Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Name	British Columbia
Alternatename	''Colombie-Britannique'' (French)
Entityadjective	Provincial
Flag	Flag of British Columbia.svg
Coatofarms	Coat of Arms of British Columbia.png
Map	British Columbia, Canada.svg
Motto	''''()
Officiallang	English (''de facto'', not ''de jure'')
Demonym	British Columbian
Slogan	beautiful British Columbia
Flower	Pacific Dogwood
Tree	Western Red Cedar
Bird	Steller's Jay
Animal	Spirit Bear
Capital	Victoria
Largestcity	Vancouver
Largestmetro	Metro Vancouver
Premier	Christy Clark
Premierparty	BC Liberal
Viceroy	Steven Point
Viceroytype	Lieutenant-Governor
legislature	Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Postalabbreviation	BC
Postalcodeprefix	V
Arearank	5th
Totalarea km2	944735
Landarea km2	925186
Waterarea km2	19549
Percentwater	2.1
Populationrank	3rd
Population	4,510,858 (est.)
Populationyear	2010
Densityrank	7th
Density km2	4.7
Gdp year	2009
Gdp total	C$191.006 billion
Gdp rank	4th
Gdp per capita	C$41,689
Gdp per capita rank	7th
Landborders	Canada: Alberta, Northwest Territories, Yukon. U.S.A: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington
Admittanceorder	7th
Admittancedate	20 July 1871
Timezone	UTC−8 & −7
Houseseats	36
Senateseats	6
Isocode	CA-BC
Website	www.gov.bc.ca }}

British Columbia (B.C. or BC) (, ''C.-B.'') is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, ''Splendor sine occasu'' ("Splendour without Diminishment"). Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858. In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.

The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the fifteenth largest metropolitan region in Canada. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the third-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,419,974 (about two and a half million of whom were in Greater Vancouver). The province is currently governed by the BC Liberal Party, led by Premier Christy Clark, who became leader as a result of the party election on February 26, 2011.

British Columbia's economy is largely resource-based. It is the endpoint of transcontinental highways and railways and the site of major Pacific ports, which enable international trade. Because of its mild weather, and despite the fact that less than 5% of its land is arable, the province is agriculturally rich, particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan Valleys. Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging and mining.

Etymology

The province's name was chosen by Queen Victoria when the Colony of British Columbia, i.e. "the Mainland", became a British colony in 1858. It refers to the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, which has its origins and upper reaches in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre-Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. Queen Victoria chose ''British'' Columbia to distinguish what was the British sector of the Columbia District from that of the United States ("American Columbia" or "Southern Columbia"), which became the Oregon Territory in 1848 as a result of the treaty.

Geography

British Columbia is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, by the U.S. state of Alaska on the northwest, on the north by the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, on the east by the province of Alberta, and on the south by the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, although its history is tied with lands as far south as California. British Columbia's land area is . British Columbia's rugged coastline stretches for more than , and includes deep, mountainous fjords and about six thousand islands, most of which are uninhabited.

British Columbia's capital is Victoria, located at the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. The province's most populous city is Vancouver, which is not on Vancouver Island but rather is located in the southwest corner of the mainland (an area often called the Lower Mainland). Other major cities include Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, Delta, and New Westminster in the Lower Mainland; Abbotsford, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and Langley in the Fraser Valley; Nanaimo on Vancouver Island; and Kelowna and Kamloops in the Interior. Prince George is the largest city in the northern part of the province, while a village northwest of it, Vanderhoof, is near the geographic centre of the province.

The Coast Mountains and the Inside Passage's many inlets provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. Seventy-five percent of the province is mountainous (more than above sea level); 60% is forested; and only about 5% is arable.

The Okanagan area is one of various wine-growing regions in Canada and also produces ciders; other wine regions in British Columbia include the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, and the Fraser Valley. The cities of Kamloops and Penticton, and rural towns of Oliver, and Osoyoos have some of the warmest and longest summer climates in Canada, although their temperature ranges are exceeded by the warmer Fraser Canyon towns of Lillooet and Lytton, where shade temperatures on summer afternoons often surpass but with very low humidity.

Much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by temperate rainforest. The province's mainland away from the coastal regions is not as moderated by the Pacific Ocean and ranges from desert and semi-arid plateau to the range and canyon districts of the Central and Southern Interior to boreal forest and sub-arctic prairie in the Northern Interior.

A few Southern Interior valleys have short cold winters with infrequent heavy snow, while those in the Cariboo, the southern part of the Central Interior, are colder because of their altitude and latitude, but without the intensity or duration experienced at similar latitudes elsewhere in Canada. The northern two-thirds of the province is largely unpopulated and undeveloped, and is mostly mountainous except east of the Rockies, where the Peace River District, in the northeast of the province contains BC's portion of the Canadian Prairies.

Climate

As a result of Kuroshio Current (also known as the Japan Current), which crosses the North Pacific Ocean, coastal British Columbia has a mild, rainy oceanic climate. Due to the blocking presence of successive mountain ranges, the Interior of the province has a semi-arid climate with certain locations receiving less than 250mm (10") in annual precipitation. The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province are above , the mildest anywhere in Canada.

Winters can be severe in the Interior and the North. For example, the average overnight low in Prince George (roughly located in the middle of the province) in January is . The coldest temperature in British Columbia was recorded in Smith River, where it dropped to , one of the coldest readings recorded anywhere in North America. Southern Interior valleys have shorter winters with brief bouts of cold. Heavy snowfall occurs in the Coast, Columbia and Rocky Mountains providing healthy bases for skiers.

On the Coast, rainfall, sometimes relentless heavy rain, dominates in winter because of consistent barrages of cyclonic low-pressure systems from the North Pacific, but on occasion (and not every winter) heavy snowfalls and below freezing temperatures arrive when modified arctic air reaches coastal areas for typically short periods. On the opposite extreme, summers in the Southern Interior valleys are hot, for example in Osoyoos the July Maximum averages , hot weather sometimes moves towards the Coast or to the far North. Temperatures have gone over in the past, with the record high being held in Lytton, when the temperature rose to on July 16, 1941.

The extended summer dryness often creates conditions that spark forest fires, from dry-lightning or man-made causes. Coastal areas are generally milder and dry during summer, under the influence of stable anti-cyclonic high pressure much of the time. Many areas of the province are often covered by a blanket of heavy cloud and low fog during winter, despite sunny summers. Annual sunshine hours vary from 2200 near Cranbrook and Victoria to less than 1300 sun hours per year in Prince Rupert, located on the North Coast, just south of the Alaska Panhandle.

Parks and protected areas

There are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in the province that reflects the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context. There are 141 ecological Reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 Provincial Heritage Sites, 6 National Historic Sites of Canada, 4 National Parks and 3 National Park Reserves. 12.5% () of British Columbia is currently considered protected under one of the 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas.

British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks:

Glacier National Park

Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site

Kootenay National Park

Mount Revelstoke National Park

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Yoho National Park

British Columbia also contains a large network of provincial parks, run by BC Parks of the Ministry of Environment. British Columbia's provincial parks system is the second largest parks system in Canada (the largest is Canada's National Parks system).

Another tier of parks in British Columbia are regional parks, which are maintained and run by regional districts.

In addition to these areas, over of arable land are protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Fauna

Much of the province is wild or semi-wild, so that populations of many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in British Columbia. Watching animals of various sorts, including a very wide range of birds, has also long been popular. Bears (grizzly, black, and the Kermode bear or spirit bear—only found in British Columbia) live here, as do deer, elk, moose, caribou, big-horn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, beavers, muskrat, coyotes, wolves, mustelids (such as wolverines, badgers and fishers), Cougar, eagles, ospreys, herons, Canada geese, swans, loons, hawks, owls, ravens, Harlequin Ducks, and many other sorts of ducks. Smaller birds (robins, jays, grosbeaks, chickadees, and so on.) also abound.

Healthy populations of many sorts of fish are found in the waters (including salmonids such as several species of salmon, trout, char, and so on.). Besides salmon and trout, sport-fishers in B.C. also catch halibut, steelhead, bass, and sturgeon. On the coastlines, Harbor Seals and river otters are common. Cetacean species native to the coast include the Orca, Gray Whale, Harbour Porpoise, Dall's Porpoise, Pacific White-sided Dolphin and Minke Whale.

British Columbian introduced species include: common dandelion, ring-necked pheasant, Pacific oyster, brown trout, black slug, European Starling, cowbird, knapweed, bullfrog, purple loosestrife, Scotch broom, European earwig, tent caterpillar, sowbug, gray squirrel, Asian longhorn beetle, English ivy, Fallow Deer, thistle, gorse, Norway rat, crested mynah, and Asian or European gypsy moth.

Some endangered species in British Columbia are: Vancouver Island marmot, Spotted Owl, American White Pelican, and badgers.

! Type of organism	! Red-listed species in BC	! Total number of species in BC
Freshwater fish	24	80
Amphibians	5	19
Reptiles	6	16
Birds	34	465
Terrestrial mammals	1	1
Marine mammals	3	29
Plants	257	2333
Butterflies	12	187
Dragonflies	9	35087

As of 2001

Ecozones

Environment Canada subdivides British Columbia into a system of 6 ecozones:

Pacific Marine

Pacific Maritime

Boreal Cordillera

Montane Cordillera

Taiga Plains

Boreal Plains Ecozones.

History

Fur trade and colonial era

The discovery of stone tools on the Beatton River near Fort St. John date human habitation in British Columbia to at least 11,500 years ago. The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast spread throughout the region, achieving a high population density; at the time of European contact, nearly half the aboriginal people in present-day Canada lived in the region. During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30% of the Pacific Northwest First Nations. This epidemic was the first and the most devastating of a number that were to follow, other than the Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1862 which killed off 50% of the native population in that year. The arrival of Europeans began around the mid-18th century, as fur traders entered the area to harvest sea otters. While it is thought that Sir Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbian coast in 1579, it was Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1775. In doing so, Quadra reasserted the Spanish claim for the Pacific coast, first made by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513. The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792-93 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River. In 1793, Sir Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to journey across North America overland to the Pacific Ocean, inscribing a stone marking his accomplishment on the shoreline of Dean Channel near Bella Coola. His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific. Mackenzie and these other explorers—notably John Finlay, Simon Fraser, Samuel Black, and David Thompson—were primarily concerned with extending the fur trade, rather than political considerations. In 1794, by the third of a series of agreements known as the Nootka Conventions, Spain conceded its claims of exclusivity in the Pacific. This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars there was little British action on its claims in the region until later.

The establishment of trading posts under the auspices of the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region. The Columbia District, broadly defined as being south of 54°40 north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America) and north of Mexican Controlled California west of the Rocky Mountains was, by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, under the "joint occupancy and use" of citizens of the United States and subjects of Britain (which is to say, the fur companies). This co-occupancy was ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846.

The major supply route was the York Factory Express between Hudson Bay and Fort Vancouver. Some of the early outposts grew into settlements, communities, and cities. Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson's Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853). Fur company posts that became cities in what is now the United States include Vancouver, Washington (Fort Vancouver), formerly the "capital" of Hudson's Bay operations in the Columbia District, Colville, Washington and Walla Walla, Washington (old Fort Nez Percés).

With the amalgamation of the two fur trading companies in 1821, the region now comprising British Columbia existed in three fur trading departments. The bulk of the central and northern interior was organized into the New Caledonia district, administered from Fort St. James. The interior south of the Thompson River watershed and north of the Columbia was organized into the Columbia District, administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River. The northeast corner of the province east of the Rockies, known as the Peace River Block, was attached to the much larger Athabasca District, headquartered in Fort Chipewyan, in present day Alberta.

Until 1849, these districts were a wholly unorganized area of British North America under the de facto jurisdiction of HBC administrators. Unlike Rupert's Land to the north and east, however, the territory was not a concession to the company. Rather, it was simply granted a monopoly to trade with the First Nations inhabitants. All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in the southern Columbia basin (within present day Washington and Oregon). In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to the Georgia Strait, with the area south of this boundary (excluding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands) transferred to sole American sovereignty. The Colony of Vancouver Island was created in 1849, with Victoria designated as the capital. New Caledonia, as the whole of the mainland rather than just its north-central Interior came to be called, continued to be an unorganized territory of British North America, "administered" by individual HBC trading post managers.

With the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858, an influx of Americans into New Caledonia prompted the colonial office to formally designate the mainland as the Colony of British Columbia, with New Westminster as its capital. A series of gold rushes in various parts of the province followed, the largest being the Cariboo Gold Rush in 1862, forcing the colonial administration into deeper debt as it struggled to meet the extensive infrastructure needs of far-flung boom communities like Barkerville and Lillooet, which sprang up overnight. The Vancouver Island colony was facing financial crises of its own, and pressure to merge the two eventually succeeded in 1866.

Rapid growth and development

The Confederation League, including such figures as Amor De Cosmos, John Robson, and Robert Beaven, led the chorus pressing for the colony to join Canada, which had been created out of three British North American colonies in 1867 (the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). Several factors motivated this agitation, including the fear of annexation to the United States, the overwhelming debt created by rapid population growth, the need for government-funded services to support this population, and the economic depression caused by the end of the gold rush.

With the agreement by the Canadian government to extend the Canadian Pacific Railway to British Columbia and to assume the colony's debt, British Columbia became the sixth province to join Confederation on 20 July 1871. The borders of the province were not completely settled until 1903, however, when the province's territory shrank somewhat after the Alaska boundary dispute settled the vague boundary of the Alaska Panhandle.

Population in British Columbia continued to expand as the province's mining, forestry, agriculture, and fishing sectors were developed. Mining activity was particularly notable throughout the Mainland, particularly in the Boundary Country, in the Slocan, in the West Kootenay around Trail, the East Kootenay (the southeast corner of the province), the Fraser Canyon, the Cariboo, the Omineca and the Cassiar, so much so a common epithet for the Mainland, even after provincehood, was "the Gold Colony". Agriculture attracted settlers to the fertile Fraser Valley, and cattle ranchers and later fruit growers came to the drier grasslands of the Thompson River area, the Cariboo, the Chilcotin, and the Okanagan. Forestry drew workers to the lush temperate rainforests of the coast, which was also the locus of a growing fishery.

The completion of the railway in 1885 was a huge boost to the province's economy, facilitating the transportation of the region's considerable resources to the east. The milltown of Granville, known as Gastown, near the mouth of the Burrard Inlet was selected as the terminus of the railway, prompting the incorporation of the City as Vancouver in 1886. The completion of the Port of Vancouver spurred rapid growth, and in less than fifty years the city surpassed Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the largest in Western Canada. The early decades of the province were ones in which issues of land use—specifically, its settlement and development—were paramount. This included expropriation from First Nations people of their land, control over its resources, as well as the ability to trade in some resources (such as the fishery).

Establishing a labour force to develop the province was problematic from the start, and British Columbia was the locus of immigration from Europe, China, and Japan. The influx of a non-Caucasian population stimulated resentment from the dominant ethnic groups, resulting in agitation (much of it successful) to restrict the ability of Asian people to immigrate to British Columbia through the imposition of a head tax. This resentment culminated in mob attacks against Chinese and Japanese immigrants in Vancouver in 1887 and 1907. By 1923, almost all Chinese immigration had been blocked except for merchants, professionals, students and investors.

Meanwhile, the province continued to grow. In 1914, the last spike of a second transcontinental rail line, the Grand Trunk Pacific, linking north-central British Columbia from the Yellowhead Pass through Prince George to Prince Rupert was driven at Fort Fraser. This opened up the North Coast and the Bulkley Valley region to new economic opportunities. What had previously been an almost exclusively fur trade and subsistence economy soon became a locus for forestry, farming, and mining.

1920s through 1940s

When the men returned from World War I, they discovered the recently enfranchised women of the province had helped vote in the prohibition of liquor in an effort to end the social problems associated with the hard-core drinking that Vancouver and the rest of the province was famous for until the war. Because of pressure from veterans, prohibition was quickly relaxed so that the "soldier and the working man" could enjoy a drink, but widespread unemployment among veterans was hardened by many of the available jobs being taken by European immigrants and disgruntled veterans organized a range of "soldier parties" to represent their interests, variously named Soldier-Farmer, Soldier-Labour, and Farmer-Labour Parties. These formed the basis of the fractured labour-political spectrum that would generate a host of fringe leftist and rightist parties, including those who would eventually form the Co-operative Commonwealth and the early Social Credit splinter groups.

The advent of prohibition in the United States created new opportunities, and many found employment or at least profit in cross-border liquor smuggling. Much of Vancouver's prosperity and opulence in the 1920s results from this "pirate economy", although growth in forestry, fishing and mining continued. The end of U.S. prohibition, combined with the onset of the Great Depression, plunged the province into economic destitution. Compounding the already dire local economic situation, tens of thousands of men from colder parts of Canada swarmed into Vancouver, creating huge hobo jungles around False Creek and the Burrard Inlet rail yards, including the old Canadian Pacific Railway mainline right-of-way through the heart of the city's downtown (at Hastings and Carrall). Increasingly desperate times led to intense political organizing efforts, an occupation of the main Post Office at Granville and Hastings which was violently put down by the police and an effective imposition of martial law on the docks for almost three years. A Vancouver contingent for the On-to-Ottawa Trek was organized and seized a train, which was loaded with thousands of men bound for the capital but was met by a Gatling gun straddling the tracks at Mission; the men were arrested and sent to work camps for the duration of the Depression.

There were some signs of economic life beginning to return to normal towards the end of the 1930s, but it was the onset of World War II which transformed the national economy and ended the hard times of the Depression. Because of the war effort, women entered the workforce as never before.

British Columbia has long taken advantage of its location on the Pacific Ocean to have close relations with East Asia. However, this has often caused friction between cultures which have caused occasional displays of animosity toward Asian immigrants. This was most manifest during the Second World War when many people of Japanese descent were relocated or interned in the Interior of the province.

Coalition and the post-War boom

During World War II the mainstream BC Liberal and BC Conservative Parties of British Columbia united in a formal coalition government under new Liberal leader John Hart, who replaced Duff Pattullo when the latter failed to win a majority in the 1941 election. While the Liberals won the most number of seats, they actually received fewer votes than the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). Pattullo was unwilling to form a coalition with the rival Conservatives led by Royal Maitland and was replaced by Hart who formed a coalition cabinet made up of five Liberal and three Conservative ministers. The CCF was invited to join the coalition but refused.

The pretext for continuing the coalition after the end of World War II was to prevent the CCF, which had won a surprise victory in Saskatchewan in 1944, from ever coming to power in British Columbia. The CCF's popular vote was high enough in the 1945 election that they were likely to have won three-way contests and could have formed government. However, the coalition prevented that by uniting the anti-socialist vote. In the post-war environment the government initiated a series of infrastructure projects, notably the completion of Highway 97 north of Prince George to the Peace River Block, a section called the John Hart Highway and also public hospital insurance.

In 1947 the reins of the Coalition were taken over by Byron Ingemar Johnson. The Conservatives had wanted their new leader Herbert Anscomb to be premier, but the Liberals in the Coalition refused. Johnson led the coalition to the highest percentage of the popular vote in British Columbia history (61%) in the 1949 election. This victory was attributable to the popularity of his government's spending programmes, despite rising criticism of corruption and abuse of power. During his tenure, major infrastructure continued to expand, and the agreement with Alcan to build the Kemano-Kitimat hydro and aluminum complex was put in place. Johnson achieved popularity for flood relief efforts during the 1948 flooding of the Fraser Valley, which was a major blow to that region and to the province's economy.

Increasing tension between the Liberal and Conservative coalition partners led the Liberal Party executive to vote to instruct Johnson to terminate the arrangement. Johnson ended the coalition and dropped his Conservative cabinet ministers, including Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Herbert Anscomb, precipitating the general election of 1952. A referendum on electoral reform prior to this election had instigated an elimination ballot (similar to a preferential ballot), where voters could select second and third choices. The intent of the ballot, as campaigned for by Liberals and Conservatives, was that their supporters would list the rival party in lieu of the CCF, but this plan backfired when a large group of voters from all major parties, including the CCF, voted for the fringe British Columbia Social Credit Party (Socreds), who wound up with the largest number of seats in the House (19), only one seat ahead of the CCF, despite the CCF having 34.3% of the vote to Social Credit's 30.18%.

The Social Credit Party, led by rebel former Conservative MLA W. A. C. Bennett, formed a minority government backed by the Liberals and Conservatives (with 6 and 4 seats respectively). Bennett began a series of fiscal reforms, preaching a new variety of populism as well as waxing eloquent on progress and development, laying the ground for a second election in 1953 in which the new Bennett regime secured a majority of seats, with 38% of the vote. Secure with that majority, Bennett returned the province to the first-past-the-post system thereafter, which is still in use today.

Growth of government in the economy

With the election of the Social Credit Party, British Columbia embarked a phase of rapid economic development. Bennett and his party governed the province for the next twenty years, during which time the government initiated an ambitious programme of infrastructure development, fuelled by a sustained economic boom in the forestry, mining, and energy sectors.

During these two decades, the government nationalized British Columbia Electric and the British Columbia Power Company, as well as smaller electric companies, renaming the entity BC Hydro. By the end of the 1960s, several major dams had been begun or completed in—among others—the Peace, Columbia, and Nechako River watersheds. Major transmission deals were concluded, most notably the Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the United States. The province's economy was also boosted by unprecedented growth in the forest sector, as well as oil and gas development in the province's northeast.

The 1950s and 1960s were also marked by development in the province's transportation infrastructure. In 1960, the government established BC Ferries as a crown corporation, in order to provide a marine extension of the provincial highway system. That system was improved and expanded through the construction of new highways and bridges, and paving of existing highways and provincial roads.

Vancouver and Victoria become cultural centres as poets, authors, artists, musicians, as well as dancers, actors, and ''haute cuisine'' chefs flocked to the beautiful scenery and warmer temperatures. Similarly, these cities have either attracted or given rise to their own noteworthy academics, commentators, and creative thinkers. Tourism also began to play an important role in the economy. The rise of Japan and other Pacific economies was a great boost to British Columbia's economy.

Politically and socially, the 1960s brought a period of significant social ferment. The divide between the political left and right, which had prevailed in the province since the Depression and the rise of the labour movement, sharpened as so-called free enterprise parties coalesced into the defacto coalition represented by Social Credit—in opposition to the social democratic New Democratic Party, the successor to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. As the province's economy blossomed, so did labour-management tensions. Tensions emerged, also, from the counterculture movement of the late 1960s, of which Vancouver and Nanaimo were centres. The conflict between hippies and Vancouver mayor Tom Campbell was particularly legendary, culminating in the so-called Gastown Riots of 1971. By the end of the decade, with social tensions and dissatisfaction with the status quo rising, the Bennett government's achievements could not stave off its growing unpopularity.

1970s and 1980s

On August 27, 1969, the Social Credit Party was re-elected in a general election for what would be Bennett's final term in power. At the start of the 1970s, the economy was quite strong because of rising coal prices and an increase in annual allowable cuts in the forestry sector. However, BC Hydro reported its first loss, which was the beginning of the end for Bennett and the Social Credit Party.

The Socreds were forced from power in the August 1972 election, paving the way for a provincial New Democratic Party (NDP) government under Dave Barrett. Under Barrett, the large provincial surplus soon became a deficit, although changes to the accounting system makes it likely that some of the deficit was carried over from the previous Social Credit regime and its "two sets of books", as WAC Bennett had once referred to his system of fiscal management. The brief three year ("Thousand Days") period of NDP governance brought several lasting changes to the province, most notably the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve, intended to protect farmland from redevelopment, and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, a crown corporation charged with a monopoly on providing single-payer basic automobile insurance.

thumb|250px|right|This stylized version of the flag of BC was introduced by the Bennett government in the early 1980s. It remained as the logo of the government of BC for 20 years.Perceptions that the government had instituted reforms either too swiftly or that were too far-reaching, coupled with growing labour disruptions led to the ouster of the NDP in the 1975 general election. Social Credit, under W.A.C. Bennett's son, Bill Bennett, was returned to office. Under the younger Bennett's government, 85% of the province's land base was transferred from Government Reserve to management by the Ministry of Forests, reporting of deputy ministers was centralized to the Premier's Office, and NDP-instigated social programs were rolled back, with then-Human Resources Minister infamously demonstrating a golden shovel to highlight his welfare policy, although the new-era Socreds also reinforced and backed certain others instigated by the NDP—notably the creation of the Resort Municipality of Whistler, whose special status including Sunday drinking, then an anomaly in BC.

Also during the "MiniWac" regime (a reference to his father's acronym-cum-nickname, WAC) certain money-losing Crown-owned assets were "privatized" in a mass giveaway of shares in the British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, "BCRIC", with the "Brick shares" soon becoming near-worthless. Towards the end of his tenure in power, Bennett oversaw the completion of several megaprojects meant to stimulate the economy and win votes - unlike most right-wing parties, British Columbia's Social Credit actively practiced government stimulation of the economy. Most notable of these was the winning of a world's fair for Vancouver, which came in the form of Expo 86, to which was tied the construction of the Coquihalla Highway and Vancouver's SkyTrain system. The Coquihalla Highway project became the subject of a scandal after revelations that the premier's brother bought large tracts of land needed for the project before it was announced to the public, and also because of graft investigations of the huge cost overruns on the project. Both investigations were derailed in the media by a still further scandal, the Doman Scandal, in which the Premier and millionaire backer Herb Doman were investigated for insider-trading and securities fraud. Nonetheless, the Socreds were re-elected in 1979 under Bennett, who led the party until 1986.

As the province entered a sustained recession, Bennett's popularity and media image were in decline. On April 1, 1983, Premier Bennett overstayed his constitutional limits of power by exceeding the legal tenure of a government, and the Lieutenant-Governor, Henry Pybus Bell-Irving, was forced to call Bennett to Government House to resolve the impasse, and an election was called for April 30, while in the meantime government cheques were covered by special emergency warrants as the Executive Council no longer had signing authority because of the constitutional crisis. Campaigning on a platform of moderation, and backed by the support and computer-organization tactics of the Big Blue Machine from Ontario and other consultants who were electoral lobbyists for the American Republican Party, Bennett won an unexpected majority.

After several weeks of silence in the aftermath, a sitting of the House was finally called and in the speech from the Throne the Socreds instituted a programme of fiscal cutbacks dubbed "restraint", which had been a buzzword for moderation during the campaign. The programme included cuts to "motherhood" issues of the left, including the human rights branch, the offices of the Ombudsman and Rentalsman, women's programs, environmental and cultural programs, while still supplying mass capital infusions to corporate British Columbia. This sparked a backlash, with tens of thousands of people in the streets the next day after the budget speech, and through the course of a summer repeated large demonstrations of up to 100,000 people.

This became known as the 1983 Solidarity Crisis, from the name of the Solidarity Coalition, a huge grassroots opposition movement mobilized, consisting of organized labour and community groups, with the British Columbia Federation of Labour forming a separate organization of unions, Operation Solidarity, under the direction of Jack Munro, then-President of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), the most powerful of the province's resource unions. Tens of thousands participated in protests and many felt that a general strike would be the inevitable result unless the government backed down from its policies they had claimed were only about restraint and not about recrimination against the NDP and the left. Just as a strike at Pacific Press ended, which had crippled the political management of the public agenda by the publishers of the province's major papers, the movement collapsed after an apparent deal was struck by union leader and IWA president, Jack Munro and Premier Bennett.

A tense winter of blockades at various job sites around the province ensued, as among the new laws were those enabling non-union labour to work on large projects and other sensitive labour issues, with companies from Alberta and other provinces brought in to compete with union-scale British Columbia companies. Despite the tension, Bennett's last few years in power were relatively peaceful as economic and political momentum grew on the megaprojects associated with Expo, and Bennett was to end his career by hosting Prince Charles and Lady Diana on their visit to open Expo 86. His retirement being announced, a Social Credit convention was scheduled for the Whistler Resort, which came down to a three-way shooting match between Bud Smith, the Premier's right-hand man but an unelected official, Social Credit party grande dame Grace McCarthy, and the charismatic but eccentric Bill Vander Zalm.

Bill Vander Zalm became the new Socred leader when Smith threw his support to him rather than see McCarthy win, and led the party to victory in the election later that year. Vander Zalm was later involved in a conflict of interest scandal following the sale of Fantasy Gardens, a Christian and Dutch culture theme park built by the Premier, to Tan Yu, a Filipino Chinese gambling kingpin. There were also concerns over Yu's application to the government for a bank licence, and lurid stories from flamboyant realtor Faye Leung of a party in the "Howard Hughes Suite" on the top two floors of the Bayshore Inn, where Tan Yu had been staying, with reports of a bag of money in a brown paper bag passed from Yu to Vander Zalm during the goings-on. These scandals forced Vander Zalm's resignation, and Rita Johnston became premier of the province. Johnston presided over the end of Social Credit power, calling an election which led to the reducing of the party's caucus to only two seats, and the revival of the long-defunct British Columbia Liberal Party as Opposition to the victorious NDP under former Vancouver mayor Mike Harcourt.

In 1988, David Lam was appointed by the Queen of Canada as British Columbia’s twenty-fifth Lieutenant-Governor, and was the Province's first Lieutenant-Governor of Chinese origin.

1990s to present

Johnston lost the 1991 general election to the NDP, under the leadership of Mike Harcourt, a former mayor of Vancouver. The NDP's unprecedented creation of new parkland and protected areas was popular, and helped boost the province's growing tourism sector. However, the economy continued to struggle against the backdrop of a weak resource economy. Housing starts and an expanded service sector saw growth overall through the decade, despite political turmoil. Harcourt ended up resigning over "Bingogate"—a political scandal involving the funnelling of charity bingo receipts into party coffers in certain ridings. Harcourt was not implicated, but he resigned nonetheless in respect of constitutional conventions calling for leaders under suspicion to step aside. Glen Clark, a former president of the BC Federation of Labour, was chosen the new leader of the NDP, which won a second term in 1996. More scandals dogged the party, most notably the Fast Ferry Scandal involving the province trying to develop the shipbuilding industry in British Columbia. An allegation (never substantiated) that the Premier had received a favour in return for granting a gaming licence led to Clark's resignation as Premier. He was succeeded on an interim basis by Dan Miller who was in turn followed by Ujjal Dosanjh following a leadership convention.

In the 2001 general election Gordon Campbell's BC Liberals defeated the NDP party, gaining 77 out of 79 seats total seats in the provincial legislature. Campbell instituted various reforms and removed some of the NDP's policies including scrapping the "fast ferries" project, lowering income taxes, and the controversial sale of BC Rail to CN Rail. Campbell was also the subject of criticism after he was arrested for driving under the influence during a vacation in Hawaii. However, Campbell still managed to lead his party to victory in the 2005 general election, against a substantially strengthened NDP opposition. Campbell won a third term in the British Columbia general election, 2009, marking the first time in 23 years that a premier has been elected to a third term.

The province successfully won a bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, with Olympic organizers winning a referendum held in the city of Vancouver.

British Columbia has also been significantly affected by demographic changes within Canada and around the world. Vancouver (and to a lesser extent some other parts of British Columbia) was a major destination for many of the immigrants from Hong Kong who left the former UK colony (either temporarily or permanently) in the years immediately prior to its handover to the People's Republic of China. British Columbia has also been a significant destination for internal Canadian migrants. This has been the case throughout recent decades, because of its image of natural beauty, mild climate and relaxed lifestyle, but is particularly true during periods of economic growth. As a result, British Columbia has moved from approximately 10% of Canada's population in 1971 to approximately 13% in 2006. Trends of urbanization mean that the Greater Vancouver area now includes 51% of the Province's population, followed in second place by Greater Victoria with 8%. These two metropolitan regions have traditionally dominated the demographics of BC.

Demographics

55,000 51,524 36,247 49,459 98,173 178,657 392,480 524,582 694,263 817,861 1,165,210 1,398,464 1,629,082 1,873,674 2,184,620 2,466,610 2,744,467 2,883,370 3,282,061 3,724,500 3,907,738 4,113,487

!Year	!Population	!Five Year % change	!Ten Year % change	!Rank Among Provinces
1851	|	n/a	n/a	6
1861	|	n/a	−6.3	6
1871	|	n/a	−35.3	7
1881	|	n/a	36.4	8
1891	|	n/a	98.5	8
1901	|	n/a	82.0	6
1911	|	n/a	119.7	6
1921	|	n/a	33.7	6
1931	|	n/a	32.3	6
1941	|	n/a	17.8	3
1951	|	n/a	42.5	3
1956	|	20.0	n/a	3
1961	|	16.5	39.8	3
1966	|	15.0	34.0	3
1971	|	16.6	34.1	3
1976	|	12.9	31.6	3
1981	|	11.3	25.6	3
1986	|	5.1	16.9	3
1991	|	13.8	19.6	3
1996	|	13.5	29.2	3
2001	|	4.9	19.1	3
2006	|	5.3	10.4	3

100% 30.0% 41.9% 18.3% 0.7% 2.7% 2.3% 1.1% 0.8% 0.6% 0.5%

+align=top	Religious groups in BC (1991 & 2001) & Canada (2001)			1991 BC %	2001 BC %	2001 Canada %
align=left>Total population	|	100%	100%	3,868,875
	|	35.1%	17%	1,388,300	style="text-align:left; font-size:70%;"	includes Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist, and No religion, and other responses, such as Darwinism, and so on.
	|	31.4%	29%	1,213,295
align=left	Catholic	|	17.2%	44%	675,320	style="text-align:left; width:35%; font-size:70%;"	includes Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic .
	|	0.9%	2%	35,655
align=left	Christian n. i. e.	|	5.2%	3%	200,345	style="text-align:left; font-size:70%;"	Includes mostly answers of 'Christian', not otherwise stated
	|	3.5%	1%	135,310
align=left	Buddhist	|	2.2%	1%	85,540
align=left	Muslim	|	1.5%	2%	56,220
align=left	Hindu	|	0.8%	1%	31,500
align=left	Jewish	|	0.5%	1%	21,230
align=left	Eastern religions	|	0.3%	0.1%	9,970	style="text-align:left; font-size:70%;"	includes Baha'i, Eckankar, Jains, Shinto, Taoist, Zoroastrian and Eastern religions, not identified elsewhere
	|	0.4%	0.2%	16,205

The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were none (atheist, agnostic, and so on.) with 1,388,300 (35.9%); protestant with 1,213,295 (31.4%); the Roman Catholic Church with 675,320 (17%); the United Church of Canada with 361,840 (9%); and the Anglican Church of Canada with 298,375 (8%).

Ethnic groups and languages

The following statistics represent both single (for example, "German") and multiple (for example, "Chinese-Canadian") responses to the 2006 Census, and thus do not add up to 100%. All items are self-identified.

!Ethnic Origin	!Population	!Percent
	1,207,245	29.6%
	828,145	20.3%
	720,200	17.7%
	618,120	15.2%
	561,570	13.8%
	432,435	10.6%
	361,215	8.9%
	232,370	5.7%
	197,265	4.8%
	196,420	4.8%
	193,060	4.7%
	143,155	3.5%
	129,420	3.2%
	128,360	3.2%
	114,105	2.8%
	104,275	2.6%
	104,025	2.6%
	94,255	2.3%
	74,145	1.8%
	66,765	1.6%

!Ethnic Origin	!Population	!Percent
	62,570	1.5%
	56,125	1.4%
	52,640	1.3%
	51,860	1.3%
	49,870	1.2%
	46,620	1.1%
	41,585	1.0%
	34,660	0.9%
	30,835	0.8%
Jewish	30,830	0.8%
	29,875	0.7%
	29,265	0.7%
	28,240	0.7%
	25,670	0.6%
	22,110	0.5%
	21,770	0.5%
	21,150	0.5%
	18,815	0.5%
	18,525	0.5%
	17,510	0.4%

Though just 1.8% refer to their origins as being "British", a majority 57.3% of the population of British Columbia claim their ethnic origin as being from one of the British nations (England, Scotland or Wales). Another 15.2% refer to their ethnicity as "Irish", though not distinguishing between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Of the provinces, British Columbia had the highest proportion of visible minorities, representing 24.8% of its population. Asians are by far the largest visible minority demographic, with many of the Lower Mainland's large cities having sizable Chinese, South Asian, Japanese, Filipino, and Korean communities.

Also present in large numbers relative to other regions of Canada (except Toronto), and ever since the province was first settled (unlike Toronto), are many European ethnicities of the first and second generation, notably Germans, Scandinavians, Yugoslavs and Italians. Third-generation Europeans are generally of mixed lineage, and traditionally intermarried with other ethnic groups more than in any other Canadian province. First-generation Britons remain a strong component of local society despite limitations on immigration from Britain since the ending of special status for British subjects in the 1960s.

Of the 4,113,847 population counted by the 2006 census, 4,074,385 people completed the section about language. Of these 4,022,045 gave singular responses to the question regarding mother tongue. The languages most commonly reported were the following:

!Language	!Number of native speakers	!Percentage of singular responses
	2,875,770	71.5%
	342,920	8.5%
	158,750	4.0%
	86,690	2.2%
	54,745	1.4%
	50,425	1.3%
	46,500	1.2%
	34,075	0.9%
	28,150	0.7%
	27,020	0.7%
	26,355	0.7%
	24,560	0.7%
Hindi	23,240	0.6%
	20,040	0.5%
	19,320	0.5%
	17,565	0.4%
	14,385	0.4%
	12,285	0.3%
	10,670	0.3%
	8,505	0.2%

!Language	!Number of native speakers	!Percentage of singular responses
	8,440	0.2%
Urdu	7,025	0.2%
	6,720	0.2%
	6,620	0.2%
	6,565	0.2%
	6,335	0.2%
	6,180	0.2%
	6,000	0.1%
	4,770	0.1%
Athabaskan languages	3,500	0.1%
	3,490	0.1%
	3,275	0.1%
	3,200	0.1%
	3,190	0.1%
	3,100	0.1%
	3,100	0.1%
	3,035	0.1%
	2,875	0.1%
	2,255	0.1%
Tsimshianic languages	2,125	0.1%

Numerous other languages were also counted, but only languages with more than 2,000 native speakers are shown. (Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses)

Cities

Half of all British Columbians live in the Metro Vancouver area, which includes Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, West Vancouver, North Vancouver (city), North Vancouver (district municipality), Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Langley (city), Langley (district municipality), Delta, Pitt Meadows, White Rock, Richmond, Port Moody, Anmore, Belcarra, Lions Bay and Bowen Island, with adjacent unincorporated areas represented in the regional district as the electoral area known as Greater Vancouver Electoral Area A. Seventeen Indian reserves are located in the metropolitan area but are outside the jurisdiction of the regional district and not represented in its government. Also in the metropolitan area but not represented in the regional district are the University Endowment Lands.

The second largest concentration of British Columbia population is located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is made up of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria, Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay, View Royal, Highlands, Colwood, Langford, Central Saanich/Saanichton, North Saanich, Sidney, Metchosin, Sooke, which are part of the Capital Regional District. The metropolitan area also includes several Indian reserves (the governments of which are not part of the regional district). Almost half of the Vancouver Island population is located in Greater Victoria.

+ Ten Largest Metropolitan Areas in BC by Population	Community (includes metro areas)	!2006	!1996
align=left
align=left
align=left
align=left
align=left
align=left
align=left

+ Ten Largest Municipalities in BC by Population	Municipality	!2006	!1996
	578,041	514,008
align=left	394,976	304,477
	202,799	179,209
align=left	174,461	148,867
align=left	123,864	104,403
	114,565	101,820
align=left	108,265	101,388
	106,707	89,422
align=left	96,723	95,411
align=left	93,726	80,179

Other municipalities include: Campbell River, Chilliwack, Colwood, Courtenay, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Fernie, Fort St. John, Kimberley, Langford, Maple Ridge, Mission, Parksville, North Cowichan, Penticton, Port Alberni, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Quesnel, Terrace, Vernon, Victoria (provincial capital), Williams Lake

Economy

British Columbia has a resource dominated economy, centred on the forestry industry but also with increasing importance in mining. Employment in the resource sector has fallen steadily, and new jobs are mostly in the construction and retail/service sectors. With its film industry known as Hollywood North, the Vancouver region is the third-largest feature film production location in North America, after Los Angeles and New York City.

The economic history of British Columbia is replete with tales of dramatic upswings and downswings, and this boom and bust pattern has influenced the politics, culture and business climate of the province. Economic activity related to mining in particular has widely fluctuated with changes in commodity prices over time, with documented costs to community health.

British Columbia's GDP is the fourth largest in Canada at C$197.93 billion in 2008. GDP per capita stands at C$45,150. British Columbia’s total debt will rise 16% to C$47.8 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal year, or 24.3% of GDP.

Transportation

Transportation played a major role in British Columbia history. The Rocky Mountains and the ranges west of them constituted a significant obstacle to overland travel until the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1885. The Peace River Canyon through the Rocky Mountains was the route that the earliest explorers and fur traders used. Fur trade routes were only marginally used for access to British Columbia through the mountains. Travel from the rest of Canada before 1885 meant the difficulty of overland travel via the United States, around Cape Horn or overseas from Asia. Nearly all travel and freight to and from the region occurred via the Pacific Ocean, primarily through the ports of Victoria and New Westminster.

Until the 1930s, rail was the only means of overland travel to and from the rest of Canada; travellers using motor vehicles needed to journey through the United States. With the construction of the Inter-Provincial Highway in 1932 (now known as the Crowsnest Pass Highway), and later the Trans-Canada Highway, road transportation evolved into the preferred mode of overland travel to and from the rest of the country.

Roads and highways

Because of its size and rugged, varying topography, British Columbia requires thousands of kilometres of provincial highways to connect its communities. British Columbia's roads systems were notoriously poorly maintained and dangerous until a concentrated programme of improvement was initiated in the 1950s and 1960s. There are now freeways in the Lower Mainland and Central Interior of the province, and much of the rest of the province is accessible by well-maintained two lane arterial highways with additional passing lanes in mountainous areas. The building and maintenance of provincial highways is the responsibility of the provincial government.

There are only five major routes to the rest of Canada. From south to north they are: BC Highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass, the Vermilion Pass and the Kicking Horse Pass, the latter being used by the Trans-Canada Highway entering Alberta through Banff National Park, the Yellowhead Highway through Jasper National Park, and Highway 2 through Dawson Creek. There are also several highway crossings to the adjoining American states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The longest highway is Highway 97, running from the British Columbia-Washington border at Osoyoos north to Watson Lake, Yukon and which includes the British Columbia portion of the Alaska Highway.

Public transit

Prior to 1978, surface public transit was administered by BC Hydro, the provincially owned electricity utility. Subsequently, the province established BC Transit to oversee and operate all municipal transportation systems. In 1998, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (TransLink) (now South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority), a separate authority for routes within the Greater Vancouver Regional District was established.

Public transit in British Columbia consists mainly of diesel buses, although Vancouver is also serviced by a fleet of trolleybuses. Several experimental buses are being tested such as hybrid buses that has both gasoline and electric engines. TransLink operates SkyTrain, a rapid transit system serving Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, North Surrey and Richmond. Presently, extensions of the line east to Coquitlam and Port Moody (the Evergreen Line) are being developed.

Rail

Rail development expanded greatly in the decades after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 and was the chief mode of long-distance surface transportation until the expansion and improvement of the provincial highways system began in the 1950s. Two major routes through the Yellowhead Pass competed with the Canadian Pacific Railway—the Grand Trunk Pacific, terminating at Prince Rupert, and the Canadian National Railway, terminating at Vancouver.

The Pacific Great Eastern line supplemented this service, providing a north-south route between Interior resource communities and the coast. The Pacific Great Eastern (later known as British Columbia Railway and now owned by Canadian National Railway) connects Fort St James, Fort Nelson, and Tumbler Ridge with North Vancouver. The E&N Railway, rebranded as Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, serves the commercial and passenger train markets of Vancouver Island by owning the physical rail lines.

Water

BC Ferries was established as a provincial crown corporation in 1960 to provide passenger and vehicle ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland as a cheaper and more reliable alternative to the service operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It now operates 25 routes among the islands of British Columbia, as well as between the islands and the mainland. Ferry service to Washington is offered by the Washington State Ferries (between Sidney and Anacortes) and Black Ball Transport (between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington). Ferry service over inland lakes and rivers is provided by the provincial government.

Commercial ocean transport is of vital importance. Major ports are located at Vancouver, Roberts Bank (near Tsawwassen), Prince Rupert, and Victoria. Of these, the Port of Vancouver is the most important, being the largest in Canada and the most diversified in North America. Vancouver, Victoria, and Prince Rupert are also major ports of call for cruise ships. In 2007, a large maritime container port was opened in Prince Rupert with an inland sorting port located in Prince George.

Air

There are over 200 airports located throughout British Columbia, the major ones being the Vancouver International Airport, the Victoria International Airport, the Kelowna International Airport, and the Abbotsford International Airport, the first three of which each served over 1,000,000 passengers in 2005. Vancouver International Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the country with an estimated 17.9 million travellers passing through in 2008.

Government and politics

The Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, Steven Point, is the Queen of Canada's representative in the Province of British Columbia. During the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, the Governor General in Council may appoint an administrator to execute the duties of the office. In practice, this is usually the Chief Justice of British Columbia.

British Columbia has an 85-member elected Legislative Assembly, elected by the plurality voting system, though in recent years there has been significant debate about switching to a single transferable vote system.

The province is governed by the Liberal Party under Premier Christy Clark. The previous election saw ''then'' Premier Gordon Campbell win a third straight majority government in May 2009, taking 49 seats to the opposition New Democratic Party's 35. Campbell had previously led the largest landslide election in British Columbia history in 2001, with 77 of 79 seats, but the legislature has been more evenly divided between Liberals and NDP following the 2005 (46 of 79) and 2009 (49 of 85) provincial elections. The New Democratic Party (NDP) and its predecessor the CCF have been the main opposition force to business-oriented parties since the 1930s and have ruled majority governments 1972-1975 and 1991-2001. The Green Party of British Columbia plays a larger role in the politics of British Columbia than Green Parties do in most other jurisdictions in Canada. However, after a breakthrough election in 2001 (12.39%), the party's vote share has declined (2005 – 9.17%, 2009 – 8.09%).

The British Columbia Liberal Party is not related to the federal Liberal Party and does not share the same ideology. Instead, the BC Liberal party is a rather diverse coalition, made up of the remnants of the Social Credit Party, many federal Liberals, federal Conservatives, and those who would otherwise support right-of-centre or free enterprise parties. Historically, there have commonly been third parties present in the legislature (including the Liberals themselves from 1952 to 1975), but there are presently none.

Prior to the rise of the Liberal Party, British Columbia's main political party was the British Columbia Social Credit Party which ruled British Columbia for 20 continuous years. While sharing some ideology with the current Liberal government, they were more right-wing although undertook nationalization of various important monopolies, notably BC Hydro and BC Ferries. In an April 2008 poll by polling firm Ipsos-Reid, the BC Liberals were shown as having the support of 49% of voters, compared to 32% for the NDP.

British Columbia is known for having politically active labour unions who have traditionally supported the NDP or its predecessor, the CCF.

British Columbia's political history is typified by scandal and a cast of colourful characters, beginning with various colonial-era land scandals and abuses of power by early officials (such as those that led to McGowan's War in 1858–59). Notable scandals in Social Credit years included the Robert Bonner Affair, the Fantasy Gardens scandal which forced Premier Bill Vander Zalm to resign and ended the Social Credit era, the Bingogate scandal which brought down NDP Premier Mike Harcourt, the alleged scandal named Casinogate which drove NDP Premier Glen Clark to resign. A variety of scandals have plagued the current Liberal government, but with little apparent effect on the electorate, including the Premier's arrest for drunk driving in Maui and the resignation of various cabinet ministers because of conflict-of-interest allegations. A Christmas Eve raid on the Parliament Buildings in Victoria, including the Premier's Office, has resulted in charges only for ministerial aides, although key cabinet members from the time have since resigned. The case, currently in preliminary hearings in the courts and relating to the sale of BC Rail to an American company, may not reach trial because of the mass of evidence and various procedural problems.

Recreation

Given its varied mountainous terrain and its coasts, lakes, rivers, and forests, British Columbia has long been enjoyed for pursuits like hiking and camping, rock climbing and mountaineering, hunting and fishing.

Water sports, both motorized and non-motorized, are enjoyed in many places. Sea kayaking opportunities abound on the British Columbia coast with its fjords. Whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular on many inland rivers. Sailing and sailboarding are widely enjoyed.

In winter, cross-country and telemark skiing are much enjoyed, and in recent decades high-quality downhill skiing has been developed in the Coast Mountain range and the Rockies, as well as in the southern areas of the Shuswap Highlands and the Columbia Mountains. Snowboarding has mushroomed in popularity since the early 1990s. The 2010 Winter Olympics downhill events were held in Whistler Blackcomb area of the province, while the indoor events were conducted in the Vancouver area.

In Vancouver and Victoria (as well as some other cities), opportunities for joggers and bicyclists have been developed. Cross-country bike touring has been popular since the ten-speed bike became available many years ago. Since the advent of the more robust mountain bike, trails in more rugged and wild places have been developed for them. Some of the province's retired rail beds have been converted and maintained for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. Longboarding is also a popular activity because of the hilly geography of the region.

Horseback riding is enjoyed by many British Columbians. Opportunities for trail riding, often into especially scenic areas, have been established for tourists in numerous areas of the province.

British Columbia also has strong participation levels in many other sports, including golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, Canadian football, rugby union, lacrosse, baseball, softball, basketball, curling and figure skating. British Columbia has produced many outstanding athletes, especially in aquatic and winter sports. Consistent with both increased tourism and increased participation in diverse recreations by British Columbians has been the proliferation of lodges, chalets, bed and breakfasts, motels, hotels, fishing camps, and park-camping facilities in recent decades.

In certain areas, there are businesses, non-profit societies, or municipal governments dedicated to promoting ecotourism in their region. A number of British Columbia farmers offer visitors to combine tourism with farm work, for example, through the WWOOF Canada program.

Recreational cannabis

A 2004 study (published 2006) by the University of Victoria Centre for Addictions Research of BC and Simon Fraser University Applied Research on Mental Health and Addictions indicated cannabis use is more widespread among British Columbians than other Canadians. However, a United Nations report published in July 2007 actually placed Quebec as the highest consumption province, citing 15.8% of Quebecers having used marijuana in a single year, versus 14.1% of Canadians nationally, and resulted in Canada being placed first in the industrialized world in marijuana use. With the actual growing of marijuana, British Columbia is responsible for 40% of all cannabis produced in Canada.

See also

List of designated places in British Columbia

List of people from British Columbia

List of regions of British Columbia

References

Further reading

External links

Tourism British Columbia official website

Provincial Archives including online photo database

Vancouver Public Library; Historical Photographs of BC & the Yukon

B.C. Multicultural Photographs from the Vancouver Public Library – searchable photo database

BC Govt online map archive

}}

Category:Provinces and territories of Canada Category:States and territories established in 1871

Category:Pacific Northwest

af:Brits-Columbië ar:كولومبيا البريطانية arc:ܩܘܠܘܡܒܝܐ ܒܪܝܛܝܬܐ ast:Columbia Británica az:Britaniya Kolumbiyası zh-min-nan:British Columbia be:Правінцыя Брытанская Калумбія be-x-old:Брытанская Калюмбія bs:Britanska Kolumbija br:British Columbia bg:Британска Колумбия ca:Colúmbia Britànica cs:Britská Kolumbie cy:British Columbia da:Britisk Columbia de:British Columbia et:Briti Columbia el:Βρετανική Κολομβία es:Columbia Británica eo:Brita Kolumbio eu:Britainiar Kolunbia fa:بریتیش کلمبیا fr:Colombie-Britannique fy:Britsk-Kolumbia ga:An Cholóim Bhriotanach gv:Yn Cholombey Ghoaldagh gd:Columbia Bhreatannach gl:Columbia Británica - British Columbia ko:브리티시컬럼비아 주 hy:Բրիտանական Կոլումբիա hi:ब्रिटिश कोलम्बिया hr:Britanska Kolumbija io:British Columbia id:British Columbia ia:Columbia Britannic os:Британийы Колумби is:Breska Kólumbía it:Columbia Britannica he:קולומביה הבריטית jv:British Columbia kl:Britisk Columbia kn:ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್‌‌ ಕೊಲಂಬಿಯಾ pam:British Columbia ka:ბრიტანეთის კოლუმბია kw:Kolombi Bredennek sw:British Kolumbia la:Columbia Britannica lv:Britu Kolumbija lt:Britų Kolumbija lij:Columbia Britannega hu:Brit Columbia mk:Британска Колумбија mr:ब्रिटिश कोलंबिया ms:British Columbia mn:Бритиш Коламбиа nah:British Columbia nl:Brits-Columbia ja:ブリティッシュコロンビア州 frr:British Columbia no:Britisk Columbia nn:Britisk Columbia oc:Colómbia Britanica pnb:برطانوی کولمبیا pms:Columbia Britànica pl:Kolumbia Brytyjska pt:Colúmbia Britânica ro:Columbia Britanică ru:Британская Колумбия sco:Breetish Columbie simple:British Columbia sk:Britská Kolumbia sl:Britanska Kolumbija szl:Brytyjsko Kolůmbijo sr:Британска Колумбија sh:Britanska Kolumbija fi:Brittiläinen Kolumbia sv:British Columbia tl:British Columbia ta:பிரிட்டிசு கொலம்பியா th:รัฐบริติชโคลัมเบีย tr:Britanya Kolumbiyası uk:Британська Колумбія ur:برٹش کولمبیا ug:Britani Kolumbiye vi:British Columbia vo:British Columbia fiu-vro:Briti Columbia war:British Columbia yi:בריטיש קאלאמביע zh-yue:卑詩省 bat-smg:Brėtu Kolumbėjė zh:不列颠哥伦比亚

Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
name	Duncan Jones
birth name	Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones
Birth date	May 30, 1971
Birth place	Bromley (or Beckenham),London, United Kingdom
Occupation	Film director
Years active	2002–present }}

Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones (born 30 May 1971), also known as Zowie Bowie is an English film director, best known for directing the science fiction films ''Moon'' (2009) and ''Source Code'' (2011).

Childhood and family life

Duncan is the only child from the marriage of David Bowie (born David Robert Jones) and his first wife, the former American model Mary Angela Barnett. He was born at Bromley Hospital (or, according to some sources, Beckenham Hospital) in South London. His son's birth prompted Bowie to write the song "Kooks" for his 1971 album ''Hunky Dory''. Duncan Jones is the half-brother of Alexandria "Lexi" Jones (born 2000), from his father's second marriage to the fashion model Iman, and Stacia Larranna Celeste Lipka (born 1980), from his mother's relationship with musician Drew Blood (né Andrew Lipka). He also has a stepsister, Zulekha Haywood (born 1978), who is the daughter of Iman and former NBA basketball player Spencer Haywood, Iman's second husband.

As a child, Jones spent time growing up in Berlin, London and Vevey, Switzerland where he attended the first and second grade at the Commonwealth American School. When David and Angela divorced in February 1980, David Bowie was granted custody of 9-year-old Jones (who was then known as Zowie), and he visited his mother on his school vacations. At age 14, he enrolled in the Scottish boarding school, Gordonstoun.

Around age 12, Zowie decided that he preferred to be called "Joey", and used this nickname for some time until shortening it to "Joe" in his later teen years. The press reported that he went by "Joe" in 1992 when attending his father's wedding to Iman (he was the best man).

According to the ''Newham Recorder'', he reverted to his birth name, Duncan Jones, around the age of 18. Jones is an atheist.

College and career choice

By 1995, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the College of Wooster, where he was registered under the name "Duncan Jones".

He then pursued a PhD degree at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee but left before completion to attend London Film School, where he graduated as a director.

He was one of many cameramen at his father's widely-televised 50th birthday party directed by Englishman Tim Pope at Madison Square Garden and also at two BowieNet concerts at Roseland Ballroom in New York City in June 2000. He was also the in-game cinematics director for the political simulator Republic: The Revolution, as well as scripting elements of the game.

FCUK – Fashion vs Style

Duncan Jones directed the 2006 campaign for the French Connection fashion label. The concept of 'Fashion vs Style' was to re-invigorate the brand and move it away from the former incarnation of FCUK, which style pundits believed had become tired and overused.

The advert debuted in the week ending 20 February 2006 and featured two women (representing fashion and style) fighting and briefly kissing each other.

The advertisement reportedly generated 127 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, but the complaints did not lead to any action.

Accolades

Jones' first feature film, ''Moon'', was nominated for 7 British Independent film awards and won 2, both going to Jones. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards at the 2010 ceremony, winning 1. There have been 19 other nominations and wins for the film, from film festivals and societies.

BAFTA Carl Foreman Award

British Independent Film Award for Best Film

British Independent Film Award The Douglas Hickox Award

Athens International Film Festival; Golden Athena Award

Dinard British Film Festival; Silver Hitchcock

Edinburgh International Film Festival Best New British Feature

Espoo Ciné International Film Festival; Méliès d'Argent Prize for the best European fantasy film

National Board of Review, USA; Spotlight Award

Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, long form

Image Gazer Film Festival Winner for Best Drama Film, "Moon"

Writer's Guild Of Great Britain Award Winner for Best First Feature-Length Screenplay

Space Frontier Foundation's "Best Presentation of Space" and "Vision of the Future" award winner for "Moon"

Nominated: BAFTA Award for Best British Film

Nominated: British Independent Film Award for Best Director

Nominated: Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Most Promising Filmmaker

Nominated: London Critics Circle Film Awards Breakthrough British Filmmaker

Nominated: London Critics Circle Film Awards Best Director

Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh For Source Code

Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh For Moon

Current projects

Following on from the success of ''Moon'', Jones is currently planning a follow-up which will serve as an epilogue. "Sam (Rockwell) has agreed to do a little cameo in the next film," says Jones, who ultimately hopes to do three films in the ''Moon'' series. Later, he said that he would be doing "another science fiction film, called ''Mute'', which takes place in a future Berlin. It's a ''Blade Runner''-inspired piece, a little love letter to that film." The premise is that in future Berlin, a woman's disappearance causes a mystery for her partner, a mute bartender. He must go up against the city’s gangsters to solve the mystery. The film takes place in the same timeline as Jones' ''Moon'', and will feature Sam Rockwell in a cameo as his character Sam Bell.

It was announced in 2009 that he would direct the feature film adaptation of ''Escape from the Deep: The Epic Story of a Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew'' by Alex Kershaw, but on Twitter Duncan Jones said he would not be directing ''Escape From the Deep'' claiming "not on the sub movie anymore, but trying hard to get one of two things made next. Mute is one of those 2".

He directed the Summit Entertainment project ''Source Code'', a science-fiction thriller from Vendome Pictures, which was produced by Mark Gordon. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal played the lead role in the film. Source Code was released on DVD and Blu Ray on July 26, 2011 in the United States.

Jones was one of the top candidates to direct the upcoming ''Superman'' reboot before the job ultimately went to Zack Snyder. He was also rumored to helm the next X-Men film, ''The Wolverine'' starring Hugh Jackman, but Jackman and 20th Century Fox decided on James Mangold instead.

Currently, Jones is writing the script for his untitled third film. He is also in talks for a graphic novel.

Filmography

''Whistle'' (2002) (short film)

''Moon'' (2009)

''Source Code'' (2011)

References

External links

Duncan Jones at Clipland

Category:Advertising people Category:Advertising directors Category:Old Gordonstounians Category:College of Wooster alumni Category:People from Beckenham Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:David Bowie Category:British expatriates in Germany Category:British expatriates in Switzerland Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:English film directors Category:English people of American descent Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English people of Polish descent Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English atheists

de:Duncan Jones (Regisseur) es:Duncan Jones fr:Duncan Jones (réalisateur) ko:던컨 존스 it:Duncan Jones (regista) nl:Duncan Jones ja:ダンカン・ジョーンズ pl:Duncan Jones pt:Duncan Jones ru:Джонс, Данкан

Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
name	Amy Winehouse
alt	Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes festival in France (2007)
background	solo_singer
birth name	Amy Jade Winehouse
birth date	September 14, 1983
birth place	Southgate, London, UK
death date	July 23, 2011
death place	Camden, London, UK
genre	Soul, R&B, jazz
instrument	Vocals, guitar
occupation	Singer, songwriter
years active	1998–2011
label	Island, Lioness, Universal Republic (U.S.)
website	}}

Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, ''Frank'', was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, ''Back to Black'', led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

On 14 February 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times, one in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", one in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and one in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game", among other distinctions. The album is the biggest seller of the 2000s in the United Kingdom. Winehouse is credited as an influence in the rise in popularity of female musicians and soul music, and also for revitalising British music.

Winehouse was found dead on 23 July 2011, at her home in London. Police have said that the cause of her death is "as yet unexplained" and that the death was "non-suspicious". Winehouse's family and friends attended her funeral on 26 July 2011. In August 2011 her album ''Back to Black'' became the UK's best selling album of the 21st century.

Early life

Winehouse was born in the Southgate area of North London to a Jewish family, with Russian ancestry on her mother's side, who influenced her interest in jazz. Winehouse was the daughter of Mitchell (Mitch) Winehouse, a taxi driver, and Janis Winehouse (''née'' Seaton), a pharmacist. Her grandmother had once been engaged to Ronnie Scott. Her brother, Alex, is four years older. Mitch often sang Frank Sinatra songs to young Amy, who also took to a constant habit of singing to the point that teachers found it difficult keeping her quiet in class. Winehouse's parents separated when she was nine.

When Winehouse was nine years old, her grandmother, Cynthia, suggested she attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School for further training. At age ten, Winehouse founded a short-lived rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour with childhood friend Juliette Ashby. She stayed at the Earnshaw school for four years before seeking full-time training at Sylvia Young Theatre School, but was allegedly expelled at 14 for "not applying herself" and for piercing her nose. (Sylvia Young herself has denied this – "She changed schools at 15 – I've heard it said she was expelled; she wasn't. I'd never have expelled Amy.") With other children from the Sylvia Young School, she appeared in an episode of ''The Fast Show'' in 1997. She later attended The Mount School, Mill Hill, the BRIT School in Selhurst, Croydon, Southgate School and Ashmole School.

Music career

Early career

After toying with her brother's guitar, Winehouse received her first guitar when she was 13, and began writing music a year later. She began working soon after, including as a showbiz journalist for the World Entertainment News Network, in addition to singing with local group the Bolsha Band. Her boyfriend at the time, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R person. Her future A&R representative at Island/Universal, Darcus Beese, heard her by accident when the manager of The Lewinson Brothers showed him some productions of his clients on which Winehouse featured as vocalist. When he asked who the singer was the manager told him he was not allowed to say. Having decided that he wanted to sign her it took several months of asking around for Beese to eventually discover who the singer was. By this time Winehouse had already recorded a number of songs and signed a publishing deal with EMI. Through the publishers she formed a working relationship with the producer Salaam Remi.

Beese introduced Winehouse to his boss, Nick Gatfield, and the Island head shared his enthusiasm in signing the young artist. Winehouse was signed to Island/Universal as rival interest in Winehouse had started to build, with representatives at EMI and Virgin also starting to make moves. Beese told ''HitQuarters'' that he felt the reason behind the excitement over an artist who was an atypical pop star for the time was due to a backlash against reality TV music shows with audiences becoming starved for genuine young talent.

Winehouse's greatest love was 1960s girl groups. Her stylist Alex Foden borrowed her "instantly recognisable" beehive hairdo (a weave) and she borrowed her Cleopatra makeup from The Ronettes. Her imitation was so successful, the ''Village Voice'' reports: "Ronnie Spector—who, it could be argued, all but invented Winehouse's style in the first place when she took the stage at the Brooklyn Fox Theater with her fellow Ronettes more than 40 years ago—was so taken aback at a picture of Winehouse in the ''New York Post'' that she exclaimed, "I don't know her, I never met her, and when I saw that pic, I thought, 'That's me!' But then I found out, no, it's Amy! I didn't have on my glasses."

''The New York Times'' reporter, Guy Trebay, discussed the multiplicity of influences on Winehouse's style. Trebay notes: "her stylish husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, may have influenced her look." Additionally, Trebay observes: :She was a 5-foot-3 almanac of visual reference, most famously to Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes, but also to the white British soul singer Mari Wilson, less famous for her sound than her beehive; to the punk god Johnny Thunders...; to the fierce council-house chicks... (see: Dior and Chanel runways, 2007 and 2008); to the rat-combed biker molls photographed by the Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger in the 1960s; to a lineage of bad girls extending from Cleopatra to Louise Brooks’s Lulu to Salt-n-Pepa, irresistible man traps who always seem to come to the same unfortunate end.

Major label success and ''Frank''

Winehouse's debut album, ''Frank'', was released on 20 October 2003. Produced mainly by Salaam Remi, many songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, every song was co-written by Winehouse. The album received positive reviews with compliments over the "cool, critical gaze" in its lyrics and brought comparisons of her voice to Sarah Vaughan, Macy Gray and others.

The album entered the upper levels of the UK album chart in 2004 when it was nominated for BRIT Awards in the categories of "British Female Solo Artist" and "British Urban Act". It went on to achieve platinum sales. Later in 2004, she won the Ivor Novello (songwriting) Award for Best Contemporary Song, alongside Salaam Remi, with her contribution to the first single, "Stronger Than Me". The album also made the short list for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. In the same year, she performed at the Glastonbury Festival, the V Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival (7 July 2004, at the Club Soda), and on the Jazzworld stage. After the release of the album, Winehouse commented that she was "only 80 percent behind [the] album" because of the inclusion by her record label of certain songs and mixes she disliked. Additional singles from the album were "Take the Box", "In My Bed"/"You Sent Me Flying" and "Pumps"/"Help Yourself".

International success and ''Back to Black''

In contrast to her jazz-influenced former album, Winehouse's focus shifted to the girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Winehouse hired New York singer Sharon Jones's longtime band, the Dap-Kings to back her up in the studio and on tour. In May 2006, Winehouse's demonstration tracks such as "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" appeared on Mark Ronson's New York radio show on East Village Radio. These were some of the first new songs played on the radio after the release of "Pumps" and both were slated to appear on her second album. The 11-track album was produced entirely by Salaam Remi and Ronson, with the production credits being split between them. Ronson said in a 2010 interview that he liked working with Winehouse because she was blunt when she did not like his work. Promotion of ''Back to Black'' soon began and, in early October 2006, Winehouse's official website was relaunched with a new layout and clips of previously unreleased songs. ''Back to Black'' was released in the UK on 30 October 2006. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart numerous times, and entered at number seven on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the US. It was the best-selling album in the UK in 2007, selling 1.85 million copies over the course of the year.

The album spawned a number of singles. The first single released from the album was the Ronson-produced "Rehab". The song reached the top ten in the UK and the US. ''Time'' magazine named "Rehab" the Best Song of 2007. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised Winehouse for her confidence, saying, "What she is is mouthy, funny, sultry, and quite possibly crazy" and "It's impossible not to be seduced by her originality. Combine it with production by Mark Ronson that references four decades worth of soul music without once ripping it off, and you've got the best song of 2007." The album's second single and lead single in the US, "You Know I'm No Good", was released in January 2007 with a remix featuring rap vocals by Ghostface Killah. It ultimately reached number 18 on the UK singles chart. The title track, "Back to Black", was released in the UK in April 2007 and peaked at number 25, but was more successful across mainland Europe. "Tears Dry on Their Own", "Love Is a Losing Game" and "Just Friends" were also released as singles, but failed to achieve the same level of success.

A deluxe edition of ''Back to Black'' was also released on 5 November 2007 in the UK. The bonus disc features B-sides, rare, and live tracks, as well as "Valerie". Winehouse's debut DVD ''I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London'' was released the same day in the UK and 13 November in the US. It includes a live set recorded at London's Shepherds Bush Empire and a 50-minute documentary charting the singer's career over the previous four years. ''Frank'' was released in the United States on 20 November 2007 to positive reviews. The album debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In addition to her own album, she collaborated with other artists on singles. Winehouse was a vocalist on the song "Valerie" on Ronson's solo album ''Version''. The song peaked at number two in the UK, upon its October single release. The song was nominated for a 2008 Brit Award for "Best British Single". Her work with ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena, "B Boy Baby", was released on 17 December 2007. It served as the fourth single from Buena's solo debut album, ''Real Girl''.

Continued success and acclaim

By year's end, Winehouse had garnered numerous accolades and awards. The singer won 2008 Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the single "Rehab", while her album ''Back to Black'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Best Pop Vocal Album award. Producer Mark Ronson's work with her won the award in the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical category. The singer also earned a Grammy in the Best New Artist category. This earned Winehouse an entry in the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for Most Grammy Awards won by a British Female Act. She performed "You Know I’m No Good" and "Rehab" at the awards ceremony via satellite, as her visa approval came through too late for her to travel to the US. She said "This is for London because Camden town is burning down", in reference to the Camden Market fire. After the Grammy Awards, the album's sales increased catapulting ''Back to Black'' to number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 after initially peaking at number seven. On 13 January 2008, ''Back to Black'' held the number one position on the ''Billboard'' Pan European charts for the third straight week. In January 2008, Universal Music International said it believed that there was a correlation between number of albums sold and the extensive media coverage the singer had received.

thumb|left|Performing at Eurockéennes in Belfort, Territoire de Belfort, France on 29 June 2007 A special deluxe edition of ''Back to Black'' topped the UK album charts on 2 March 2008. The original edition of the album resided at the number 30 position, in its 68th week on the charts, while "Frank" charted at number 35. By 12 March, the album had sold a total of 2,467,575 copies, 318,350 of those in the previous 10 weeks, putting the album on the UK's top 10 best-selling albums of the 21st century for the first time. On 7 April, ''Back to Black'' was residing at the top position on the pan-European charts for the sixth consecutive and thirteenth aggregate week. ''Back to Black'' was the world's seventh biggest selling album for 2008. These sales helped keep Universal Music's recorded music division from dropping to levels experienced by the overall music market.

At the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards, Winehouse became the first artist to receive two nominations for the top award, best song, musically and lyrically. She won the award for "Love Is a Losing Game" and was nominated for "You Know I'm No Good". "Rehab", a Novello winner for best contemporary song in 2006, also received a 2008 nomination for best-selling British song. Winehouse was nominated for a MTV Europe Award in the ''Act of The Year'' category. ''Amy Winehouse – The Girl Done Good: A Documentary Review'', a 78-minute DVD, was released on 14 April 2008. The documentary features interviews with those who knew her at a young age, helped her gain success, jazz music experts, as well as music and pop culture specialists. A clip of Winehouse's music was included in the "Roots and Influences" area that looked at connections between different artists at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, which opened in December 2008. One thread started with Billie Holiday continued with Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and finished with Winehouse. In a poll of United States residents conducted for VisitBritain by Harris Interactive that was released in March 2009, one fifth of those polled indicated they had listened to Winehouse's music during the previous year. Winehouse performed with Rhythms del Mundo on their cover of the Sam Cooke song "Cupid" for an ''Artists Project Earth'' benefit album that was released on 13 July 2009.

On the week of July 26, after Winehouse's death, ''Frank'', ''Back To Black'', and the ''Back To Black'' EP re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 57, number 9, and number 152 respectively with the album climbing to number 4 the following week. ''Back To Black'' also topped the ''Billboard'' Digital Albums chart on the same week and was the second best seller at iTunes. "Rehab" re-entered and topped the ''Billboard'' Digital Songs chart as well, selling up to 38,000 more digital downloads. As of August 2011 "Back to Black" was the best selling album in the United Kingdom in the 21st Century.

Final projects

Winehouse and Mark Ronson contributed a cover of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" to the Quincy Jones tribute album ''Q Soul Bossa Nostra'' released 9 November 2010. Winehouse and drummer ?uestlove of the Roots had agreed to form a group. Winehouse's problems obtaining a visa delayed the still unnamed group from working together. Producer Salaam Remi had already created some material with Winehouse as part of the project. According to a newspaper report, Universal Music pressed her regarding new material in 2008. According to that same report Winehouse as of 2 September had not been near a recording studio. It was noted that she had touring obligations during the summer and also that if an album was quickly recorded, it would be at least a year before an album could be released. In late October, Winehouse's spokesman was quoted as saying that Winehouse had not been given a deadline to complete her third album, for which she was learning to play drums.

During her 2009 stay in Saint Lucia, Winehouse worked on new music with producer Salaam Remi. Island claimed that a new album would be due in 2010; Island co-president Darcus Beese said, "I've heard a couple of song demos that have absolutely floored me". In July 2010 Winehouse was quoted as saying her next album would be released no later than January 2011, saying "It’s going to be very much the same as my second album, where there's a lot of jukebox stuff and songs that are... just jukebox, really." Mark Ronson said in July 2010 that he had not started to record the album.

American singer Tony Bennett recorded a song with Winehouse for his forthcoming album, ''Duets II'', which is scheduled for release on 20 September 2011. Following her death Winehouse's spokesperson said the singer left behind “plenty” of material but no discussions had taken place in regards to releasing it. It is uncertain how far along she had gotten in the recording process. The proceeds from the single will go to a charity set up in Winehouse's name.

Artistry

Influence

British singer Adele has credited Winehouse's success in the United States for making her and fellow British singer Duffy's journey to the United States "a bit smoother". American singer Lady Gaga credited Winehouse with paving the way for her rise to the top of the charts. She appeared to be using a metaphorical analogy to explain that Winehouse made it easier for unconventional women to have mainstream pop success. The "Winehouse phenomenon" has been credited by Sebastian Danchin, author of ''Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul'', with kick-starting a revival of soul music that has been ongoing since 2000. Danchin quoting Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, and John Legend said "Amy Winehouse was produced by people who wanted to create a marketing coup. The positive side is that it reacquainted an audience with this music and played an introductory role for others. This reinvigorated the genre by overcoming the vintage aspect".

The release of ''Back to Black'' and the emergence of Lily Allen has been credited by ''The Sunday Times'' as directly creating the market for the media proclaimed "the year of the women" in 2009 which has seen five female artists nominated for the Mercury Prize. After the album was released, record companies sought out female artists with a similar sound and fearless and experimental female musicians in general. Adele and Duffy were the second wave of artists with a sound similar to Winehouse's. A third wave of female musicians that has emerged since the album was released are led by VV Brown, Florence and the Machine, La Roux and Little Boots. In February 2010, rapper Jay-Z credited Winehouse with revitalising British music, saying, "There's a strong push coming out of London right now, which is great. It's been coming ever since I guess Amy (Winehouse). I mean always, but I think Amy, this resurgence was ushered in by Amy." In March 2011 the ''New York Daily News'' ran an article attributing the continuing wave of British female artists that have been successful in the United States to Winehouse and her absence. ''Spin'' magazine music editor Charles Aaron was quoted as saying "Amy Winehouse was the Nirvana moment for all these women," "They can all be traced back to her in terms of attitude, musical styles or fashion". According to Keith Caulfield, chart manager for ''Billboard'', "Because of Amy, or the lack thereof, the marketplace was able to get singers like Adele and Duffy," "Now those ladies have brought on the new ones, like Eliza Doolittle, Rumer and Ellie."

Live performances

Winehouse toured in conjunction with the ''Back to Black'' album's release. She performed headlining gigs in September and November 2006, including one of the ''Little Noise Sessions'' charity concerts at the Union Chapel, Islington. On 31 December 2006, Winehouse appeared on Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny and performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" along with Paul Weller and Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. She also performed Toots & the Maytals' "Monkey Man". She began a run of another 14 gigs beginning in February 2007. At his request, Bruce Willis introduced Winehouse before her performance of "Rehab" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Winehouse made awards organizers nervous when she went on a Las Vegas jaunt in the hours before the show. During the summer of 2007, Winehouse performed at various festivals, including UK's Glastonbury Festival, Chicago's Lollapalooza festival, Rock Werchter and Baltimore's Virgin Music Festival.

Winehouse's tour, however, did not go as well. In November 2007, the opening night of a 17-date tour was marred by booing and walkouts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. A music critic for the ''Birmingham Mail'' said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life...I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience." Other concerts ended similarly, with, for example, fans at her Hammersmith Apollo performance saying that she "looked highly intoxicated throughout", until she announced on 27 November 2007, that her performances and public appearances were cancelled for the remainder of 2007, citing doctor advice to take a complete rest. A statement issued by concert promoter Live Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision.

On 20 February 2008, Winehouse performed at the 2008 BRIT Awards, performing "Valerie" with Mark Ronson, followed by "Love Is a Losing Game". She urged the crowd to "make some noise for my Blake." In Paris, she performed what was described as a "well-executed 40 minute" set at the opening of a Fendi boutique. Although her father, manager and various members of her touring team reportedly tried to dissuade her, Winehouse performed at the Rock in Rio Lisboa festival in Portugal in May 2008. Although the set was plagued by a late arrival and problems with her voice, the crowd warmed to her. In addition to her own material she performed two Specials covers. Winehouse performed at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Party concert at London's Hyde Park on the 27 June, and the next day at the Glastonbury Festival. On 12 July at the Oxegen Festival she performed a well-received 50 minute set which was followed the next day by a 14 song set at T in the Park. On 16 August she played at the Staffordshire leg of the V Festival, and the following day played the Chelmsford leg of the festival. Organizers said that Winehouse attracted the biggest crowds of the festival. Audience reaction was reported as mixed. On 6 September she was the headliner at Bestival. She performed what was described as a polished set which ended with her storming off the stage. Her hour late arrival caused her set to be cut off at the halfway point due to a curfew.

In May 2009, Winehouse returned to performing at a jazz festival in Saint Lucia amid torrential downpours and technical difficulties. During her hour long set it was reported she was unsteady on her feet and had trouble remembering lyrics. She apologised to the crowd for being "bored" and ended her set by walking off the stage in the middle of a song. To a cheering crowd on 23 August at the V festival, Winehouse sang with The Specials on their songs "You're Wondering Now" and "Ghost Town".

In July 2010, she performed "Valerie" with Mark Ronson at a movie premiere. She sang lead but forgot some of the song's lyrics. In October Winehouse performed a four song set to promote her fashion line. In December 2010 Winehouse played a 40 minute concert at a Russian oligarch's party in Moscow. Guests included other Russian tycoons and Russian show business stars. The tycoon hand picked the songs she played.

During January 2011, she played five dates in Brazil, with opening acts of Janelle Monáe and Mayer Hawthorne. On 11 February 2011, Winehouse cut short a performance in Dubai following booing from the audience. Winehouse was reported to be tired, distracted and "tipsy" during the performance.

On 18 June 2011, Winehouse started her 12-leg 2011 European tour in Belgrade. Local media described her performance as a scandal and disaster, and she was booed off the stage due to her apparently being too drunk to perform. It was reported that she was unable to remember the city she was in, the lyrics of her songs or – when trying to introduce them – the names of the members of her band. The local press also claimed that Winehouse was forced to perform by her bodyguards, who didn't allow her to leave the stage when she tried to do so. She then pulled out of performances in Istanbul and Athens which had been scheduled for the following week. On 21 June it was announced that she had cancelled all shows of her European tour and would be given "as long as it takes" to sort herself out.

Winehouse's last public appearance took place at Camden's Roundhouse, London on 20 July 2011, when she made a surprise guest appearance on stage to support her goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, who was singing "Mama Said" with The Wanted.

Club nights

On 10 July 2008, Winehouse launched her own club night, ''Snakehips at the Monarch'', in the Camden Monarch venue in London. Although billed as a DJ battle between her and another DJ, she stayed behind the decks swaying as another person actually played 1960s music. She appeared at another ''Snakehips'' event at the Monarch on the night of 11 September. After reportedly arriving two hours late, she spun music and played a short acoustic set.

Other ventures

Winehouse joined a campaign to stop a block of flats being built beside the George Tavern, a famous London East End music venue. Campaign supporters feared the residential development would end the spot's lucrative sideline as a film and photo location, on which it relies to survive. As part of a breast cancer awareness campaign, Winehouse appeared in a revealing photograph for the April 2008 issue of ''Easy Living'' magazine. Winehouse had an estimated £10m fortune, tying her for tenth place in the 2008 ''Sunday Times'' listing of the wealth of musicians under age 30. The following year her fortune had dropped to an estimated £5m. Her finances are run by Mitch and Janis Winehouse. It was reported she earned about £1m singing at two private parties during Paris Fashion Week. as well as another £1m to perform at a Moscow Art Gallery for Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Winehouse loaned a vintage dress used in her video for "Tears Dry on Their Own" as well as a DVD to the British Music Experience, a new museum dedicated to the history of British pop music. The museum, located in The O2, opened on 9 March 2009.

In January 2009, Winehouse announced that she was launching her own record label. The first act on her Lioness Records is Winehouse's 13-year-old goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield. Her first album, featuring covers of classic soul records, was released on 12 October 2009. Winehouse is the backing singer on several tracks on the album and she performed backing vocals for Bromfield on the television programme ''Strictly Come Dancing'' on 10 October.

Winehouse and her family are the subject of a 2009 documentary shot by Daphne Barak titled ''Saving Amy''.

Winehouse entered into a joint venture in 2009 with EMI to launch a range of wrapping paper and gift cards containing song lyrics from her album ''Back to Black''.

On 8 January 2010, a television documentary, ''My Daughter Amy'', aired on Channel 4.

''Saving Amy'' was released as a paperback book in January 2010.

Winehouse collaborated on a 17 piece fashion collection with the Fred Perry label. It was released for sale in October 2010. According to Fred Perry's marketing director "We had three major design meetings where she was closely involved in product style selection and the application of fabric, colour and styling details,” and gave "crucial input on proportion, colour and fit”. The collection consists of "vintage-inspired looks including Capri pants, a bowling dress, a trench coat, pencil skirts, a longline argyle sweater and a pink-and-black checkerboard-printed collared shirt". At the behest her family three forthcoming collections up to and including autumn/winter 2012 that she had designed prior to her death will be released.

Personal life

With the paparazzi taking photographs of her wherever they could, Winehouse obtained an injunction against a leading paparazzi agency (Big Pictures) under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the resultant court order banning them from following her. Photographers were also banned from following her within 100 metres of her home and photographing Winehouse in her home or the home of her friends and family. According to a newspaper report, sources close to the singer said legal action was taken out of concern for the safety of Winehouse and those close to her.

Relationships

Winehouse dated chef-musician Alex Clare (sometimes referred to as Alex Claire) in 2006, while on the outs with her on-off boyfriend and future husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. Clare famously sold his story to the ''News of the World'', which published it under the headline “Bondage Crazed Amy Just Can’t Beehive in Bed”.

She married Fielder-Civil (born August 1978), a former video production assistant, on 18 May 2007, in Miami Beach, Florida. Fielder-Civil was a "dropout" of Bourne Grammar School, who moved to London at aged 16 from his native Lincolnshire. In a June 2007 interview, Winehouse admitted she was sometimes violent towards him when she had been drinking, stating "if he says one thing I don't like then I'll chin him". In August 2007, they were photographed, bloodied and bruised, in the streets of London after an alleged fight, although she contended her injuries were self-inflicted. Equality campaigner Glenn Sacks criticised Winehouse for "bragging" about abusing her husband, noting how a male abuser would have been "locked up, stigmatised, and vilified".

Winehouse's parents and in-laws publicly reported their numerous concerns, citing fears that the two might commit suicide, with Fielder-Civil's father encouraging fans to boycott her music. Fielder-Civil was quoted in a British tabloid as saying he introduced her to crack cocaine and heroin. During a visit with Mitch Winehouse at the prison in July 2008, Fielder-Civil reportedly said that they would cut themselves to ease the pain of withdrawal.

From 21 July 2008 to 25 February 2009, Fielder-Civil was imprisoned following his guilty plea on charges of trying to pervert the course of justice as well as a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent. The incident, in July 2007, involved an assault on a pub landlord that resulted in a broken cheek. According to the prosecution the landlord accepted £200,000 as part of a deal to "effectively throw the [court] case and not turn up". The prosecution testified that the money used to pay off the landlord belonged to Winehouse, but that Winehouse pulled out of a meeting with the men involved in the plot, because she had to attend an awards ceremony.

Winehouse was spotted with aspiring actor Josh Bowman on holiday in Saint Lucia in early January 2009, saying she was "in love again, and I don't need drugs." She commented that the "whole marriage was based on doing drugs" and that "for the time being I've just forgotten I'm even married." On 12 January, Winehouse's spokesman confirmed that "papers have been received" for what Fielder-Civil's solicitor has said are divorce proceedings based on a claim of adultery. On 25 February, Blake Fielder-Civil was quoted as saying that he planned to continue divorce proceedings to give himself a drug-free fresh start. In March, Winehouse was quoted in a magazine as saying, "I still love Blake and I want him to move into my new house with me – that was my plan all along ... I won't let him divorce me. He's the male version of me and we're perfect for each other." Uncontested, the divorce was granted on 16 July 2009 and became final on 28 August 2009. Upon his request Fielder-Civil received no money in the settlement. She is believed to have been dating director Reg Traviss shortly before her death.

Substance abuse and mental health issues

Winehouse's battles with substance abuse were the subject of much media attention. In various interviews, she admitted to having problems with self-harm, depression and eating disorders. In 2005, she went through a period of drinking, heavy drug use, violent mood swings and weight loss. People who saw her during the end of that year and early 2006 reported a rebound that coincided with the writing of ''Back to Black''. Her family believes that the mid-2006 death of her grandmother, who was a stabilising influence, set her off into addiction. In August 2007, Winehouse cancelled a number of shows in the UK and Europe, citing exhaustion and ill health. She was hospitalised during this period for what was reported as an overdose of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol.

Winehouse told a magazine that the drugs were to blame for her hospitalisation and that "I really thought that it was over for me then." Soon after, Winehouse's father commented that when he had made public statements regarding her problems, he was using the media because it seemed the only way to get through to her. In an interview with ''The Album Chart Show'' on British television, Winehouse said she was manic depressive and not alcoholic, adding that that sounded like "an alcoholic in denial". A U.S. reporter writes that Winehouse was a "victim of mental illness in a society that doesn't understand or respond to mental illness with great effectiveness".

On 2 December 2007, images of the singer outside her home in the early morning hours, barefoot and wearing only a bra and jeans, appeared on the internet and in tabloid newspapers. In a statement, her spokesman blamed paparazzi harassment for the incident. The spokesman reported that the singer was in a physician-supervised programme and was channelling her difficulties by writing a lot of music. The British tabloid ''The Sun'' posted a video of a woman, alleged to be Winehouse, apparently smoking crack cocaine and speaking of having taken ecstasy and valium. Winehouse's father moved in with her, and Island Records, her record label, announced the abandonment of plans for an American promotion campaign on her behalf. In late January 2008, Winehouse reportedly entered a rehabilitation facility for a two-week treatment program.

On 23 January 2008, the video was passed on to the Metropolitan Police, who questioned her on 5 February. No charges were brought. On 26 March 2008, Winehouse's spokesman said she was "doing well" and denied a published report in a British tabloid that consideration was being given to having her return to rehab. Her record company reportedly believed that her recovery remained fragile. By late April 2008, her erratic behaviour, including an allegation of assault, caused fear that her drug rehabilitation efforts have been unsuccessful, leading to efforts by Winehouse's father and manager to seek assistance in having her sectioned. Her dishevelled appearance during and after a scheduled club night in September sparked new rumours of a relapse. Photographers were quoted as saying she appeared to have cuts on her legs and arms.

In an interview released in June 2009, Winehouse's father said the singer was in a drug replacement programme. He said she was gradually recovering but that heavy drinking was causing "slight backward steps". A documentary shot early in 2009 shows Winehouse apparently intoxicated according to a newspaper report. Pictures published by a magazine in July 2009 upon her return to the United Kingdom from her extended stay in Saint Lucia appeared to show that Winehouse had gained weight and that her complexion was improved. In an October 2010 interview, Winehouse said she had been drug-free for three years, saying "I literally woke up one day and was like, 'I don’t want to do this any more.'”

Winehouse entered the Priory Clinic on 25 May 2011, where she stayed for one week.

Violence and legal difficulties

In 2006, Winehouse admitted punching a fan in the face for criticising her having taken Blake Fielder-Civil as a husband. She then attacked her spouse as he attempted to calm her down, kneeing him in the crotch.

In October 2007, Winehouse and her then-husband were arrested in Bergen, Norway for possession of seven grams of marijuana. The couple were later released and fined 3850 kroner (around £350). Winehouse first appealed the fines, claiming she was "duped" into confessing, but later dropped the appeal.

On 26 April 2008, Winehouse was cautioned after she admitted to police she slapped a 38 year-old man in the face, a "common assault" offence. She voluntarily turned herself in and was held overnight. Police said, at her arrival she was "in no fit state" to be interviewed. Winehouse was arrested on 7 May 2008 on suspicion of possessing drugs after a video of her apparently smoking crack cocaine was passed to the police in January, but was released on bail a few hours later because they could not confirm, from the video, what she was smoking. The Crown Prosecution Service considered charging her with possessing a controlled drug and allowing her premises to be used for the supply by others of a controlled drug, but she was cleared when the service could not establish that the substance in the video was a controlled drug. In reaction to the decision, former police commander John O’Connor said it is an "absolute scandal that nothing could be done" about Winehouse "cocking a snook at the law". Some members of Parliament also reacted negatively. Two London residents were subsequently charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and ecstasy to Winehouse. One of the pair was sentenced to two years in prison on 13 December 2008, while the other received a two-year community order.

On 5 March 2009, Winehouse was arrested and charged with common assault following a claim by a woman that Winehouse hit her in the eye at a September 2008 Prince's Trust charity ball. At the same time, she was reported to have spat at the English socialite Pippa Middleton and to have headbutted a photographer. Winehouse's spokesperson announced the singer cancelled a scheduled United States Coachella Festival appearance in "light of current legal issues". Swearing in under her legal name of Amy Jade Civil, Winehouse appeared in court on 17 March to enter her plea of not guilty. On 23 July her assault trial began with prosecutor Lyall Thompson charging that Winehouse acted with "deliberate and unjustifiable violence" while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol or another substance. The woman, Sharene Flash, testified that Winehouse "punched me forcefully in my right eye. She used a fist, her right one.” Winehouse testified that she did not punch Flash, but tried to push Flash away from her because she was scared of Flash. Winehouse cited her worry that Flash would sell her story to a tabloid, Flash's height advantage, and Flash's "rude" behaviour as reasons for her fear of Flash. On the 24 July, District Judge Timothy Workman ruled that Winehouse was not guilty of the charge. Workman cited the facts that all but two of the witnesses were intoxicated at the time of the incident and that medical evidence did not show "the sort of injury that often occurs when there is a forceful punch to the eye".

On 19 December 2009, Winehouse was arrested again on charges of common assault, plus another charge of public order offence. Winehouse assaulted the front-of-house manager of the Milton Keynes Theatre after he asked her to move from her seat. On 20 January 2010, she admitted common assault and disorderly behaviour. She was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 court costs and £100 compensation to the man she attacked.

Respiratory problems

On 23 June 2008, Winehouse's publicist corrected earlier misstatements by Mitch Winehouse that his daughter had early stage emphysema, instead claiming she had signs of what could lead to early-stage emphysema. Mitch Winehouse had also stated that his daughter's lungs were operating at 70 percent capacity and that she had an irregular heartbeat. Mitch Winehouse said that these problems had been caused by her chain smoking and crack cocaine use. The singer’s father also reported that doctors had warned Winehouse that, if she continued smoking crack cocaine, she would have to wear an oxygen mask and would eventually die. In a radio interview, Mitch Winehouse said the singer was responding "fabulously" to treatment, which included being covered with nicotine patches. British Lung Foundation spokesman Keith Prowse noted this type of condition could be managed with treatment. Prowse also said the condition was not normal for a person her age but "heavy smoking and inhaling other substances like drugs can age the lungs prematurely". Norman H. Edelman of the American Lung Association explained that if she stopped smoking, her lung functions would decline at the rate of a normal person, but continued smoking would lead to a more rapid decline in lung function. Photographs of the singer with a cigarette in her mouth, taken 23 June 2008, were widely published.

Winehouse was released from The London Clinic 24 hours after returning from a temporary leave to perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday and at a concert in Glastonbury, and continued receiving treatment as an outpatient. In July, 2008 Winehouse stated that she had been diagnosed with "some areas of emphysema" and said she is getting herself together by "eating loads of healthy food, sleeping loads, playing my guitar, making music and writing letters to my husband every day". She also kept a vertical tanning bed in her apartment. Winehouse began precautionary testing on her lungs and chest on 25 October 2008 at the London Clinic for what was reported as a chest infection. Winehouse was in and out of the facility and was granted permission to set her own schedule regarding home leave. She returned to the hospital on 23 November 2008 for a reported reaction to her medication.

Death

During his eulogy, Mitch Winehouse who was in New York at the time of his daughters death said that his daughter had gone to a routine appointment at her doctor's the night before her death. According to her father's account of events following the appointment, she went home then sang and played the drums into the early hours of her last day before being told to keep it down by her security guard. Mitch Winehouse further stated that the security guard checked on her at about 8am and saw her apparently asleep, but when he made his second check in the afternoon he realized that Winehouse had died. At 3:54 pm BST on 23 July 2011, two ambulances were called to Winehouse's home in Camden, London. Winehouse was pronounced dead at the scene. Shortly afterwards, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that she had died. After her death was announced, media and camera crews appeared, as crowds gathered near Winehouse’s residence to pay their respects. Forensic investigators entered the flat as police cordoned off the street outside.

Winehouse's record label, Universal Republic, released a statement that read in part: "We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer." Many musical artists have since paid tribute to Winehouse including U2, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, George Michael, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, and Courtney Love.

Family and friends attended Winehouse's funeral on 26 July 2011 at Edgwarebury Lane cemetery in north London. Her mother and father, Janis and Mitch Winehouse, close friend Kelly Osbourne, producer Mark Ronson and her boyfriend Reg Traviss were among those in attendance at the private service led by Rabbi Frank Hellner. Her father delivered the eulogy, saying "Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much." Carole King's "So Far Away" closed the service with mourners singing along. She was later cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. The family planned to sit a two-day shiva. Winehouse's parents intend to set up a foundation in her name, to help those affected by drug addiction.

A post mortem was carried out on 25 July. The results were inconclusive and no cause of death could be established. The coroner stated that a "Section 20" postmortem had been done on Winehouse, which implies that the coroner believes "there is reasonable cause to suspect that a person has died a violent or unnatural death or in any other way which would require an inquest." An inquest was adjourned until 26 October, and results of further toxicology tests took about four weeks.

On August 23, the Winehouse family released a short statement about the results of toxicology tests returned to them by authorities: there were "no illegal drugs" and "alcohol was present" in Winehouse's system at the time of her death, but a cause of death still could not be determined. The statement concluded, "The family would like to thank the police and coroner for their continuing thorough investigations and for keeping them informed throughout the process. They await the outcome of the inquest in October."

Controversy

Winehouse's dichotomous public image of critical and commercial success versus personal turmoil proved to be controversial. ''The New Statesman'' magazine called Winehouse "a filthy-mouthed, down-to-earth diva," while ''Newsweek'' magazine called her "a perfect storm of sex kitten, raw talent and poor impulse control." Karen Heller with ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' summarised the maelstrom this way:

She's only 24 with six Grammy nods, crashing headfirst into success and despair, with a codependent husband in jail, exhibitionist parents with questionable judgement, and the paparazzi documenting her emotional and physical distress. Meanwhile, a haute designer Karl Lagerfeld appropriates her dishevelled style and eating issues to market to the elite while proclaiming her the new Bardot.

By 2008, her continued drug problems threatened her career. Even as Nick Gatfield, the president of Island Records, toyed with the idea of releasing Winehouse "to deal with her problems", he remarked on her talent, saying, "It’s a reflection of her status [in the U.S.] that when you flick through the TV coverage [of the Grammys] it’s her image they use." Post-Grammys, some questioned whether Winehouse should have been honoured with the awards given her recent personal and drug problems, including Natalie Cole, who introduced Winehouse at the ceremony. Cole (who battled her own substance-abuse problems while winning a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1975) remarked, "I think the girl is talented, gifted, but it's not right for her to be able to have her cake and eat it too. She needs to get herself together." In an opinion newspaper commentary, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that the alleged drug habits of Winehouse and other celebrities send a bad message "to others who are vulnerable to addiction" and undermine the efforts of other celebrities trying to raise awareness of problems in Africa, now that more cocaine used in Europe passes through Africa. Winehouse's spokesperson called Costa a "ludicrous man" and noted that "Amy has never given a quote about drugs or flaunted it in any way. She's had some problems and is trying to get better. The U.N. should get its own house in order." Following Winehouse's death William Bennett a former director of the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy criticised the Grammy Awards nominating committee along similar lines. Graeme Pearson, the former head of Scotland's drug enforcement agency, criticised Winehouse and Kate Moss for making going to rehab a badge of honour, thus giving the false impression that quitting drugs is easy, because many cannot afford to go to clinics.

Winehouse became a staple in popularity polls. The 2008 NME Awards nominated Winehouse in the categories of "Villain of the Year", "Best Solo Artist", and "Best Music DVD"; Winehouse won for "Worst Dressed Performer". In its third annual list, ''Glamour'' magazine named Winehouse the third worst dressed British Woman. Winehouse was ranked number two on Richard Blackwell's 48th annual "Ten Worst Dressed Women" list, behind Victoria Beckham. In an April 2008 poll conducted by Sky News, Winehouse was named the second greatest "ultimate heroine" by the UK population at large, topping the voting for that category of those polled under 25 years old. Psychologist Donna Dawson commented that the results demonstrate women like Winehouse who have "a certain sense of vulnerability or have had to fight against some adversity in their lives” receive recognition. Winehouse was voted the second most hated personality in the United Kingdom in a poll conducted one month later by ''Marketing'' magazine.

June 2008 brought a report that Winehouse, singing a disparaging chant about blacks, the disabled, and homosexuals, and containing racial epithets about Pakistanis and Indians, was taped by her husband Fielder-Civil, despite assurances to her that he was not filming. Winehouse denied allegations that she was a racist, saying "I don't want to play anything down, but I'm the least racist person going." Winehouse added that the film was taken during "really, really happy times." Speaking at a discussion entitled ''Winehouse or White House?: Do we go too big on showbiz news?'' Jeff Zycinski, head of BBC Radio Scotland, said the BBC and media in general were complicit in the destruction of celebrities like Winehouse. He said that public interest in the singer's lifestyle does not make her lifestyle newsworthy. Rod McKenzie editor of the BBC Radio One program ''Newsbeat'' replied that "If you play [Amy Winehouse's] music to a certain demographic, those same people want to know what's happening in her private life. If you don't cover it, you're insulting young license fee payers." The British artist M.I.A., credited with paving the way for Winehouse and Lily Allen to emerge during her absence, was quoted in ''The Guardian'' in 2007 as saying she found Winehouse "really interesting" continuing "I once saw her in the street and she was really out of it, so I guess she is really living it out. I think Amy's thing is feeling really weird about what she does and dealing with that." British singer and songwriter Lily Allen was quoted in a Scottish newspaper as saying

I know Amy Winehouse very well. And she is very different to what people portray her as being. Yes, she does get out of her mind on drugs sometimes, but she is also a very clever, intelligent, witty, funny person who can hold it together. You just don't see that side.

Artistic impressions

London's Mall Galleries opened an exhibition in May 2008 that included a sculpture of Winehouse, entitled ''Excess''. The piece, created by Guy Portelli, had a miniature of the singer lying on top of a cracked champagne bottle, with a pool of spilled liquid underneath. The body was covered with what appeared to be tiny pills, while one outstretched hand held a glass. Another piece, a print entitled "Celebrity 1" by artist Charlotte Suckling, was exhibited in the same exhibition. A wax sculpture of Winehouse went on display at the London Madame Tussauds on 23 July 2008. The singer did not attend the unveiling, although her parents did. A sculpture by Marco Perego, entitled "The Only Good Rock Star Is a Dead Rock Star", that depicts Winehouse lying in a pool of blood with an apple and a bullet hole in her head after being shot by American novelist and beat poet William S. Burroughs (in a recreation of the accidental killing of his wife Joan Vollmer), was scheduled to go on display in New York’s Half Gallery on 14 November 2008. The sale price for the sculpture is listed at US $100,000. Perego said of the sculpture "Rock stars are the sacrificial animals of society." Winehouse’s spokesperson said "It’s a funny kind of tribute. The artist seems in thrall to a tabloid persona that is not the real Amy. People often use her image to sell their work."

Discography

''Frank'' (2003)

''Back to Black'' (2006)

Awards and nominations

Among the awards and recognitions for ''Frank'', Winehouse earned an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song ("Stronger Than Me"), a BRIT Award nomination for Best Female Solo Artist, and an inclusion in Robert Dimery's 2006 book, ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. ''Back to Black'' produced numerous nominations, including two from the BRIT Awards (Best Female Solo Artist and Best British Album), six from the Grammy Awards (including five wins), four from the Ivor Novello Awards, four from the MTV Europe Music Awards, three from the MTV Video Music Awards, three from the World Music Awards, and one each from the Mercury Prize (Album of the Year) and MOBO Awards (Best UK Female). During her career, Winehouse received 23 awards from 60 nominations.

See also

27 Club

References

Further reading

;General

Lewis, Pete. "A Blues & Soul Classic Interview With Amy Winehouse Before 'Rehab'" ''Blues & Soul''. April 2004 (reprinted February 2008).

Anderman, Joan. "Of course she should go to rehab." ''Boston Globe''. 15 December 2007.

Gould, Lara; Bull, Sarah; & Satherly, Jessica. "Sordid final hours of a troubled star: Amy Winehouse had 'bought ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine' on the night before tragic death". ''Daily Mail''. 24 July 2011.

Grimwood, Ben. CollegeNews.com. 29 November 2007.

Gundersen, Edna. "Amy Winehouse's sobering transformation could hurt her musical credibility." ''USA TODAY''. 28 January 2008.

Hill, Emily. "Amy Winehouse: her own woman." ''The Guardian''. 31 July 2008

Pareles, Jon. "In Real Time, Amy Winehouse’s Deeper Descent." ''New York Times'' 24 January 2008.

Rosen, Jody. "Dark Star." ''Slate''. 12 February 2008.

Smith, Joan. "There's nothing poetic about Amy's self-destruction" ''The Independent''. 26 June 2008.

The Smoking Gun. BACKSTAGE RIDER: Divas: Amy Winehouse 12 May 2006.

Tyrangiel, Josh. "Trouble Woman." ''TIME''. 24 January 2008.

Vernon, Polly Amy Winehouse: Unplugged ''Harper's Bazaar'' October 2010

July 2009 Mitch Winehouse interview with ''Daily Mirror'' covering a variety of her personal issues

;Books

Barak, Daphne. ''Saving Amy''. New Holland Publishers, 25 January 2010. ISBN 9781847736703

Johnstone, Nick. ''Amy Amy Amy: The Amy Winehouse Story''. Omnibus Press, 1 April 2008. ISBN 9780825636028.

Newkey-Burden, Chas. ''Amy Winehouse: The Biography''. John Blake Publishing, 7 April 2008. ISBN 1844545636.

External links

[ Amy Winehouse] at the All Music Guide

Amy Winehouse collected news and commentary at ''The New York Times''

New York Times fashion retrospective

Slide Show at ''Rolling Stone''

Videos at Island Records on YouTube

Official Video Of Amy Winehouse performing 'Back To Black' Live and Acoustic at SXSW

Documentary 'The Girl Done Good' free stream

Category:1983 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Amy Winehouse Category:Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English contraltos Category:English female guitarists Category:English-language singers Category:English jazz guitarists Category:English jazz singers Category:English Jews Category:English people convicted of assault Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English soul singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Jazz-blues musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:Neo soul singers Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:People from Camden (district) Category:People from Southgate, London Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Republic Records artists Category:Singers from London Category:Torch singers Category:Vocal jazz musicians Category:Women in jazz Category:World Music Awards winners

af:Amy Winehouse ar:آمي واينهاوس az:Emi Vaynhauz be:Эмі Уайнхаўс be-x-old:Эмі Ўайнгаўс bar:Amy Winehouse bs:Amy Winehouse bg:Ейми Уайнхаус ca:Amy Winehouse cs:Amy Winehouse cy:Amy Winehouse da:Amy Winehouse de:Amy Winehouse et:Amy Winehouse el:Έιμι Γουάινχαουζ es:Amy Winehouse eo:Amy Winehouse eu:Amy Winehouse fa:امی واینهاوس fr:Amy Winehouse fy:Amy Winehouse ga:Amy Winehouse gd:Amy Winehouse gl:Amy Winehouse gan:艾美·環校詩 ko:에이미 와인하우스 hy:Էմի Ուայնհաուս hr:Amy Winehouse io:Amy Winehouse id:Amy Winehouse ia:Amy Winehouse is:Amy Winehouse it:Amy Winehouse he:איימי ויינהאוס jv:Amy Winehouse ka:ემი უაინჰაუსი la:Amy Winehouse lv:Eimija Vainhausa lb:Amy Winehouse lt:Amy Winehouse hu:Amy Winehouse mk:Ејми Вајнхаус arz:آيمي واينهاوس my:အေမီ ဝိုင်းဟောက်စ် nl:Amy Winehouse ja:エイミー・ワインハウス no:Amy Winehouse nn:Amy Winehouse uz:Amy Winehouse nds:Amy Winehouse pl:Amy Winehouse pt:Amy Winehouse ro:Amy Winehouse ru:Уайнхаус, Эми simple:Amy Winehouse sk:Amy Winehouse sl:Amy Winehouse sr:Ејми Вајнхаус sh:Amy Winehouse fi:Amy Winehouse sv:Amy Winehouse ta:ஏமி வைன்ஹவுஸ் th:เอมี ไวน์เฮาส์ tr:Amy Winehouse uk:Емі Вайнгауз vi:Amy Winehouse yi:עמי וויינהאוס diq:Amy Winehouse bat-smg:Amy Winehouse zh:艾米·怀恩豪斯

Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
name	Jessie J
alt	f
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jessica Ellen Cornish
alias	Jessie J
birth date	March 27, 1988
birth place	Chadwell Heath, London, England
genre	R&B, pop, hip hop, soul
years active	2006–present
label	Lava, Universal Republic, Island, Gut
website
notable instruments	}}

Jessica Ellen Cornish (born on 27 March 1988), better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English singer-songwriter, currently signed to Island Records. She began her career as a songwriter for artists including Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus. Her debut single, "Do It Like a Dude", was released in November 2010 and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Charts. Follow-up single "Price Tag" reached number one in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and New Zealand, and reached the top 10 in nineteen other countries. Her debut album, ''Who You Are'', was released in February 2011 and charted at number two on the UK Albums Chart. In February 2011 Jessie J won a BRIT Award, Critics' Choice. It was revealed in October 2011 that Jessie J will be a coach and a mentor on the television show, ''The Voice UK''.

Early life

Jessie J was born Jessica Ellen Cornish in Chadwell Heath, London and was educated at Mayfield High School in the London Borough of Redbridge. She attended Colin's Performing Arts School and as an eleven year old was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End production of ''Whistle Down the Wind''. Jessie has two sisters, who are five and seven years older than her, who were both head girls at school.

Unlike her academic sisters, Cornish has stated she was "never really that good at anything". She said, "At school they were like 'oh, you're a Cornish girl' and they kind of expected me to be the same as my sisters. Give me something to draw or an outfit to pick for someone, or hair, make-up, acting, write a song, I'm fine with it, but anything to do with sums – it was never my thing." She also said she never based her intelligence on her exam results. She also said she was always good at singing and it was her "thing".

At the age of 16 she began studying at the BRIT School and at 17 she joined a girl group named "Soul Deep". She graduated in the class of 2006 along with singers Adele and Leona Lewis. At 18 she suffered a stroke.

Music career

2006–2009: Career beginnings

Jessie J was signed to Gut Records, recording an album for the label, but the company went bankrupt before any material was released. She then found success as a songwriter, gaining a Sony ATV publishing contract. She was also the support act for Cyndi Lauper during Lauper's UK dates of her 2008 Bring Ya To The Brink tour (Lauper invited J to join her on stage for the performances of Girls Just Want To Have Fun). Jessie has also written lyrics for artists such as Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus, including "Party in the U.S.A.".

Jessie J was also part of a girl band, called 'Soul Deep', for two years, however she left due to thoughts that "it wasn't going anywhere". Despite people thinking that her first notoriety was through YouTube, Jessie was signed for four years before her first video was posted.

Jessie first came to the attention of Lava Records when her publisher at Sony/ATV, Rich Christina, sent Lava president Jason Flom a link to her MySpace page, which the record executive loved. After seeing an impressive U.S. showcase, Lava was, along with several other labels, keen to sign the artist but progress was hampered by her management's insistence on, what Flom called, a "crazy deal", and their refusal to let Jessie speak to any labels directly. Despite this, Senior Director of A&R at Lava, Harinder Rana, made surreptitious efforts to meet Jessie on her own in winter of 2008. Later in the year a change in management to Sarah Stennett and Nadia Khan of Crown Music allowed record deal negotiations to take place. Jessie eventually signed with Lava as part of a joint venture with Universal Republic.

2010–present: ''Who You Are''

Jessie J began recording her debut studio album in 2006 and it was completed on 19 January 2011. She revealed that "Big White Room" would be on the album and was written from an experience she had when she was 11 years old, although she wrote the song at age 17, in hospital, where a ward mate, a little boy, died. Jessie J says the album's title track, "Who You Are", is one of her proudest creations, she said the song is a "positive role model for young people" and "I always say that I'm half-artist, half-therapist"

In late 2010 Jessie J released her first single, "Do It Like a Dude" which was co-written with George Astasio, Tj Normandin, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, Kyle Abrahams and Peter Ighile. Originally, she wrote the song with Rihanna in mind because "Rude Boy" was released at the time, partly inspiring the song. She then sent the song to her label, Island Records, before sending it to Rihanna's management. Island insisted the song become Jessie J's first single. She wishes to perform the song with Rihanna at one point. The single gained positive reception from critics. The single charted at number two on the UK Singles Charts. Her follow-up single "Price Tag" was released in late January 2011. This was written by Jessie J, Lukasz Gottwald, Claude Kelly, and Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. and charted at number one in the top of the charts. "Price Tag" was released in the United States on 1 February 2011 and peaked at 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Price Tag" also charted at number-one in New Zealand and Ireland and is the most successful online video J has released. As of October 2011, the video has generated over 148 million views on Youtube and Vevo, making it the 22nd most viewed music video of all time. Her first American television appearance was as the musical guest on the 12 March 2011 episode of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''.

On 25 February 2011 her debut album, ''Who You Are'', was released. The album first entered the charts on 6 March 2011 where it charted on the UK Album Charts at number two. The album charted into the top ten in a number of countries and number 11 in the United States.After the release she went on to release a third single from the album, "Nobody's Perfect". MTV reported that the single is, so far, only confirmed for release in the United Kingdom. The album's fourth single was "Who's Laughing Now". "Domino" was her second US single. The Dr. Luke-produced track was sent to mainstream radio on 6 September 2011. With the success of ''Who You Are'' in North America, Jessie was chosen to tour as the opening act for American pop artist Katy Perry's ''California Dreams Tour'' in 2011 but after she was unable to fully recover from her injuries during rehearsals she was forced to pull out under the doctor's orders.

Jessie J served as the house artist at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, performing several of her original songs along with covers around commercial breaks.

In early 2011 she suffered a panic attack on stage after she was forced to perform in the dark. "I did a gig recently and had a panic attack on stage," she told ''NOW''. "The night was called 'Black Out' and I had to perform in the dark. I asked them to turn on the lights and they didn't. I was onstage in pitch black and, because I couldn't see anything, I started to panic. It was awful." James Morrison's third studio album, ''The Awakening'' features a collaboration with Jessie J called "Up", the song was released as a single on 4 December 2011. On 4 October Jessie announced that she will be one of four coaches for new BBC program, ''The Voice UK''.Jessie J re-released "Who You Are" on 9 November 2011, featuring the regular tracks plus "Domino" and two new songs. "Domino" became her second top 30 hit in the U.S., following the success of "Price Tag". The song also peaked at number 1 in January 2012 in the UK, before it was even officially released there.

Personal life

On 12 June 2011 at the Capital Radio Summertime Ball, Jessie ruptured several tendons in her foot during rehearsals, and performed her set the following day while sitting on a gilded throne. For her appearance at Glastonbury Festival 2011 on 25 June 2011, she performed on the throne again, claiming her physician had told her not to perform with her broken foot which would take six weeks to heal. Jessie J was scheduled to play at several festivals throughout the summer, however it was reported on 1 July 2011 that she would not be able to attend T in the Park, T4 On The Beach, Wembley:Orange, iTunes Festival, Lovebox and Oxegen due to the injuries to her foot. Jessie J personally tweeted before surgery; "Keep making nervous jokes with the doctor and he keeps looking at me blankly. Which is making me laugh even more. It's getting serious. I just took my nose stud out." Tweeting after the surgery, she wrote: "Can't keep tweeting. Still very dizzy and being sick. But I'm OK, I got through it." Her record label released an official statement on 30 June 2011 that under strict orders from her doctor, she will not be able to perform for a number of weeks so she can heal and recuperate properly. She returned to the concert circuit in late August, including sets at the V Festival and The Big Chill. For the 2011 VMA's she was still in a cast and using the throne to keep off of it.

Jessie J confirmed on 2 August 2011 that she would be shaving her hair off for charity in 2012. Speaking via her official Twitter account she said: “It’s hair, It will grow back. Even if it takes 2 years, if it saves lives it’s worth it. Even if its 1 life that’s something.”

Jessie J is openly bisexual and stated in an interview on the "In Demand" radio show on March 3, 2011, "I've never denied it. Whoopie doo guys, yes, I've dated girls and I've dated boys – get over it."

Music and voice

Although she was first identified as a soul singer, she primarily records songs of contemporary R&B and pop music with hip-hop influences.

Music critic Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork Media compared Jessie J to her peers Adele and Amy Winehouse, but admitted she was missing something: "Whereas Adele and Winehouse also have powerhouse voices, they fit into clear aesthetic niches and invest their songs with depth and humanity. Jessie J doesn't have even a fraction of their restraint." Perpetua added: "Her idea of showcasing her gift is to shoot for a blaring melisma on "Mamma Knows Best" that makes Christina Aguilera seem as subtle as Joni Mitchell by comparison." Ailbhe Malone of the music magazine NME also recognized Cornish's "undeniably potent voice". However, she pointed out the possible "identity crisis" that might have been caused by Jessie's songwriter past: "This is an album of singles for other artists. There’s Rihanna Jessie (‘Do It...’), Perry Jessie (‘Abracadabra’), Pixie Jessie (‘Mamma Knows Best’), Ellie Jessie ('Big White Room')."

Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian shared her positive opinion about the singer, saying that "if any singer has the potential to be the British Katy Perry or Pink, with the accompanying millions of sales, it's her". Sullivan also complimented Cornish's attitude: "[Her songs] are delivered with a confidence that money can't buy." Entertainment Weekly's music critic Adam Markovitz said of Jessie: "The 23-year-old Brit has all the tools, from a monster voice to an ear for hooks — she co-wrote Miley Cyrus' Party in the U.S.A. — and a manic persona that's equal parts Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alice Cooper.

Discography

''Who You Are'' (2011)

Filmography

+Television	Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2012	''The Voice UK''	Herself

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Electronica musicians Category:English female singers Category:English mezzo-sopranos Category:English pop singers Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT people from the United Kingdom Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:Singers from London Category:Stroke survivors Category:The Voice judges Category:People from Chadwell Heath

af:Jessie J bg:Джеси Джей ca:Jessie J cs:Jessie J da:Jessie J de:Jessie J es:Jessie J fa:جسی جی fr:Jessie J fy:Jessie J ko:제시 제이 hr:Jessie J id:Jessie J it:Jessie J he:ג'סי ג'יי lv:Jessie J lt:Jessie J hu:Jessie J mk:Џеси Џеј nl:Jessie J ja:ジェシー・J no:Jessie J pl:Jessie J pt:Jessie J ro:Jessie J ru:Джесси Джей sk:Jessie J fi:Jessie J sv:Jessie J th:เจสซี เจ tr:Jessie J vi:Jessie J zh:Jessie J

Martin Schanche (born 1 January 1945 in Trondheim), a.k.a. ''"Mister Rallycross"'', is a former Norwegian motorsport contestant. He started his racing career rather late, only in 1972 when he was already 27 years old. In 1975 he won a silver medal in the Norwegian Ice Racing Championships. Between 1976 and 2001 he competed in Rallycross, and became the FIA European champion of 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1991 and 1995. Schanche is still yet the record holder concerning the amount of overall victories in rounds counting towards the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers.

Schanche was born in Trondheim but grew up at Leirpollskogen in Tana. Today he lives at Drøbak, together with his German born wife Birgit and his daughter Melissa. Martin Schanche has also two other children from a former marriage, his daughter Elisabeth and his son Martin junior.

Since retiring from motorsport he has embarked on a second career as a municipality politician in Frogn for Progress Party. In 2003 he was the subject of a lot of nationwide attention after he slapped the chin of his political opponent Torgeir Micaelsen of the Labour Party at the end of a school debate in Drammen because Micaelsen, during the debate and in front of the public, had called him a coward. That attention made him an often imitated character in Norwegian radio. As of 2006, he also have been working as a consultant for Prodrive on the work of Subarus WRC-cars.

References

External links

Martin Schanche Racing

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:People from Trondheim Category:People from Tana Category:Norwegian racecar drivers Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:Progress Party (Norway) politicians Category:Akershus politicians

de:Martin Schanche fr:Martin Schanche no:Martin Schanche nn:Martin Schanche sv:Martin Schanche