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Muse (band)

Muse are an English rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of Matt Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Wolstenholme (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Dominic Howard (drums, percussion).

Muse released their debut album, Showbiz, in 1999, showcasing Bellamy's falsetto and a melancholic alternative rock style. Their second album, Origin of Symmetry (2001), incorporated wider instrumentation and romantic classical influences and earned them a reputation for energetic live performances. Absolution (2003) saw further classical influence, with strings on tracks such as "Butterflies and Hurricanes", and was the first of seven consecutive UK number-one albums.

Black Holes and Revelations (2006) incorporated electronic and pop elements, displayed in singles such as "Supermassive Black Hole", and brought Muse wider international success. The Resistance (2009) and The 2nd Law (2012) explored themes of government oppression and civil uprising and cemented Muse as one of the world's major stadium acts. Topping the US Billboard 200, their seventh album, Drones (2015), was a concept album about drone warfare and returned to a harder rock sound. Their eighth album, Simulation Theory (2018), prominently featured synthesisers and was influenced by science fiction and the simulation hypothesis. Their ninth album, Will of the People (2022), which combined many genres and themes from their previous albums, was released in August 2022.

Muse have won numerous awards, including two Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, five MTV Europe Music Awards and eight NME Awards. In 2012, they received the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. , they had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Early years (1994–1997)
The members of Muse played in separate school bands during their time at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s. Guitarist Matt Bellamy successfully auditioned for drummer Dominic Howard's band, Carnage Mayhem, becoming its singer and songwriter. They renamed the band Gothic Plague. They asked Chris Wolstenholme – at that time the drummer for Fixed Penalty – to join as bassist; he agreed and took up bass lessons. The band was renamed Rocket Baby Dolls and adopted a goth-glam image. Around this time, they received a £150 grant from the Prince's Trust for equipment.

In 1994, Rocket Baby Dolls won a local battle of the bands, smashing their equipment in the process. Bellamy said, "It was supposed to be a protest, a statement, so, when we actually won, it was a real shock, a massive shock. After that, we started taking ourselves seriously." The band quit their jobs, changed their name to Muse, and moved away from Teignmouth. The band liked that the new name was short and thought that it looked good on a poster. According to journalist Mark Beaumont, the band wanted the name to reflect "the sense Matt had that he had somehow 'summoned up' this band, the way mediums could summon up inspirational spirits at times of emotional need".

First EPs and Showbiz (1998–2000)
After a few years building a fanbase, Muse played their first gigs in London and Manchester supporting Skunk Anansie on tour. They had a significant meeting with Dennis Smith, the owner of Sawmills Studio, situated in a converted water mill in Cornwall. He had seen the three boys grow up as he knew their parents, and had a production company with their future manager Safta Jaffery, with whom he had recently started the record label Taste Media. The meeting led to their first serious recordings and the release of the Muse EP on 11 May 1998 on Sawmills' in-house Dangerous label, produced by Paul Reeve. Their second EP, the Muscle Museum EP, also produced by Reeve, was released on 11 January 1999. It reached number 3 in the indie singles chart and attracted the attention of the radio broadcaster Steve Lamacq and the magazine NME.

Later in 1999, Muse performed on the Emerging Artist's stage at Woodstock '99 and signed with Smith and Jaffery. Despite the success of their second EP, British record companies were reluctant to sign Muse. After a trip to New York's CMJ Festival, Nanci Walker, then Sr. Director of A&R at Columbia Records, flew Muse to the US to showcase for Columbia Records' then-Senior Vice-president of A&R, Tim Devine, as well as for American Recording's Rick Rubin. During this trip, on 24 December 1998, Muse signed a deal with American record label Maverick Records. Upon their return to England, Taste Media arranged deals for Muse with various record labels in Europe and Australia, allowing them control over their career in individual countries. John Leckie was brought in alongside Reeve to produce the band's first album, Showbiz (1999). The album showcased Muse's aggressive yet melancholic musical style, with lyrics about relationships and their difficulties trying to establish themselves in their hometown.

Origin of Symmetry and Hullabaloo (2000–2002)
During the production of their second album, Origin of Symmetry (2001), Muse experimented with instrumentation such as a church organ, Mellotron, animal bones, and an expanded drum kit. There was more of Bellamy's falsetto, arpeggiated guitar, and piano playing. Bellamy cites guitar influences such as Jimi Hendrix and Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine), the latter evident in the more riff-based songs in Origin of Symmetry and in Bellamy's use of guitar pitch-shifting effects. The album features a cover of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's "Feeling Good", voted in various polls one of the greatest cover versions of all time. It was released as a double A-side single, "Hyper Music/Feeling Good".

Origin of Symmetry received positive reviews. NME gave it 9/10 and wrote: "It's amazing for such a young band to load up with a heritage that includes the darker visions of Cobain and Kafka, Mahler and the Tiger Lillies, Cronenberg and Schoenberg, and make a sexy, populist album." Maverick, Muse's American label, did not consider Bellamy's vocals "radio-friendly" and asked Muse to rerecord "Plug in Baby" for the US release. Muse refused and left Maverick. Origin of Symmetry was not released in the US until September 2005, after Muse signed to Warner Bros.

Origin of Symmetry has made appearances on lists of the greatest rock albums of the 2000s, both poll-based and on publication lists. In 2006, it placed at number 74 on Q magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All-Time, while in February 2008, the album placed at number 28 on a list of the Best British Albums of All Time determined by the magazine's readers. Kerrang! placed the album at number 20 in its 100 Best British Rock Albums Ever! List and at number 13 on its 50 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.

In 2002, Muse released the first live DVD, Hullabaloo, featuring footage recorded during Muse's two gigs at Le Zenith in Paris in 2001, and a documentary film of the band on tour. A double album, Hullabaloo Soundtrack, was released at the same time, containing a compilation of B-sides and a disc of recordings of songs from the Le Zenith performances. A double-A side single was also released featuring the new songs "In Your World" and "Dead Star".

In 2002, Muse threatened Celine Dion with legal action when she planned to name her Las Vegas show "Muse", as Muse had worldwide performing rights to the name. Muse refused an offer from Dion of $50,000 for the rights, as they feared it could harm their chances of breaking into the US market. Bellamy said: "We don't want to turn up there with people thinking we're Celine Dion's backing band."

Absolution (2003–2005)

Muse's third album, Absolution, produced by Rich Costey, Paul Reeve and John Cornfield was released on 15 September 2003. It debuted at number one in the UK and produced Muse's first top-ten hit, "Time Is Running Out", and three top-twenty hits: "Hysteria", "Sing for Absolution" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes". Absolution was eventually certified gold in the US. Muse undertook a year-long international tour in support of the album, visiting Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and France. On the 2004 US leg of the tour, Bellamy injured himself onstage during the opening show in Atlanta; the tour resumed after Bellamy received stitches.

In June 2004, Muse headlined the Glastonbury Festival, which they later described as "the best gig of our lives". Howard's father, William Howard, who attended the festival to watch the band, died from a heart attack shortly after the performance. Bellamy said: "It was the biggest feeling of achievement we've ever had after coming offstage. It was almost surreal that an hour later his dad died. It was almost not believable. We spent about a week sort of just with Dom trying to support him. I think he was happy that at least his dad got to see him at probably what was the finest moment so far of the band's life."

Muse won two MTV Europe awards, including "Best Alternative Act", and a Q Award for "Best Live Act", and received an award for "Best British Live Act" at the Brit Awards. On 2 July 2005, they participated in the Live 8 concert in Paris. In 2003, the band successfully sued Nestlé for using their cover "Feeling Good" for a Nescafé advertisement without permission and donated the money won from the lawsuit to Oxfam. An unofficial DVD biography, Manic Depression, was released in April 2005.

Muse released another live DVD on 12 December 2005, Absolution Tour, containing edited and remastered highlights from their Glastonbury performance unseen footage from their performances at London Earls Court, Wembley Arena, and the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

Black Holes and Revelations and HAARP (2006–2008)

In 2006, Muse released their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations, co-produced once again with Rich Costey. The album's title and themes reflect the band's interest in science fiction. The album charted at number one in the UK, much of Europe, and Australia. In the US, it reached number nine on the Billboard 200.

Before the release of the new album, Muse made several promotional TV appearances starting on 13 May 2006 at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. The Black Holes and Revelations Tour started before the release of their album and initially consisted mostly of festival appearances, including a headline slot at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2006. The band's main touring itinerary started with a tour of North America from late July to early August 2006. After the last of the summer festivals, a tour of Europe began, including a large arena tour of the UK. Muse recruited an additional touring member, Morgan Nicholls, on keys, percussion and guitar. He performed with them until 2022.

Black Holes and Revelations was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, but lost to Arctic Monkeys. It earned a Platinum Europe Award after selling one million copies in Europe. The first single from the album, "Supermassive Black Hole", was released as a download in May 2006. In August 2006, Muse recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for the Live from Abbey Road television show. The second single, "Starlight", was released in September 2006. "Knights of Cydonia" was released in the US as a radio-only single in June 2006 and in the UK in November 2006. The fourth single, "Invincible", was released in April 2007. Another single, "Map of the Problematique", was released for download only in June 2007, following the band's performance at Wembley Stadium.

Muse spent November and much of December 2006 touring Europe with British band Noisettes as the supporting act. The tour continued in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia in early 2007 before returning to England for the summer. At the 2007 Brit Awards in February, Muse received their second award for Best British Live Act. They became the first act to sell out the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium when they performed two dates there in June 2007. Both concerts were recorded for a DVD/CD, HAARP, released in early 2008. In 2018, HAARP was named the 40th-greatest live album of all time by NME.

The tour continued across Europe in July 2007 before returning to the US in August, where Muse played to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, New York City. They headlined the second night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on 15 September, and performed at the October Vegoose in Las Vegas with bands including Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk and Queens of the Stone Age. Muse continued touring in Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand in 2007 before going to South Africa, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Ireland, and the UK in 2008. On 12 April, they played a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Muse performed at Rock in Rio Lisboa on 6 June 2008, alongside bands including Kaiser Chiefs, the Offspring and Linkin Park. They also performed in Marlay Park, Dublin, on 13 August. A few days later, Muse headlined the 2008 V Festival, playing in Chelmsford on Saturday 16 August and Staffordshire on Sunday 17 August. On 25 September, Bellamy, Howard and Wolstenholme received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Plymouth for their contributions to music.

The Resistance (2009–2011)

During the recording of Muse's fifth studio album, The Resistance, Wolstenholme checked into rehab to deal with his alcoholism, which was threatening the band's future. Howard said: "I've always believed in band integrity and sticking together. There's something about the fact we all grew up together. We've been together for 18 years now, which is over half our lives."

The Resistance was released in September 2009, the first album produced by Muse, with engineering by Adrian Bushby and mixing by Mark Stent. It topped album charts in 19 countries, became the band's third number one album in the UK, and reached number three on the Billboard 200. Reviews were mostly positive, with praise for its ambition, classical influences and the three-part "Exogenesis: Symphony". The Resistance beat its predecessor Black Holes and Revelations in album sales in its debut week in the UK with approximately 148,000 copies sold. The first single, "Uprising", was released seven days earlier. On 13 September, Muse performed "Uprising" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City.

The Resistance Tour began with A Seaside Rendezvous in Muse's hometown of Teignmouth, Devon, in September 2009. It included headline slots the following year at festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Oxegen, Hovefestivalen, T in the Park, Austin City Limits and the Australian Big Day Out. Between September and November, Muse toured North America.

Muse provided the lead single for the film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)", released on 17 May 2010. In June, Muse headlined Glastonbury Festival for the second time. After U2 canceled their headline slot following their singer Bono's back injury, their guitarist, the Edge, joined Muse to play the U2 track "Where the Streets Have No Name".

For their live performances, Muse received the O2 Silver Clef Award in London on 2 July 2010, presented by Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen. Taylor described the trio as "probably the greatest live act in the world today". On 12 September 2010, Muse won an MTV Video Music Award in the category of Best Special Effects, for the "Uprising" video. On 21 November, Muse won an American Music Award for Favorite Artist in the Alternative Rock Music Category. On 2 December, Muse were nominated for three awards for the 53rd Grammy Awards on 13 February 2011, for which they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for The Resistance.

Based on having the largest airplay and sales in the US, Muse were named the Billboard Alternative Songs and Rock Songs artist for 2010 with "Uprising", "Resistance" and "Undisclosed Desires" achieving 1st, 6th and 49th places on the year-end Alternative Song chart. On 30 July 2011, Muse supported Rage Against the Machine at their only 2011 gig at the L.A. Rising festival. On 13 August, Muse headlined the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco. They headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2011. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of their album Origin of Symmetry (2001), Muse performed all eleven tracks. Muse also headlined Lollapalooza in Chicago's Grant Park in August 2011.

The 2nd Law and Live at Rome Olympic Stadium (2012–2013)

In an April 2012 interview, Bellamy said Muse's next album would include influences from acts such as French house duo Justice and UK electronic rock group Does It Offend You, Yeah?. On 6 June 2012, Muse released a trailer for their next album, The 2nd Law, with a countdown on the band's website. The trailer, which included dubstep elements, was met with mixed reactions. On 7 June, Muse announced a European Arena tour, the first leg of The 2nd Law Tour. The leg included dates in France, Spain and the UK. The first single from the album, "Survival", was the official song of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, and Muse performed it at the Olympics closing ceremony.

Muse revealed the 2nd Law tracklist on 13 July 2012. The second single, "Madness", was released on 20 August 2012, with a music video on 5 September. Muse played at the Roundhouse on 30 September as part of the iTunes Festival. The 2nd Law was released worldwide on 1 October, and on 2 October 2012 in the US; it reached number one in the UK Albums Chart, and number two on the US Billboard 200. The song "Madness" earned a nomination in the Best Rock Song category and the album itself was nominated for the Best Rock Album at the 55th Grammy Awards, 2013. The band performed the album's opening song, "Supremacy", with an orchestra at the 2013 Brit Awards on 20 February 2013. The album was a nominee for Best Rock Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The song "Madness" was also nominated for Best Rock Song. The album listed at number 46 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012, saying "In an era of diminished expectations, Muse make stadium-crushing songs that mix the legacies of Queen, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin and Radiohead while making almost every other current band seem tiny."

Muse released their fourth live album, Live at Rome Olympic Stadium, on 29 November 2013 on CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray formats. In November 2013, the film had theatrical screenings in 20 cities worldwide. The album contains the band's performance at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on 6 July 2013, in front of over 60,000 people; it was the first concert filmed in 4K format. The concert was a part of the Unsustainable Tour, Muse's mid-2013 tour of Europe.

Drones (2014–2016)
Muse began writing their seventh album soon after the Rome concert. The band felt that the electronic side of their music was becoming too dominant, and wanted to return to a simpler rock sound. After self-producing their previous two albums, the band hired producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange so they could focus on performance and spend less time mixing and reviewing takes. Recording took place in the Vancouver Warehouse Studio from October 2014 to April 2015.

Muse announced their seventh album, Drones, on 11 March 2015. The following day, they released a lyric video for "Psycho" on their YouTube channel, and made the song available for instant download with the album pre-order. Another single, "Dead Inside", was released on 23 March.

From 15 March to 16 May, Muse embarked on a short tour in small venues throughout the UK and the US, the Psycho Tour. Live performances of new songs from these concerts are included on the DVD accompanying the album along with bonus studio footage. On 18 May 2015, Muse released a lyric video for "Mercy" on their YouTube channel, and made the song available for instant download with the album pre-order.

Drones was released on 8 June 2015. A concept album about the dehumanisation of modern warfare, it returned to a simpler rock sound with less elaborate production and genre experimentation. It topped the album charts in the UK, the US, Australia and most major markets. Muse headlined Lollapalooza Berlin on 13 September 2015. On 15 February 2016, Drones won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 58th Grammy Awards. On 24 June, Muse headlined the Glastonbury Festival for a third time, becoming the first act to have headlined each day of the festival (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). On 30 November 2016, Muse were announced to headline Reading and Leeds 2017.

Simulation Theory and reissues (2017–2021)

In 2017, Muse toured North America, supported by Thirty Seconds to Mars and PVRIS. On 18 May, they released "Dig Down", the first single from their eighth album. In November, they performed at the BlizzCon festival. "Thought Contagion", the second single, was released on 15 February 2018, accompanied by an 1980s-styled music video. In June, Muse opened the Rock In Rio festival. On 24 February, they played a show at La Cigale in France with a setlist voted for fans online, followed by a show at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, in which they played mainly older material and B-sides. A concert video, Muse: Drones World Tour, was released in cinemas worldwide on 12 July 2018.

On 19 July 2018, Muse released the third single from their upcoming album, "Something Human", followed by "The Dark Side" on 30 August and "Pressure" on 27 September. Muse released their eighth studio album, Simulation Theory, with a focus on 80s-inspired synthesisers, on 9 November. The Simulation Theory World Tour began in Houston on 3 February 2019 and concluded on 15 October in Lima. A film based on the album and tour, Muse – Simulation Theory, combining concert footage and narrative scenes, was released in August 2020.

In December 2019, Muse released Origin of Muse, a box set comprising remastered versions of Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry plus previously unreleased material. For the 20th anniversary of Origin of Symmetry in June 2021, Muse released a remixed and remastered version, Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX.

Will of the People (2022–present)

On 13 January 2022, Muse released the single "Won't Stand Down", which marked a return to their heavier early sound. On 9 March, Muse posted a 35-second clip across various social media platforms depicting large busts of the band members being torn down. On 17 March, Muse announced their ninth album, Will of the People, with a release date of 26 August 2022. Ahead of the release, Muse released the singles "Compliance", "Will of the People", "Kill or Be Killed" and "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween".

The Will of the People World Tour began in April 2022. Muse's touring member, Morgan Nicholls, was replaced by Dan Lancaster on additional keys, percussion, guitar and vocals. On 17 November 2023, Muse released a 20th-anniversary reissue of Absolution, featuring bonus tracks, live recordings and demos.

Musical style
Described as a band that fuse alternative rock,  progressive rock,  space rock,   hard rock, art rock,  electronic rock, progressive metal, indie rock and pop, Muse also mix sounds from genres such as electronica and R&B, with forms such as classical music and rock opera. In 2002, Bellamy described Muse as a "trashy three-piece". He said supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 1999 Californication tour inspired Muse to become less reserved and "up their game" in their performances.

Early in their career, Muse were often likened to Radiohead. Spin wrote that Bellamy's voice "often slips into high, mournful tones" similar to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke. John Leckie, who produced Muse's first two albums and also produced Radiohead's second album, The Bends (1995), dismissed the comparisons, saying: "In the late 90s, any British band that sang passionately and played guitar was going to get compared to Radiohead." He said he chose to produce Muse after The Bends because he "intentionally looked for something different". Asked in 2009, Bellamy said he did not hear the similarity, stating Muse were "past [the comparisons] in most places".

In 2006, Pitchfork described Muse's music as "firmly ol' skool at heart: proggy hard rock that forgoes any pretensions to restraint ... their songs use full-stacked guitars and thunderous drums to evoke God's footsteps". AllMusic described their sound as a "fusion of progressive rock, glam, electronica, and Radiohead-influenced experimentation". On Muse's association with progressive rock, Howard said: "I associate [progressive rock] with 10-minute guitar solos, but I guess we kind of come into the category. A lot of bands are quite ambitious with their music, mixing lots of different styles – and when I see that I think it's great. I've noticed that kind of thing becoming a bit more mainstream." The Guardian described Muse as "fearlessly flamboyant". Howard said he loved the "excess" of their music and that he liked "pushing it as far as we can", citing the choir of "Survival" as an example. Wolstenholme said: "You can go on writing traditional pop-rock songs and get stale or try something new. There are risks either way." The Queen guitarist, Brian May, praised Muse in 2009, calling them "extraordinary musicians" who "let their madness show through, always a good thing in an artist".

For their second album, Origin of Symmetry (2001), Muse aimed to craft a "heavier", more aggressive sound. Their third album, Absolution (2003), features prominent string arrangements and drew influences from artists such as Queen. Their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations (2006) was influenced by artists including Depeche Mode and Lightning Bolt, as well as Asian and European music such as Naples music. The band listened to radio stations from the Middle East during the album's recording sessions.

Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012) has a broader range of influences, ranging from funk and film scores to electronica and dubstep. The 2nd Law is influenced by rock acts such as Queen and Led Zeppelin (on "Supremacy") as well as dubstep producer Skrillex and Nero (on "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable" and "Follow Me", with the latter being co-produced by Nero), Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder (on "Panic Station" which features musicians who performed on Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" ) and Hans Zimmer. The album features two songs with lyrics written and sung by bassist Wolstenholme, who wrote about his battle with alcoholism. It features extensive electronic instrumentation, including Modular synthesisers and the French Connection, a synthesiser controller similar to the ondes martenot.

Musicianship
Many Muse songs are recognisable by Bellamy's vocal vibrato, falsetto, and melismatic phrasing, influenced by Jeff Buckley. As a pianist, Bellamy often uses arpeggios. Bellamy's compositions often suggest or quote late classical and romantic era composers such as Sergei Rachmaninov (in "Space Dementia" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes"), Camille Saint-Saëns (in "I Belong to You (+Mon Cœur S'ouvre a ta Voix)") and Frédéric Chopin (in "United States of Eurasia"). As a guitarist, Bellamy often uses arpeggiator and pitch-shift effects to create a more "electronic" sound, citing Jimi Hendrix and Tom Morello as influences. His guitar playing is also influenced by Latin and Spanish guitar music; Bellamy said: "I just think that music is really passionate...It has so much feel and flair to it. I’ve spent important times of my life in Spain and Greece, and various deep things happened there – falling in love, stuff like that. So maybe that rubbed off somewhere."

Wolstenholme's basslines provide a motif for many Muse songs; the band combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones. Bellamy and Wolstenholme use touch-screen controllers, often built into their instruments, to control synthesisers and effects including Kaoss Pads and Digitech Whammy pedals.

Lyrics
Most earlier Muse songs lyrically dealt with introspective themes, including relationships, social alienation, and difficulties they had encountered while trying to establish themselves in their hometown. However, with the band's progress, their song concepts have become more ambitious, addressing issues such as the fear of the evolution of technology in their Origin of Symmetry (2001) album. They deal mainly with the apocalypse in Absolution (2003) and with catastrophic war in Black Holes and Revelations (2006). The Resistance (2009) focused on themes of government oppression, uprising, love, and panspermia. The album itself was mainly inspired by Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Their sixth studio album, The 2nd Law (2012), relates to economics, thermodynamics, and apocalyptic themes. Their 2015 album, Drones, is a concept album that uses autonomous killing drones as a metaphor for brainwashing and loss of empathy.

Books that have influenced Muse's lyrical themes include Nineteen Eighty-Four, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins, Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin, Rule by Secrecy by Jim Marrs and Trance Formation of America by Cathy O'Brien.

Band members
Official members
 * Matt Bellamy – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards
 * Dominic Howard – drums, percussion
 * Chris Wolstenholme – bass, backing vocals

Touring musicians
 * Dan Lancaster – keyboards, guitars, synthesisers, percussion, backing vocals (2022–present)

Former touring musicians
 * Morgan Nicholls – keyboards, synthesisers, guitars, percussion, bass, backing vocals, samples (2004, 2006–2022)
 * Daniel Newell – trumpet (2006–2008)
 * Alessandro Cortini – keyboards, synthesisers (2009, substitute)

Discography

 * Showbiz (1999)
 * Origin of Symmetry (2001)
 * Absolution (2003)
 * Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
 * The Resistance (2009)
 * The 2nd Law (2012)
 * Drones (2015)
 * Simulation Theory (2018)
 * Will of the People (2022)

Concert tours

 * Showbiz Tour (1998–2000)
 * Origin of Symmetry Tour (2000–2002)
 * Absolution Tour (2003–2004)
 * US Campus Invasion Tour 2005 (2005)
 * Black Holes and Revelations Tour (2006–2008)
 * The Resistance Tour (2009–2011)
 * The 2nd Law World Tour (2012–2014)
 * Psycho Tour (2015)
 * Drones World Tour (2015–2016)
 * North American Tour (with Thirty Seconds to Mars and Pvris) (2017)
 * Simulation Theory World Tour (2019)
 * Will of the People World Tour (2022–2023)

title: Muse (band)


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Chie Nakane

Chie Nakane (中根 千枝) was a Japanese anthropologist and Professor Emerita of Social Anthropology at the University of Tokyo.

Education and career
Nakane was born in Tokyo and spent her teenage years in Beijing. She graduated from Tsuda College in 1947 and then completed her graduate work specializing in China and Tibet at the University of Tokyo in 1952. In 1953–1957, she did fieldwork in India and studied in the London School of Economics. Nakane served as Visiting Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago at the invitation of Sol Tax from 1959 to 1960 and as Visiting Lecturer in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London at the invitation of Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf in 1960–1961.

In 1970, Nakane became the first female professor at the University of Tokyo, where she served as Director of the Institute of Oriental Culture from 1980 to 1982. She was also Professor at Osaka University and the National Museum of Ethnology and Visiting Professor at Cornell University from 1975 to 1980. Nakane retired from the University of Tokyo in 1987. In 1995, she became the first and only female member of the Japan Academy. She was also an honorary member of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

Japan as Vertical Society
Nakane's work focuses on cross-cultural comparisons of social structures in Asia, notably Japan, India, and China. She is internationally known for her bestselling book, Japanese Society, which has been translated into 13 languages. In this book, Nakane characterizes Japan as "a vertical society" where human relations are based on "place" (shared space) instead of "attribute" (qualification).

Books

 * Nakane, C. (1967). Kinship and economic organization in rural Japan. London: Athlone Press.
 * Nakane, C. (1970). Japanese society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
 * Nakane, C. (1972). Human relations in Japan: Summary translation of “Tateshakai no Ningen Kankei.” Tokyo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan.
 * Nakane, C., & Chiao, C. (Eds.). (1992). Home bound: Studies in East Asian society—Papers presented at the symposium in honor of the 80th birthday of Professor Fei Xiaotong. Tokyo: Center for East Asian Cultural Studies and Toyo Bunko.
 * Nakane, C., & Oishi, S. (Eds.). (1990). Tokugawa Japan: The social and economic antecedents of modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.

Articles

 * Nakane, C. (1964). Logic and the smile: When Japanese meet Indians. Japan Quarterly, 11(4), 434–438.
 * Nakane, C. (1965). Towards a theory of Japanese social structure: A unilateral society. The Economic Weekly, 17(5–7), 197–216.
 * Nakane, C. (1972). Social background of Japanese in Southeast Asia. The Developing Economics, 10(2), 115–125.
 * Nakane, C. (1974). Cultural anthropology in Japan. Annual Review of Anthropology, 3, 57–72.
 * Nakane, C. (1975). A cross-cultural look at organizational behavior with particular attention to the difference between Japan and the United States. Linguistic Communications, 15, 95–106.
 * Nakane, C. (1975). Fieldwork in India: A Japanese experience. In A. Beteille & T. N. Madan (Eds.), Encounter and experience: Personal accounts of fieldwork (pp. 13–26). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
 * Nakane, C. (1982). The effect of cultural tradition on anthropologists. In H. M. Fahim (Ed.), Indigenous anthropology in non-Western countries: Proceedings of a Burg Wartenstein symposium (pp. 52–60). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

Honors

 * Elected to the American Philosophical Society, 1977.
 * Medals of Honor (Japan) Purple ribbon, 1990.
 * Order of Culture, 2001.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Chie Nakane


text:
Burt Reynolds

Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series, such as Gunsmoke (1962–1965), Hawk (1966), and Dan August (1970–1971). He had leading roles in films, such as Navajo Joe (1966) and 100 Rifles (1969), and his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (1972).

Reynolds played leading roles in a number of subsequent box-office hits, such as White Lightning (1973), The Longest Yard (1974), Smokey and the Bandit (1977) (which started a six-year box-office reign), Semi-Tough (1977), The End (1978), Hooper (1978), Starting Over (1979), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Sharky's Machine (1981), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and Cannonball Run II (1984), several of which he directed. He was nominated twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Reynolds was voted the world's number one box-office star from 1978 to 1982 in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, a record that he shares with Bing Crosby. After a number of box-office failures, Reynolds returned to television, starring in the sitcom Evening Shade (1990–1994) which won a Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. His performance as high-minded pornographer Jack Horner in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997) brought him renewed critical attention, earning Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, with nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Early life
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. was born on February 11, 1936, to Harriet Fernette "Fern" (née Miller) and Burton Milo Reynolds sr. His family descended from Dutch, English, Scots-Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Reynolds also claimed Cherokee and Italian roots.

During his career, Reynolds often claimed to have been born in Waycross, Georgia, although in 2015, he stated that he was actually born in Lansing, Michigan. In his autobiography, he stated that Lansing is where his family lived when his father was drafted into the United States Army.

Reynolds, his mother, and his sister joined his father at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where they subsequently lived for two years. When his father was sent to Europe, the family moved to Lake City, Michigan, where his mother had been raised. In 1946, the family moved to Riviera Beach, Florida, where in sixth grade Reynolds began a lifelong close friendship with Dick Howser. Reynolds' father eventually became Chief of Police of Riviera Beach, which is adjacent to the north end of West Palm Beach, Florida.

His nickname in Riviera Beach was "Buddy". (The childhood nicknames of Marlon Brando, the superstar actor whom Reynolds was said to resemble and with whom he feuded, were "Bud" and "Buddy.")

During 10th grade at Palm Beach High School, Reynolds was named First Team All State and All Southern as a fullback, and received multiple scholarship offers.

College
After graduating from Palm Beach High School, he attended Florida State University on a football scholarship and played halfback, starting in 1954. While at Florida State, he roomed with future college-football coach, broadcaster, and analyst Lee Corso, and also became a brother of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

Reynolds had an outstanding freshman year in football. However, he injured his knee in the first game of his sophomore season, and, later that year, lost his spleen and injured his other knee in a bad car accident. He did not return to the university for almost two years. To keep up with his studies, he enrolled at Palm Beach Junior College (PBJC) in neighboring Lake Park in early 1956. When Reynolds returned to Florida State in 1957, he rejoined the football team, although his leg injured in the car accident slowed him down. He was blamed, fairly or not, for the team's loss to North Carolina State University on October 12, 1957. Immediately following the game he told his teammates that he was done with football.

Early acting
During his term at PBJC in early 1956, Reynolds was in an English class taught by Watson B. Duncan III. Duncan pushed him into trying out for a play he was producing, Outward Bound. He cast him in the lead role based on having heard him read Shakespeare in class, leading to his winning the 1956 Florida State Drama Award for his performance. "I read two words and they gave me a lead", he later said.

In his autobiography, he referred to Duncan as his mentor and the most influential person in his life.

Theater
The Florida State Drama Award included a scholarship to the Hyde Park Playhouse, a summer stock theater, in Hyde Park, New York. Reynolds saw the opportunity as an agreeable alternative to more physically demanding summer jobs, but did not yet see acting as a possible career. While working there, Reynolds met Joanne Woodward, who helped him find an agent.

"I don't think I ever actually saw him perform", said Woodward later. "I knew him as this cute, shy, attractive boy. He had the kind of lovely personality that made you want to do something for him."

He was cast in Tea and Sympathy at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. After his Broadway debut in Look, We've Come Through, he received favorable reviews for his performance and went on tour with the cast, driving the bus as well as appearing on stage.

After the tour, Reynolds returned to New York and enrolled in acting classes, along with Frank Gifford, Carol Lawrence, Red Buttons and Jan Murray.

"I was a working actor for two years before I finally took my first real acting class (with Wynn Handman at the Neighborhood Playhouse)", he said. "It was a lot of technique, truth, moment-to-moment, how to listen, improv."

After a botched improvisation in acting class, Reynolds briefly considered returning to Florida, but soon gained a part in a revival of Mister Roberts, in which Charlton Heston played the starring role.

After the play closed, the director, John Forsythe, arranged a film audition with Joshua Logan for Reynolds. The film was Sayonara (1957). Reynolds was told he could not be in the film because he looked too much like Marlon Brando. Logan advised Reynolds to go to Hollywood, although Reynolds did not feel confident enough to do so. (Another source says Reynolds did a screen test after studio talent agent Lew Wasserman saw the effect Reynolds had on secretaries in his office but the test was unsuccessful. )

He worked in a variety of jobs, such as waiting tables, washing dishes, driving a delivery truck and as a bouncer at the Roseland Ballroom. Reynolds wrote that, while working as a dockworker, he was offered $150 to jump through a glass window on a live television show.

Early television and Riverboat
Reynolds began acting on television in the late 1950s, guest starring on shows like Flight, M Squad, Schlitz Playhouse, The Lawless Years and Pony Express. He signed a seven-year contract with Universal. "I don't care whether he can act or not", said Wasserman. "Anyone who has this effect on women deserves a break."

Reynolds' first big break came when he was cast alongside Darren McGavin in the lead of the TV series Riverboat (1959–61), playing Ben Frazer. According to a contemporary report, Reynolds was considered "a double for Marlon Brando". The show went for two seasons but Reynolds quit after only 20 episodes, claiming he did not get along with McGavin or the executive producer, and that he had "a stupid part."

Reynolds then said that he "couldn't get a job. I didn't have a very good reputation. You just don't walk out on a network television series."

Reynolds returned to guest starring on television shows. As he put it, "I played heavies in every series in town", appearing in episodes of Playhouse 90, Johnny Ringo, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Lock Up, The Blue Angels, Michael Shayne, Zane Grey Theater, The Aquanauts and The Brothers Brannagan. "They were depressing years", he later said.

Reynolds made his film debut in the low budget Angel Baby (1961), billed fourth. He followed it with a role in a war film, Armored Command (1961). "It was the one picture that Howard Keel didn't sing on", reminisced Reynolds later. "That was a terrible mistake."

In 1961, he returned to Broadway to appear in Look, We've Come Through, under the direction of José Quintero, but it lasted only five performances.

Reynolds continued to guest star on shows such as Naked City, Ripcord, Everglades, Route 66, Perry Mason, and The Twilight Zone ("The Bard", an hour-long send-up of Reynolds' look-alike Marlon Brando). He later said, "I learned more about my craft in these guest shots than I did standing around and looking virile on Riverboat."

Gunsmoke

In 1962, Dennis Weaver wanted to leave the cast of Gunsmoke, one of the top rated shows in the country. The producers developed a new character, "halfbreed" blacksmith Quint Asper: Reynolds was cast, beating over 300 other contenders. Reynolds announced he would stay on the show "until it ends. I think it's a terrible mistake for an actor to leave a series in the middle of it." Reynolds left Gunsmoke in 1965. He later said that being in that show was "the happiest period of my life. I hated to leave that show but I felt I had served my apprenticeship and there wasn't room for two leading men."

He was cast in his first lead role in a film, the low-budget action film, Operation C.I.A. (1965). He guest starred on Flipper, The F.B.I. and 12 O'Clock High.

Hawk and leading roles in films
Reynolds was given the title role in a TV series, Hawk (1966–67), playing Native American detective John Hawk. It ran for 17 episodes before being cancelled.

He played another Native American in the Spaghetti Western Navajo Joe (1966) shot in Spain. "It wasn't my favorite picture", ...he said later... "I had two expressions—mad and madder."

He guest starred on Gentle Ben and made a pilot for a TV series, Lassiter, where he would have played a magazine journalist. It was not picked up.

Reynolds then made a series of films in quick succession. Shark! (1969), shot in Mexico, was directed by Sam Fuller, who removed his name from it, after which its release was held up for a number of years. Reynolds described Fade In as "the best thing I've ever done", but it was not released for a number of years, and the director, Jud Taylor, took his name off. Impasse (1969) was a war movie shot in the Philippines. He played the title role in Sam Whiskey (1969), a comic Western written by William W. Norton, which Reynolds later said was "way ahead of its time. I was playing light comedy and nobody cared."

Reynolds starred with Jim Brown and Raquel Welch in another western film, 100 Rifles (1969), later saying, "I spent the entire time refereeing fights between Jim Brown and Raquel Welch."

In a 1969 interview, he expressed interest in playing roles like the John Garfield part in The Postman Always Rings Twice, but no one gave him those opportunities. "Instead, the producer hands me a script and says 'I know it's not there now kid, but I know we can make it work.'"

Reynolds was offered in a lead role in MASH (1970), but he declined it after "they told me the other two leads would be Barbra Streisand's husband and that tall, skinny guy who was in The Dirty Dozen." Tom Skerritt played the role and Reynolds, instead, went into Skullduggery (1970), shot in Jamaica. Reynolds joked that after making "those wonderful, forgettable pictures... I suddenly realized I was as hot as Leo Gorcey."

Reynolds starred in two television films: Hunters Are for Killing (1970) and Run, Simon, Run (1970). In Hunters Are for Killing, his character was originally a Native American, but Reynolds requested this element be changed, feeling he had played that role too many times already, and it was not needed for the character anyway.

Dan August and talk shows
Reynolds played the title character in the police drama Dan August (1970–71), produced by Quinn Martin. The series was given a full-season order of 26 episodes based on the reputation of Martin and Reynolds but struggled in the ratings against Hawaii Five-0 and was not renewed.

Albert R. Broccoli asked Reynolds to play James Bond from Sean Connery, but Reynolds declined the role, saying, "An American can't play James Bond. It just can't be done."

Following the cancellation of the series, Reynolds did his first stage play in six years, a production of The Tender Trap at Arlington Park Theatre. He was offered other TV pilots but was reluctant to play a detective again.

Around this time, he had become well known as a charismatic talk-show guest, starting with an appearance on The Merv Griffin Show. He made jokes at his own expense, calling himself America's most "well-known unknown" who only made the kind of movies "they show in airplanes or prisons or anywhere else the people can't get out." He proved enormously popular and was frequently asked back by Griffin and Johnny Carson; he even guest hosted the Tonight Show. He was so popular as a guest that he was offered his own talk show but he wanted to continue as an actor.

He later said his talk show appearances were "the best thing that ever happened to me. They changed everything drastically overnight. I spent ten years looking virile, saying, 'Put up your hands.' After the Carson, Griffin, Frost, Dinah's show, suddenly I have a personality."

"I realized that people liked me, that I was enough", said Reynolds. "So if I could transfer that character—the irreverent, self-deprecating side of me, my favorite side of me—onto the screen, I could have a big career.

The Godfather and Marlon Brando feud
Reynolds was considered for the role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, but Francis Ford Coppola's desire to cast James Caan in the part prevailed. There was talk that Reynolds' participation was vetoed by Marlon Brando, who had a lack of respect for him. Brando denied he played a role in thwarting the casting of Reynolds, saying in a January 1979 Playboy interview that Coppola would not have cast Reynolds in the part.

Reynolds later claimed that he declined the role of Sonny. (Godfather producer Albert S. Ruddy would produce Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, two Reynolds hits in the 1980s.)

The Brando-Reynolds feud became the stuff of Hollywood legend. Reynolds said he could not understand Brando's enmity towards him. In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Reynolds said, "He was a strange man. He didn't like me at all." He did not consciously imitate Brando, or act like him, or try to look like him, and he even grew a mustache so that people would stop saying he looked like Brando.

When he finally was introduced to Brando, Reynolds said he told him that he was the finest actor in the world. Brando replied, "I wish I could say the same for you."

Deliverance and Cosmopolitan centerfold
He had his breakthrough role in Deliverance, directed by John Boorman, who cast him on the basis of a talk show appearance. "It's the first time I haven't had a script with Paul Newman's and Robert Redford's fingerprints all over it," Reynolds joked. "The producers actually came to me first."

"I've waited 15 years to do a really good movie," he said in 1972. "I made so many bad pictures. I was never able to turn anyone down. The greatest curse in Hollywood is to be a well-known unknown."

Reynolds also gained notoriety around this time when he began a well-publicized relationship with Dinah Shore, who was 20 years his senior, and after he posed naked in the April 1972 issue of Cosmopolitan. Reynolds said he posed for Cosmopolitan for "a kick. I have a strange sense of humor" and because he knew he had Deliverance coming out. He later expressed regret for posing for Cosmopolitan.

Deliverance was a huge commercial and critical success, which, along with talk-show appearances, helped establish Reynolds as a major movie star. "The night of the Academy Awards, I counted a half-dozen Burt Reynolds jokes", he later said. "I had become a household name, the most talked-about star at the award show."

He was then in Fuzz (1972), reuniting him with Welch, and also made a cameo in Woody Allen's film, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972). He also returned to the stage, appearing in The Rainmaker at the Arlington.

Reynolds had the title role in Shamus (1973), playing a modern-day private eye. The film drew lackluster reviews, but nonetheless became a solid box-office success. Reynolds described it as "not a bad film, kind of cute."

He was in The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973), co-starring Sarah Miles. The film was a minor hit, perhaps best remembered for the scandal of Miles' lover, an aspiring screenwriter, committing suicide during the filming.

Reynolds was meant to reunite with Boorman in Zardoz, but fell ill and was replaced by Sean Connery.

White Lightning and Southern movies
Another turning point in Reynolds' career came when he made the light-hearted car-chase film written by Norton, White Lightning (1973). Reynolds later called it "the beginning of a whole series of films made in the South, about the South and for the South... you could make back the cost of the negative just in Memphis alone. Anything outside of that was just gravy." Car-chase films would be Reynolds' most profitable genre. At the end of 1973, Reynolds was voted into the list of the ten most-popular box-office stars in the US at number four. He would stay on that list until 1984.

He made a sports comedy with Robert Aldrich, The Longest Yard (1974) which was popular. Aldrich later said "I think that on occasion, he's a much better actor than he's given credit for. Not always: sometimes he acts like a caricature of himself."

Reynolds starred in two big-budget fiascos: At Long Last Love (1975), a musical for Peter Bogdanovich, and Lucky Lady (1975) with Gene Hackman and Liza Minnelli.

More popular was another light-hearted car-chase film, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), and a tough cop drama with Aldrich, Hustle (1975). He did a cameo for Mel Brooks in Silent Movie (1976).

Towards the end of his life, Reynolds claimed he was offered the role of Han Solo in Star Wars, but Reynolds declined the role. Reynolds told Business Insider in 2016, "I just didn't want to play that kind of role at the time....Now I regret it. I wish I would have done it."

Directorial work
Reynolds made his directorial debut in 1976 with Gator, the sequel to White Lightning, written by Norton. "I waited 20 years to do it [directing] and I enjoyed it more than anything I've ever done in this business," he said after filming. "And I happen to think it's what I do best."

He was reunited with Bogdanovich for the screwball comedy, Nickelodeon (1976), which was a commercial disappointment. Aldrich later commented, "Bogdanovich can get him to do the telephone book! Anybody else has to persuade him to do something. He's fascinated by Bogdanovich. I can't understand it." He turned down the part of Clark Gable in Gable and Lombard.

Smokey and the Bandit and career peak
Reynolds had the biggest hit of his career with a car-chase film, Smokey and the Bandit (1977), directed by Hal Needham, and co-starring Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, and Sally Field.

He followed it with a comedy about football players, Semi-Tough (1977), co-starring Jill Clayburgh and Kris Kristofferson and produced by David Merrick. He then directed his second film, The End (1978), a black comedy, playing a role originally written for Woody Allen.

More popular was a comedy he made with Needham and Field, Hooper (1978), where he played an aging stunt man.

"My ability as an actor gets a little better every time", he said around this time. "I'm very prolific in the amount of films I make—two-and-a-half or three a year—and when I look at any picture I do now compared to Deliverance, it's miles above what I was doing then. But when you're doing films that are somewhat similar to each other, as I've been doing, people take it for granted."

He turned down the role played by Alan Alda in California Suite (1978) because he felt the part was too small.

Reynolds's said, "I'd rather direct than act. I'd rather do that than anything. It's the second-best sensation I've ever had." He added that David Merrick had offered to produce two films Reynolds would direct without having to act in them.

Reynolds tried a change of pace with Starting Over (1979), a romantic comedy, again co-starring Clayburgh and Candice Bergen. The film was co-written and produced by James L. Brooks. He played a jewel thief in Rough Cut (1980) produced by Merrick, who fired and then rehired director Don Siegel during filming.

Reynolds had two huge hits with more car films directed by Needham, Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and The Cannonball Run (1981). He starred in David Steinberg's film Paternity (1981) and directed himself in a tough action film, Sharky's Machine (1981).

Reynolds wanted to try a musical again, and agreed to do The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). It was a box-office hit, as was Best Friends (1982) with Goldie Hawn. In 1982, Reynolds was voted the most popular star in the US for the fifth year in a row.

Around this time he reflected: "The only thing I really enjoy is this business, and I think my audience knows that. I've never been able to figure out exactly who that audience is. I know there have been a few pictures even my mother didn't go see, but there's always been an audience for them. I guess it is because they always know that I give it 100 percent, and good or bad, there's going to be quite a lot of me in that picture. That's what they're looking for. I don't have any pretensions about wanting to be Hamlet. I would just like to be the best Burt Reynolds around."

Career decline
James L. Brooks wrote the role of astronaut Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment (1983) with Reynolds in mind, but he turned it down to do Stroker Ace (1983), another car-chase comedy directed by Needham. The Endearment part went to Jack Nicholson, who went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Reynolds said in 1987 that "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim" but Stroker Ace flopped.

Reynolds admitted that turning down the role was a mistake. "'I regret that one most of all because it was a real acting part.... 'I wish I would have done it, and thinking back now, it was really a stupid decision, but I made a lot of stupid decisions in that period. It must have been my stupid period.'"

In 1983, an unnamed producer had said that while Reynolds' salaries would not decline because of Stroker Ace's failure, "if two or three more such pictures don't work, people will just stop putting him in that kind of movie and that's the kind of film for which he gets paid the most". Reynolds felt this was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered. "That's where I lost them", he said of his fans.

For director Blake Edwards, Reynolds starred in The Man Who Loved Women (1983), a remake in English of François Truffaut's 1977 film L'Homme qui aimait les femmes, but it also flopped. In an interview around this time, he said: "Getting to the top has turned out to be a hell of a lot more fun than staying there. I've got Tom Selleck crawling up my back. I'm in my late 40s. I realize I have four or five more years where I can play certain kinds of parts and get away with it. That's why I'm leaning more and more toward directing and producing. I don't want to be stumbling around town doing Gabby Hayes parts a few years from now. I'd like to pick and choose and maybe go work for a perfume factory like Mr. Cary Grant, and look wonderful with everybody saying, 'Gee, I wish he hadn't retired'." Cannonball Run II (1984), directed by Needham, brought in some money but only half of the original. City Heat (1984), which teamed Reynolds and Clint Eastwood, was mildly popular but was considered a major critical and box-office disappointment. Reynolds was badly injured during filming when he was hit in the jaw with a real chair instead of a breakaway prop, causing him excruciating chronic pain as well as a sharp weight loss which resulted in rumors circulating for years that he had AIDS.

Reynolds returned to directing with Stick (1985), from an Elmore Leonard novel, but it was both a critical and commercial failure. So too were three other action films he made: Heat (1986), based on a William Goldman novel, Malone (1987), and Rent-a-Cop (1987) with Liza Minnelli. He later said that he did Heat and Malone "because there were so many rumors about me [having AIDS]. I had to get out and be seen".

In 1987, Reynolds teamed up with Bert Convy to co-produce the game show Win, Lose or Draw for their production company, Burt and Bert Productions. The show was based on “sketch pad charades”, a game he often played with his friends in his living room in Jupiter. Vicki Lawrence hosted the daytime version on NBC while Convy hosted the syndicated version until 1989 when he left to host 3rd Degree, also created by Reynolds and Convy.

Reynolds starred in Switching Channels (1989), a remake of the comedy The Front Page, it also was a box-office disappointment. Even more poorly received was Physical Evidence (1989), directed by Michael Crichton. Reynolds received excellent reviews for the caper comedy Breaking In (1989), but the commercial reception was poor.

"When I was doing very well," he said at the time, "I wasn't conscious I was doing very well, but I became very conscious when I wasn't doing very well. The atmosphere changed."

Return to TV: BL Stryker and Evening Shade
Reynolds returned to television with the detective series with B.L. Stryker (1989–90). It ran two seasons, during which time Reynolds played a supporting part in Modern Love (1990).

Reynolds starred in the sitcom, Evening Shade (1990–94) as former Pittsburgh Steelers player Woodward "Wood" Newton. The series was a considerable success, with 98 episodes over four seasons. This role earned him an Emmy Award. Reynolds credited this role for his membership in Steeler Nation.

During his tenure on Evening Shade, Reynolds was seen in other projects, starting with a cameo in The Player (1992) (playing himself complaining about people in Hollywood).

On August 23, 1993, the children's film Cop and a Half premiered, in which Reynolds played the lead. On August 25, the Randy Travis television special Wind in the Wire first aired; Reynolds was among the guests. On October 15, CBS first aired the television film The Man from Left Field, co-starring Reba McEntire. Reynolds starred and directed.

Character actor
After Evening Shade ended in 1994, Reynolds played the lead in a horror film, The Maddening (1995). However, he gradually moved into being more of a character actor – he had key support roles in Citizen Ruth (1996), an early work from Alexander Payne, and Striptease (1996) with Demi Moore. He had to audition for the latter. The film's producer later said, "To be honest, we were not enthusiastic at first. There was the hair and his reputation, but we were curious." Reynolds got the role and earned some strong reviews.

Reynolds was a supporting actor in Frankenstein and Me (1996), Mad Dog Time (1996), The Cherokee Kid (1996), Meet Wally Sparks (1997) with Rodney Dangerfield, and Bean (1997) with Rowan Atkinson. He had the lead in Raven (1996), a straight-to-video action film. Around this time he claimed he was broke, having gone through $13 million.

In 1996, Reynolds' agent said "Regarding Burt, there's a split between the executives in town who are under 40 and those who are over 40. The younger executives are more open to Burt because they grew up loving Deliverance. But the older executives remember how crazy he was, and they are less receptive." He also hosted segments for the Encore Action premium cable network in the late 1990s and 2000s.

Boogie Nights and career revival
Reynolds played an adult film director in the hit film Boogie Nights (1997), which was considered a comeback role for him. He received 12 acting awards and three nominations for the role, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Reynolds' first and only nomination for the award.

Reynolds disliked the film and fired his agent after making it. Boogie Nights co-star William H. Macy stated in an interview that Reynolds was clueless about the film and had become out of touch with the film industry due to his age.

Reynolds was offered a role in Paul Thomas Anderson's third film, Magnolia (1999), but he declined, saying that he hated working on Boogie Nights and hated Anderson. In his second autobiography, But Enough About Me (2015), Reynolds attempted to come to terms with his difficult nature. In a 2015 GQ interview, he said that his problem with Anderson was a matter of their differing personalities: "I think mostly because he was young and full of himself. Every shot we did, it was like the first time [that shot had ever been done]. I remember the first shot we did in Boogie Nights, where I drive the car to Grauman's Theater. After he said, 'Isn't that amazing?' And I named five pictures that had the same kind of shot. It wasn't original. But if you have to steal, steal from the best." Despite his Oscar nomination for Boogie Nights and a new appreciation of his acting talent by movie critics, Reynolds failed to return to the A list; while work was plentiful, prestige projects were lacking.

He had the lead in Big City Blues (1997) and supporting roles in Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms (1998) and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (1998).

Reynolds returned to directing with Hard Time (1998), an action TV film starring himself. It led to two sequels, which he did not direct, Hard Time: The Premonition (1999) and Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999) (the latter directed by Hal Needham).

He starred in the straight-to-video The Hunter's Moon (1999), Stringer (1999), and Waterproof (2000). He played supporting roles in Pups (1999) and Mystery, Alaska (1999), and had the lead in The Crew (2000) alongside Richard Dreyfuss.

Reynolds directed The Last Producer (2000), starring himself, and was second-billed in Renny Harlin's Driven (2001), starring Sylvester Stallone. He was also in Tempted (2001), Hotel (2001) (directed by Mike Figgis), and The Hollywood Sign (2001).

He voiced Avery Carrington in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, released in 2002.

Reynolds was top-billed in Snapshots with Julie Christie, an $11 million Anglo-Dutch-American picture that failed to find a wide release. He also starred in Time of the Wolf (2002) and Hard Ground (2003), and had supporting roles in Johnson County War (2002) with Tom Berenger, and Miss Lettie and Me (2003) with Mary Tyler Moore.

He was in a series of supporting roles that referred to earlier performances: Without a Paddle (2004), a riff on his role in Deliverance, The Longest Yard (2005), a remake of his 1974 hit with Adam Sandler playing Reynolds' old role (while Reynolds played the Michael Conrad part from the original); and The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) as Boss Hogg in a nod to his performances in 1970s car-chase films.

Reynolds continued to play lead roles in films such as Cloud 9 (2006), Forget About It (2006), Deal (2008), and A Bunch of Amateurs (2008), and supporting parts in End Game (2006), Grilled (2006), Broken Bridges (2006), In the Name of the King (2007), Not Another Not Another Movie (2011), and Reel Love (2011).

He had a guest role in an episode of Burn Notice, "Past & Future Tense" (2010).

Reynolds voiced himself as the Mayor of Steelport in Saints Row: The Third, released in 2011. Players can recruit Reynolds as a "homie", depending on their in-game choices.

Reynolds also voiced himself in the animated series Archer, in the episode "The Man from Jupiter" (2012). The character of Sterling Archer was largely inspired by Burt Reynolds.

He was top billed in Category 5 (2014) and Elbow Grease (2016) and could be seen in key roles in Pocket Listing (2016), and Hollow Creek (2015). He returned to a regular role on TV in Hitting the Breaks (2016) but it only ran for ten episodes. He was in Apple of My Eye (2016) and took the lead in The Last Movie Star (2017).

In May 2018, Reynolds joined the cast of Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as George Spahn (an eighty year old blind man who rented out his ranch to Charles Manson), but he died before shooting his scenes and was replaced by Bruce Dern.

Posthumous releases
Reynolds appeared posthumously in the 2019 film An Innocent Kiss as well as in the 2020 film Defining Moments, which includes his final performance.

Other ventures
Reynolds was credited as the author of a 1972 mass market paperback book Hot Line: The Letters I Get...And Write! that featured semi-nude "beefcake" photos of the actor, playing up his image as a male sex symbol. He also published two autobiographies, My Life in 1994 and But Enough About Me in 2015.

Reynolds co-authored the 1997 children's book, Barkley Unleashed: A Pirate's Tail, a "whimsical tale [that] illustrates the importance of perseverance, the wonders of friendship and the power of imagination".

In 1973, Reynolds released the country/easy listening album Ask Me What I Am. He also sang in two movie musicals: At Long Last Love (1975) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).

Personal life
Reynolds in college "was so good-looking, I used him as bait," college roommate Lee Corso recalled. "He'd walk across campus and bring back two girls, one beautiful and one ugly; I got the ugly girl. His ugly girlfriends were better than anyone I could get on my own."

Marriages and long-term relationships
Reynolds was married to English actress Judy Carne from 1963 to 1965. He lived with actress Miko Mayama from 1968 to 1971. He and American singer-actress Dinah Shore (20 years his senior) were in a relationship from early 1971 until 1975. In the mid-1970s, Reynolds briefly dated singer Tammy Wynette.

He had a relationship from 1976 to 1980 (then off-and-on until 1982) with American actress Sally Field, during which time they appeared together in four films. In 2016, he regarded Field as the love of his life.

Reynolds was married to American actress Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1994. They adopted a son, Quinton. He and Anderson separated after he fell in love with a cocktail waitress, Pam Seals, with whom he later traded lawsuits, which were settled out of court.

Professional sports
A lifelong fan of football, he once told Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show he would rather have played in the NFL than win an Oscar. Reynolds was a minority owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL from 1982 to 1986. The team's name was inspired by the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy and Skoal Bandit, a primary sponsor for the team as a result of also sponsoring Reynolds' motor racing team.

Reynolds co-owned a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team, Mach 1 Racing, with Hal Needham, which ran the No. 33 Skoal Bandit car with driver Harry Gant.

Restaurants and dinner theater
In the late 1970s, Reynolds opened Burt's Place, a nightclub restaurant in the Omni International Complex in Atlanta in the Hotel District of Downtown Atlanta. The establishment closed after a year. ("Burt's Place" also was the name of a building that was part of the guest house complex at Reynolds' Tequesta, Florida estate in Palm Beach County, Florida.)

He also owned the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Jupiter, Florida, with a focus on training young performers looking to enter show business. The theater opened in 1979 and was later renamed the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theater. Reynolds operated it until 1989 and leased it until 1996. It went through a series of ownership changes until becoming the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in 2004.

In 1984, he opened a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, named Burt & Jacks, which he co-owned with Jack Jackson. The restaurant was defunct at the time of his death.

Partnering with Killen Music Group owner Buddy Killen, Reynolds invested in Po' Folks, a chain of country-cooking, family-style restaurants located in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The chain, which was named after a Bill Anderson song, along with subsequent Killen-Reynolds investment in another Southern restaurant chain, failed.

Personal bankruptcy
During the height of his film career, Reynolds made up to $10 million a year. However, he proved to be a poor businessman.

Along with music industry executive Buddy Killen, who produced his 1973 country and western/easy listening album Ask Me What I Am, Reynolds invested in Po' Folks, a Southern regional restaurant chain named after a Bill Anderson song. As Po' Folks failed, Reynolds and Killen invested in another regional chain, Daisy's Diner, which also failed. Reynolds had invested the capital as an individual, not through a corporate investment vehicle, and was personally responsible for the liabilities when Po' Folks and the Daisy's Diner failed. In all, his investments in the restaurant industry led to losses of $20 million.

Reynolds suffered a steep decline in his career earnings after the cancellation of Evening Shade, as his popularity waned due to bad publicity from his divorce from Loni Anderson, which became tabloid fodder. His decline in earnings as an actor plus the heavy expense of his divorce settlement, child support and alimony payments to Anderson caused a cash crunch by the mid-1990s.

CBS, the network that produced Evening Shade and handled the program's syndication, sued him for failing to repay a $3.7 million loan in 1996. Subsequently, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, due in part to an extravagant lifestyle, a divorce from Loni Anderson and failed investments in restaurant chains. Reynolds emerged from bankruptcy two years later.

During his bankruptcy proceedings, Reynolds listed $6.65 million in assets against debts totaling $11.2 million.

On August 16, 2011, Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation filed foreclosure papers, claiming Reynolds owed US$1.2 million on his home in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Until its sale during bankruptcy, he owned the Burt Reynolds Ranch, where scenes for Smokey and the Bandit were filmed and which once had a petting zoo. In April 2014, the 153-acre (62 ha) rural property was rezoned for residential use and the Palm Beach County school system was empowered to sell it, which it did to the residential developer K. Hovnanian Homes.

Health problems
Reynolds suffered from hypoglycemia, which he discussed publicly on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. During his numerous appearances on The Tonight Show, Reynolds also told Johnny Carson that he suffered from anxiety.

The Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures awarded the Richard “Diamond” Farnsworth Award to Reynolds in 2015. Richard Farnsworth was a stunt man who made the transition into a successful acting career. Having performed stunts when breaking into Hollywood, the debilitating health problems of an aging stunt man was central to the storyline of his 1978 film Hooper, which is subtitled on the poster "The Greatest Stuntman Alive."

Reynolds, who claimed he was a card-carrying member of the stunt performers guild, often performed his own stunts in movies, such as the fall over the waterfall in Deliverance, where he injured his coccyx. He also had to be operated on for a hernia that resulted from a fight scene in The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.

His worst on-set injury occurred while filming City Heat in 1984, Reynolds was struck in the face with a metal chair on the first day of filming, which resulted in temporomandibular joint dysfunction. He was restricted to a liquid diet and lost thirty pounds from not eating. The painkillers he was prescribed led to addiction, which lasted several years. He underwent back surgery in 2009 and a quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery in February 2010.

Death and tributes
Reynolds died of a heart attack at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, on September 6, 2018, at the age of 82. His ex-wife Loni Anderson and their son Quinton held a private memorial service for Reynolds at a funeral home in North Palm Beach, Florida, on September 20. Those in attendance included Sally Field, FSU coach Bobby Bowden, friend Lee Corso, and quarterback Doug Flutie. Reynolds' body was cremated and his ashes were given to his niece, Nancy Lee Brown Hess. He was subsequently interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on February 11, 2021. In September of that year, a bronze bust of Reynolds was placed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

On the day of Reynolds' death, Antenna TV, which airs The Tonight Show nightly, aired an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from February 11, 1982, featuring an interview and a This Is Your Life-style skit with Reynolds. The local media in Atlanta and elsewhere in the state noted on their television news programs that evening that he was the first to make major films in Georgia, all of which were successful, which helped make the state one of the top filming locations in the country. The Florida State football team honored Reynolds with helmet decals reading "BAN ONE", in the design and style of the license plate of the Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit, plus Reynolds' signature, worn for the rest of the 2018 season. His niece, Nancy Lee Hess, produced a 2020 biography and documentary about Reynolds titled I Am Burt Reynolds.

Legacy and appraisal
During the height of his career, Reynolds was considered a male sex symbol and icon of American masculinity. Stephen Dalton wrote in The Hollywood Reporter that Reynolds "always seemed to embody an uncomplicated, undiluted, effortlessly likable strain of American masculinity that was driven much more by sunny mischief than angsty machismo." Reynolds's roles were often defined by his larger-than-life physicality and masculinity, contrasted with juvenile but self-aware humor. Though he was not considered a serious dramatic actor during his heyday, his later career was defined by performances that often reflected on his own reputation, creating what Dalton called "sophisticated, soulful performances."

Michael Chiklis has credited Reynolds for rescuing his acting career when Reynolds hired him for a role in B.L. Stryker after Chiklis was "blackballed" for his involvement in portraying John Belushi in the film Wired (1989). Chiklis said that Reynolds knew what Chiklis was going through because he “grew up during the McCarthy era and didn’t believe in blackballing.”

Accolades
Reynolds was nominated twice for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series in 1991 and 1992 for Evening Shade, winning in 1991 and losing to Craig T. Nelson in Coach the following year.

He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1998, losing out to Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.

Reynolds won Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor In A Television Series-Musical or Comedy for Evening Shade in 1992, and as Best Supporting Actor in Boogie Nights in 1998. He also was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Television Series-Drama for Dan August in 1971, as Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy for The Longest Yard in 1975 and as Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical/Comedy for Starting Over in 1980. He also received Best Actor in a TV series nominations for Evening Shade in 1991 and 1993.

Reynolds won four People's Choice Awards, as Favorite Motion Picture Actor and Favorite All-Around Male in 1983, as Favorite Motion Picture Actor (tied with Clint Eastwood) in 1984, and as Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Series in 1991.

In 2015, the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures awarded Reynolds the Richard “Diamond” Farnsworth Award, named after Richard Farnsworth, the career stunt man who made the transition into a successful acting career.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in 1981 and later endorsed the construction of a new performing arts facility in Sarasota, Florida.

There is a Burt Reynolds Park in Jupiter, Florida, maintained by Palm Beach County.

Discography

 * Ask Me What I Am (1973)

Works

 * Reynolds, Burt. (1994) My Life. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6130-4
 * Reynolds, Burt (with Bruce Chadwick). (1994) Seminole Seasons. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company.  ISBN 0-8783-3869-1
 * Reynolds, Burt (with Victoria Preminger and Antonia Zehler) (1997) Barkley Unleashed: A Pirate's Tail. Dove Kids Book & Audio.  ISBN 0-7871-1027-2 (children's book)
 * Reynolds, Burt. (2015) But Enough About Me: A Memoir. G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-3991-7354-4

title: Burt Reynolds


text:
UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT is the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business. It was established as an intergovernmental body of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in 1996 and evolved from UNECE's long tradition of work in trade facilitation which began in 1957.

UN/CEFACT's goal is "Simple, Transparent and Effective Processes for Global Commerce." It aims to help business, trade and administrative organizations from developed, developing and transition economies to exchange products and services effectively. To this end, it focuses on simplifying national and international transactions by harmonizing processes, procedures and information flows related to these transactions, rendering these more efficient and streamlined, with the ultimate goal of contributing to the growth of global commerce.

Trade facilitation and electronic business
UN/CEFACT focusses on two main areas of activity to make international trade processes more efficient and streamlined, namely: trade facilitation and electronic business.

Trade facilitation involves the simplification of trade procedures (or the elimination of unnecessary procedures). This includes work to standardize and harmonize the core information used in trade documents, to ease the flow of information between parties by relying on appropriate information and communication technology, and to promote simplified payment systems to foster transparency, accountability and cost-effectiveness.

Electronic business, in the UN/CEFACT context, focuses on harmonizing, standardizing and automating the exchange of information that controls the flow of goods along the international supply chain. UN/CEFACT's work on electronic business is driven by the understanding that goods cannot move faster than the processes and information that accompany them.

UN/CEFACT takes a total trade transaction approach to trade facilitation and associated electronic business, covering all the processes from initial placement of orders through to final payments. This is best illustrated through the UN/CEFACT Buy-Ship-Pay model of the international supply chain, which forms the basis of its work.

Deliverables
UN/CEFACT has produced over 30 trade facilitation recommendations and a range of electronic business standards (collectively referred to as “instruments”) which are used throughout the world by both governments and the private sector. They reflect best practices in trade procedures and data and documentary requirements. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has adopted many of them as international standards.

UN/CEFACT Recommendations and Standards are implemented throughout the world. Some of the more well known instruments are:

Recommendation 1: United Nations Layout Key (UNLK) for Trade Documents. This provides an international basis for the standardized layout of documents used in international trade. The Layout Key facilitates the exchange of information between the various parties involved in a commercial transaction and is used as the basis for many key trade documents such as the European Union's Single Administrative Document (SAD); FIATA's Freight Forwarding Instruction; UNECE's Dangerous Goods Declaration; and the World Customs Organization (WCO) Goods Declaration for Export. Use of the UN Layout Key is specifically recommended in the WCO's Revised Kyoto Convention. It is important to note that the Layout Key is so widely used in international trade that many expect normal trade documents to conform to the Recommendation.

Recommendation 16: UN/LOCODE Code for Trade and Transport Locations provides an alphabetic code for seaports, airports, inland freight terminals and other customs clearance sites. Recommended by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), it is used by most major shipping companies and also by the universal Postal Union (UPU). UN/LOCODE's website is regularly visited, accounting for 6% of all “hits” to the UNECE website. The first issue of UN/LOCODE in 1981 provided codes to represent the names of some 8000 locations in the world. Today, UN/LOCODE, which is updated twice annually, contains almost 100 000 entries with strong demand for further updates and extension. Every recognised national and international airport or maritime port will have a UN/LOCODE coding.

Recommendation 25 and the UN/EDIFACT Standard represent a set of internationally agreed standards, directories, and guidelines for the electronic interchange of structured data, between independent computerized information systems. UN/EDIFACT is the international standard for Electronic data interchange and is used throughout the commercial and administrative world. UN/EDIFACT accounts for over 90% of all electronic data interchange (EDI) messages exchanged globally. UN/EDIFACT messages are used by almost all national customs administrations, all major seaports and a large range of companies (including over 100 000 in the retail sector), and throughout international supply chains. For example, more than 7 million EDIFACT messages are exchanged each year in the French agricultural supply chain.

Recommendation 33 on Single Windows proposes that governments establish a Single Window facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements. A suite of complementary Single Window Recommendations has also been developed, namely Recommendation 34 on Data Simplification and Standardization and 35 on Establishing a Legal Framework for Single Windows.

A family of Supply Chain “Cross-Industry” messages are exchanged globally between trading partners covering the majority of business-to-business (B2B) electronic exchanges from order to payment. One of the key documents within this family is the Cross Industry Invoice (CII) which functions primarily as a request for payment, used as a key document for Value Added Tax (VAT) declaration and reclamation, for statistics declarations and to support export and import declarations in international trade.

The eDAPLOS message describes the data crop sheet exchanged between farmers and their partners. This message has allowed users to harmonize the definitions of technical data, develop consensual data dictionaries which can be used as a basis for all the steps of traceability and create a standardized Crop Data Sheet message. DAPLOS, which is based on the UN/CEFACT Core Component Library, has been adopted by 25 000 farmers and regional agriculture chambers in France and Belgium.

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) has developed a version of their declaration using the Core Component Library of UN/CEFACT and has generated an XML message according to the specifications of UN/CEFACT. CITES is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. The CITES declarations are used in customs clearance procedures in all countries around the globe.

Benefits
Governments, traders and consumers all benefit from having simpler and more cost-effective trade procedures. UN/CEFACT's work is particularly relevant for developing countries, where the elimination of trade-related inefficiencies is many times more beneficial than the reduction or removal of tariff barriers to trade. In addition, UN/CEFACT's work is of particular benefit to landlocked countries and countries distant from major markets. These countries experience challenges and constraints resulting from complex and inefficient procedures, including the creation of many additional costs in bringing goods to market. The gains from this work are considerable for small and medium-sized enterprises, for which the costs of compliance with various trade-related procedures are proportionally higher. This is particularly true in the case of low-value shipments, where the cost of administrative procedures represents a large proportion of total cost.

Structure
In view of the global character of its work on trade facilitation and electronic business standards, UN/CEFACT is open to representatives of all UN member states and all organisations recognized by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The participation of developing countries and countries in transition in standards development processes is strongly encouraged.

The highest authority regarding all aspects of UN/CEFACT's work is the intergovernmental Plenary which meets once a year in Geneva. Delegations to the Plenary include UN member states, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) recognized by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Only UN member states have the right to vote at Plenary meetings – all other members are observers.

The Plenary elects the UN/CEFACT Bureau which consists of a chair and at least four vice-chairs. The Bureau acts in the name of the Plenary between sessions and meets physically an average of four times per year and more frequently through virtual conference calls.

Each UN member state may nominate a permanent Head of Delegation (HOD) to UN/CEFACT. HODs participate in the Plenary, are consulted by the bureau on key strategic issues, and are responsible for nominating experts to participate in UN/CEFACT activities.

The technical work to develop UN/CEFACT standards and recommendations is done by over 200 volunteer experts from around the world, nominated by HODs. The experts come from both the public and the private sectors, forming a public-private partnership in support of trade facilitation and electronic business. They participate as independent volunteer experts in their own right, without representing any special interests of their countries or institutions. The experts are representatives from:

 * Governments
 * Private companies
 * Intergovernmental organizations
 * Industry associations (representing large collective groups of private-sector companies)
 * Academia

UN/CEFACT experts meet physically in UN/CEFACT Forums, which are held twice a year (one in Geneva and one hosted by a UN member state) in order to coordinate their work. The vast majority of the work is done virtually between forums.

UNECE provides secretarial support to UN/CEFACT in order that the Centre may implement its programme of work. Annually, the UN/CEFACT Bureau (acting on behalf of the Plenary) and the UNECE Secretariat plan for the implementation of UN/CEFACT's programme of work, taking into account the resources available from both the United Nations and externally. The secretariat takes responsibility for supporting the work of UN/CEFACT including supporting the maintenance of Recommendations and standards; and handles the administrative functions related to UN/CEFACT, including UN oversight, organizing meetings and preparing official documents and papers. The technical work of standards development is undertaken by the UN/CEFACT experts.

Some important users of UN/CEFACT norms, standards and recommendations
 * Governments of Australia, Canada, France and New Zealand: for agricultural trade certificates
 * Government of Canada: for its air cargo security initiative
 * Government of France: for, the transfer of digital records and public procurement (all under current development)
 * Government of India: for its ports management system
 * Government of the Republic of Korea: for public procurement services
 * Government of the United States of America: for defence contract compliance reporting and for material safety data sheets (the latter being used in transport of dangerous goods)
 * Governments of Central Asian and South East European (SEE) countries: for Single Window capacity-building and implementation
 * Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Government of India: for development of electronic trade documents
 * Southeast European countries: for work on customs corridors
 * World Customs Organization and numerous national Customs administrations, S.W.I.F.T and ISO 20022 (Finance): for data formats and definitions
 * World Trade Organization negotiators on trade facilitation: as examples of relevant standards and recommendations particularly for aligned documents and Single Windows
 * Global Standards 1 (GS1): for all trade messages (with approximately 110,000 companies having implemented these)
 * International insurance industry: for coverage and claims
 * European gas and electricity industries: for information exchange
 * Japanese construction industry: for e-tendering
 * Japanese tourism industry: for rental of small-scale lodging houses
 * European transport companies: for the exchange of short sea-transport information
 * Numerous Governments in both developed and developing countries: for aligned documents
 * Most shipping companies, container operators, terminal operators and others in the maritime shipping industry: for almost all maritime shipping messages through EDIFACT messages.

The UN/CEFACT electronic data forms
The following 94 forms are until May 2014 (version D13B), developed by UN/CEFACT. In September 2017, this was increased to 123 forms (XML Schemas)

 * AAA Accounting Entry Message
 * AAA Accounting Journal List Message
 * AAA Accounting Message
 * AAA Bundle Collection Message
 * AAA Chart Of Accounts Message
 * AAA Ledger Message
 * AAA Reporting Message
 * AAA Trial Balance Message
 * Acknowledgement
 * Agronomical Observation Report
 * Animal Inspection Message
 * Contract Summary Data
 * Cost Data
 * Cost Schedule
 * Crop Data Sheet Message
 * Cross Border Livestock
 * Cross Industry Catalogue
 * Cross Industry Demand Forecast Response
 * Cross Industry Demand Forecast
 * Cross Industry Despatch Advice
 * Cross Industry Inventory Forecast
 * Cross Industry Invoice
 * Cross Industry Order Change
 * Cross Industry Order Response
 * Cross Industry Order
 * Cross Industry Quotation Proposal Response
 * Cross Industry Quotation Proposal
 * Cross Industry Remittance Advice
 * Cross Industry Request For Quotation Response
 * Cross Industry Request For Quotation
 * Cross Industry Supply Instruction
 * Cross Industry Supply Notification
 * Data Specification Profile
 * Data Specification Query
 * Data Specification Request
 * Data Specification
 * Electronic Animal Passport Message
 * Electronic Data Exchange Proxy
 * Examination Result Notification
 * FLUX ACDR Message
 * FLUX Response Message
 * FLUX Vessel Position Message
 * Funding Data
 * Invitation To Tender
 * Laboratory Observation Report
 * Letter Of Invitation To Tender
 * Lodging House Information Request
 * Lodging House Information Response
 * Lodging House Reservation Request
 * Lodging House Reservation Response
 * Lodging House Travel Product Information
 * Material Safety Data Sheet
 * MSI Request
 * MSI
 * Network Schedule
 * Prequalification Application
 * Project Artefact Profile
 * Project Artefact Query
 * Project Artefact Request
 * Project Artefact
 * Qualification Application
 * Qualification Result Notice
 * RASFF Notification Message
 * Reception Of Prequalification Application
 * Reception Of Qualification Application
 * Reception Of Registration Application
 * Reception Of Request For Tender Information
 * Reception Of Response Of Tender Guarantee
 * Reception Of Tender Guarantee
 * Reception Of Tender
 * Registration Application
 * Reporting Calendar Data
 * Report Structure
 * Request For Tender Information
 * Resourcing Data
 * Response Of Tender Guarantee
 * Schedule Calendar Data
 * SPSAcknowledgement
 * SPSCertificate
 * Tender Guarantee
 * Tender Information
 * Tender Result Notice
 * Tender
 * Thresholds
 * TMW Cancellation Message
 * TMW Certificate Of Waste Receipt Message
 * TMW Certificate Of Waste Recovery Disposal Message
 * TMW Confirmation Of Message Receipt Message
 * TMW Movement Announcement Message
 * TMW Notification Acknowledgement Message
 * TMW Notification Decision Message
 * TMW Notification Submission Message
 * TMW Request For Further Notification Information Message
 * TMW Transport Statement Message

title: UN/CEFACT