard acted as best man at the wedding of Chris Hughes and actress/presenter Amanda Holden.

Coulthard's second cousin, New Zealander Fabian Coulthard, is also a racing driver, currently racing in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series for Walkinshaw Racing.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team name	! Races	! Poles	! Wins	! Points	! Final placing
	Formula Ford 1600 Dunlop/Autosport	?
Formula Ford 1600 P&O Ferries Junior	?
Formula Ford Festival	?
	Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries	?
Formula Vauxhall Lotus	?
British Touring Car Championship	Cook Racing
Macau Grand Prix
Formula Three Fuji Cup	?
Macau Grand Prix
		Pacific Racing
		Mücke Motorsport

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! DC

! Points

! Paul Stewart Racing

Reynard Motorsport>Reynard/92D

Judd (engine)>Judd

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! 9th

! 11

! Pacific Racing

Reynard Motorsport>Reynard/93D

Cosworth>Ford Cosworth

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! Vortex Motorsport

Reynard Motorsport>Reynard/94D

Cosworth>Ford Cosworth

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! 9th

! 6

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) !rowspan="2" !rowspan="2"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

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Rothmans Williams Renault

! [[WilliamsF1

[[Renault F1

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8th

14

! [[WilliamsF1

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Rothmans Williams Renault

! [[Renault F1

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! [[WilliamsF1

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[[Marlboro (cigarette)

WilliamsF1

[[Renault F1

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! [[WilliamsF1

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[[Marlboro (cigarette)

McLaren MP4/11>MP4/11

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7th

18

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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7th

18

McLaren MP4/11>MP4/11B

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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rowspan="2"

! [[Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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! [[Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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! [[West (cigarette)

West (cigarette)

!rowspan="2"

! [[Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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! [[Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

! [[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4/13>MP4/13

!

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bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

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! [[West (cigarette)

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

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! [[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4/14>MP4/14

!

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! 4th

! 48

! [[West (cigarette)

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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! 4th

! 48

! [[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4/15>MP4/15

!

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: white;"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

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bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

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bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

! [[West (cigarette)

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: white;"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

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bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

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! [[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4-16>MP4-16

!

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[West (cigarette)

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4-17>MP4-17

!

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

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bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

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! 5th

! 41

! [[West (cigarette)

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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! 5th

! 41

! [[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4-17>MP4-17D

!

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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! 7th

! 51

rowspan="2"

[[West (cigarette)

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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! 7th

! 51

rowspan="2"

[[West (cigarette)

McLaren MP4-19>MP4-19

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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10th

24

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

10th

24

McLaren MP4-19>MP4-19B

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! Red Bull Racing

! Red Bull Racing

TJ2005 3.0 V10 engine>V10

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bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="white"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

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! 12th

! 24

! Red Bull Racing

!

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! 13th

! 14

! [[Red Bull Racing">Red Bull Racing

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

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bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

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! 13th

! 14

! [[Red Bull Racing

!

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! 10th

! 14

! [[Red Bull Racing">Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault F1

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! 10th

! 14

! [[Red Bull Racing

! [[Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault F1

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! 16th

! 8

Complete DTM results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

!  Year

! Team

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

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! 10

! 11

!  Pos.

!  Points

Mücke Motorsport

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16th

1

Mücke Motorsport

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13th

1

References

External links

Official Site

Article on Coulthard's race preparation

Statistics at planet-f1.com

David Coulthard Statistics at f1db.com

BBC article on plane crash

Interview with Coulthard, mentions breakup.

David Coulthard statistics

Crash Investigator : 1995 Australia, David Coulthard

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Dumfries and Galloway Category:Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Category:Scottish expatriates in Monaco Category:McLaren Autosport BRDC Award nominees Category:BRDC Gold Star winners Category:Scottish racecar drivers Category:Kart racing drivers Category:Formula Ford drivers Category:British Formula Three Championship drivers Category:International Formula 3000 drivers Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:British Touring Car Championship drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:Scottish Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Williams Formula One drivers Category:Red Bull Racing Category:DTM drivers Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:BBC sports presenters and reporters

ast:David Coulthard be:Дэвід Култхард bs:David Coulthard bg:Дейвид Култард ca:David Coulthard cs:David Coulthard cy:David Coulthard da:David Coulthard de:David Coulthard et:David Coulthard es:David Coulthard fr:David Coulthard gl:David Coulthard hr:David Coulthard id:David Coulthard it:David Coulthard jv:David Coulthard lv:Deivids Kulthārds lb:David Coulthard lt:David Coulthard hu:David Coulthard mr:डेव्हिड कुल्टहार्ड ms:David Coulthard nl:David Coulthard ja:デビッド・クルサード no:David Coulthard nn:David Coulthard pl:David Coulthard pt:David Coulthard ro:David Coulthard ru:Култхард, Дэвид sq:David Coulthard sl:David Coulthard sr:Дејвид Култард su:David Coulthard fi:David Coulthard sv:David Coulthard tr:David Coulthard uk:Девід Култхард vi:David Coulthard zh:大衛·庫塔

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Name	Hannes Arch
Birth date	September 22, 1967
Death date
Resting place coordinates
Nationality	Austria
First race	2007
Racing best	1st (2008)
Racing aircraft	Zivko Edge 540
Website	hannesarch.com }}

Hannes Arch (born September 22, 1967) is an Austrian pilot, who competed in the 2007 Red Bull Air Race World Series season following a round of qualification held in Phoenix, Arizona, United States during October 2006. He joins 13 other pilots, 2 of them also receiving entry after the Arizona qualifying. Arch won the World Championship in the 2008 season.

{|class="wikitable" |- ! colspan=16 align=center| Hannes Archat the Red Bull Air Race World Series |- !width="2%"|Year !width="2%"| 1 !width="2%"| 2 !width="2%"| 3 !width="2%"| 4 !width="2%"| 5 !width="2%"| 6 !width="2%"| 7 !width="2%"| 8 !width="2%"| 9 !width="2%"| 10 !width="2%"| 11 !width="2%"| 12 !width="2%"|Points !width="2%"|Wins !width="2%"|Rank |- align=center ! 2007 | bgcolor=|DNQ | bgcolor="#dfffdf"|4th | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|10th | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|11th | CAN | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|12th | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|11th | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|10th | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|12th | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|10th | CAN | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|9th ! 3 ! 0 | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|10th |- align=center ! 2008 | bgcolor="#dfdfdf"|2nd | bgcolor="#dfffdf"|4th | bgcolor="#ffdf9f"|3rd | CAN | bgcolor="#dfdfdf"|2nd | bgcolor="#ffdf9f"|3rd | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st | CAN | bgcolor="#ffdf9f"|3rd | | ! 61 ! 2 | bgcolor="#ffffbf" align=center;|1st |- align=center ! 2009 | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st | bgcolor="#ffdf9f"|3rd | bgcolor="#dfdfdf"|2nd | bgcolor="#dfffdf"|4th | bgcolor="#dfdfdf"|2nd | bgcolor="#dfffdf"|4th | | | | | | ! 60 ! 1 | bgcolor="#dfdfdf" align=center;|2nd |- align=center ! 2010 | bgcolor="#cfcfff"|11th | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st | bgcolor="#dfffdf"|4th | bgcolor="#ffffbf"|1st |CAN |POR | | | | ! 60 ! 4 | bgcolor="#dfdfdf"|2nd |}

Legend:

CAN: Cancelled

DNP: Did not participate

DNQ: Did not qualify

DNS: Did not show

DQ: Disqualified

NC: Not classified

See also

Competition aerobatics

References

External links

Air-races.com profile

Aerobatics website with Hannes Arch videos

Red Bull Air Race World Series official website

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Aerobatic pilots Category:Austrian aviators Category:Austrian air racers Category:Red Bull Air Race World Series pilots Category:Red Bull Air Race World Series champions

cs:Hannes Arch de:Hannes Arch fr:Hannes Arch nl:Hannes Arch pl:Hannes Arch pt:Hannes Arch

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
years active	1992–present
background	solo_singer
birth name	Britney Jean Spears
birth date	December 02, 1981
birth place
genre	Pop, dance
occupation	Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, record producer, author, fashion designer, video director
instrument	Vocals, piano
label	Jive
associated acts	InnosenseThe New Mickey Mouse Club
website	}}

Britney Jean Spears (born 1981) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album ''...Baby One More Time'' in 1999. During her first decade within the music industry, she became a prominent figure in mainstream popular music and popular culture, followed by a much-publicized personal life. Her first two albums established her as a pop icon and broke sales records, while title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits. Spears was credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s.

In 2001, she released her third studio album ''Britney'' and expanded her brand, playing the starring role in the film ''Crossroads''. She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, ''In the Zone'' (2003), which yielded chart-topping singles "Me Against the Music", "Toxic" and "Everytime". After the release of two compilation albums, Spears experienced personal struggles and her career went under hiatus. Her fifth studio album, ''Blackout'', was released in 2007 and despite receiving little promotion, it spawned hits "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". In 2008, her erratic behavior and hospitalizations caused her to be placed in a conservatorship. The same year, her sixth studio album ''Circus'' was released, with the global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer". She embarked on her highest-grossing global concert tour, The Circus Starring Britney Spears, in 2009. Her seventh studio album ''Femme Fatale'', released in 2011, has become the first of her albums to yield three top ten singles in the United States.

Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the eighth top-selling female artist in the United States, with 33 million certified albums. Spears is also recognized as the best-selling female artist of the first decade of the 21st century, as well as the fifth overall. She was ranked the 8th Artist of the 2000s by ''Billboard''. In June 2010, Spears was ranked sixth on ''Forbes'' list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world; she is also the third most mentioned musician on the internet, according to ''Forbes''.

Biography

1981–97: Early life and career beginnings

Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, the second child of Lynne Irene (née Bridges) and James Parnell Spears. She is of English heritage through her maternal grandmother, who was born in London, and of distant Maltese descent. Her siblings are Bryan James and Jamie Lynn. At age three, she started to attend dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform a solo at the annual recital. During her childhood, she also attended gymnastics and voice lessons, and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows. Spears made her local stage debut at age five, singing "What Child Is This?" at her kindergarten graduation. She said about her ambition as a child, "I was in my own world, [...] I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age". At age eight, Spears and her mother Lynne traveled to Atlanta for an audition in the 1990s revival of ''The Mickey Mouse Club''. Casting director Matt Cassella rejected her for being too young to join the series at the time, but introduced her to Nancy Carson, a New York City talent agent. Carson was impressed with Spears's vocals and suggested enrolling her at the Professional Performing Arts School; shortly after, Lynne and her daughters moved to a sublet apartment in New York. Spears was hired for her first professional role as the understudy for the lead role of Tina Denmark in the Off-Broadway musical ''Ruthless!''. She also appeared as a contestant on the popular television show ''Star Search'', as well as being cast in a number of commercials. In December 1992, she was finally cast in ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', but returned to Kentwood after the show was canceled. She enrolled at Parklane Academy in nearby McComb, Mississippi. Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to "the opening scene in ''Clueless'' with all the cliques. [...] I was so bored. I was the point guard on the basketball team. I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal. But I wanted more."

In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense. Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels, therefore she needed a professional demo. He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio with a sound engineer. Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany." Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph. Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated about Spears's audition that "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. [...] For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'— is extremely important. And Britney had that." They appointed her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney." After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. Spears had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger more adult contemporary" but felt all right with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me." She flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded from March to April 1998, with producers Max Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, among others.

1998–00: ''...Baby One More Time'' and ''Oops!... I Did It Again''

After Spears returned to the United States, she embarked on a shopping mall promotional tour to promote her forthcoming album. Her show was a four song set and she was accompanied by two back up dancers. Her first concert tour followed, as an opening act for 'N Sync. Her debut album, ''...Baby One More Time'', was released on January 1999. It debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after a month. Worldwide, the album topped the charts in fifteen countries and sold over ten million copies in a year. It became the biggest selling album ever by a teenage artist. The title track was released as the lead single from the album. Originally, Jive Records wanted its music video to be animated; however, Spears rejected it, and suggested the final idea of a Catholic schoolgirl. The single sold 500,000 copies on its first day, and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for two consecutive weeks. "...Baby One More Time" later received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The title track also topped the singles chart for two weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 460,000 copies. It would later become the 25th most successful song of all time in British chart history. Spears is also the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the country. "(You Drive Me) Crazy" was released as the third single from the album. It became a top-ten hit worldwide and propelled ''...Baby One More Time'' to sell 26 million copies.

The April 1999 cover of ''Rolling Stone'' featured Spears lying on her bed, clad with a bra, shorts and an open top. The American Family Association (AFA) referred to the shoot as "a disturbing mix of childhood innocence and adult sexuality" and called to "God-loving Americans to boycott stores selling Britney's albums." Spears responded to the outcry commenting, "What's the big deal? I have strong morals. [...] I'd do it again. I thought the pictures were fine. And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time." Shortly before, Spears had announced publicly she would remain a virgin until marriage. On June 28, 1999, Spears began her first headlining ...Baby One More Time Tour in North America, which was positively received by critics, but generated some controversy due to her racy outfits. An extension of the tour, titled Crazy 2k, followed in March 2000. Spears premiered songs from her upcoming second album during the show. ''Oops!... I Did It Again'', her second studio album, was released in May 2000. It debuted at number one in the US, selling 1,3 million copies, breaking the SoundScan record for the highest debut sales by any solo artist. The album sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' said that "the great thing about ''Oops!'' – under the cheese surface, Britney's demand for satisfaction is complex, fierce and downright scary, making her a true child of rock & roll tradition." The album's lead single, "Oops!... I Did It Again", peaked at the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and many other European nations. The album as well as the title track received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.

The same year, Spears embarked on the Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour, which grossed $40.5 million; she also released her first book, ''Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart'', co-written with her mother. On September 7, 2000, Spears performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Halfway through the performance, she ripped off her black suit to reveal a sequined flesh-colored bodysuit, followed by heavy dance routine. It is noted by critics as the moment that Spears showed signs of becoming a more provocative performer. Amidst media speculation, Spears confirmed she was dating 'N Sync member Justin Timberlake.

2001–03: ''Britney'', ''Crossroads'' and ''In the Zone''

In February 2001, Spears signed a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, and released another book co-written with her mother, entitled ''A Mother’s Gift''. Her third studio album, ''Britney'', was released in November 2001. While on tour, she felt inspired by hip hop artists such as Jay-Z and The Neptunes and wanted to create a record with a funkier sound. The album debuted at number one in the ''Billboard'' 200 and reached top five positions in Australia, the United Kingdom and mainland Europe and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called ''Britney'' "the record where she strives to deepen her persona, making it more adult while still recognizably Britney. [...] It does sound like the work of a star who has now found and refined her voice, resulting in her best record yet." The album was honored with two Grammy nominations—Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Overprotected"— and was listed in 2008 as one of ''Entertainment Weekly'''s "100 Best Albums from the Past 25 Years". The album's first single, "I'm a Slave 4 U", became a top-ten hit worldwide.

Spears's performance of the single at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards featured a caged tiger and a large albino python draped over her shoulders. It was harshly received by animal rights organization PETA, who claimed the animals were mistreated and scrapped plans for an anti-fur billboard that was to feature Spears. To support the album, Spears embarked on the Dream Within a Dream Tour. The show was critically praised for its technical innovations, the ''pièce de résistance'' being a water screen that pumped two tons of water into the stage. The tour grossed $43.7 million, becoming the second highest grossing tour of 2002 by a female artist, behind Cher's Farewell Tour. Her career success was highlighted by ''Forbes'' in 2002, as Spears was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity. Spears also landed her first starring role in ''Crossroads'', released in February 2002. Although the film was largely panned, most critics actually praised Spears's acting. ''Crossroads'', which had a $11 million budget, went on to gross over $57 million worldwide. In June 2002, Spears opened her first restaurant, Nyla, in New York City, but terminated her relationship in November, citing mismanagement and "management's failure to keep her fully apprised". In July 2002, Spears announced she would take a six month break from her career; however, she went back into the studio in October to record her new album. Spears's relationship with Justin Timberlake ended after three years. In December 2002, Timberlake released the song "Cry Me a River" as the second single from his solo debut album. The music video featured a Spears look-alike and fueled the rumors that she had been unfaithful to him. As a response, Spears wrote the ballad "Everytime" with her backing vocalist and friend Annet Artani. The same year, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst confirmed that he was in a relationship with Spears, only to deny it later. In a 2009 interview, he explained that "I just guess at the time it was taboo for a guy like me to be associated with a gal like her." Spears opened the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards with Christina Aguilera, performing "Like a Virgin". Halfway through they were joined by Madonna, with whom they both kissed. The incident was highly publicized.

Spears released her fourth studio album, ''In the Zone'', in November 2003. She assumed more creative control by writing and co-producing most of the material. ''Vibe'' called it "A supremely confident dance record that also illustrates Spears's development as a songwriter." NPR listed the album as one of "The 50 Most Important Recording of the Decade", adding that "the decade's history of impeccably crafted pop is written on her body of work." ''In the Zone'' sold over 609,000 copies in the United States and debuted at the top of the charts, making Spears the first female artist in the SoundScan era to have her first four studio albums to debut at number one. It also debuted at the top of the charts in France and the top ten in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. ''In the Zone'' sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The album produced the hit singles: "Me Against the Music", a collaboration with Madonna; "Toxic"—which won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording; "Everytime" and "Outrageous".

2004–07: Compilation albums, motherhood, personal struggles and ''Blackout''

On January 3, 2004, Spears married childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at The Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The marriage was annulled 55 hours later, stating that Spears "lacked understanding of her actions". She began The Onyx Hotel Tour in support of ''In the Zone'' in March 2004. On June 8, 2004, Spears fell and injured her left knee during the music video shoot for "Outrageous". She was taken immediately to a local hospital, where doctors performed an MRI scan and found floating cartilage. The following day, Spears underwent arthroscopic surgery. She was forced to remain six weeks with a thigh brace, followed by eight to twelve weeks of rehabilitation, which caused The Onyx Hotel Tour to be canceled. During 2004, Spears became involved in the Kabbalah Centre through her friendship with Madonna.

In July 2004, she announced her engagement to American dancer Kevin Federline, whom she had met three months before. The romance received intense attention from the media, since Federline had recently broken up with actress Shar Jackson, who was still pregnant with their second child at the time. The initial stages of their relationship were chronicled in Spears's first reality show ''Britney & Kevin: Chaotic''. They held a wedding ceremony on September 18, 2004, but were not legally married until three weeks later on October 6 due to a delay finalizing the couple's prenuptial agreement. Shortly after, she released her first fragrance with Elizabeth Arden, ''Curious'', which broke the company's first-week gross for a perfume. In October 2004, Spears announced she would be taking another career break to start a family. ''Greatest Hits: My Prerogative'', her first greatest hits compilation album, was released in November 2004. Spears's cover version of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" was released as the lead single from the album, reaching the top of the charts in Finland, Ireland, Italy and Norway. The second single, "Do Somethin'", was a top ten hit in Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries of mainland Europe. Worldwide, ''Greatest Hits: My Prerogative'' sold over 5 million copies. In late 2004, Spears went on KIIS-FM radio in Los Angeles, CA to play a new demo titled "Mona Lisa." The demo was to be the first single from an upcoming album called the "Original Doll." However, Spears' label later cancelled the album for unknown reasons. Spears gave birth to her first child, Sean Preston Federline, on September 14, 2005.

In November 2005, she released her first remix compilation, ''B in the Mix: The Remixes'', which consists of eleven remixes. In February 2006, pictures surfaced of Spears driving with her son Sean, on her lap instead of in a car seat. Child advocates were horrified by the photos of her holding the wheel with one hand and Sean with the other. Spears claimed that the situation happened because of a frightening encounter with paparazzi, and that it was a mistake on her part. The following month, she guest-starred on the ''Will & Grace'' episode "Buy, Buy Baby" as closeted lesbian Amber Louise. She publicly announced she no longer studied Kabbalah in June 2006, explaining, "my baby is my religion." Two months later, Spears posed nude for the cover of ''Harper's Bazaar''. The picture was heavily compared to Demi Moore's August 1991 ''Vanity Fair'' cover. She gave birth to her second child, Jayden James Federline, on September 12, 2006. On November 7, 2006, Spears filed for divorce from Federline, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in July 2007, when the couple reached a global settlement and agreed to share joint custody of their children. Spears's aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, died of ovarian cancer in January. On February 16, 2007, Spears stayed in a drug rehabilitation facility in Antigua for less than a day. The following night, she shaved her head with electric clippers at a hair salon in Tarzana, Los Angeles. She admitted herself to other treatment facilities during the following weeks. After completing a month-long program at Promises, she wrote on her website, "I truly hit rock bottom. Till this day I don't think that it was alcohol or depression. [...] was like a bad kid running around with ADD." In May 2007, she produced a series of promotional concerts at House of Blues venues, titled The M+M's Tour. Spears lost physical custody of her children to Federline on October 1, 2007. The reasons of the court ruling were not revealed to the public.

Her fifth studio album, ''Blackout'', was released in October 2007. It debuted at the top of charts in Canada and Ireland, number two in the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200,—held off from the top spot by Eagles's ''Long Road out of Eden''— France, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom and the top ten in Australia, Korea, New Zealand and many European nations. In the United States, Spears became the only female artist to have her first five studio albums debut at the two top slots of the chart. ''Blackout'' sold over 3.1 million copies worldwide. Peter Robinson of ''The Observer'' said that "Britney has delivered the best album of her career, raising the bar for modern pop music with an incendiary mix of Timbaland's ''Shock Value'' and her own back catalogue." Dennis Lim of ''Blender'' commented, "Spears’s fifth studio album is her most consistent, a seamlessly entertaining collection of bright, brash electropop." ''Blackout'' won Album of the Year at MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 and was listed as the fifth Best Pop Album of the Decade by ''The Times''. Spears performed the lead single "Gimme More" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was panned by many critics. David Willis of BBC stated her performance would "go down in the history books as being one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards". Despite the backlash, the single rocketed to worldwide success, peaking at number one in Canada and the top ten in almost every country it charted. The second single "Piece of Me" reached the top of the charts in Ireland and reached the top five in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The third single "Break the Ice" was released the following year and had moderate success due to Spears not being able to promote it properly. In December 2007, Spears began a relationship with paparazzo Adnan Ghalib.

2008–10: Conservatorship and ''Circus''

On January 3, 2008, Spears refused to relinquish custody of her sons to Federline's representatives. She was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, after police that arrived at her house noted she appeared to be under the influence of an illicit substance. The following day, Spears's visitation rights were suspended at an emergency court hearing, and Federline was given sole physical and legal custody of the children. On January 31, 2008, Spears was committed to the psychiatric ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold. The court placed her under temporary conservatorship of her father James Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet, giving them complete control of her assets. Spears was released on February 6, 2008. Her parents expressed disappointment and concern at the decision to release her. The following month, she guest-starred on the ''How I Met Your Mother'' episode "Ten Sessions" as receptionist Abby. She received positive reviews for her performance, as well as bringing the series its highest ratings ever. In July 2008, Spears regained some visitation rights after coming to an agreement with Federline and his counsel. On September 7, 2008, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards with a pre-taped comedy sketch with Jonah Hill and an introduction speech. She won Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year for "Piece of Me". A 60-minute introspective documentary, ''Britney: For the Record'', was produced to chronicle Spears' return to the recording industry. Directed by Phil Griffin, ''For the Record'' was entirely shot in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and New York City during the third quarter of 2008. Main shooting began on September 5, 2008, two days before Spears' appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. ''For the Record'' was broadcast on MTV on November 30, 2008 to 5.6 million viewers for the two airings on the premiere night. MTV reported that Spears' documentary garnered on average, the highest rating in its Sunday night timeslot, in the network's history.

Her sixth studio album ''Circus'', was released in December 2008. It received positive reviews from critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it garnered an average score of 64/100. ''Circus'' debuted at number one in Canada, Czech Republic and the United States, and inside the top in many European nations. In the United States, Spears became the youngest female artist to have five albums debut at number one, earning a place in the ''Guinness Book of World Records''. She also became the only act in the Soundscan era to have four albums debut with 500,000 or more copies sold. ''Circus'' became one of the fastest-selling albums of the year, and has sold 4 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Womanizer", became her first number one in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 since "...Baby One More Time" and topped the charts in countries such as Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway and Sweden. It was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Dance Recording. In January 2009, Spears and her father James obtained a restraining order against her former manager Sam Lufti, ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib and attorney Jon Eardley—all of whom, court documents claim, had been conspiring to gain control of Spears's affairs. The restraining order forbids Lutfi and Ghalib from contacting Spears or coming within 250 yards of her, her property or family members. Spears embarked on The Circus Starring Britney Spears in March 2009. With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest grossing tour of the year.

She released her second greatest hits album, ''The Singles Collection'' in November 2009. "3" became her third number one single in the US, and was the first song to debut at the top of the charts in three years. Later that month, she released an application for iPhone and iPod Touch titled "It's Britney!". In May 2010, Spears's representatives confirmed she was dating her agent Jason Trawick, and that they had decided to end their professional relationship to focus on their personal relationship. Spears designed a limited edition clothing line for Candie's, which was released in stores in July 2010. On September 28, 2010, she made a cameo appearance on a Spears-themed tribute episode of American TV show ''Glee'', titled "Britney/Brittany". Spears approved of the episode, although her appearances received mixed reviews from critics. The episode drew ''Glee'''s second largest audience, as well as the show's highest ratings ever.

2011–present: ''Femme Fatale''

In March 2011, Spears released her seventh studio album ''Femme Fatale''. Max Martin and Dr. Luke executive produced the album and the album's first single "Hold It Against Me". The single debuted at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. This gave Spears her fourth number-one single on the chart, and made her only the second artist in history to have two consecutive singles debut at number-one, after Mariah Carey. The album peaked at number one in the United States(selling 276,000 copies), Canada, and Australia, and peaked inside the top ten on nearly every other chart. The album's peak in the United States ties Britney with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson for the third-most number ones among women. ''Femme Fatale'' has sold over 590,000 copies in the United States and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The album received positive critical reviews after its release, receiving a score of 67 on Metacritic, her highest critical score since ''Oops!... I Did It Again,'' with many critics naming the album one of Spears's best. In April 2011, Spears appeared in a remix to the song "S&M" by Rihanna after Rihanna asked her fans via Twitter who they wanted her to collaborate with. The song reached number one in the US in mid-April 2011, giving Britney her fifth number one on the chart. In early May, Spears' second single from ''Femme Fatale'', "Till The World Ends", reached number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and had ninety-eight million audience impressions on the ''Billboard'' chart, granting Spears the highest weekly audience of her 13-year chart career. ''Femme Fatale's'' third single "I Wanna Go" reached the top forty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in June 2011. Among females in the last thirteen years, Spears now has the third-most top forty hits, with twenty-one. In August, the single managed to reach the top-ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, which is the first time for Spears to have three songs from one album in the top-ten. On the week ending September 24, 2011, "I Wanna Go" moved 2-1 on the mainstream top 40, becoming her sixth number-one on that chart (making her tied for third all-time) and her first number-one and third top-ten pop song for ''Femme Fatale.'' Spears now has the longest span of number ones on the mainstream top 40, with a length of twelve years, seven months, and four days.

On March 2011, Spears announced that she would tour throughout the United States during summer 2011 The Femme Fatale Tour opened June 16 at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, California to positive reviews. Many critics noted that Spears sang more of the concert live in response to lip-synching accusations during The Circus Starring Britney Spears, and that the dancing is some of her best in years. The first ten US dates of the tour grossed $6.2 million, landing the fifty-fifth spot on Pollstar's Top 100 North American Tours list for the half-way point of the year. The tour will travel to Europe and South and Central America later in 2011. On August 12, Spears announced that her performances at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto will be taped to air on the EPIX television channel and for a DVD release, resulting in the doubling of traffic to EPIX social sites and 'Britney Spears' becoming a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Her first televised concert since the Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004, the show, ''Britney Spears: Femme Fatale,'' was shot in 2D and 3D on August 13 and 14 and will premiere on Epix in November.

On June 15, 2011, it was announced by ''Billboard'' that the RCA/Jive Label Group would be splitting, with Jive Records going to a restructured Epic Records, and RCA Records staying intact. In August it was announced that Spears had officially joined the RCA's roster. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28 2011, MTV played tribute to Spears with a group of young female dancers that memorialised Britney's music videos, performances, and style. Following which, Spears accepted the MTV Video Vanguard Award from Lady Gaga, who said that "industry wouldn't be the same without [her]".

On September 9, 2011, Spears announced that her second remix album, ''B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2'', will be released on October 11, along with the tracklist.

Musical style and performance

Following her debut, Spears was credited with leading the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s. ''The Daily Yomiuri'' reported that "[m]usic critics have hailed her as the most gifted teenage pop idol for many years, but Spears has set her sights a little higher-she is aiming for the level of superstardom that has been achieved by Madonna and Janet Jackson." ''Rolling Stone'' wrote: "Britney Spears carries on the classic archetype of the rock & roll teen queen, the dungaree doll, the angel baby who just has to make a scene." Rami Yacoub who co-produced Spears's debut album with lyricist Max Martin, commented, "I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing. With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice. When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice." Following the release of her debut album, Chuck Taylor of ''Billboard'' observed, "Spears has become a consummate performer, with snappy dance moves, a clearly real-albeit young-and funkdified voice ... "(You Drive Me) Crazy", her third single ... demonstrates Spears's own development, proving that the 17-year-old is finding her own vocal personality after so many months of steadfast practice." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to her music as a "blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry." Spears later commented, "With ''...Baby One More Time'', I didn't get to show my voice off. The songs were great, but they weren't very challenging".

''Oops!...I Did It Again'' and subsequent albums saw Spears working with several contemporary R&B producers, leading to "a combination of bubblegum, urban soul, and raga." Her third studio album, ''Britney'' derived from the teen pop niche, "[r]hythmically and melodically ... sharper, tougher than what came before. What used to be unabashedly frothy has some disco grit, underpinned by Spears' spunky self-determination that helps sell hooks that are already catchier, by and large, than those that populated her previous two albums." Guy Blackman of ''The Age'' wrote that while few would care to listen to an entire Spears album, "[t]he thing about Spears, though, is that her biggest songs, no matter how committee-created or impossibly polished, have always been convincing because of her delivery, her commitment and her presence. For her mostly teenage fans, Spears expresses perfectly the conflicting urges of adolescence, the tension between chastity and sexual experience, between hedonism and responsibility, between confidence and vulnerability."

Her vocal ability has also been criticized, often drawing unfavorable comparison to her pop rival, Christina Aguilera Critic Allan Raible derides her overdependence in Circus on digital effects and the robotic effect it creates. "She’s never been a strong vocalist..." writes Raible, "Could she handle these songs with stripped down arrangements and no vocal effects? More importantly, would anyone want to hear her attempt such a performance? Does it matter? No. The focus is still image over substance." Her image and persona are also often contrasted to Christina Aguilera. David Browne of ''Entertainment Weekly'' observed "Christina Aguilera may flash skin and belly button, but in her music and manner, she's too eager not to offend — she's a good girl pretending to be bad. Spears, however, comes across as a bad girl acting good ... Spears' artificial-sweetener voice is much less interesting than the settings, yet that blandness is actually a relief compared with Aguilera's numbing vocal gymnastics. In contrast, Allmusic comments: "Like her peer Christina Aguilera, Britney equates maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs ... Where Christina comes across like a natural-born skank, Britney is the girl next door cutting loose at college, drinking and smoking and dancing and sexing just a little too recklessly, since this is the first time she ''can'' indulge herself. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine notes, "The disparity between Aguilera and Spears can't be measured solely by the timbre and octave range of their voices ... [Aguilera's] popularity has never reached the fever pitch of Britney's."

Like other dance-oriented pop stars, it has been widely reported that Spears lip-syncs in concert. Author Gary Giddins wrote in his book ''Natural selection: Gary Giddins on comedy, film, music, and books'' (2006) that "among many other performers accused of moving their lips while a machine does the labor are Britney Spears, Luciano Pavarotti, Shania Twain, Beyoncé, and Madonna." Rashod D. Ollison of ''The Baltimore Sun'' observes: "Many pop stars ... feel they have no choice but to seek vocal enhancement. Since the advent of MTV and other video music channels, pop audiences have been fed elaborate videos thick with jaw-dropping effects, awesome choreography, fabulous clothes, marvelous bodies. And the same level of perfection is expected to extend beyond the video set to the concert stage. So if Britney Spears, Janet Jackson or Madonna sounds shrill and flat without a backing track, fans won't pay up to $300 for a concert ticket." Giddins adds, "it was reported Britney Spears fans prefer her to lip-sync—despite her denials of doing so (contradicted by her own director)—because they expect flawless digitalization when they pay serious money for a concert."

In Australia, NSW Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge has advised disclaimers be printed on any ticket for concerts which contain any prerecorded vocals. She commented: "There could have been some instances where people actually go and purchase a ticket thinking that they're going to have a live performance ... for some people that means that everything is live, it's fresh, it happens instantaneously, it's not something that's been pre-recorded. You want to make sure that they're actually paying for what they think they're getting." Noting on the prevalence of lip-syncing, ''Los Angeles Daily News'' reported "in the context of a Britney Spears concert, does it really matter? Like a Vegas revue show, you don't go to hear the music, you go for the somewhat-ridiculous spectacle of it all". Similarly, Aline Mendelsohn of the ''Orlando Sentinel'' remarked: "Let's get one thing straight: A Britney Spears concert is not about the music ... you have to remember that it's about the sight, not the sound." Critic Glenn Gamboa comments her concert tours are "like her life—a massive money-making venture designed to play up her talents and distract from her shortcomings with a mix of techno-tinged sex appeal and disco-flavored flash. And, like her life, it is, more or less, a success.

Influences

Throughout her career, Spears has drawn frequent comparisons to Madonna and Janet Jackson, in terms of vocals, choreography and stage presence, citing both as influences in her work. She has also named Michael Jackson as a source of inspiration. According to Spears: "I know when I was younger, I looked up to people... like, you know, Janet Jackson and Madonna. And they were major inspirations for me. But I also had my own identity and I knew who I was, you know." In the 2002 book ''Madonnastyle'' by Carol Clerk, she is quoted saying: "I have been a huge fan of Madonna since I was a little girl. She's the person that I've really looked up to. I would really, really like to be a legend like Madonna."

Many critics have argued that Spears should not be considered in the same league of talent as Jackson or Madonna. Journalists Erika Montalvo and Jackie Sheppard of the ''Rocky Mountain Collegian'' observed "[s]ome may argue that Spears is not only a good recording artist but also an important cultural icon." However, in examining her level of skill as an artist, it is questioned that "[a]lthough she has been classified among female elites such as Janet Jackson and Madonna, what does Ms. Spears really have in common with these divas of rock?" Joan Anderman of ''The Boston Globe'' remarked that "[t]hirteen costume changes in 90 minutes won't bless her with Madonna's intelligence or cultural barometer. An army of cutting-edge R&B producers won't supply her with Janet Jackson's sense of humor or sincere smile ... Britney's heroes aren't great singers. But they're real singers. Spears sounds robotic, nearly inhuman, on her records, so processed is her voice by digital pitch-shifters and synthesizers."

Reporter Ed Bumgardner commented her transition from teen pop start to adult sex symbol with her third studio album ''Britney'' "takes its cues from two other successful performers—Madonna and Janet Jackson—both of whom she brazenly rips off and both of whom, like Spears, are passable singers, at best." Critic Shane Harrison wrote: "From the minimalist thump and "Nasty" feel of "I'm a Slave 4 U" to the scattered quotes in "Boys", [''Britney''] feels like [Spears's] attempt at 'Control'."

Citing Jackson's resolve to incorporate personal and social issues into her work and Madonna's ability to constantly redefine the boundaries of socially acceptable material in the industry, Spears's catalog ultimately pales in comparison, because "[w]hile Jackson and Madonna wrote their own music about subjects of importance, [Spears's] music sounds like an upbeat version of either, 'I want to grow up but the media won't let me,' or 'Here kitty, kitty, I'm wearing my underwear outside of my leather pants'-type ballads." In contrast, Guy Blackman argues that although "no one would argue that Spears is some kind of pioneering pop auteur, there’s still a lot to like about her back catalogue. During her world-conquering peak, she was just about as cutting edge as you could get in the world of global pop superstardom. Spears didn’t just work with big names, she gave big names their names, and maintained her high currency in the world’s most fickle industry for years, when most aspiring starlets are lucky to manage months."

After meeting Spears face to face, Janet Jackson stated: "she said to me, 'I'm such a big fan; I really admire you.' That's so flattering. Everyone gets inspiration from some place. And it's awesome to see someone else coming up who's dancing and singing, and seeing how all these kids relate to her. A lot of people put it down, but what she does is a positive thing." Madonna's respect for Spears has also been a subject of observation. Santiago Fouz-Hernández and Freya Jarman-Ivens, authors of ''Madonna's drowned worlds: new approaches to her cultural transformations, 1983-2003'' (2004) note that the most well known cross-generational relationship exists between Spears and Madonna in which "the entertainment newsmedia almost became obsessed with their relationship of mutual admiration." The biographers also report "[s]ome observers of popular culture, however, feel that the comparisons between the two artist are meaningless and fail to recognize Madonna's unique contribution: Madonna was never 'just another pop star' whereas Britney can more easily be seen as a standard manufactured pop act."

Legacy

Spears became an international pop culture icon immediately after launching her recording career. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine wrote: "One of the most controversial and successful female vocalists of the 21st century," she "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop ... Spears early on cultivated a mixture of innocence and experience that broke the bank". She is listed by the ''Guinness World Records'' as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist" for her debut album ''...Baby One More Time'' which sold over thirteen million copies in the United States. Melissa Ruggieri of the ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' reported, "She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist. Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears sold more than 37 million albums worldwide".

Barbara Ellen of ''The Observer'' has reported: "Spears is famously one of the 'oldest' teenagers pop has ever produced, almost middle aged in terms of focus and determination. Many 19-year-olds haven't even started working by that age, whereas Britney, a former Mouseketeer, was that most unusual and volatile of American phenomena — a child with a full-time career. While other little girls were putting posters on their walls, Britney was wanting to be the poster on the wall. Whereas other children develop at their own pace, Britney was developing at a pace set by the ferociously competitive American entertainment industry". 'Britney Spears' was Yahoo!'s most popular search term between 2005 and 2008, and has been in a total of seven different years. Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the ''Guinness World Records'' book edition 2007 and 2009. Spears has also become a major influence among many new artists, including Kristinia DeBarge, Lady Gaga, Little Boots, Selena Gomez & the Scene, Pixie Lott and Miley Cyrus who has cited Spears as one of her biggest inspirations and has also referenced Spears in her hit song "Party in the U.S.A.". Spears' personal breakdown was also cited as an inspiration for Barry Manilow's album "''15 Minutes''".

In 2011, Adam Markovitz of ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented on the cultural significance of Spears' voice and music. "We don't ask a whole lot from Britney Spears as an entertainer...we'll still send her straight up the charts simply because she's Britney. She's an American institution, as deeply sacred and messed up as pro wrestling or the filibuster. Musically, though, Spears will always have to measure up to her own gold standards of pop euphony: the operatic slither of 2004's 'Toxic' and the candied funk of 2000's 'Oops!...I Did It Again.' Spears is no technical singer, that's for sure. But backed by Martin and Dr. Luke's wall of pound, her vocals melt into a mix of babytalk coo and coital panting that is, in its own overprocessed way, just as iconic and propulsive as Michael Jackson's yips or Eminem's snarls."

Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called "Britney", which was released as a single. Boy band Busted also wrote a song about Spears called "Britney", which was on their debut album. She is also mentioned in P!nk's song "Don't Let Me Get Me". She was cited as the inspiration of Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the 2010 film ''Country Strong''. Richard Cheese called Britney Spears "a remarkable recording artist" and also went on to say that she was "versatile" and what the industry calls an "artist". ''People'' magazine and MTV reported that October 1, 2008, the Bronx's John Philip Sousa Middle School, named their music studio in honor of Britney Spears. Spears herself was present during the ceremony and donated $10,000 to the school's music program.

Discography

''...Baby One More Time'' (1999)

''Oops!... I Did It Again'' (2000)

''Britney'' (2001)

''In the Zone'' (2003)

''Blackout'' (2007)

''Circus'' (2008)

''Femme Fatale'' (2011)

Tours

...Baby One More Time Tour (1999-2000)

Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour (2000)

Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001-02)

The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004)

The M+M's Tour (2007)

The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009)

Femme Fatale Tour (2011)

See also

Britney Spears filmography

Britney Spears products

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

List of best-selling music artists in the United States

Notes

References

Further reading

Dennis, Steve (2009). ''Britney: Inside the Dream''. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0007317516.

Peters, Beth (1999). ''True Brit: The Story of Singing Sensation Britney Spears''. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345436870.

Scott, Kieran (2001). ''I was a Mouseketeer!.'' Disney Press. ISBN 978-0786844708.

Smith, Sean (2006). ''Britney The Unauthorized Biography of Britney Spears.'' Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0330440776.

Spears, Britney (2000). ''Britney Spears's Heart to Heart''. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0609807019.

Stevens, Amanda (2001). ''Britney Spears: the illustrated story.'' Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0823078677.

External links

Category:1981 births Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Louisiana Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American female pop singers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American music video directors Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Maltese descent Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Baptists from the United States Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Innosense members Category:Jive Records artists Category:RCA Records artists Category:Living people Category:Mouseketeers Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Parklane Academy alumni Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Kentwood, Louisiana Category:Sony BMG artists Category:World Music Awards winners

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Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Robert Plant
landscape	Yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Robert Anthony Plant
born	August 20, 1948West Bromwich, Birmingham, England
instrument	Vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, bass guitar
genre	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, folk rock, world music, country rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1966–present
label	Atlantic, Swan Song, Es Paranza, Sanctuary, Mercury, Universal, Rounder
associated acts	Band of Joy, Led Zeppelin, The Honeydrippers, Page and Plant, Strange Sensation, Alison Krauss, The New Yardbirds
website	Official website }}

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE (born 20 August 1948), is an English rock singer and songwriter, best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career. In 2007, Plant released ''Raising Sand'', an album produced by T-Bone Burnett with American bluegrass soprano Alison Krauss, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Plant is regarded as one of the most significant singers in the history of rock music, and has influenced contemporaries and later singers such as Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose. In 2006, heavy metal magazine ''Hit Parader'' named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All-Time". In 2009, Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by ''Planet Rock''. In 2011, a ''Rolling Stone'' readers' pick placed Plant in first place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time".

Life and career

Early career

Plant was born in the Black Country town of West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire now in West Midlands) to parents Robert C. who worked as a civil engineer and Annie C. (Cain) Plant, but grew up in Kidderminster, in Worcestershire. Plant gained an interest in singing and rock and roll music at an early age.

When I was a kid I used to hide behind the curtains at home at Christmas and I used to try and be Elvis. There was a certain ambience between the curtains and the French windows, there was a certain sound there for a ten year old. That was all the ambience I got at ten years old... I think! And I always wanted to be a curtain, a bit similar to that.

He left King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys in Stourbridge in his mid-teens and developed a strong passion for the blues, mainly through his admiration for Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and early rendition of songs in this genre.

I suppose I was quite interested in my stamp collection and Romano-British history. I was a little grammar school boy and I could hear this kind of calling through the airwaves

He abandoned training as a chartered accountant after only two weeks to attend college in an effort to gain more GCE passes and to become part of the English Midlands blues scene. "I left home at 16", he said "and I started my real education musically, moving from group to group, furthering my knowledge of the blues and of other music which had weight and was worth listening to."

Plant's early blues influences included Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James, Jerry Miller, and Sleepy John Estes. Plant had various jobs while pursuing his music career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1967 laying tarmac on roads. He also worked at Woolworths in Halesowen town for a short period of time. He cut three obscure singles on CBS Records and sang with a variety of bands, including The Crawling King Snakes, which brought him into contact with drummer John Bonham. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, merging blues with newer psychedelic trends. Though his early career met with no commercial success, word quickly spread about the "young man with the powerful voice".

Led Zeppelin (1968-1980)

Early years

In 1968, the guitarist Jimmy Page was in search of a lead singer for his new band and met Plant after being turned down by his first choice, Terry Reid, who referred him to a show at a teacher training college in Birmingham— where Plant was singing in a band named Hobbstweedle. Page explained:

When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with, because I just could not understand why, after he told me he'd been singing for a few years already, he hadn't become a big name yet. So I had him down to my place for a little while, just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems.

According to Plant:

I was appearing at this college when Peter and Jimmy turned up and asked me if I'd like to join The Yardbirds. I knew The Yardbirds had done a lot of work in America - which to me meant audiences who would want to know what I might have to offer - so naturally I was very interested.

Plant and Page immediately hit it off with a shared musical passion and began their writing collaboration with reworkings of earlier blues songs, although Plant would receive no songwriting credits on the band's first album, allegedly because he was still under contract to CBS Records at the time. Plant brought along John Bonham as drummer, and they were joined by John Paul Jones, who had previously worked with Page as a studio musician. Jones called Page on the phone before they checked out Plant, and Page hired Jones immediately.

Initially dubbed the "New Yardbirds" in 1968, the band soon came to be known as Led Zeppelin. The band's self-titled debut album hit the charts in 1969 and is widely credited as a catalyst for the heavy metal genre. Plant has commented that it is unfair for people to think of Zeppelin as heavy metal, as almost a third of their music was acoustic.

In 1975, Plant and his wife Maureen (now divorced) were seriously injured in a car crash in Rhodes, Greece. This significantly affected the production of Led Zeppelin's seventh album ''Presence'' for a few months while he recovered, and forced the band to cancel the remaining tour dates for the year.

In July 1977 his son Karac died aged five of a stomach infection while Plant was engaged on Led Zeppelin's concert tour of the United States. It was a devastating loss for the family. Plant retreated to his home in the Midlands and for months afterward he questioned his future. Karac's death later inspired him to write the song "All My Love" in tribute, featured on Led Zeppelin's final studio LP, 1979's ''In Through the Out Door''.

Lyrics

Plant did not begin writing song lyrics with Led Zeppelin until the making of ''Led Zeppelin II'', in 1969. According to Jimmy Page:

Plant's lyrics with Led Zeppelin were often mystical, philosophical and spiritual, alluding to events in classical and Norse mythology, such as the "Immigrant Song", which refers to Valhalla and Viking conquests. However, the song "No Quarter" is often misunderstood to refer to the god Thor; the song actually refers to Mount Thor (which is named after the god). Another example is "The Rain Song".

Plant was also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, whose book series inspired lyrics in some early Led Zeppelin songs. Most notably "The Battle of Evermore", "Misty Mountain Hop", "No Quarter", "Ramble On" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" contain verses referencing Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit''. Conversely, Plant sometimes used more straightforward blues-based lyrics dealing primarily with sexual innuendo, as in "The Lemon Song", "Trampled Under Foot", and "Black Dog".

Welsh mythology also forms a basis of Plant's interest in mystical lyrics. He grew up close to the Welsh border and would often take summer trips to Snowdonia. Plant bought a Welsh sheep farm in 1973, and began taking Welsh lessons and looking into the mythology of the land (such as Black Book of Carmarthen, Book of Taliesin, etc.) Plant's first son, Karac, was named after the Welsh warrior Caratacus. The song "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is named after the 18th Century Welsh cottage Bron-Yr-Aur owned by a friend of his father; it later inspired the song "Bron-Yr-Aur". The songs "Misty Mountain Hop," "That's the Way", and early dabblings in what would become "Stairway to Heaven" were written in Wales and lyrically reflect Plant's mystical view of the land. Critic Steve Turner suggests that Plant's early and continued experiences in Wales served as the foundation for his broader interest in the mythologies he revisits in his lyrics (including those myth systems of Tolkien and the Norse).

The passion for diverse musical experiences drove Plant to explore Africa, specifically Marrakesh in Morocco where he encountered Umm Kulthum.

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That musical inspiration eventually culminated in the classic track "Kashmir" (which is not in North Africa, but rather in India). Both he and Jimmy Page revisited these influences during their reunion album ''No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded'' in 1994. In his solo career, Plant again tapped from these influences many times, most notably in the 2002 album, ''Dreamland''.

Arguably one of Plant's most significant achievements with Led Zeppelin was his contribution to the track "Stairway to Heaven", an epic rock ballad featured on ''Led Zeppelin IV'' that drew influence from folk, blues, Celtic traditional music and hard rock among other genres. Most of the lyrics of the song were written spontaneously by Plant in 1970 at Headley Grange. While never released as a single, the song has topped charts as the greatest song of all time on various polls around the world.

Plant is also recognised for his lyrical improvisation in Led Zeppelin's live performances, often singing verses previously unheard on studio recordings. One of the most famous Led Zeppelin musical devices involves Plant's vocal mimicking of band mate Jimmy Page's guitar effects. This can be heard in the songs "How Many More Times", "Dazed and Confused", "The Lemon Song", "You Shook Me", "Nobody's Fault but Mine" and "Sick Again".

He is also known for his light-hearted, humorous, and unusual on-stage banter, often referred to as "plantations." Plant often discusses the origin and background of the songs during his shows, and sometimes provides social comment as well. He frequently talks about American blues musicians as his inspiration, mentioning artists like Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie Johnson, and Willie Dixon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert with Led Zeppelin.

Stage persona

Plant enjoyed great success with Led Zeppelin throughout the 1970s and developed a compelling image as the charismatic rock-and-roll front man, similar to his contemporary in The Who, singer Roger Daltrey (who adopted the look in the late 1960s), Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and his other fellow contemporary, Jim Morrison of The Doors. With his mane of long blond hair and powerful, bare-chested appearance, Plant helped to create the "god of rock and roll" or "rock god" archetype. On stage, Plant was particularly active in live performances, often dancing, jumping, skipping, snapping his fingers, clapping, making emphatic gestures to emphasise a lyric or cymbal crash, throwing back his head, or placing his hands on his hips. As the 1960s-1970s progressed he, along with the other members of Led Zeppelin, became increasingly flamboyant on-stage and wore more elaborate, colourful clothing and jewellery.

According to ''Classic Rock'' magazine, "once [Plant] had a couple of US tours under his belt, 'Percy' Plant swiftly developed a staggering degree of bravado and swagger that irrefutably enhanced Led Zeppelin's rapidly burgeoning appeal." In 1994, during his "Unledded" tour with Jimmy Page, Plant himself reflected tongue-in-cheek upon his Led Zeppelin showmanship:

I can't take my whole persona as a singer back then very seriously. It's not some great work of beauty and love to be a rock-and-roll singer. So I got a few moves from Elvis and one or two from Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin' Wolf and threw them all together.

Solo career (since 1982)

As a solo artist

After the break-up of Led Zeppelin in 1980 (following the death of John Bonham), Plant pursued a successful solo career beginning with ''Pictures at Eleven'' in 1982, followed by 1983's ''The Principle of Moments''. Popular tracks from this period include "Big Log" (a Top 20 hit in 1983), "In the Mood" (1983), "Little by Little" (from 1985's ''Shaken 'n' Stirred''), "Tall Cool One" (a #25 hit off 1988's ''Now and Zen'') and "I Believe" (from 1993's ''Fate of Nations''), another song written for and dedicated to his late son, Karac. In 1984, Plant formed a short-lived all-star group with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck called The Honeydrippers, who had a #3 hit with a remake of the Phil Phillips' tune, "Sea of Love" and a followup hit with a cover of Roy Brown's "Rockin' at Midnight". Although Plant avoided performing Led Zeppelin songs through much of this period, his tours in 1983 (with drummer Phil Collins) and 1985 were very successful, often performing to sold-out arena-sized venues.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, Plant co-wrote three solo albums with keyboardist/songwriter Phil Johnstone. ''Now and Zen'', ''Manic Nirvana'', and ''Fate of Nations'' (featuring Máire Brennan of Clannad). It was Johnstone who talked Plant into playing Led Zeppelin songs in his live shows, something Plant had resisted, not wanting to be forever known as "the former Led Zeppelin vocalist."

Although Led Zeppelin split in 1980, Plant and Page occasionally collaborated on various projects, including ''The Honeydrippers: Volume One'' album in 1984. In the spring 2 years later Robert performed at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986. The pair again worked together in the studio on the 1988 Page solo effort, ''Outrider'', and in the same year Page contributed to Plant's album ''Now and Zen''. Also, on 15 May 1988 Plant appeared with Page as a member of Led Zeppelin (and in his own right as a solo artist) at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert.

As Page and Plant (1994-1998)

Page and Plant became a full-fledged performing act from 1994 through 1998, releasing the ''Unledded'' album in 1994 and following with an enormously successful tour in 1995: Fourteen years of speculation from their fans and occasional sniping between the two former members ended when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin reconvened their former musical partnership to produce No Quarter. Having long resisted offers from MTV to reform to do an Unplugged show, they finally accepted as part of a deal that also allowed them to visit Morocco to record new material. The album combines the results of both of these projects. The Led Zeppelin material features new arrangements and new instrumentation, including strings, Egyptian musicians and the haunting vocals of British-Asian star Najma Akhtar. Page and Plant recorded their only post-Zeppelin album of original material on the 1998 album, ''Walking into Clarksdale'', an effort that was unsuccessful commercially, leading Plant to return to his solo career. A song from this album, "Please Read the Letter", was re-recorded by Plant with Alison Krauss, winning the 2009 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

With Priory of Brion (1999-2000)

Starting in mid-1999, Plant performed until the end of 2000 at several small venues with his folk-rock band, named Priory of Brion.

In 1999, Plant contributed to the tribute album for Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, who was terminally ill. The album, ''More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album'' (Birdman, 1999), with the album title referring to Spence's only solo album, ''Oar'' (Columbia, 1969), contained Plant's version of Spence's "Little Hands". Plant had been an admirer of Spence and Moby Grape since the release of Moby Grape's eponymous 1967 debut album.

In 2001, Plant appeared on Afro Celt Sound System's album ''Volume 3: Further in Time''. The song "Life Begin Again" features a duet with Welsh folksinger Julie Murphy, emphasising Plant's recurring interest in Welsh culture (Murphy would also tour in support of Plant).

With The Strange Sensation (2001-2007)

In 2002, with his then newly-formed band Strange Sensation, Plant released a widely acclaimed collection of mostly blues and folk remakes, ''Dreamland''. Contrasting with this lush collection of often relatively obscure remakes, the second album with Strange Sensation, ''Mighty ReArranger'' (2005), contains new, original songs. Both have received some of the most favourable reviews of Plant's solo career and four Grammy nominations, two in 2003 and two in 2006. As a former member of Led Zeppelin, along with Page and John Paul Jones, Plant received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the Polar Music Prize in 2006.

From 2001 to 2007, Plant actively toured the US & Europe with The Strange Sensation. His sets typically included recent, but not only, solo material and plenty of Led Zeppelin favourites, often with new and expanded arrangements. A DVD titled ''Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation'', featuring his ''Soundstage'' performance (filmed at the Soundstage Studios in Chicago on 16 September 2005), was released in October 2006.

On 23 June 2006, Plant was the headliner (backed by Ian Hunter's band) at the Benefit For Arthur Lee concert at New York's Beacon Theatre, a show which raised money for Lee's medical expenses from his bout with leukaemia. Plant and band performed thirteen songs - five by Arthur Lee & Love, five Led Zeppelin songs and three others including a duet with Ian Hunter. At the show, Plant told the audience of his great admiration for Arthur Lee dating back to the mid-Sixties. Lee died of his illness six weeks after the concert.

An expansive box set of his solo work, ''Nine Lives'', was released in November 2006, which expanded all of his albums with various b-sides, demos, and live cuts. It was accompanied by a DVD. All his solo works were re-released with these extra tracks individually.

In 2007, Plant contributed two tracks to the Fats Domino tribute album ''Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino'', "It Keeps Rainin'" with the Lil' Band O' Gold and "Valley of Tears" with The Soweto Gospel Choir.

With Alison Krauss (2007-2008)

From 2007-2008, Plant recorded and performed with bluegrass star Alison Krauss. A duet album, ''Raising Sand'', was released on 23 October 2007 on Rounder Records. The album, recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles and produced by T-Bone Burnett, includes performances of lesser-known material from R&B, Blues, folk, and country songwriters including Mel Tillis, Townes Van Zandt, Gene Clark, Tom Waits, Doc Watson, Little Milton and The Everly Brothers. The song "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" from ''Raising Sand'' won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals in 2008. ''Raising Sand'' also won Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. The album has been successful critically and commercially, and was certified platinum on 4 March 2008.

Plant and Krauss began an extended tour of the US and Europe in April 2008, playing music from ''Raising Sand'' and other American roots music as well as reworked Led Zeppelin tunes. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in July 2008. Also in 2008, Plant performed with bluegrass musicians at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. He appeared as a surprise guest during Fairport Convention's set at the 2008 Cropredy Festival, performing Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" with Kristina Donahue as a tribute to Sandy Denny. In October 2008, it was reported that Plant collaborated on an album by original Fairport vocalist Judy Dyble, but the album has not materialised.

On 8 February 2009, Plant and Krauss won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Country Collaboration with Vocals, and Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.

In 2010, Plant realised a lifelong ambition by playing live at Molineux Stadium, home of the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Plant performed with the amateur cover band No Rezerve.

With Band of Joy (2010)

In July 2010, Robert Plant embarked on a twelve-date (summer) tour in the United States with a new group called Band of Joy (reprising the name of his very first band in the 1960s). The group includes singer Patty Griffin, singer-guitarist Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Darrell Scott, bassist-vocalist Byron House, and drummer-percussionist-vocalist Marco Giovino.

After a unique show in the United States on 12 September 2010 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, another eleven-date autumn tour in Europe was announced to last from October to November 2010. North America tour dates were announced 16 November 2010, with the first show being 18 January 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina.

A new studio album called ''Band of Joy'' was released on 13 September 2010 on the Rounder Records label.

The band played their final scheduled show together at the Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire on 7 August 2011. The show ended with Plant bidding his bandmates "a fond farewell".

Led Zeppelin-related projects and reunion rumours

Plant performed with living members of Led Zeppelin both on 13 July 1985 for Live Aid (with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson on drums) and on 15 May 1988 for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary. At the 1988 reunion, Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin's late drummer John Bonham, played drums. Both sets featured only a few songs, performed with minimal rehearsal. Plant was unhappy with both performances, saying that "it was like sleeping with your ex-wife but not making love." At the 1990 Silver Clef Award Winners Concert at Knebworth, Plant was joined by Jimmy Page. Some of their set was released on the subsequent live album and video. In 1995, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Plant performed at the induction show with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Jason Bonham, Neil Young, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, performing spirited versions of "Bring It On Home", "Honeybee", and "When the Levee Breaks."

After years of reunion rumours, Led Zeppelin performed a full two-hour set on 10 December 2007 at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert, with Jason again filling in on drums. Despite enormous public demand, Plant declined a $200 million offer to tour with Led Zeppelin after the 2007 show. In interviews following the 2007 show, Plant left the door open to possible future performances with Led Zeppelin, saying that he enjoyed the reunion and felt that the show was strong musically. Although Page, Jones, and Bonham have expressed the strong desire to tour as Led Zeppelin, Plant has consistently opposed a full tour and has responded negatively to questions about another reunion. In a January, 2008 interview, he stated that he does not want to "tour like a bunch of bored old men following the Rolling Stones around." In a statement on his web site in late 2008, Plant stated, "I will not be touring with Led Zeppelin or anyone else for the next two years. Anyone buying Led Zeppelin tickets will be buying bogus tickets."

Personal life

Robert Plant married Maureen Wilson on 9 November 1968. The couple had three children: daughter Carmen Jane (1968) (married to Charlie Jones, Plant's bass player for solo tours); and sons Karac Pendragon (1972–1977) (died of a virus; the reason Led Zeppelin's 1977 North American Tour was cut short), and Logan Romero (1979). The couple divorced in August 1983. Also, Plant has a younger son, Jesse Lee (1991), the son of Shirley Wilson, sister of Maureen.

On 14 August 2009, it was announced via the Wolverhampton Wanderers text message news service that "Rock Legend and lifelong Wolves fan Robert Plant is to become the club's third Vice President." Plant officially received the honour before kick off at the club's first match of the season against West Ham. Plant was five years old when he first visited Molineux. He recalled in an interview with his local paper Express & Star in August 2010: "I was five when my dad took me down for the first time and Billy Wright waved at me. Honest, he did. And that was it – I was hooked from that moment.

According to ''The Sunday Times'' Rich List Plant is worth £80 million as of 2009.

In late 2010 on BBC2, a documentary featured Robert Plant discussing his journey with Led Zeppelin and various projects since.

Legacy

Robert Plant is one of the most significant singers in rock music and has influenced the style of many of his contemporaries, including Geddy Lee, Ann Wilson, Sammy Hagar, and later rock vocalists such as Jeff Buckley and Jack White who imitated his performing style extensively. Freddie Mercury of Queen, and Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses were also influenced by Plant. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' notes "Exaggerating the vocal style and expressive palette of blues singers such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, [Robert] Plant created the sound that has defined much hard rock and heavy metal singing: a high range, an abundance of distortion, loud volume, and emotional excess". Plant received the Knebworth Silver Clef Award in 1990.

In 2006, heavy metal magazine ''Hit Parader'' named Plant #1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All-Time, a list which included Rob Halford (2), Steven Tyler (3), Freddie Mercury (6), Geddy Lee (13), and Paul Stanley (18), all of whom were influenced by Plant. In 2008, ''Rolling Stone'' named Plant as number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time. In 2009, he was voted the "greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by ''Planet Rock''. Plant was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for his "services to popular music". He was included in the ''Q'' magazine's 2009 list of "Artists Of The Century" and was ranked at number 8 in their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in 2007. In 2009, Plant also won the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize at the Q Awards. He was placed at no. 3 on ''SPIN'''s list of "The 50 Greatest Rock Frontmen of All Time".

On 20 September 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) named Plant as one of the "50 Great Voices" in the world.

Solo discography

References

External links

Led Zeppelin Official Site

Official Robert Plant Homepage

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Official Site

Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:British harmonica players Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English songwriters Category:English tenors Category:English rock singers Category:English heavy metal singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Led Zeppelin members Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Halesowen Category:People from West Bromwich Category:Welsh-speaking people Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Silver Clef Awards winners Category:Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands

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