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Christopher Nolan

Sir Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. Nolan's films have earned over $6 billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing film director of all time. His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two British Academy Film Awards. Nolan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019, and received a knighthood in 2024 for his contributions to film.

Nolan developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. After studying English literature at University College London, he made several short films before his feature film debut with Following (1998). Nolan gained international recognition with his second film, Memento (2000), and transitioned into studio filmmaking with Insomnia (2002). He became a high-profile director with The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), and found further success with The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017). After the release of Tenet (2020), Nolan parted ways with longtime distributor Warner Bros. Pictures, and signed with Universal Pictures for the biographical thriller Oppenheimer (2023), which won him Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

Nolan's work regularly features in the listings of best films of their respective decades. Infused with a metaphysical outlook, his films thematise epistemology, existentialism, ethics, the construction of time, and the malleable nature of memory and personal identity. They feature mathematically inspired images and concepts, unconventional narrative structures, practical special effects, experimental soundscapes, large-format film photography, and materialistic perspectives. He has co-written several of his films with his brother, Jonathan, and runs the production company Syncopy Inc. with his wife, Emma Thomas.

Early life
Christopher Edward Nolan was born on 30 July 1970, in Westminster, London. His father, Brendan James Nolan, was a British advertising executive of Irish descent who worked as a creative director. His mother, Christina Jensen, was an American flight attendant from Evanston, Illinois; she would later work as a teacher of English. He has an elder brother, Matthew, and a younger brother, Jonathan, also a filmmaker. The three brothers were raised Catholic in Highgate and would spend their summers in Evanston. Nolan also spent time living in Chicago during his youth, and he holds both UK and US citizenship.

Growing up, Nolan was particularly influenced by the work of Sir Ridley Scott and the science fiction films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Star Wars (1977). He would repeatedly watch the latter film and extensively research its making. Nolan began making films at the age of seven, borrowing his father's Super8 camera and shooting short films with his action figures. These films included a stop motion animation homage to Star Wars called Space Wars. He cast his brother Jonathan and built sets from "clay, flour, egg boxes and toilet rolls". His uncle, who had worked at NASA building guidance systems for the Apollo rockets, sent him some launch footage: "I re-filmed them off the screen and cut them in, thinking no-one would notice", Nolan later remarked. From the age of 11, he aspired to be a professional filmmaker. Between 1981 and 1983, Nolan enrolled at Barrow Hills, a Catholic prep school in Witley, Surrey. In his teenage years, Nolan started making films with Adrien and Roko Belic. Nolan and Roko co-directed the surreal 8mm Tarantella (1989), which was shown on Image Union, an independent film and video showcase on the Public Broadcasting Service. After a fan posted a copy of Tarantella online, in 2021, Nolan's production company filed a copyright infringement claim, to have the film removed.

Nolan was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, an independent school in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, and later studied English literature at University College London (UCL). Opting out of a traditional film education, he pursued "a degree in something unrelated", which his father suggested "gives a different take on things". He chose UCL specifically for its filmmaking facilities, which comprised a Steenbeck editing suite and 16mm film cameras. Nolan was president of the Union's Film Society, and with Emma Thomas (his girlfriend and future wife) he screened feature films in 35mm during the school year and used the money earned to produce 16mm films over the summers.

1993–2003: Early career and breakthrough
After earning his bachelor's degree in English literature in 1993, Nolan worked as a script reader, camera operator and director of corporate films and industrial films. He directed, wrote and edited the short film Larceny (1996), which was filmed over a weekend in black and white with limited equipment and a small cast and crew. Funded by Nolan and shot with the UCL Union Film society's equipment, it appeared at the Cambridge Film Festival in 1996 and is considered one of UCL's best shorts. For unknown reasons, the film has since been removed from public view. Nolan filmed a third short, Doodlebug (1997), about a man seemingly chasing an insect with his shoe, only to discover that it is a miniature of himself.

Nolan and Thomas first attempted to make a feature in the mid-1990s titled Larry Mahoney, which they scrapped. During this period in his career, Nolan had little to no success getting his projects off the ground, facing several rejections; he added, "[T]here's a very limited pool of finance in the UK. To be honest, it's a very clubby kind of place ... Never had any support whatsoever from the British film industry."

Shortly after abandoning Larry Mahoney, Nolan conceived the idea for his first feature, Following (1998), which he wrote, directed, photographed and edited. The film depicts an unemployed young writer (Jeremy Theobald) who trails strangers through London, hoping they will provide material for his first novel, but is drawn into a criminal underworld when he fails to keep his distance. It was inspired by Nolan's experience of living in London and having his apartment burgled; he observed that the common attribute between larceny and pursuing someone through a crowd was that they both cross social boundaries. Co-produced by Nolan with Thomas and Theobald, it was made on a budget of around £3,000. Most of the cast and crew were friends of Nolan, and shooting took place on weekends over the course of a year. To conserve film stock, each scene was rehearsed extensively to ensure that the first or second take could be used in the final edit. Following won several awards during its festival run and was well-received by critics who labelled Nolan a majorly talented debutant. Scott Timberg of New Times LA wrote that it "echoed Hitchcock classics", but was "leaner and meaner". Janet Maslin of The New York Times was impressed with its "spare look" and "agile hand-held camerawork", saying, "As a result, the actors convincingly carry off the before, during and after modes that the film eventually, and artfully, weaves together."

Following success afforded Nolan the opportunity to make Memento (2000), which became his breakthrough film. His brother Jonathan pitched the idea to him, about a man with anterograde amnesia who uses notes and tattoos to hunt for his wife's murderer. Jonathan worked the idea into a short story, "Memento Mori" (2001), and Nolan developed it into a screenplay that told the story in reverse. Aaron Ryder, an executive for Newmarket Films, said it was "perhaps the most innovative script I had ever seen". The film was optioned and given a budget of $4.5million, with Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss in the starring roles. Newmarket also distributed the film after it was rejected by studios who feared that it would not attract a wide audience. Following a positive word of mouth and screenings in 500 theatres, it earned $40million. Memento premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2000 to critical acclaim. Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote in his review, "I can't remember when a movie has seemed so clever, strangely affecting and slyly funny at the very same time." In the book The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, Basil Smith drew a comparison with John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which argues that conscious memories constitute our identities – a theme Nolan explores in the film. Memento earned Nolan many accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, as well as two Independent Spirit Awards: Best Director and Best Screenplay. Six critics listed it as one of the best films of the 2000s. In 2001, Nolan and Emma Thomas founded the production company Syncopy Inc.

Impressed by his work on Memento, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh recommended Nolan to Warner Bros. to direct the psychological thriller Insomnia (2002), although the studio initially wanted a more seasoned director. A remake of the 1997 Norwegian thriller of the same name, the film is viewed as "the outlier of Nolan's filmography" due to its perceived lack of unconventionality he is known for. Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank, Insomnia follows two Los Angeles detectives sent to a northern Alaskan town to investigate the murder of a local teenager. It received positive reviews from critics and earned $113million against a budget of $46million. Film critic Roger Ebert praised the film for introducing new perspectives and ideas on the issues of morality and guilt, adding, "Unlike most remakes, the Nolan Insomnia is not a pale retread, but a re-examination of the material, like a new production of a good play." Richard Schickel of Time deemed Insomnia a "worthy successor" to Memento and "a triumph of atmosphere over a none-too-mysterious mystery".

Following, Memento and Insomnia established Nolan's image as an "auteur". After the lattermost, he wrote a screenplay for a Howard Hughes biopic. Nolan reluctantly tabled his script after learning that Martin Scorsese was already making one such film: The Aviator (2004). He was then briefly attached to direct a film adaptation of Ruth Rendell's novel The Keys to the Street for Fox Searchlight Pictures but chose to direct Batman Begins instead. Nolan turned down an offer to direct the historical epic Troy (2004). In April 2003, filmmaker David O. Russell put Nolan in a headlock at a Hollywood party after learning that Jude Law, whom Russell wanted to cast, had decided to work with Nolan instead. Russell pressured Nolan to display "artistic solidarity" by relinquishing Law from his cast.

2003–2013: Widespread recognition
In early 2003, Nolan approached Warner Bros. with the idea of making a new Batman film, based on the character's origin story. Nolan was fascinated by the notion of grounding it in a more realistic world than a comic-book fantasy. He relied heavily on traditional stunts and miniature effects during filming, with minimal use of computer-generated imagery (CGI). Batman Begins (2005), the biggest project Nolan had undertaken to that point, was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. Starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman—along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson—Batman Begins revived the franchise. Batman Begins was 2005's ninth-highest-grossing film and was praised for its psychological depth and contemporary relevance; it is cited as one of the most influential films of the 2000s. Film author Ian Nathan wrote that within five years of his career, Nolan "[went] from unknown to indie darling to gaining creative control over one of the biggest properties in Hollywood, and (perhaps unwittingly) fomenting the genre that would redefine the entire industry".

Nolan directed, co-wrote and produced The Prestige (2006), an adaptation of the Christopher Priest novel about two rival 19th-century magicians. The screenplay was the result of an intermittent, five-year collaboration between him and his brother Jonathan, who had begun writing it already in 2001. Nolan initially intended to make the film as early as 2003, but had postponed the project after agreeing to make Batman Begins. Starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in the lead roles of rival magicians, The Prestige received critical acclaim and received two Academy Award nominations. Roger Ebert described it as "quite a movie – atmospheric, obsessive, almost satanic", and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it an "ambitious, unnerving melodrama". The Guardian Philip French wrote: "In addition to the intellectual or philosophical excitement it engenders, The Prestige is gripping, suspenseful, mysterious, moving and often darkly funny." Despite a negative box-office prognosis, the film earned over $109million against a budget of $40million.

The Dark Knight (2008), the follow-up to Batman Begins, was Nolan's next venture. Initially reluctant to make a sequel, he agreed after Warner Bros. repeatedly insisted. Nolan wanted to expand on the noir quality of the first film by broadening the canvas and taking on "the dynamic of a story of the city, a large crime story... where you're looking at the police, the justice system, the vigilante, the poor people, the rich people, the criminals". Continuing to minimise the use of CGI, Nolan employed high-resolution IMAX cameras, making it the first major motion picture to use this technology. The Dark Knight has been ranked as one of the best films of the 2000s and one of the best superhero films ever made. Many critics declare The Dark Knight to be "the most successful comic book film ever made". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times found the film to be of higher artistic merit than many Hollywood blockbusters: "Pitched at the divide between art and industry, poetry and entertainment, it goes darker and deeper than any Hollywood movie of its comic-book kind." Ebert expressed a similar point of view, describing it as a "haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy". The Dark Knight set many box-office records during its theatrical run, earning over $1billion worldwide. At the 81st Academy Awards, the film was nominated in eight categories, winning two: Best Sound Editing for Richard King and a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award for Heath Ledger. The film's failure to garner a Best Picture nomination was criticised by the media. Beginning in 2010, the Academy increased their Best Picture nominees from five to ten, a change known as "The Dark Knight Rule". Nolan received many awards and nominations for his work on the film. In the late 2000s, Nolan was reported to direct a film adaptation of the 1960s television series The Prisoner.

The success of The Dark Knight allowed Warner Bros. to sign Nolan to write, direct and co-produce Inception (2010) – a film for which he had the idea around nine years before its release. Nolan described the film as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind". Starring a large ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, the film became a critical and commercial success upon its release. Film critic Mark Kermode named it the best film of 2010, stating "Inception is proof that people are not stupid, that cinema is not trash, and that it is possible for blockbusters and art to be the same thing." Philosophy professor David Kyle Johnson wrote that "Inception became a classic almost as soon as it was projected on silver screens", praising its exploration of philosophical ideas, including leap of faith and allegory of the cave. The film grossed over $836million worldwide. Nominated for eight Academy Awards—including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay—it won Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. Nolan was nominated for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Director, among other accolades.

Around the release of The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Nolan's third and final Batman film, Joseph Bevan of the British Film Institute wrote a profile on him: "In the space of just over a decade, Christopher Nolan has shot from promising British indie director to undisputed master of a new brand of intelligent escapism." After initial hesitation, Nolan agreed to return to direct The Dark Knight Rises and worked with his brother and David S. Goyer to develop a story that he felt would end the trilogy on a high note. The film was released to positive reviews. Kenneth Turan found the film "potent, persuasive and hypnotic" and "more than an exceptional superhero movie, it is masterful filmmaking by any standard". Christy Lemire of HuffPost wrote in her review that Nolan concluded his trilogy in a "typically spectacular, ambitious fashion", but disliked the "overloaded" story and excessive grimness. The Dark Knight Rises was a box office success, becoming the thirteenth film to gross $1billion. During a midnight showing of the film in Aurora, Colorado, a gunman opened fire inside the theatre, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Nolan released a statement expressing his condolences for the victims of what he described as a "senseless tragedy".

The Dark Knight trilogy inspired a trend in future superhero films seeking to replicate its gritty, realistic tone to little success. The second instalment in particular revitalised the genre at a time when recent superhero films had failed to meet expectations. Ben Child of The Guardian wrote that the three films "will remain thrilling totems of the genre for decades to come". During story discussions for The Dark Knight Rises, Goyer told Nolan of his idea about Man of Steel (2013), which the latter would produce. Impressed with Zack Snyder's work in 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), Nolan hired him to direct the film. Starring Henry Cavill as Clark Kent who learns that he is a powerful alien, Man of Steel received mixed reviews and grossed more than $660million against a budget of $220million.

2014–2019: Interstellar, Dunkirk and other activities

Nolan next directed, wrote and produced the science-fiction film Interstellar (2014). The first drafts of the script were written by Jonathan Nolan, and it was originally to be directed by Steven Spielberg. Based on the scientific theories of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, the film follows a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity. In a 2014 discussion of the film's physics, Nolan expressed his admiration for scientific objectivity, wishing it were applied "in every aspect of our civilisation". Interstellar – starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain – was released to positive reviews and grossed $773million worldwide. Observing its "visual dazzle, thematic ambition", The New York Times A. O. Scott wrote that Interstellar is a "sweeping, futuristic adventure driven by grief, dread and regret". Documentary filmmaker Toni Myers called the film "a real work of art" and praised it for exploring a story spanning multiple generations. Interstellar was particularly praised for its scientific accuracy, which led to the publication of two academic papers. The American Journal of Physics called for it to be shown in school science lessons. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film won Best Visual Effects and received four other nominations. Also in 2014, Nolan and Emma Thomas served as executive producers on Transcendence, the directorial debut of his longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister.

In the mid-2010s, Nolan took part in several ventures for film preservation and distribution of the work of lesser-known filmmakers. His production company, Syncopy, formed a joint venture with Zeitgeist Films to release Blu-ray editions of Zeitgeist's films. As a part of the Blu-ray release of the animation films of the Brothers Quay, Nolan directed the documentary short Quay (2015). He initiated a theatrical tour, showcasing the Quays' In Absentia, The Comb and Street of Crocodiles. IndieWire wrote that the brothers "will undoubtedly have hundreds, if not thousands more fans because of Nolan, and for that The Quay Brothers in 35mm will always be one of [the] latter's most important contributions to cinema". An advocate for the survival of the analogue medium, Nolan and visual artist Tacita Dean invited representatives from leading American film archives, laboratories and presenting institutions to participate in an informal summit entitled Reframing the Future of Film at the Getty Museum in March 2015. Subsequent events were held at Tate Modern in London, Museo Tamayo in Mexico City and Tata Theatre in Mumbai. In April 2015, Nolan joined the board of directors of The Film Foundation, a non-profitable organisation dedicated to film preservation, and was appointed, along with Martin Scorsese, by the Library of Congress to serve on the National Film Preservation Board as DGA representatives. Nolan serves on the Motion Picture & Television Fund Board of Governors.

After serving as an executive producer on Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), Nolan returned to directing with Dunkirk (2017). Based on his own original screenplay and co-produced with Thomas, the film is set amid World War II in 1940 and the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France. Describing the film as a survival tale with a triptych structure, Nolan wanted to make a "sensory, almost experimental movie" with minimal dialogue. He said he waited to make Dunkirk until he had earned the trust of a major studio to let him make it as a British film but with an American budget. Before filming, Nolan sought advice from Spielberg, who later said in an interview with Variety, "knowing and respecting that Chris [Nolan] is one of the world's most imaginative filmmakers, my advice to him was to leave his imagination, as I did on Ryan, in second position to the research he was doing to authentically acquit this historical drama". Starring an ensemble cast, Dunkirk was released to widespread critical acclaim and strong box office results. It grossed over $526million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing World WarII film of all time. In his review, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "It's one of the best war films ever made, distinct in its look, in its approach and in the effect it has on viewers. There are movies—they are rare—that lift you out of your present circumstances and immerse you so fully in another experience that you watch in a state of jaw-dropped awe. Dunkirk is that kind of movie." The film received many accolades, including Nolan's first Oscar nomination for Best Director.

In 2018, Nolan supervised a new 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), made from the original camera negative; he presented it at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. USA Today observed that festival-goers greeted Nolan "like a rock star with a standing ovation". A year later, Nolan and Thomas received executive producer credits on The Doll's Breath (2019), an animated short directed by the Quay brothers.

2020–present: Tenet and Oppenheimer
Nolan's next film was the science fiction film Tenet (2020), described by Tom Shone of The Sunday Times as "a globe-spinning riff on all things Nolanesque". Nolan had worked on the screenplay for more than five years after deliberating about its central ideas for over a decade. Delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tenet was the first Hollywood tent-pole to open in theatres after the pandemic shutdown. The film tells the story of an unnamed protagonist (played by John David Washington) who travels through time to stop a world-threatening attack. It grossed $363million worldwide on a production budget of $200million, becoming Nolan's first to underperform at the box-office. Tenet was described as his most polarising film; critics praised the ambition and technical aspects but found its story confusing. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded it five out of five, calling it "a cerebral cadenza, a deadpan flourish of crazy implausibility—but supercharged with steroidal energy and imagination". Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "a chilly, cerebral film—easy to admire, especially since it's so rich in audacity and originality, but almost impossible to love, lacking as it is in a certain humanity". At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film won Best Visual Effects and was nominated for Best Production Design. Following the release of Tenet, Nolan joined the Advisory Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He served as an executive producer on Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), a director's cut of 2017's Justice League.

Nolan's 12th film was Oppenheimer (2023), a biopic based on J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) and his role in the development of the atom bomb. It was Nolan's first R-rated film since Insomnia (2002). The film was financed and distributed by Universal Pictures, making it Nolan's first since Memento that was not made for Warner Bros. He disagreed with Warner Bros.' decision to simultaneously release their films in theatres and on HBO Max. Nolan secured the deal with Universal after he was promised a production budget of around $100 million with an equal marketing budget, total creative control, 20 per cent of first-dollar gross, a 100-day theatrical window and a blackout period from the studio wherein the company would not release another film three weeks before or after Oppenheimer release. The film received critical acclaim. Matthew Jackson of The A.V. Club wrote, "Oppenheimer deserves the title of masterpiece. It's Christopher Nolan's best film so far, a step up to a new level for one of our finest filmmakers, and a movie that burns itself into your brain." Terming it "boldly imaginative and [Nolan's] most mature work yet", BBC Culture's Caryn James added that it combined the "explosive, commercially-enticing action of The Dark Knight trilogy" with the "cerebral underpinnings" of Memento, Inception and Tenet. Oppenheimer grossed over $960million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2023. Among the film's numerous accolades, Nolan won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

Personal life and public image
Nolan is married to Emma Thomas, whom he met at University College London when he was 19. She has worked as a producer on all of his films since 1997. The couple have four children and reside in Los Angeles.

Nolan prefers to maintain a certain level of mystery about his work. Refusing to discuss his personal life, he feels that too much biographical information about a filmmaker detracts from the experience of his audiences. "I actually don't want people to have me in mind at all when they're watching the films."

Filmmaking style
Nolan's films are largely centred in metaphysical themes, exploring the concepts of time, memory and personal identity. His work is characterised by mathematically inspired ideas and images, unconventional narrative structures, materialistic perspectives, and evocative use of music and sound. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro called Nolan "an emotional mathematician". BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz described him as "an art house auteur making intellectually ambitious blockbuster movies that can leave your pulse racing and your head spinning". Joseph Bevan wrote, "His films allow arthouse regulars to enjoy superhero flicks and multiplex crowds to engage with labyrinthine plot conceits." Nolan views himself as "an indie filmmaker working inside the studio system".

In the sixteen-essay book The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan, professional philosophers and writers analysed Nolan's work; they identified themes of self-destruction, the nature and value of the truth, and the political mindset of the hero and villain, among others. Robbie B. H. Goh, a professor of English literature, described Nolan as a "philosophical filmmaker" who includes philosophical ideas—existentialism, morality, epistemology and the distinction between appearance and reality—in films that frequently portray suspense, action and violence. Goh appreciated his ability to incorporate such themes in films that possess "elements of the Hollywood blockbuster"—which help keep the audiences engaged—but simultaneously remain "more thoughtful and self-reflexive than the typical consumerist action film". He further wrote that Nolan's body of work reflect "a heterogeneity of conditions of products" extending from low-budget films to lucrative blockbusters, "a wide range of genres and settings" and "a diversity of styles that trumpet his versatility".

David Bordwell, a film theorist, wrote that Nolan has been able to blend his "experimental impulses" with the demands of mainstream entertainment, describing his oeuvre as "experiments with cinematic time by means of techniques of subjective viewpoint and crosscutting". Nolan's use of practical, in-camera effects, miniatures and models, as well as shooting on celluloid film, has been highly influential in early 21st century cinema. IndieWire wrote in 2019 that, Nolan "kept a viable alternate model of big-budget filmmaking alive", in an era where blockbuster filmmaking has become "a largely computer-generated art form". Because of Nolan's deep involvement in the technical facet of his films, Stuart Joy described him as a "complete filmmaker", who "oversees all aspects of production while also managing cultural and industrial factors outside of the text".

Recognition
Nolan has made some of the most influential and popular films of his time. Many of his films have been regarded by critics as among the best of their respective decades, and according to The Wall Street Journal, his "ability to combine box-office success with artistic ambition has given him an extraordinary amount of clout in the industry". His films have earned more than $6billion. Nolan's films Memento and The Dark Knight have been selected by the US Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. These films and Inception appeared in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century and The Hollywood Reporter poll of best films ever made. In 2017, The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar featured in Empire magazine's poll of "The 100 Greatest Movies". In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter listed Nolan as one of the 100 most powerful people in entertainment and described him as a "franchise unto himself". Parade ranked Nolan number eight in its 2022 list of 75 Best Movie Directors of All Time.

Nolan's work has been as "intensely embraced, analysed and debated by ordinary film fans as by critics and film academics". Calling him "a persuasively inventive storyteller", Geoff Andrew of the British Film Institute named Nolan one of the few contemporary filmmakers producing highly personal films within the Hollywood mainstream. Andrew wrote that Nolan's films are "not so much [notable] for their considerable technical virtuosity and visual flair as for their brilliant narrative ingenuity and their unusually adult interest in complex philosophical questions". David Bordwell observed that Nolan is "considered one of the most accomplished living filmmakers", citing his ability to turn genre movies into both art and event films, as well as his box office numbers, critical acclaim and popularity among cinemagoers. In 2008, Philip French deemed Nolan "the first major talent to emerge this century". Mark Kermode complimented Nolan for bringing "the discipline and ethics of art-house independent moviemaking and apply[ing] them to Hollywood blockbusters. He's living proof that you don't have to appeal to the lowest common denominator to be profitable". The Observer Ryan Gilbey described Nolan as a "skillful, stylish storyteller, capable of combining the spectacle of Spielberg with the intellectual intricacy of Nicolas Roeg or Alain Resnais". Mark Cousins applauded Nolan for embracing big ideas, "Hollywood filmmakers generally shy away from ideas—but not Christopher Nolan". Scott Foundas of Variety declared Nolan "the premier big-canvas storyteller of his generation", and Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called him "the great proceduralist of 21st century blockbuster filmmaking, a lover of nuts-and-bolts minutiae".

Nolan has been praised by many of his contemporaries, and his work has influenced them. Kenneth Branagh called Nolan's approach to large-scale filmmaking "unique in modern cinema", adding, "regardless of how popular his movies become, he remains an artist and an auteur. I think for that reason he has become a heroic figure for both the audience and the people working behind the camera." Michael Mann complimented Nolan for his "singular vision" and credited with "invent[ing] the post-heroic superhero". Nicolas Roeg said of Nolan, "People talk about 'commercial art' and the term is usually self-negating; Nolan works in the commercial arena and yet there's something very poetic about his work." Martin Scorsese identified Nolan as a filmmaker creating "beautifully made films on a big scale".

Damien Chazelle lauded Nolan for his ability "to make the most seemingly impersonal projects—superhero epics, deep-space mind-benders—feel deeply personal". Discussing the difference between art films and big studio blockbusters, Steven Spielberg referred to Nolan's Dark Knight series as an example of both; he has described Memento and Inception as "masterworks". Denis Villeneuve was impressed by Nolan's ability "to keep his identity and create his own universe in that large scope... To bring intellectual concepts and to bring them in that scope to the screen right now—it's very rare. Every movie that he comes out with, I have more admiration for his work." James Cameron expressed disappointment that Nolan was not nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director for Inception, calling it "the most astounding piece of film creation and direction of the year, hands down".

Filmography

 * Following (1998)
 * Memento (2000)
 * Insomnia (2002)
 * Batman Begins (2005)
 * The Prestige (2006)
 * The Dark Knight (2008)
 * Inception (2010)
 * The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
 * Interstellar (2014)
 * Dunkirk (2017)
 * Tenet (2020)
 * Oppenheimer (2023)

Awards and honours

Nolan has been nominated for eight Academy Awards (winning two), eight British Academy Film Awards (winning two) and six Golden Globe Awards (winning one). Nolan was named an Honorary Fellow of UCL in 2006, and conferred an honorary doctorate in literature in 2017. From 2011 to 2014, he appeared in Forbes Celebrity 100 list based on his income and popularity. In 2012, he became the youngest director to receive a hand-and-footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Nolan appeared in Time 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to film. In 2023, he was awarded the Federation of American Scientists' Public Service Award for his depiction of scientists in his film Oppenheimer. In 2024, Nolan received the British Film Institute Fellowship in recognition of his "extraordinary achievements and enormous contribution to cinema," and the Honorary César award from the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma for "continually push[ing] the boundaries of storytelling." In March 2024, Nolan was made a knight bachelor for his contributions to film, while his wife Emma Thomas was honoured with a damehood.

title: Christopher Nolan


text:
Talk:Whale Rider

Untitled
How about some plot details? -- Zoe

Added some, I saw the picture today. I'm not sure I should say more as it'd be a spoiler for a picture which has not been widely released yet:)

Is there a theme in this movie?

Was there any symboligy with the rope in the movie? I see that the grandfather was talking about how strong the rope was, and how it was like there lineage, but then that rope broke. Then there was the rope that was tied around the whale's tail. Any thoughts?

The girl is the link that fixes the broken rope. The grandfather rejects the fix, and trying again without her, the rope breaks once again.

Maybe someone should add what species it is? I think its a Southern Right Whale. --Mitternacht90 17:21, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Title of Article
Why is this article's title 'The Whale Rider' when the movie's title is 'Whale Rider'? This is an article on the movie, not the book. The article 'The Whale Rider' should be about the book, while the article on the movie should be titled 'Whale Rider'. --Dalziel 86 06:23, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

 * I just came here to this page to say the same exact thing. (JosephASpadaro 17:35, 29 April 2007 (UTC))

Split
I think that the article should be split such as Whale Rider (film), Whale Rider (musical) and Whale Rider (soundtrack). The book itself should be Whale Rider. The main reason is that the book and movie have differences, the musical is based on the movie and book and well the soundtrack is the soundtrack.

Cheers

RIANZ 21:49, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

PS I'm moving the article to what it's suppose to be.

Too short
This article needs to be made longer! An extended plot summary, pictures, trivis; come on now, people! Whale Rider is a great flm and it certainly deserves a longer article than this one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.177.10.223 (talk) 18:57, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

"Koro"
"Koro" is not a name; it is a form of address to an older man, and a way of referring to him. It is often used as the equivalent of "grandad". Koro Neil (talk) 02:08, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Witi Ihimaera on the BBC's World Book Club
A chance to ask questions to improve this article! Witi Ihimaera will be talking about his novel Whale Rider on the BBC radio programme World Book Club. You can submit a question by emailing worldbookclub@bbc.co.uk, by using the form on the World Book Club homepage, or by leaving a message on the World Book Club Facebook page. Recording is on Sunday 9 October 2011, at the Cheltenham Literary Festival. EdQuine (talk) 15:16, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

Versions to the ending
I think I might have watched a different version to the ending, where Paikea drowned and did not survive leading the whales back to sea. The Koro was devastated at the revelation of Paikea's death and her worthiness at the end before the credits rolled. Could anyone confirm is this indeed was an alternate ending? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.91.136.231 (talk) 05:43, 14 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Check newspaper reviews of DVDs. See if they mention deleted scenes. WhisperToMe (talk) 17:26, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Currency?
The Box office section says:

"Whale Rider grossed 6,400,000 in New Zealand and Germany."

What currency is that expressed in?? Invertzoo (talk) 00:26, 2 January 2017 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Whale Rider


text:
OASIS (organization)

The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS; ) is a nonprofit consortium that works on the development, convergence, and adoption of projects - both open standards and open source - for Computer security, blockchain, Internet of things (IoT), emergency management, cloud computing, legal data exchange, energy, content technologies, and other areas.

History
OASIS was founded under the name "SGML Open" in 1993. It began as a trade association of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) tool vendors to cooperatively promote the adoption of SGML through mainly educational activities, though some amount of technical activity was also pursued including an update of the CALS Table Model specification and specifications for fragment interchange and entity management.

In 1998, with the movement of the industry to XML, SGML Open changed its emphasis from SGML to XML, and changed its name to OASIS Open to be inclusive of XML and reflect an expanded scope of technical work and standards. The focus of the consortium's activities also moved from promoting adoption (as XML was getting much attention on its own) to developing technical specifications. In July 2000 a new technical committee process was approved. With the adoption of the process the manner in which technical committees were created, operated, and progressed their work was regularized. At the adoption of the process there were five technical committees; by 2004 there were nearly 70.

During 1999, OASIS was approached by UN/CEFACT, the committee of the United Nations dealing with standards for business, to jointly develop a new set of specifications for electronic business. The joint initiative, called "ebXML" and which first met in November 1999, was chartered for a three-year period. At the final meeting under the original charter, in Vienna, UN/CEFACT and OASIS agreed to divide the remaining work between the two organizations and to coordinate the completion of the work through a coordinating committee. In 2004 OASIS submitted its completed ebXML specifications to ISO TC154 where they were approved as ISO 15000.

The consortium has its headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts, shared with other companies. In December 2020, OASIS moved to its current location, 400 TradeCenter Drive. Previous office locations include 25 Corporate Drive Suite 103 and 35 Corporate Drive, Suite 150, both in Burlington, MA.

Standards development
The following standards are under development or maintained by OASIS technical committees:
 * AMQP — Advanced Message Queuing Protocol, an application layer protocol for message-oriented middleware.
 * BCM — Business Centric-Methodology, BCM is a comprehensive approach and proven techniques that enable a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and support enterprise agility and interoperability.
 * CAM — Content Assembly Mechanism, is a generalized assembly mechanism for using templates of XML business transaction content and the associated rules. CAM templates augment schema syntax and provide implementers with the means to specify interoperable interchange patterns.
 * CAMP — Cloud Application Management for Platforms, is an API for managing public and private cloud applications.
 * CAP — Common Alerting Protocol, is an XML-based data format for exchanging public warnings and emergencies between alerting technologies.
 * CSAF — Common Security Advisory Framework, is the definitive reference for the language which supports creation, update, and interoperable exchange of security advisories as structured information on products, vulnerabilities and the status of impact and remediation among interested parties.
 * CDP — Customer Data Platform, is a specification that aims to standardize the exchange of customer data across systems and silos by defining a web-based API using GraphQL.
 * CMIS — Content Management Interoperability Services, is a domain model and Web services standard for working with Enterprise content management repositories and systems.
 * CIQ — Customer Information Quality, is an XML Specifications for defining, representing, interoperating and managing party information (e.g. name, address).
 * DocBook — DocBook, a markup language for technical documentation. It was originally intended for authoring technical documents related to computer hardware and software but it can be used for any other sort of documentation.
 * DITA — Darwin Information Typing Architecture, a modular and extensible XML-based language for topic-based information, such as for online help, documentation, and training.
 * EML — Election Markup Language, End to End information standards and processes for conducting democratic elections using XML-based information recording.
 * EDXL — Emergency Data Exchange Language, Suite of XML-based messaging standards that facilitate emergency information sharing between government entities and the full range of emergency-related organizations
 * GeoXACML — Geospatial eXtensible Access Control Markup Language, a geo-specific extension to XACML Version 2.0, mainly the geometric data-type urn:ogc:def:dataType:geoxacml:1.0:geometry and several geographic functions such as topological, bag, set, geometric and conversion functions.
 * KMIP — The Key Management Interoperability Protocol tries to establish a single, comprehensive protocol for the communication between enterprise key management systems and encryption systems.
 * Legal XML Legal Document ML (Akoma Ntoso), LegalRuleML, Electronic Court Filing, and eNotarization standards.
 * MQTT — Message Queuing Telemetry Transport, a client-server, publish/subscribe messaging transport protocol. It is light weight, open, simple, and designed to be easy to implement. These characteristics make it ideal for use in many situations, including constrained environments such as for communication in machine to machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) contexts where a small code footprint is required and/or network bandwidth is at a premium.
 * oBIX — open Building Information Exchange, an extensible XML specification for enterprise interaction with building-based (or other) control systems, including HVAC, Access Control, Intrusion Detection, and many others.
 * OData — Open Data Protocol (OData), Simplifying data sharing across disparate applications in enterprise, Cloud, and mobile devices.
 * OpenDocument — OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications, an open document file format for saving office documents such as spreadsheets, memos, charts, and presentations.
 * OSLC — Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration, (OSLC) develops standards that make it easy and practical for software lifecycle tools to share data with one another.
 * PKCS #11 - PKCS #11 standard defines a platform-independent API to cryptographic tokens, such as hardware security modules (HSM) and smart cards, and names the API itself "Cryptoki" (from "cryptographic token interface" and pronounced as "crypto-key" - but "PKCS #11" is often used to refer to the API as well as the standard that defines it).
 * SAML — Security Assertion Markup Language, a standard XML-based framework for the secure exchange of authentication and authorization information.
 * SARIF - Static Analysis Results Interchange Format, a standard JSON-based format for the output of static analysis tools.
 * SDD — Solution Deployment Descriptor, a standard XML-based schema defining a standardized way to express software installation characteristics required for lifecycle management in a multi-platform environment.
 * SPML — Service Provisioning Markup Language, a standard XML-based protocol for the integration and interoperation of service provisioning requests.
 * STIX - Structured Threat Information eXpression, a language for expressing cyber threat and observable information.
 * TAXII - Trusted Automated eXchange of Indicator Information, an application layer protocol for the communication of cyber threat information in a simple and scalable manner.
 * TOSCA — Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications, a Standard to describe cloud services, the relationships between parts of the service, and the operational behavior of the services.
 * UBL — Universal Business Language, the international effort to define a royalty-free library of standard electronic business documents (purchase order, invoice, waybill, etc.) in XML. UBL 2.1 was approved as ISO/IEC 19845:2015. UBL serves as the basis for numerous electronic commerce networks and implementations worldwide.
 * UDDI — Universal Description Discovery and Integration, a platform-independent, XML-based registry for companies and individuals to list Web Services.
 * WebCGM — Web Computer Graphics Metafile, a profile of Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM), which adds Web linking and is optimized for Web applications in technical illustration, electronic documentation, geophysical data visualization, and similar fields.
 * WS-BPEL — Web Services Business Process Execution Language
 * WSDM — Web Services Distributed Management
 * XACML — eXtensible Access Control Markup Language, a standard XML-based protocol for access control policies.
 * XDI — XRI Data Interchange, a standard for sharing, linking, and synchronizing data ("dataweb") across multiple domains and applications using XML documents, eXtensible Resource Identifiers (XRIs), and a new method of distributed data control called a link contract.
 * XLIFF — XML Localization Interchange File Format, a XML-based format created to standardize localization.
 * XRI — eXtensible Resource Identifier, a URI-compatible scheme and resolution protocol for abstract identifiers used to identify and share resources across domains and applications.

Members
Adhesion to the consortium requires some fees to be paid, which must be renewed annually, depending on the membership category adherents want to access. Among the adherents are members from Dell, IBM, ISO/IEC, Cisco Systems, KDE e.V., Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, The Document Foundation, universities, government agencies, individuals and employees from other less-known companies.

Member sections
Member sections are special interest groups within the consortium that focus on specific topics. These sections keep their own distinguishable identity and have full autonomy to define their work programme and agenda. The integration of the member section in the standardization process is organized via the technical committees.

Active member sections are for example:

 * Legal XML
 * IDTrust

Member sections may be completed when they have achieved their objectives. The standards that they promoted are then maintained by the relevant technical committees directly within OASIS. For example:

 * AMQP
 * WS-I

Patent disclosure controversy
Like many bodies producing open standards e.g. ECMA, OASIS added a Reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing (RAND) clause to its policy in February 2005. That amendment required participants to disclose intent to apply for software patents for technologies under consideration in the standard. Contrary to the W3C, which requires participants to offer royalty-free licenses to anyone using the resulting standard, OASIS offers a similar Royalty Free on Limited Terms mode, along with a Royalty Free on RAND Terms mode and a RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory) mode for its committees. Compared to W3C, OASIS is less restrictive regarding obligation to companies to grant a royalty-free license to the patents they own.

Controversy has rapidly arisen because this licensing was added silently and allows publication of standards which could require licensing fee payments to patent holders. This situation could effectively eliminate the possibility of free/open source implementations of these standards. Further, contributors could initially offer royalty-free use of their patent, later imposing per-unit fees, after the standard has been accepted.

On April 11, 2005, The New York Times reported IBM committed for free, all of its patents to the OASIS group. Larry Rosen, a software law expert and the leader of the reaction which rose up when OASIS quietly included a RAND clause in its policy, welcomed the initiative and supposed OASIS will not continue using that policy as other companies involved would follow. History proved him wrong, as that RAND policy has still not been removed and other commercial companies have not published such a free statement towards OASIS.

Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS from 2001 to 2008, minimized the risk that a company could take advantage of a standard to request royalties when it has been established: "If it's an option nobody uses, then what's the harm?".

Sam Hiser, former marketing lead of the now defunct OpenOffice.org, explained that such patents towards an open standard are counterproductive and inappropriate. He also argued that IBM and Microsoft were shifting their standardization efforts from the W3C to OASIS, in a way to leverage probably their patents portfolio in the future. Hiser also attributed this RAND change to the OASIS policy to Microsoft.

The RAND term could indeed theoretically allow any company involved to leverage their patent in the future. But that amendment was probably added in a way to attract more companies to the consortium, and encourage contributions from potential participants. Big actors like Microsoft could have indeed applied pressure and made a sine-qua-non condition to access the consortium, and possibly jeopardize/boycott the standard if such a clause was not present.

Criticism
Doug Mahugh — while working for Microsoft (a promoter of Office Open XML, a Microsoft document format competing with OASIS's ISO/IEC 26300, i.e. ODF v1.0) — claimed that "many countries have expressed frustration about the pace of OASIS's responses to defect reports that have been submitted on ISO/IEC 26300 and the inability for SC 34 members to participate in the maintenance of ODF." However, Rob Weir, co-chair of the OASIS ODF Technical Committee noted that at the time, "the ODF TC had received zero defect reports from any ISO/IEC national body other than Japan". He added that the submitter of the original Japanese defect report, Murata Mokoto, was satisfied with the preparation of the errata. He also self-published a blog post blaming Microsoft of involving people to improve and modify the accuracy of ODF and OpenXML Wikipedia articles, trying to make ODF sound risky to adopt.

title: OASIS (organization)


text:
Diary of a Madman

Diary of a Madman may refer to:

Films

 * Diary of a Madman (film), a 1963 horror film starring Vincent Price
 * Diary of a Madman (1990 film), directed by Ronan O'Leary, cinematography by Walter Lassally

Literature

 * Diary of a Madman (Nikolai Gogol), a short story by Nikolai Gogol
 * Diary of a Madman (Guy de Maupassant), a short story by Guy de Maupassant
 * Diary of a Madman (Lu Xun), a short story by Lu Xun, also known as A Madman's Diary
 * Diary of a Lunatic, a short story by Leo Tolstoy sometimes translated as "The Diary of a Madman"
 * Diary of a Mad Old Man, a novel by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
 * Diary of a Madman, a memoir by rapper Scarface

Music

 * Diary of a Madman (album), by Ozzy Osbourne, or the title track
 * "Diary of a Madman" (song), by Gravediggaz
 * The Diary of a Madman (opera), a 1958 chamber opera by Humphrey Searle

title: Diary of a Madman


text:
Connie Booth

Connie Booth (born December 2, 1940 ) is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese. In 1995, she quit acting and worked as a psychotherapist until her retirement.

Early life
Booth was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on December 2, 1940. Her father was a Wall Street stockbroker and her mother an actress. The family later moved to New York State. Booth entered acting and worked as a Broadway understudy and waitress. She met John Cleese while he was working in New York City; they married on February 20, 1968.

Acting career
Booth secured parts in episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) and in the Python films And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, as a woman accused of being a witch). She also appeared in How to Irritate People (1968), a pre-Monty Python film starring Cleese and other future Monty Python members; a short film titled Romance with a Double Bass (1974) which Cleese adapted from a short story by Anton Chekhov; and The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977), Cleese's Sherlock Holmes spoof, as Mrs. Hudson.

Booth and Cleese co-wrote and co-starred in Fawlty Towers (1975 and 1979), in which she played waitress and chambermaid Polly. For thirty years Booth declined to talk about the show until she agreed to participate in a documentary about the series for the digital channel Gold in 2009.

Booth played various roles on British television, including Sophie in Dickens of London (1976), Mrs. Errol in a BBC adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980) and Miss March in a dramatisation of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (1995). She also starred in the lead role of a drama called The Story of Ruth (1981), in which she played the role of the schizophrenic daughter of an abusive father. In 1994, she played a supporting role in "The Culex Experiment", an episode of the children's science fiction TV series The Tomorrow People.

Booth also had a stage career, primarily in the London theatre, appearing in 10 productions from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, notably starring with John Mills in the 1983–1984 West End production of Little Lies at Wyndham's Theatre.

Psychotherapy career
Booth ended her acting career in 1995. After studying for five years at the University of London, she began a career as a psychotherapist, registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council.

Personal life
In 1971, Booth and Cleese had a daughter, Cynthia, who appeared alongside her father in the films A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. Booth and Cleese divorced in 1978. With Cleese, Booth wrote the scripts for and co-starred in both series of Fawlty Towers, although the two were actually divorced before the second series was finished and aired. Their daughter Cynthia married screenwriter Ed Solomon in 1995.

Booth married John Lahr, author and former New Yorker senior drama critic, in 2000. They live in North London.

title: Connie Booth


text:
Canadian Tire

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (Société Canadian Tire Limitée) is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations and financial services subsidiary Canadian Tire Bank), Mark's, FGL Sports (including Sport Chek and Sports Experts), PartSource, and the Canadian operations of Party City. Canadian Tire acquired the Norwegian clothing and textile company Helly Hansen from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2018.

Canadian Tire is known for its Canadian Tire money, a loyalty program first introduced in 1958 using paper coupons that resemble banknotes. The company's head office is located at the Canada Square Complex in Toronto, Ontario, and it is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It is a participant in the voluntary Scanner Price Accuracy Code managed by the Retail Council of Canada.

History
On October 24, 1922, John William Billes and Alfred Jackson Billes invested their combined savings of $1,800 in the Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd. (established in 1909 as the Hamilton Garage and Rubber Company) in Toronto. Hamilton Tire and Garage specialized in buying tires at a discount from manufacturers in the winter then reselling the tires during the busy summer season. The brothers opened a retail store at Yonge and Gould Streets in Toronto, Ontario.

A product focus on tires was emphasized in 1927 with the incorporation of the name Canadian Tire Corporation Limited because, as A.J. Billes said, "...it sounded big". During 1928, the first Canadian Tire catalogues were distributed, consisting of price lists along with road maps.

In 1934, the first official Associate Store was opened in Hamilton, Ontario by Walker Anderson on King Street. In 1944, to fund its growth, Canadian Tire Corporation became a public company and sold 100,000 shares. By 1945, there were 110 Canadian Tire stores. In 1946, an employee stock purchasing plan was implemented to encourage employee loyalty while discouraging unionization.

The first gas bar opened in 1958 at the corner of Yonge and Church Streets in Toronto. Canadian Tire money that gave gas bar customers an in-store discount began in 1958. By June 1961, there were 31 locations. The small financial services company Midland Shoppers Credit Limited was purchased in 1968 and renamed Canadian Tire Acceptance, Limited. Canadian Tire entered the clothing market by acquiring Mark's Work Wearhouse in 2001.

In 2003, CTC established the Canadian Tire Bank, under Canada's Bank Act, from its then-named Canadian Tire Financial Services, Limited, subsidiary along with its Mastercard portfolio, which was later renamed as Canadian Tire Services, Limited, effective January 1, 2015. CTC sold 20% of its Canadian Tire Bank to Scotiabank in 2014.

In April 2018, Triangle Rewards was launched as a replacement to the digital My Canadian Tire Money program and Options Mastercard. Traditional paper Canadian Tire money continues to be offered at some Canadian Tire stores for customers without a rewards card, though at a reduced rate.

In May 2018, the company extended further into the clothing market by acquiring Helly Hansen. As of December 2021, the company operates 667 Canadian Tire stores, 397 SportChek stores, and 381 Mark's stores. The current President and CEO is Greg Hicks.

U.S. expansion attempts
Canadian Tire tried twice to expand into the United States. In 1982, it purchased the Wichita Falls, Texas-based White Stores, Inc. automotive retail chain with 81 stores in Texas from its then-owner Household Merchandising Inc., a subsidiary of Household Finance, for US$40.2 million. In 1986, after losing nearly US$100 million they closed some stores and sold the remaining 40 stores, three warehouses and other White assets to Kansas City, Missouri-based Western Auto Supply.

The second time, during the early 1990s, Canadian Tire tried to open a specialized auto parts chain called Auto Source that attempted to have 25,000 different parts or more on the shelf in each store, more than its competitors. The first Auto Source was opened in Indianapolis in 1991. Unlike the previous attempt, the Auto Source concept was built from scratch. During the next three years, Canadian Tire had opened two Auto Source stores each in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Louisville for a total of ten stores before abruptly closing the money-losing chain in 1995. Some of the stores, were sold to Pep Boys.

Although Auto Source lost nearly CA$60 million during its four years of existence, a scaled-down version was used in Canada under the PartSource brand.

Brands
Certain merchandise items are explicitly branded for Canadian Tire. The most recognized of these are Mastercraft, which offers a wide range of tools, SuperCycle (bicycles), BluePlanet (eco-friendly household cleaners, CFL bulbs and other green items), Likewise (general household items such as lighting/electrical products and hardware) and Motomaster (tires, batteries and other automotive goods). FRANK branded products are an economy-priced line of mainly food and drink and household cleaning products, and they feature a short humorous tagline on the package. NOMA, a company that exists in Canada as a trademark only, offering a wide range of items from Christmas lights to air purifiers. During the 1980s, Canadian Tire sold electronic items under the name Pulser (with Canadian Tire logo), such as radios, stereos, televisions, walkmans, cassette tapes, etc. It is unknown when the company began or went defunct.

Canadian Tire owns the rights to three ice hockey brands. In 2011, the company's purchase of the Forzani Group gave it the rights to the Hespeler and Victoriaville brands. In 2018, it acquired all trademarks of Sherwood Hockey.

On May 10, 2017, Canadian Tire announced it would buy Padinox, the manufacturer of the Paderno kitchen equipment.

Other house brands include: Master Chef for BBQ and outdoor cooking products, Canvas for furniture, Yardworks for lawn care equipment, MAXIMUM for their premium tool line, Woods for camping and outdoor wear gear, Simoniz for car cleaning and care products, Premier paint products. Jobmate for budget-priced power tools. Certified for some automotive hardware and gas-powered equipment such as electricity generators and snowblowers.

Operations
At the end of 2018, Canadian Tire employed 12,735 full-time and 17,951 part-time employees in the corporate structure. These figures do not include temporary employees or employees working for Associate Stores, petroleum stores or franchise stores. There is an in-house Triangle Learning Academy, an allusion to the triangular CTC logo for employee and Associate Store management training.

Financial services
Canadian Tire Bank (CTB) is the company's retail deposit-taking and credit card issuing arm. They are held indirectly under the Canadian Tire Services, Limited, holding company, Canadian Tire Bank (CTB), a bank under Canada's Bank Act since 2003. Before 2003, all financing occurred under the Canadian Tire Financial Services. In 2014, The Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a 20% economic and voting interest in Canadian Tire Bank, with an option to acquire up to an additional 30% of the company within ten years (or require Canadian Tire buy back its existing 20% interest) at the then fair market value of the business for $500 million CAD in cash.

Ostensibly in tandem with Scotiabank's acquisition of a minority position in Canadian Tire Bank, Canadian Tire renamed its intermediary holding company Canadian Tire Financial Services Limited as Canadian Tire Services, Limited, effective January 1, 2015, dropping the moniker Canadian Tire Financial Services from use. Additionally, in approximately 2018, Canadian Tire rebranded its credit card-issuing online banking website as Canadian Tire Bank, removing the last vestige of Canadian Tire Financial Services from active use.

Petroleum
Canadian Tire Petroleum (CTP), operating as Canadian Tire Gas+, is the division of Canadian Tire which operates gas stations and car washes. CTP was founded in 1958 as a means of increasing customer traffic to Canadian Tire stores. In Ontario, CTP also operates Pit Stop, which provides services like oil changes and rust checks. The Canadian Tire money loyalty program was originally launched through the gas bars as "Gas Bonus Coupons." CTP has opened three Q Stop stores featuring a mini-grocery store and other items.

CTP also holds the concession to operate the 24-hour gas stations at ONroute service centres in Ontario along Highway 401 and parts of Highway 400.

In May 2023, Canadian Tire announced an agreement with Suncor Energy, under which all Canadian Tire Gas+ locations will be converted to Petro-Canada franchises, and the company's Petro-Points rewards program will be integrated with Canadian Tire's Triangle program.

Retail
Moody's observed Canadian Tire's unique position in Canadian retail as being "often both misunderstood and underestimated" and "completely foreign" in comparison to U.S. retail, citing its variety of products (ranging from auto parts to sporting goods to outdoors products and grocery at some locations) and that "its proprietary 'currency,' Canadian Tire money, which is a by-product of its loyalty program, has been accepted across Canada by multiple retailers and could almost be described as a 'sub-fiat' currency."

In 2009, Canadian Tire introduced a new "Smart store" concept featuring "boutiques" that prominently showcased products within the chain's core product categories. Popular product categories such as auto parts and home goods were moved towards the front of the store to improve their prominence, and some locations began to sell common groceries as a pilot project.

With the demise of Target's businesses in Canada in 2015, Canadian Tire acquired the leases of 12 former Target store locations.

In June 2015, Canadian Tire opened its most prominent location to date at South Edmonton Common, which features 130,000 sqft of retail space on two floors, widened and expanded departments, various interactive experiences (including a driving simulator and virtual reality), as well as a rotating exhibit of Hockey Canada memorabilia.

In October 2022, Canadian Tire opened its largest location in Chilliwack, BC. 170,000 sqft With over 70,000 different items available in store. Article

Image of Chilliwack Location

In September 2022, Canadian Tire opened a 135,000 sqft flagship location at Carlingwood Mall in Ottawa to mark the company's centennial, becoming its most prominent location to date. The store uses a large-scale concept called "Remarkable Retail," which carries a modernized design and focuses on enhancing its auto centres, seasonal departments, and delivery and pickup services. The concept was also used for a new location in Welland, Ontario and will be used for a future Calgary location. That year, the company also committed $1.2 billion to renovate 225 stores with its "Concept Connect" format.

In November 2000, Canadian Tire introduced an online retail operation. On January 1, 2009, citing consumer disinterest in online shopping compared to its physical stores, the Company discontinued online sales. On November 1, 2013, Canadian Tire returned to online shopping with delivery to stores.

Automotive parts
In addition to the Canadian Tire stores' Parts department, CTC owns PartSource, an automotive parts and accessories specialty chain which has 91 stores across Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. It serves commercial automotive installers and do-it-yourself mechanics. Before November 2013, some stores were owned and operated by franchisees; all currently belong to Canadian Tire.

Clothing
In 2001, Canadian Tire acquired Mark's Work Wearhouse (now branded as Mark's), a retailer of business casual and work wear, for $116 million. Along with standalone stores, some Canadian Tire locations feature integrated Mark's locations. Due to space constraints, some smaller Canadian Tire locations removed their Mark's department when remodelled into the "Smart store" format.

In May 2018, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan sold the Norwegian sportswear retailer Helly Hansen to Canadian Tire for $985 million CAD.

Sporting goods
In May 2011, Canadian Tire announced the purchase of Forzani Group, a Canadian sporting goods retailer that operates various brands, including SportChek, Atmosphere, Intersport, Hockey Experts, National Sports, Nevada Bob's Golf, S3, Sport Mart, Sports Experts, Tech Shop, Pro Hockey Life, and The Fitness Source. In February 2021, Canadian Tire announced the closure of all National Sports stores, citing a focus on efficiencies and core assets.

Party City
In October 2019, Canadian Tire closed its acquisition of Party City's Canadian business. As part of the deal, CTC signed a 10-year supply agreement with Party City's parent company Amscan.

Advertisements
Historically, Canadian Tire's Christmas ads featured Santa Claus and Ebenezer Scrooge arguing about whether Canadian Tire's selection or their sales prices were the reason to do Christmas shopping there, involving the marketing slogan "Give like Santa, save like Scrooge".

A stamp was issued by Canada Post commemorating Canadian Tire's 75th anniversary. It is based on the Canadian Tire advertisement showing a boy (Bike Story) receiving his first bicycle, which his father purchased at a Canadian Tire retail store.

Starting in 2007, the company ran month-long advent calendar promotions, offering free CDs and discounts throughout the holiday season.

From 1997 to 2005, the company's ads featured the "Canadian Tire couple". The male role, also known as the Canadian Tire guy, was played by Canadian actor Ted Simonett, and Gloria Slade played the female role. They usually showcase a new product to one of their neighbours who needs a specific tool. The "Canadian Tire Couple" was featured on Royal Canadian Air Farce as one of their targets of the year, as "Canada's most annoying couple." They also made a feature guest appearance on Royal Canadian Air Farce as actors in a skit.

In early 2006, ads featuring the couple were phased out and replaced by a new campaign featuring overhead signs found in Canadian Tire's store aisles.

In 2013, Canadian Tire produced a commercial promoting its MasterCraft Eliminator Ultra car battery, and its ability to function in extreme cold, which featured a stripped GMC Sierra pickup truck with its body re-created as an ice sculpture. The ad premiered during the 2014 NHL Winter Classic.

In March 2015, Canadian Tire launched a new ongoing marketing campaign, "Tested for Life in Canada." The campaign, which includes television advertising and in-store labels, showcases products that have been vetted based on input by a consumer focus group recruited by the chain and their reviews of the products. The program also collects feedback that is used to help improve products marketed by Canadian Tire.

Motorsport
During the 1980s, the company sponsored an IndyCar racing team. Alfred J. Billes's son David Billes was a Canadian Corvette racer before opening Performance Engineering Ltd. He was later Jacques Villeneuve Sr.'s car owner in CART IndyCar competition in the early 1980s and entered two cars in the 1985 Indianapolis 500. In 1985, Jacques Villeneuve Sr. won the race at Road America.

David Billes was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 1994.

The company has had naming rights at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport International Raceway, since 2012.

Other sports
The home arena of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL) has been known as the Canadian Tire Centre since 2013.

The company sponsors the Northern Super League, which is planned to be Canada's top division of women's soccer.

title: Canadian Tire


text:
Blizzard of Ozz

Blizzard of Ozz is the debut studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, released on 12 September 1980 in the UK and on 27 March 1981 in the US. The album was Osbourne's first release following his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979. Blizzard of Ozz is the first of two studio albums Osbourne recorded with guitarist Randy Rhoads prior to Rhoads' death in 1982. In 2017, it was ranked 9th on Rolling Stone list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Composition and recording
Much of the album was written by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Bob Daisley, and Ozzy Osbourne in a live-in rehearsal facility in Monmouth, Wales, with a friend of Osbourne's named Barry Screnage performing as the group's drummer. Screnage was never considered as a candidate to be the group's permanent drummer and was not involved in the songwriting process at all. The band recorded demos of the songs "I Don't Know", "Crazy Train", "Goodbye to Romance", and "You Looking at Me Looking at You" in Birmingham in early 1980 with ex-Lone Star drummer Dixie Lee. They had hoped Lee would be a permanent member but "he wasn't the final piece of the puzzle", bassist Daisley recalls. After auditioning several drummers, ex-Uriah Heep member Lee Kerslake was hired as the permanent drummer. The completed lineup retreated to Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire for six days to rehearse and give Kerslake an opportunity to learn the new songs. A week later, they travelled to Ridge Farm Studio to commence recording.

The first track written for the album was "Goodbye to Romance". Osbourne has stated that the song was his way of saying goodbye to his former band Black Sabbath, as he had thought his career was over after leaving the band. After performing a show in Birmingham, the band hastily returned to Ridge Farm to remix "Goodbye to Romance" for a single. The next morning they were informed that their label Jet Records instead wanted a brand new song to release as a single. Rhoads, Daisley, and Kerslake quickly put together the song "You Said It All", with drummer Kerslake performing the guide vocal at soundcheck while a drunken Osbourne slept under the drum riser. The song was ultimately never recorded, though a live version was released on Ozzy Osbourne Live EP in 1980. The final track written was "No Bone Movies", which was originally intended to be used only as a B-side but was added to the album in order to give Kerslake a writing credit, as all the other material had been written before he joined the band. Keyboardist Don Airey claims that parts of "Revelation (Mother Earth)" as well as the intro to "Mr. Crowley" were written by him in the studio, though he never received writing credit for these contributions.

Chris Tsangarides was originally hired to produce the album, with Max Norman to serve as studio engineer. Osbourne and the band were very unhappy with Tsangarides' production and he was fired and replaced by Norman, who stepped in to complete producing and engineering. Norman's production work on Blizzard of Ozz is uncredited, though he did go on to produce all of Osbourne's albums prior to 1986's The Ultimate Sin.

At the time of the album's recording, the band itself was billed as "The Blizzard of Ozz". The band members were expecting the album to be credited to the band with Osbourne's name in smaller print, just as it appeared on the "Crazy Train" single released several days prior. The back cover of the first pressing of the "Crazy Train" single stated that the track came from a forthcoming Jet Records album entitled Ozzy Osbourne/ Blizzard of Ozz Vol. 1. In fact, when the band appeared at the Reading Festival in 1980 they were billed simply as "Ossie Osborne's [sic] New Band". According to Daisley, "When the album was released the words 'Ozzy Osbourne' were in bigger print than 'The Blizzard of Ozz' which made it look like an Ozzy Osbourne album called The Blizzard of Ozz. Randy [Rhoads] was never one to rock the boat. He knew he was in a situation which was a good opportunity for him being relatively unknown, so when Lee [Kerslake] and I were ousted, Randy had no allies and the act became 'Ozzy Osbourne' and no longer a band." Rhoads felt that he and Daisley were contributing the vast majority of the songwriting and arranging, and he had little interest in performing in a backing band for someone he felt wasn't contributing as much. Drummer Kerslake has maintained that Rhoads almost left the band in late 1981, due to this displeasure. "He didn't want to go [on tour with Osbourne]. We told him we were thrown out. He said he was going to leave the band as he did not want to leave us behind. I told him not to be stupid but thanks for the sentiment", the drummer later recalled. Entertainment attorney Steven Machat, who was involved in the deal Osbourne signed with Jet Records, said in his 2011 book Gods, Gangsters and Honour: A Rock 'n' Roll Odyssey that Osbourne's soon-to-be manager and wife Sharon Levy was not happy with the level of creative input that Rhoads, Daisley, and Kerslake had in the Blizzard of Ozz album and did not want them to share the credit. Album producer Max Norman concurs that Daisley and Kerslake made considerable songwriting contributions during their time in the band, while also noting that the Osbourne camp "might want to dispute that now."

Although Sharon has said that the recording of Blizzard of Ozz was one of the best experiences of her life, she was in Los Angeles during recording and not yet involved with the band. Osbourne's then-wife Thelma was present at Ridge Farms Studios for much of the recording.

Release
The album tracks "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" were released as singles in 1980. "Crazy Train" made number 49 on the UK Singles Chart and was moderately successful in the United States, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart and the single peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart in 1981. Though it received little radio airplay upon its initial release, "Crazy Train" has become one of Osbourne's signature songs and a staple of classic rock radio playlists over the ensuing years. In January 2009, the song achieved a 2× Platinum certification status.

The album was a commercial success, being certified 4× Platinum in the US in 1997, a feat Osbourne would not achieve again until No More Tears was certified in 2000. In 2019 it was certified 5× Platinum. In the UK, it was the first of four Osbourne albums to attain Silver certification (60,000 units shipped) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in August 1981. It also ranked 13th on a Guitar World readers poll of the "100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time." In his autobiography, Osbourne readily admitted that at the time the album was being recorded, he felt he was in direct competition with his former band, Black Sabbath.

Blizzard of Ozz was controversially re-released in 2002 with the original bass and drum tracks replaced by newly recorded parts from bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin; however, the original bass and drum tracks were reinstated for the 2011 release due to public outcry. The 2011 release was certified Silver by BPI in 2013. A box set featuring both re-issued albums, the Blizzard of Ozz/Diary of a Madman 30th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set, was released, featuring both CD re-issues, 180-gram LP Vinyl versions of both albums (original album only), the "Thirty Years After the Blizzard" DVD Documentary, over 70 minutes of additional rare live performances and interviews, a replica of Ozzy's cross, and a 2 sided poster.

On September 18, 2020, Osbourne released an expanded edition of Blizzard of Ozz including the bonus tracks and outtakes included on previous reissues (i.e. the 2002 reissue and the 2011 expanded edition) as well as seven live recordings from the Blizzard of Ozz tour and one additional live track.

"Suicide Solution"
The song "Suicide Solution" has met with its share of controversy, most notably the October 1984 suicide of 19-year-old John McCollum who shot himself in the head. McCollum's parents alleged that their son had listened to the song immediately prior to killing himself, and they sued Osbourne along with CBS Records for "encouraging self-destructive behavior" in young persons who were "especially susceptible" to dangerous influences (McCollum et al. v. CBS, Inc., et al.). In his defence, Osbourne stated in court that when the song was being written the words "Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker" came to him suddenly and were a reflection not on the merits of suicide but rather on the death of AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott, a friend of Osbourne's who had recently died of alcohol-related misadventure. Bob Daisley, who claims to have written the majority of the song's lyrics, has stated that he had Osbourne's own substance abuse issues in mind when he composed the song. The McCollums' complaint was dismissed on the grounds that the First Amendment protected Osbourne's right to free artistic expression.

2002 reissue
In 1986, Daisley and Kerslake sued Osbourne for unpaid royalties, eventually winning songwriting credits on Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Subsequently, a 2002 reissue was made of these albums which replaced Daisley and Kerslake's original bass and drum parts with new parts recorded by Osbourne's then-current drummer Mike Bordin and bassist Robert Trujillo. The 2002 reissue also included new backing vocals from singers  Mark Lennon and John Shanks.

Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, claimed at the time that it was Ozzy, not she, who was responsible for the decision to re-record the parts, stating "because of Daisley and Kerslake's abusive and unjust behaviour, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums." However, Osbourne contradicted this claim in his 2009 autobiography, stating that the decision to re-record the original bass and drum parts was Sharon's decision, and that he "didn't have anything to do with" it. He said his wife "just snapped" and had it done without his knowledge. He also stated that "a sticker was put on the covers telling everyone about it", although the sticker was not initially placed on the re-issue and was only placed on the covers at a later date due to fan outcry over the altered recordings.

In 2003, Daisley and Kerslake's lawsuit was dismissed by the United States District Court in Los Angeles. This dismissal was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. With regard to the reissue, Ozzy stated to The Pulse of Radio, reiterating a conversation with Sharon, "You know what, whatever the circumstances were, I want the original thing back." The 30th Anniversary release of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman contains the original recordings, not the 2002 reissues.

Track listing
All songs written by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley, except where noted.

Personnel

 * Ozzy Osbourne– vocals, harmony vocals
 * Randy Rhoads– guitars
 * Bob Daisley– bass, harmony vocals, gong, lyrics
 * Lee Kerslake– drums, percussion, tubular bells, timpani
 * Don Airey– keyboards

 * 2002 reissue
 * Ozzy Osbourne– lead vocals, harmony vocals
 * Randy Rhoads– guitars, classical guitar
 * Robert Trujillo– bass
 * Mike Bordin– drums, percussion, timpani, gongs
 * Danny Saber– tubular bells
 * Mark Lennon– backing vocals
 * John Shanks– backing vocals on "Steal Away (The Night)"

 * Production
 * Produced by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake
 * Max Norman– engineer
 * Chris Athens– mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
 * Thom Panunzio, Herman Villacota– reissue engineers
 * Stephen Marcussen– reissue remastering

title: Blizzard of Ozz


text:
Diary of a Madman (album)

Diary of a Madman is the second studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. It was released in October 1981, and re-issued on CD on 22 August 1995. This is the last Osbourne studio album to feature guitarist Randy Rhoads and drummer Lee Kerslake. An altered version appeared in 2002 with the original bass and drum parts removed and re-recorded. In 2011, a Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition was released with all original parts restored. To date, the album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Diary of a Madman was supported by the Diary of a Madman Tour, which began on November 5, 1981, and ended August 8, 1982, spanning Europe, North America, and Asia. On March 19, 1982, during the North American leg of the tour, Rhoads died in a plane crash in Leesburg, Florida; after a two-week break, the tour continued with guitarist Bernie Tormé performing several shows in place of Rhoads before in turn being replaced by Brad Gillis.

Composition and recording
Diary of a Madman is the final album recorded with late guitarist Randy Rhoads. Although bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge are credited in the liner notes and pictured on the inner sleeve for the American vinyl and cassette release and later CD re-issues, it was bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake who performed all bass and drum parts on the original release. Aldridge has stated of the album, "I think it's pretty obvious that it's not my drumming on that album. I have never taken credit for that recording and have always given Lee Kerslake, whenever asked or interviewed, the credit he rightly deserves."

Daisley provided significant contributions to the album's songwriting, having written some of the music and most of the lyrics. Kerslake claims to have also had a hand in the writing of the album, even performing lead vocals on some of the original demo recordings. Flying High Again' was one of my ideas, 'Over the Mountain' was another. The basic (demo) tracks were just Bob's words, my vocals—though some of the words I wrote—and Randy's playing. It was unreal. And then we got Don Airey to come in and do the keyboards", he stated in 2009. Kerslake says he used a piano in the studio to write many of the songs with guitarist Randy Rhoads. Daisley and Kerslake were not given credit for their performance or songwriting contributions, a situation which resulted in a later lawsuit.

During the album's recording, Kerslake says the band members were given no money to live on, prompting them to approach management. Shortly after, both Kerslake and Daisley were fired. "Everything was working fine," said Kerslake. "It was only when Sharon (Osbourne) came in that we had a problem. When she started managing—taking over—she wasn't the manager until Diary of a Madman. Before that was her brother, David. He didn't really want to handle it. He had too much to do for Don [Arden] in the office. So she came in and it started to get edgy. But we never suspected a thing until we went away on holiday. Next minute, they're rehearsing with Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo, and going to America."

Although Don Airey is credited as keyboardist on the album, it was in fact a musician named Johnny Cook (who had worked with Daisley in Mungo Jerry in the 1970s) who actually recorded the keyboard parts. Airey was on tour as a member of Rainbow at the time of recording and was thus unavailable.

Cover art
The album's cover art features Osbourne's son Louis to his side, with Osbourne himself posing in theatrical make-up.

Reception
Reception of the album has been generally positive. In particular, the neo-classical guitar work of Randy Rhoads has received much praise. Steve Huey of AllMusic stated that "it's not uncommon to find fans who prefer Diary to Blizzard, since it sets an even more mystical, eerie mood, and since Rhoads' playing is progressing to an even higher level". BBC Music referred to the album as "a classic rock record in every way", "lifted out of the ordinary by the legendary rock axe god, Randy Rhoads". Canadian journalist Martin Popoff called Diary of a Madman "a lasting classic that stands as the definitive showcase for Randy Rhoads."

Though the album is regarded quite favorably today, reviews upon its 1981 release were often less than enthusiastic. J. D. Considine of Rolling Stone, for example, opined upon the album's original release that "the songs here are little more than riffs with a vocal line pasted on top" and referred to Rhoads as "a junior-league Eddie Van Halen – bustling with chops but somewhat short on imagination". The magazine, however, would change its tune and later rank the album 15th on its 2017 list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

The 2002 re-issue controversy
The 2002 Diary of a Madman reissue was derided by fans due to the removal of Daisley and Kerslake's original bass and drum tracks. The re-issue featured re-recorded bass and drum tracks contributed by Osbourne's then-bassist and drummer Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin, respectively. The move was suspected of being retaliatory in nature, as Daisley and Kerslake had successfully sued Osbourne and his wife/manager Sharon in court, winning songwriting credits and royalties for their contributions to Diary of a Madman.

Sharon later stated that Ozzy and not herself was responsible for the decision to re-record the parts, stating "because of Daisley and Kerslake's abusive and unjust behavior, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums." However, Osbourne contradicted this claim in his 2009 autobiography, stating that the decision to re-record the original bass and drum parts was strictly Sharon's decision, and that "I didn't have anything to do with that decision." He said his wife "just snapped" and had it done without his knowledge. He also stated that "a sticker was put on the covers telling everyone about it", though in fact the sticker was not initially placed on the re-issue and was only placed on the covers at a later date due to fan outcry over the altered recordings.

Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition
In May 2011, Sony Legacy released its Deluxe 30th Anniversary Editions of Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz with the original bass and drum tracks restored. These releases also featured bonus tracks and previously unreleased live material featuring guitarist Rhoads – Diary of a Madman features a second CD entitled Ozzy Live, featuring previously-unreleased concert performances from the Blizzard of Ozz 1981 US tour. A box set was also released which included the remastered editions of both albums on CD as well as vinyl, and a DVD documentary entitled Thirty Years After The Blizzard. Ozzy Live was also separately released as a double 180g vinyl exclusively on Record Store Day 2012.

Original release
All songs by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake, except where noted.

Deluxe edition (2011)
All songs recorded live during the second leg of the Blizzard of Ozz Tour.

'Ozzy Live' 180g vinyl
Disc 2 of the 2011 Legacy Edition of Diary of a Madman was also released as a limited edition standalone double-180g vinyl entitled "Ozzy Live". Sides one, two, and three contained the live material released on the Diary of a Madman Legacy Edition, while side four contained two bonus tracks that had been previously released on the 2011 reissue of Blizzard of Ozz. The vinyl was released exclusively for Record Store Day 2012, and also released as a 7" vinyl reissue of the song "Believer".

Personnel

 * Ozzy Osbourne – lead & backing vocals, production
 * Randy Rhoads – guitars, production
 * Bob Daisley – bass, production
 * Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion

 * Additional Personnel
 * Rudy Sarzo – credited on original release but does not appear; bass on 2011 reissue's live disc
 * Tommy Aldridge – credited on original release but does not appear; drums on 2011 reissue's live disc
 * Don Airey – keyboards (credited on original release but does not appear)
 * Johnny Cook – keyboards (uncredited)
 * Lindsay Bridgwater – keyboards on 2011 reissue's live disc only
 * Louis Clark – string arrangements on "Diary of a Madman"
 * Robert Trujillo – bass on 2002 reissue
 * Mike Bordin – drums on 2002 reissue

 * Production
 * Max Norman	– producer, engineer
 * George Marino – mastering
 * Brian Lee with Bob Ludwig – remastering (1995 reissue)

title: Diary of a Madman (album)


text:
Tribute (Ozzy Osbourne album)

Tribute is a live album by British heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, featuring his work with hard rock guitarist Randy Rhoads, in whose honor the album was released. The album was released in April 1987 in the US and May 1987 in the UK, five years after the death of Rhoads, then it was reissued on 22 August 1995, and again remastered and reissued in 2002. It peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Background
The album was released in memory of Randy Rhoads, guitarist for Osbourne's band between 1979 and 1982 who died in a plane crash while on tour in Florida in 1982. The album also includes studio outtakes of Rhoads recording the classical-influenced acoustic guitar piece "Dee", which Rhoads wrote for his mother Delores and which was originally included on Osbourne's debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz.

A live album consisting entirely of renditions of Black Sabbath songs was originally planned to be recorded at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens in mid-1982 with Rhoads. Rhoads and drummer Tommy Aldridge felt that they had established themselves as recording artists and an album of cover songs would be a step backwards artistically, and they refused to participate. Bassist Rudy Sarzo was uncomfortable with refusing to perform, not having the same recording pedigree of his bandmates, but he stood with them and the trio informed management of their decision. Osbourne felt betrayed and his relationship with Rhoads never fully recovered. Plans for this proposed live album crumbled upon Rhoads' sudden death weeks later, though the plan was resurrected with the release of Speak of the Devil later that year with Sarzo and Aldridge joined by Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis.

Overview
The majority of Tribute, from "I Don't Know" through to "Paranoid", was recorded live in Cleveland, Ohio on 11 May 1981. "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies" are taken from an earlier English gig in support of the Blizzard of Ozz album, possibly from Southampton on 2 October 1980. These two tracks feature bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake.

The versions of "Iron Man", "Children of the Grave", and "Paranoid" featured on Tribute were originally intended to be included on the 1982 live album Speak of the Devil. In the months following Rhoads' death, these three songs were intended to be released in tribute to the guitarist, but a record company decision was made to save them for a full album to be released at a later date.

The recording of "Crazy Train" that appears on this album was also released as the album's only single on 10 February 1987, along with an accompanying music video. The album's cover photo was taken at a performance in Rosemont, Illinois on 24 January 1982, by photographer Paul Natkin.

The operatic music which opens Tribute, as well as all of Osbourne's live shows of that era, is "O Fortuna" from the Carmina Burana scenic cantata by Carl Orff. This introductory music was omitted from the 1995 remaster, with opening track "I Don't Know" subsequently being shortened to 4:43.

Personnel

 * Ozzy Osbourne - vocals, executive producer
 * Randy Rhoads - guitar
 * Rudy Sarzo - bass
 * Tommy Aldridge - drums
 * Lindsay Bridgwater - keyboards
 * Bob Daisley - bass on "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies"
 * Lee Kerslake - drums on "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies"

Production

 * Max Norman - producer, engineer
 * Brian Lee and Bob Ludwig - 1995 remastering
 * Bruce Dickinson - 2002 edition executive producer
 * Chris Athens - 2002 remastering

title: Tribute (Ozzy Osbourne album)