Bret Michaels new Photos and Biography

The glam metal wunderkind may have been dumped by Jes, the winner of the first season of his reality love-search, “Rock of Love,” A huge number of ladies are hitting the Web for more of his eye-linered mug. Bret Michael Sychak, also known as Bret Michaels, (born March 15, 1963 in Butler, Pennsylvania) is best known as the lead vocalist of the glam metal band Poison and starred in the reality show Rock of Love with Bret Michaels on VH1.

Born on Mar. 15, 1963 in Butler, PA, glam rock front man and eventual reality television personality Bret Michaels set his sights on a music career at a young age. After his family relocated from Butler to Mechanicsburg, Michaels performed in a few bands before forming Paris in 1984. The band moved from Harrisburg to Los Angeles, CA, renaming themselves Poison after hearing a group of angry parents protesting that rock music was poisoning their children.

They toured the local club scene, gaining a large following, thanks to raucous live performances fueled by their hard-partying reputation. The heavily made-up band – complete with lipstick and eyeshadow – signed a recording deal with Enigma Records in 1986 and released their debut album Look What the Cat Dragged In, which featured their first hit “Talk Dirty to Me.” The record went on to sell over two million copies. Their next effort, Open Up and Say…Ahh! propelled Michaels and the band into the limelight, thanks to their most recognized hit, the ballad “Every Rose Has its Thorn.” By the end of the 1980s, Poison had become a top-selling band featured heavily in MTV’s video rotation.

Michaels formed the band Paris in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1984. The band, which later became Poison, moved to Los Angeles in 1984 to begin touring the clubs there. The song “Go That Far” appears in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Bret Michaels also makes an appearance as the lead singer for this song and “Talk Dirty to Me” by Poison in the same game, re-recording the vocals for the in-game cover of the second-mentioned song.

In 2003 Michaels released the solo album Songs Of Life. He also served as a judge during the 2005 season of reality television singing competition Nashville Star, and released a country rock album in the same year called Freedom Of Sound.

Despite the band’s success, the situation behind the scenes began to deteriorate. Michaels and lead guitarist C.C. DeVille came to blows backstage during the 1991 “MTV Video Music Awards” because of the latter’s obviously bad onstage performance, a result of his cocaine and alcohol problems. The band replaced DeVille with two other guitarists of little consequence and soldiered on, though they never duplicated their previous success. While recording their sixth album, Crack A Smile, Michaels suffered multiple injuries – several broken bones and missing teeth – after he crashed his Ferrari into a telephone pole in Burbank in 1994. The near-fatal collision put the album on hold until 1996, and then went on to only sell a million copies worldwide. By then, the band’s decline was in full evidence.

Meanwhile, Michaels ventured into other avenues, notably filmmaking. He joined actor Charlie Sheen to make “A Letter From Death Row” (1998), writing, directing and starring in the low-budget thriller about an innocent man writing about his life on death row. Michaels directed Sheen again in the made-for-TV movie “No Code of Conduct” (USA Network, 1998), a crime thriller about two undercover cops trying to crack a Phoenix drug ring while battling the city’s crooked politicians.

Michaels continued to work with Poison, finally going on tour in 1999 to support the band’s Greatest Hits album, a tour that featured a rejuvenated DeVille. The band enhanced its newfound popularity after taking part in an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music” (1997-2006), which highlighted their well-known partying lifestyle. After a successful reunion tour, Poison hit the skids again with Hollyweird, a mess of an album that was panned by fans and critics alike. Meanwhile, Michaels made more headlines, thanks to a sex tape with Pamela Anderson that made the Internet and DVD rounds before he successfully stopped continued distribution.

Taking another path, in 2007, Michaels became the latest celebrity to land a reality show, starring in “Rock of Love With Bret Michaels” (VH1, 2007- ), a “Bachelor”-esque style competition for the big-haired crowd, that pitted a group of female suitors against each other in a series of challenges – including an album photo cover shoot and a phone sex competition – that ultimately determined which one could keep up with Michaels’ notorious lifestyle. Michaels picked the eventual winner, Jes, from two finalists, but she obviously felt otherwise and said he had better chemistry with runner-up Heather. The show was renewed for a second season that aired in January 2008.

Michaels and actor Charlie Sheen established a film production company, Sheen/Michaels Entertainment, which produced the movie A Letter From Death Row (1998) which Michaels wrote, directed and starred in, as well as releasing a soundtrack album. They also produced No Code Of Conduct in the same year. Their company also produced the feature film Free Money, starring Marlon Brando and Mira Sorvino.

Michaels appeared in an episode of the CBS sitcom Yes, Dear. The cable-TV network VH1 announced on February 14, 2007 that Michaels would star as the bachelor in the reality television dating-competition series Rock of Love With Bret Michaels.

Jes was the winner of the series; however, she announced during the reunion show that she and Michaels were not right for each other and he should have chosen the runner up, Heather. Michaels is also the star in the second season of Rock of Love, which premiered on January 13, 2008. Bret Michaels also did the motion capture for the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock lead singer.

Michaels has suffered from Type 1 diabetes since the age of six (as Michaels later attested in the Behind the Music special, backstage photos of the singer injecting insulin led many to think that he was a heroin addict). As a child, his family relocated to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. He attended Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School and was interested in music from an early age.

Michaels was associated with singer Susie Hatton during the early 1990s. He has two daughters with Kristi Lynn Gibson. Raine Elizabeth Sychak was born on May 20, 2000, and Jorja Bleu Sychak was born May 5, 2005. As of 2007, Michaels and Gibson are separated and share custody of their children.

Michaels had a short but notorious relationship with Pamela Anderson. An explicit sex tape the couple made appeared on the Internet and it was released as a DVD on September 7, 2005 by Metro Studios. Michaels later stopped the sexually explicit tape from continued distribution, though it is still widely available on the internet.

Michaels is a Pittsburgh Steelers football fan. He has a personalized guitar bearing the team’s logo, and played the national anthem at Three Rivers Stadium. His favorite player was Jack Lambert, and Michaels has been a member of fan club “Lambert’s Lunatics.” In 2007, Michaels was part of a USO tour through Kuwait and Iraq.

Amy Lee Desktop Wallpapers and Photos

Amy Hartzler (born Amy Lynn Lee and best known as Amy Lee, December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California) is an American singer-songwriter and classically-trained pianist. She is a founding member and lead singer of the Grammy Award winning rock band Evanescence. Her influences range from classical musicians such as Mozart to modern artists like Björk, Tori Amos, Danny Elfman, and Plumb.

She co-founded the band with Ben Moody. The two met at a youth camp after he heard Lee playing Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (but I Won’t Do That)” on the piano. Within a month, the pair were playing acoustic sets at Arkansas book stores and coffee houses, and they eventually recorded two EPs, Evanescence EP (1998) and Sound Asleep EP (1999), selling them at various local venues. In 2000, Evanescence recorded the longer EP Origin. This demo contains three songs from the debut album Fallen and was written by Lee and Moody: “Whisper”, “Imaginary” and “My Immortal”. Whereas “Whisper” and “Imaginary” underwent further modifications before being included on Fallen, “My Immortal” is virtually identical. A later band version of “My Immortal” was made available for download for those who had bought an official version of Fallen through their official web site, but required that a CD checker program also be downloaded for verification before it would play. The band version was included on later copies of Fallen, notably the Brazilian and Argentinian editions.

On October 22, 2003, guitarist Ben Moody left the band citing “creative differences”. In an interview several months later, Amy said: “We’d gotten to a point that if something didn’t change, we wouldn’t have been able to make a second record”. She also said “We’re finally a real band, not just Ben and I and a few others thrown together”. Ex-Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo replaced Moody in the band, both on guitar and as Lee’s writing partner.

On December 1, 2005, former Evanescence manager Dennis Rider filed a lawsuit against Lee for breach of contract. The suit claims Rider was prematurely and unjustly terminated from his position as manager of Evanescence.

In return, Lee filed a counter-suit against Rider for “breach of fiduciary duty, sexual assault and battery, professional negligence, currency conversion, and other charges”. The suit also claims Rider “neglected Lee’s career and business and has focused his efforts on having extramarital affairs, hiding them from his wife, becoming intoxicated during business meetings, physically abusing women and boasting about it, making repeated unwelcome sexual advances toward Lee, receiving fees in excess of what was provided for in his management agreement and using Lee’s corporate credit card to purchase gifts for his mistress.”

Rider’s attorney, Bert Deixler, claimed in a statement that Rider had fully performed all of the duties and obligations owed by the firm under the management agreement, and that he had always conducted himself by the highest professional standards.

Lee had claimed to be working on music for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but that the music was rejected for being “Too dark and epic.” However, the producers of Narnia stated that Lee was never asked to compose any music for the film, whose score was written by Harry Gregson-Williams, and that “No Evanescence music was planned for the soundtrack.”

While there was some speculation that one of the supposed songs had been cut and used in several tracks of The Open Door, Lee stated this was not true except for part of it being used to segue into the last track of the album, “Good Enough”.

Lee revealed during the taping of MuchMusic’s January 9, 2007 episode of Live @ Much that she had become engaged the previous evening. She later confirmed on EvThreads.com that she had been proposed to by Josh Hartzler, a 29-year-old therapist and longtime friend. She noted in an interview that the songs “Good Enough” and “Bring Me To Life” were inspired by him. The couple were married on May 6, 2007, and honeymooned near The Bahamas. She has posted on EvThreads that she is “now officially Mrs. Amy Hartzler.”

Lee has a recognizable goth style, marked by her occasional use of Gothic make-up and taste for Victorian-styled clothing. She also designs many of her own clothes, including those worn in the music video for “Going Under”, the dress she wore at the 2004 Grammy awards, and the dress worn for the cover of The Open Door. After she designed it she chose Japanese designer H. Naoto to make it for her. In concerts, she often wears a corset and fishnets, as well as long skirts and knee-high boots. She used to have a notable piercing on her left eyebrow which is visible on the cover of Fallen.

She has stated on a number of occasions that she would never flash her breasts or engage in other publicity stunts that would draw attention to herself. In fact, in the music video for “Everybody’s Fool,” she aimed to mock such artists by suggesting that celebrities who use sex to appeal to an audience are, in fact, merely peddling “lies” (the unifying theme of the music video). Many fans praise Lee for her refusal to emulate other celebrities by using sex appeal in her music. In 2006, Blender listed Lee as one of the hottest women in rock alongside such singers as Joan Jett, Courtney Love and Liz Phair.

In 2000, Lee sang guest vocals on two of former Evanescence keyboardist David Hodges’ songs: “Breathe” (The Summit Church: Summit Worship) and the unreleased “Fall Into You”. She performed backup vocals for “Missing You”, a song on Big Dismal’s 2003 debut album Believe, and sang backup vocals on two songs with ’supergroup’ The Damning Well, though her vocals were taken off the final release due to record label issues. Lee later performed a duet with her then-boyfriend Shaun Morgan on the track “Broken” for Seether’s 2004 album Disclaimer II. The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack for the 2004 film The Punisher.

In 2006, Lee became the American Chairperson for Out of the Shadows, an international foundation with the goal of educating others about epilepsy. Lee’s younger brother, Robbie, was previously diagnosed with this condition.

The singer also made a brief guest appearance in the music video for Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”, where she chose to appear laying flowers on a grave. She was recorded in Trinity Church in Manhattan. During the shoot, she wore a ‘long-sleeve black velvet coat’ that belonged to Tim Burton.

On Korn’s MTV Unplugged: Korn, Lee was featured in the song “Freak on a Leash”. The song is also the first single from the album and was released to television and radio in early February 2007.

In late 2007, VH1 produced a mockumentary in the style of Behind the Music, titled Rock Band Cometh: The Rock Band Band Story, to promote the video game Rock Band. Lee was one of the celebrity cameos featured on the show.

• Amy Lee Desktop Wallpapers : http://www.snoron.com/amy-lee/
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Nona Gaye Biography and Photos

Nona Marvisa Gaye (born September 4, 1974 in Washington, D.C.) is an American singer, former fashion model, and screen actress. With ex-boyfriend Justin Martinez, Gaye has a son named Nolan, who was born in June 1997.

Gaye is the daughter of African-American soul music legend Marvin Gaye. Her mother, the former Janis Hunter, is of Irish and African-American descent, and questionably of German, Afro-Cuban or Greek descent, depending on the often disputed racial lineage of Nona’s grandfather, jazz great Slim Gaillard.

Nona released her first album, Love for the Future, on Atlantic Records in 1992, a month after her 18th birthday. The album featured the top 20 hit “I’m Overjoyed” as well as “The Things That We All Do For Love”. The following year, Nona was named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People. She signed to Ford Modeling Agency in 1994, and became the new face of Armani.

For three years, Gaye both collaborated with and dated singer-songwriter Prince (his stage name at that time being an unpronounceable symbol). During this time, she recorded at least 4 known songs with him. A duet, “1000 Hugs and Kisses” and solo track, “Snowman” are currently unreleased, but have made their way into circulation amongst fans. Another duet, “Love Sign”, was released on the 1-800-NEWFUNK compilation album in 1994, along with another track with no Prince contribution, “A Woman’s Gotta Have It”.

Gaye provided backing vocals on “We March” for Prince’s 1995 album, The Gold Experience, and on the title track to the Girl 6 soundtrack, released in 1996. Gaye has candidly admitted that during this time she had a long personal battle with drug abuse which she successfully kicked in 1996.

In addition to these projects, she starred in a Prince-produced European TV special called The Beautiful Experience, consisting of a loose storyline to promote new material from Prince (most of which would be released at some point over the next few years). She was also mentioned on the track “Return of the Bumpsquad”, on the New Power Generation album, Exodus, as wanting “to sell her tape”, indicating a possible album’s worth of material with Prince.

Nona appeared alongside other artists to re-record and release her father’s single, “What’s Going On” for AIDS research in 2001. The same year, she began her acting career, debuting in Michael Mann’s Ali. In 2002, she replaced Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash shortly after the filming of the Matrix sequels began, for the role of Zee, the wife of Harold Perrineau Jr.’s character Link.

She performed the American National Anthem in front of a capacity crowd at the 2004 NBA All-Star Game in Staples Center, CA. 21 years after her father had done the same at the 1983 All-Star Game at The Forum in Inglewood.

In July 2006, Gaye was added to the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a replacement for Courtney B. Vance as the new Assistant District Attorney. However, just as the series began production for its sixth season, she left the show, citing “creative differences”. Gaye was replaced by Theresa Randle, who left after filming only two shows.

Zac Efron new Photos and Biography

Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Speaking to Newsweek in June 2006, director Adam Shankman described Efron as “arguably the biggest teen star in America right now.”  In 2007, right before the release of High School Musical 2, Rolling Stone declared him the “poster boy for tweenyboppers” and featured him in their late August issue

It took just one TV movie to change young actor Zac Efron from a supporting player to a bonafide teen star. Of course, that TV movie was The Disney Channel’s tween pop cultural phenomenon, “High School Musical” (2005), which elevated Efron to major league heartthrob status for his eminently crushable turn as a high school jock who discovers his hidden love for singing. Prior to “High School Musical,” the Arroyo Grande, CA native had appeared in a string of supporting and minor roles on television, most notably in the WB teen drama “Summerland” (2004-05), which starred another reigning tween favorite, Jesse McCartney.

Born Oct. 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, CA, Efron made his TV debut only a few years before “Summerland” and “High School Musical.” He’d developed an interest in acting after his parents encouraged him to exercise his innate singing talent through lessons and later local theater. After culling an impressive list of stage roles – including a long-running production of “Gypsy” – Efron took the next logical step and began pursuing screen acting jobs. Guest shots on “Firefly” (Fox, 2002-04) and “ER” (NBC, 1994- ), as well as the highly scripted “reality series” “Room Raiders” (MTV, 2004- ) preceded his first substantial turn as the autistic son of Mary-Louise Parker and Aidan Quinn in the 2003 Lifetime TV-movie, “Miracle Run.” The performance earned Efron a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

More television followed, including several failed pilots, before Efron landed the role of Cameron Bale on “Summerland.” Initially intended as a guest spot, Efron’s casual charm and good looks endeared him to audiences, and he joined the show’s cast as a regular until its cancellation in 2005. That same year, Efron turned up as a featured player in teen pop singer Hope Partlow’s video for “Sick Inside,” before landing the lead role in a Disney Channel production that harkened back to such classic teen musicals as “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Grease.”

That film, helmed and choreographed by Kenny (“Dirty Dancing,” 1987) Ortega, turned out to be “High School Musical,” which earned spectacular ratings for the Mickey Mouse network and yielded a triple platinum-selling soundtrack album and a sales record-breaking DVD. The soundtrack also made Efron the first artist ever to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with two singles in the same week. He would eventually have five singles from the soundtrack on the charts, though some of the glamour was blunted when it was revealed that Efron’s vocals had been “sweetened” by combining them with that of actor/singer Andrew Seeley.

The minor controversy did little to dampen the groundswell of popularity building behind Efron, which spread like wildfire when his appearances on the popular Disney Channel TV series “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody” (2005- ) and “NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service” (CBS, 2003- ) aired while “HSM” was screening almost around the clock for Disney. A frantic April 2006 appearance with his “HSM” co-star Ashley Tisdale on MTV’s “TRL” (1998- ) confirmed his runaway popularity with the tween and teen audiences, and since then, Efron’s image has been inescapable on and between the covers of magazines that cater to that demographic.

While riding the “HSM” wave, Efron attempted to parlay his popularity into a Fox TV series entitled “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now” (2006), which was inspired by the Oakwood apartment complex in Los Angeles which serves as a temporary home for countless aspiring teen actors. The pilot was unfortunately not picked up for the 2006-07 season. But fans did not have to wait long for his next project.

In 2006, it was announced that Efron would be joining the cast of the highly anticipated film version of the popular Broadway musical “Hairspray” (2007). Much of the press was quick to point out that Efron, who was playing the show’s heartthrob, Link Larkin, would be doing all of his own singing (in an pre-emptive strike against any lingering doubts of his abilities). Interestingly enough, Efron seemingly balked on releasing a pop album, unlike his “HSM” co-stars Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Corbin Bleu, all of whom inked contracts with major labels for their own CDs.

On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of Punk’d. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens’s single “Say OK”, where he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section “Coming of Age”. In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (he is now 5′8″) and was teased for the “huge gap” in his teeth.

In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role, which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role. Both Efron’s performance and the film have received positive reviews. Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for “Favorite Movie” alongside Queen Latifah.

Efron’s upcoming roles include Seventeen, a high school-set drama/comedy produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi; the plot involves an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (to be played by Efron). Efron is also scheduled to star in Paramount’s musical remake of the film Footloose; he has said that he would like to add his “own little bit of flair” to the role originated by Kevin Bacon.

For his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray, Efron (along with his co-star Nikki Blonsky) won the “One to Watch” award of the Young Hollywood Awards. Efron appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of Rolling Stone. The article about him revealed that he hopes to someday play an action hero.

Efron has finalized negotiations with the producers of Seventeen, a film slated to commence shooting in December 2007.

Before the release of High School Musical 2, Efron topped IMDBPro’s Star Meter at #1, indicating that he was the most searched celebrity. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%. Amid the frenzy surrounding Zac Efron, the release of High School Musical 2 set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers.

Efron co-hosted the 2007 Nickelodeon Australian Kids’ Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney.

Efron is represented by the Creative Artists Agency. Efron has two dogs, Australian shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy, along with a Siamese cat named Simon. Zac is currently involved in a relationship with his High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3 co-star Vanessa Anne Hudgens.

The Game (rapper) Wallpapers and Photos

Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979 in Los Angeles, California), better known by his stage name The Game, is an American rapper signed to Geffen Records. The Game rose to fame in 2005 following the success of his debut album, The Documentary and his two Grammy nominations.

Since then, The Game is considered to be a driving force in bringing back the West Coast hip hop scene and competing with many of his East Coast counterparts. Also, The Game is the only West Coast solo artist to release a multi-platinum album (The Documentary) since Dr. Dre’s 2001 album, which was released in late 1999 (however, Snoop Dogg’s Tha Last Meal album sold two million copies but was only certified platinum).

Aside from releasing two albums that debuted at number one on both the United World Chart, and the Billboard 200, The Game has also gained notoriety for the hip hop feuds he has taken part in. The Game’s music falls under the subgenre known as gangsta rap, a style of hip hop popularized in his hometown of Compton, California.

The Game was originally signed as an artist on Aftermath Entertainment, but Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre decided to have The Game also work with 50 Cent and G-Unit. The arrangement was to help build a growing buzz around The Game which would also fuel interest in G-Unit. Since then, he made numerous cameo appearances in music videos by 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, and Fabolous, first appearing on the music video of In da Club, dancing with a girl. Even at this early stage in his career, he was embroiled in rap feuds associated with G-Unit, including those with Joe Budden, Ja Rule, and Memphis Bleek. His first appearance on a single was on Jim Jones’ “Certified Gangstas”, before his own single “Westside Story” was released in 2004.

The original title of the album was Nigga Wit’ An Attitude Volume 1 (as heard in the lyrics to “Dreams”), but an injunction filed at the request of Eazy-E’s widow prevented him from using N.W.A.’s name in the album title. Dr. Dre and 50 Cent were executive producers on The Game’s major label debut album, The Documentary, which spawned the hit singles “How We Do” and “Hate It or Love It” (the latter receiving two Grammy nominations). The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the tenth best selling album of 2005 in the United States. It also debuted at number seven in the United Kingdom and sold over five million copies worldwide.

Due to his disputes with 50 Cent, The Game left Aftermath Entertainment and signed with Geffen Records to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit in the summer of 2006. The rapper’s second album Doctor’s Advocate was released on November 14, 2006. This album was set out by The Game to prove that he is able to make good music and be a successful artist without the help of Dr. Dre or 50 Cent. He is also working on getting his own label, The Black Wall Street Records, signed to a distribution label. While The Game originally claimed Dr. Dre would still do production on the album in the November issue of XXL magazine, he admitted in September (after the XXL interview was conducted) during an interview on radio station Power 105 that Dr. Dre would not be producing any tracks (although four previously unreleased tracks produced by Dr. Dre were released on the internet, but no reason was given as to why they were not included on the album). The album debuted at number one in the U.S., selling over 358,000 copies its first week.

In May 2007, The Game said, while filming Beef IV, that his tentative third album would be his last, explaining that his three albums will be enough to have allowed him to “[get his] point across.”

As a result of his fame, The Game ventured into areas outside of rap. He was chosen to play and had bought a large selection of shares for the now defunct Inglewood Cobras, an ABA franchise team. The Game also ventured into acting. In 2004, he had a minor role voicing the character “B-Dup”, in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He will also voice a character in the upcoming video game Def Jam: Icon. In 2006, he made his film debut in Waist Deep as a character named “Big Meat” and has been filming at least two more movies. The Game has also partnered with 310 Motoring to create his own shoe called The Hurricanes. A portion of the proceeds of the shoe are donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The Game’s first son is named Harlem Caron Taylor and was born on June 30, 2003. Baron Davis, a basketball team mate in high school, and current NBA all-star was named Harlem’s godfather. The Los Angeles Times reported that as of 2006, The Game is a resident of Glendale, California after purchasing a home in the Kenneth Village neighborhood. The Game announced that he was engaged to actress and model Valeisha Butterfield, the daughter of U.S. Congressman G. K. Butterfield. The couple were set to marry in March 2007, but the engagement was called off in June 2006. In February 2007, The Game revealed in a Wild 94.9 radio interview with Mistah F.A.B. that he was expecting his second child in April, with former substitute teacher Tiffany Webb. He welcomed his second son, King Justice, on April 25, 2007.

Even before releasing his debut album, The Game was involved in feuds with many rappers. He previously had rivalries with Suge Knight of Death Row Records, Ja Rule, Joe Budden, Yukmouth, as well as Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, and the Young Gunz of Roc-A-Fella Records. The most prominent rivalry he had was with 50 Cent and G-Unit. The Game has also had minor feuds with Xzibit, Ja Rule, Guerilla Black, Bishop Lamont, Domination, Benzino, and model Vida Guerra (see “Wouldn’t Get Far”).

The feud with Joe Budden began when 50 Cent criticized his album for “lacking street credibility”. Joe Budden took offense and released various insults at G-Unit. The Game previously did a freestyle for DJ Clue and Joe Budden used the end of the freestyle without notifying The Game. While on the end, Joe Budden took shots at G-Unit. In defense, The Game made several records against the rapper, most notoriously the track “Buddens”. Joe Budden mocked The Game’s appearance on the dating game show Change of Heart. The Game has consistently defended his appearance on the show. Later, at a party in New York, the rappers mutually announced their intention to stop making hostile records about each other, but The Game has subsequently suggested in songs and videos that he won the feud.

Yukmouth first met The Game at a club and at the time, Yukmouth was engaged in a feud with 50 Cent and G-Unit. The Game released a diss track aimed at the rapper over the beat of “I Got 5 on It”, a song which Yukmouth recorded when he was a part of Luniz. Yukmouth responded with a track that mocked The Game’s appearance on Change of Heart. The two later tried to bury the hatchet due to a personal friend and even recorded a song together named “Peace”. However, the beef continued afterward, since The Game dissed Yukmouth on “Peace” (they recorded their verses separately). Since then, Yukmouth responded by releasing a freestyle music video over Fabolous’ “Breathe” single. In the video, there is a look-a-like of the rapper getting robbed and beaten up. In that song, Yukmouth claimed that The Game had a tongue ring and was slapped by mogul Suge Knight. Since the West Coast Peace Conference, both rappers ended the feud.

Dr. Dre’s old nemesis Suge Knight had an ongoing feud with The Game stemming from when Yukmouth claimed that The Game had been slapped by Suge Knight. The Game responded on his website, saying that if Suge Knight had ever touched him, he would be “six feet under”. After the 2005 BET Awards, associates of Death Row had their invitations to a party hosted by Ciara rescinded. Supposedly, a member of Death Row tried to steal The Game’s chain. The Game stated on his Black Wall Street website that he dislikes Suge Knight because of “the lives he has endangered”. In Miami for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Suge Knight was shot and wounded at Kanye West’s party by an unknown gunman. The Game vigorously denied involvement in the shooting, but the incident renewed efforts to pacify hip hop feuds and The Game has consequently been discouraged from attending certain events in hopes of averting retaliation. Later, The Game and various representatives of California’s rap cliques formed a West Coast “peace treaty” to end many rivalries between West Coast rappers. Although Suge Knight did not attend, he and The Game declared their feud over.

The feud between The Game and Roc-A-Fella Records grew out of an earlier rivalry with Memphis Bleek over the name of his label (Get Low Records), which was similar to the one The Game was previously signed to (Get Low Recordz). On the single “Westside Story”, The Game raps that “I don’t do button-up shirts or drive maybachs”, which was perceived as being directed towards Jay-Z. Later Jay-Z performed a freestyle on Funkmaster Flex’s radio show on Hot 97 and in it, he repeatedly used the word “game”, which some hip-hop fans believed was directed towards The Game. The Game responded and made several remarks directed at Roc-A-Fella Records.

While The Game was feuding with Roc-A-Fella artists, his first album featured production from Kanye West and Just Blaze, two Roc-A-Fella producers. In an interview with Ed Lover and Monie Love, The Game said the Maybach line on “Westside Story” was referring to Ja Rule. He also said he has a lot of respect for Jay-Z and would never take shots at a legend. Jay-Z later insisted that the “game” references were just about the rap game itself, not the rapper. The Game still addressed Memphis Bleek and Young Gunz on some songs, but the feud between them cooled off. There were rumors that Jay-Z was planning on “declaring war” on The Game and others at a concert. He instead used the opportunity to make peace with many of his rivals.

Lil Eazy-E, a young rapper and son of rapper Eazy-E, was also in a feud with The Game. The two used to be close associates and even recorded music together. Lil’ Eazy-E has since directed numerous diss songs targeting the rapper and expressed his anger over what he felt was The Game misusing his father’s name. The Game responded by claiming that Lil’ Eazy-E is trying to establish himself off the success he had made since releasing The Documentary. The Game responded on “120 Bars” where he claimed that Lil’ Eazy-E does not write his own lyrics. However, The Game states on the same track that he would rather not feud with Lil’ Eazy-E due to the deep respect he feels for his father. Lil’ Eazy-E later responded with “They Know Me”. On October 30, 2006, The Game went on KDAY and said that he and Lil’ Eazy-E have ended their feud.

The Game had a falling out with his manager and half-brother Big Fase 100. The rapper claimed that Big Fase 100 extorted him out of over $1.5 million, and felt that his influence was holding him back. Later in interviews, Big Fase 100 attacked The Game’s street credibility, claiming that him being a “certified gangsta” is fabricated. The manager went on to claim that the supposed gangster life is based on his own life and blamed selfishness on The Game’s part as the main reason of their falling out.

A confrontation between The Game and Ras Kass took place at Club Element in Los Angeles. The stories are different from each party, but what is known is that The Game approached Ras Kass over a song that Ras Kass made regarding The Game’s son and asked him to take back what he said, but he refused. The Game’s entourage claimed that The Game punched and knocked out Ras Kass. The story from Ras Kass’ representatives was that he walked away and got hit by a bottle in the head and then The Game’s crew jumped him, but he escaped with just a black eye.

On October 28, 2005, The Game was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in Greensboro. At one point, police said his companions were pepper sprayed when they surrounded officers in a threatening manner. Mall security officers said the rapper was wearing a full-face Halloween mask, filming shoppers, cursing loudly, and refused to leave when asked. The Game continued to act up and was arrested, a police statement said. The Game claimed that officers overreacted and that he did nothing wrong when he was pepper sprayed by the mall security. The five officers involved in the incident ended up suing The Game for defamation, which has yet to be taken to court.

World Wrestling Entertainment made it public that they plan on suing The Game over the rights to his name, which is a nickname for professional wrestler Triple H.

On May 11, 2007, The Game was arrested at his home reportedly in connection with an incident at a basketball game in South Los Angeles in February 2007. He is alleged to have threatened a person with a gun. The arrest took place after his home was searched for three hours. The Game was released early the next day after posting $50,000 bail. On January 9, 2008, a Los Angeles judge scheduled February 4 as the beginning date for The Game’s trial on assault and weapons charges.

• The Game Website: http://www.westlord.com/the-game/
• The Game Photos Galleries: http://www.westlord.com/the-game/photo.html
• The Game Desktop Wallpapers: http://www.westlord.com/the-game/wallpaper.html