name	Ted Nugent
background	solo_singer
born	December 13, 1948Redford, Michigan, U.S.
alias	The Nuge, Motor City Madman, Uncle Ted
genre	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal
occupation	Musician, songwriter, entrepreneur, hunter, activist, actor
instrument	Guitar, vocals, bass
associated acts	The Amboy Dukes, Damn Yankees, Damnocracy
years active	1958–present
website	TedNugent.com
notable instruments	Gibson Byrdland }}

Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career. He is also noted for his conservative political views and his ardent defense of hunting and gun ownership rights.

Early life

Nugent was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marion Dorothy (née Johnson) and Warren Henry Nugent. He moved to Palatine, Illinois as a teenager, and has two brothers: John and Jeffrey. Raised Catholic, Nugent has mentioned his ties with the Christian faith many times during interviews, and has stated that he regularly attends church. He attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Career

Nugent has released more than 34 albums, and has sold a career total of 30 million records. He was known throughout his early career in the 1970s for using Fender amps, a large part of his signature sound, and for playing the hollow-body Gibson Byrdland guitar. Gibson Guitar Corporation has since developed a model named for him. Performing professionally since 1958, Nugent has been touring annually since 1967, averaging more than 300 shows per year (1967–73), 200 per year (1974–80), 150 (1981–89), 127 concerts in 1990, 162 concerts in 1991, 150 concerts in 1993, 180 in 1994, 166 in 1995, 81 in 1996, Summer Blitz '97, '98, Rock Never Stops '99, 133 concerts with KISS 2K. Nugent's 2005 plans involved a tour with country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith, whom Nugent met in Iraq while they were both performing in USO-sponsored shows for the coalition troops. Nugent toured with local Detroit musician Alex Winston during the summers of 2007 and 2008.

On July 4, 2008, at the DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, Ted Nugent played his 6,000th concert. Derek St. Holmes (original singer for the Ted Nugent band), Johnny Bee Badanjek (drummer for Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels), and Ted's guitar teacher from 1958 Joe Podorsek all jammed on stage with Ted for various tunes.

Amboy Dukes

His first edition of The Amboy Dukes played at The Cellar, a teen dance club outside of Chicago in Arlington Heights, Illinois, starting in late 1965, while Nugent was a student at St. Viator High School. The Cellar's "house band" at the time had been the Shadows of Knight, although the Amboy Dukes eventually became a staple until the club's closing.

The Amboy Dukes' second single was "Journey to the Center of the Mind", which featured lyrics written by the Dukes' second guitarist Steve Farmer. Nugent, an ardent anti-drug campaigner, has always claimed that he had no idea that this song was about drug use. ''The Amboy Dukes'' (1967), ''Journey to the Center of the Mind'' (1968) and ''Migration'' (1969) — all recorded on the Mainstream label — sold moderately well. On April 4, 1968, Nugent along with a group of musicians paid tribute to Martin Luther King by having a folk, rock and blues jam session. Joni Mitchell played first, followed by Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix. Other musicians who participated were BB King and Al Kooper.

After settling down on a ranch in Michigan in 1973, Nugent signed a record deal with Frank Zappa's DiscReet Records label and recorded ''Call of the Wild''. The following year, ''Tooth Fang & Claw'' (which contained the song "Great White Buffalo") established a fan base for Nugent and the other Amboy Dukes. Personnel changes nearly wrecked the band, which became known as Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes. Nugent reunited with the other members of the Amboy Dukes at the 2009 Detroit Music Awards, which took place April 17, 2009. The psychedelic band received a distinguished achievement honor at the event. The Dukes also played together at the ceremony, marking their first public performance in more than 30 years.

Solo career

Nugent dropped the Amboy Dukes band name for good in 1975, and signed to Epic Records. Derek St. Holmes (guitar, vocals), Rob Grange (bass) and Clifford Davies (drums) were the primary additional band members for his classic 1970s multi-platinum albums: ''Ted Nugent'' (1975), ''Free-for-All'' (1976) and ''Cat Scratch Fever'' (1977). These albums produced the popular radio anthems "Hey Baby", "Stranglehold", "Dog Eat Dog", and "Cat Scratch Fever". It was during these three years that Nugent truly emerged as a guitar hero to thousands of young hard rock fans, many of whom were unaware of his lengthy apprenticeship with the Amboy Dukes. This band lineup toured extensively, also releasing the multi-platinum live album ''Double Live Gonzo!'', until its breakup in 1978 when St. Holmes and Grange departed. St. Holmes was replaced by Charlie Huhn and Grange by Dave Kiswiney. Davies finally left around 1982 after staying on to record ''Weekend Warriors'' (1978), ''State of Shock'' (1979), ''Scream Dream'' (1980) and ''Intensities in 10 Cities'' (1981).

On July 8, 1979, Ted was on the rock radio program ''King Biscuit Flower Hour''. This was the original broadcast of Ted's performance of ''Live at Hammersmith '79'' which had been recorded during the second set of a sold-out night at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1979. An album of this program was released in 1997.

During this era, Nugent was notable for his frequent declarations that he did not drink alcoholic beverages or smoke tobacco or marijuana. In an interview for VH1's ''Behind The Music'', Nugent said this was due to his father having sternly reprimanded him when he came home smelling of alcohol after a night of drinking. This was an unusual stance for a major rock performer of the 1970s, and Nugent has been cited as an important early influence on the straight edge movement, which disavows drinking and recreational drug use.

Influences

Nugent has been praised for his playing style, and is cited as an influence by many other hard rock and heavy metal musicians. Nugent has cited his own musical influences as Vanilla Fudge, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, The Kinks, Jimmy Page, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, The Animals, Little Richard, MC5, Frank Zappa, and Muddy Waters.

Damn Yankees

During the period of 1982-89, Nugent released a series of moderately successful solo albums. In 1989, he formed the supergroup Damn Yankees, with Jack Blades (bass/vocals, formerly of Night Ranger), Tommy Shaw (guitar/vocals, formerly of Styx) and Michael Cartellone (drums/vocals). ''Damn Yankees'' (1990) was a hit, selling 5 million albums, thanks in no small part to the smash hit power ballad "High Enough". The video for this song featured Nugent in a priest's collar, and later in a zebra-striped cape during the guitar solo. It also saw the first appearance of his famous 'WhackMaster' hat.

Back to solo

Returning to a solo career, Nugent released ''Spirit of the Wild'' in 1995, his best-reviewed album in quite some time. This album also marked the return of Derek St. Holmes to Nugent's studio band. A series of archival releases also came out in the 1990s, keeping Nugent's name in the national consciousness. He also began hosting a radio show in Detroit on WWBR-FM ("102.7 The Bear, Detroit's Rock Animal") and took ownership in several hunting-related businesses. He created TV shows for several networks; ''Wanted: Ted or Alive'' on Versus, ''Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild'' on PBS and The Outdoor Channel, as well as ''Surviving Nugent'' and ''Supergroup-Damnocracy'' on VH1. In 2006, Nugent was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

Ted Nugent appears on David Crowder Band's 2007 release, ''Remedy'', playing guitar on the song "We Won't Be Quiet". He announced his "Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead" tour on April 21, 2010.

On March 14, 2011, Nugent released a new song, "I Still Believe", as a free download via his website to subscribers to his news letter. Nugent says of the song: "America is a target-rich environment for an independent man addicted to logic, truth and The American Way. 'I Still Believe' throttles the animal spirit of rugged individualism in pure MotorCity ultra high-energy rhythm and blues and rock and roll." In April 2011 Nugent announced that former frontman Derek St. Holmes would be joining his band for Nugent's I Still Believe Tour.

Media appearances

Reality programming

Nugent starred in his own outdoors television show named after his popular song "Spirit of the Wild". The song was the theme music to the TV series in which Nugent took viewers on a variety of wild game hunts using his bow. In the series he teaches and advises hunters and "hands-on" conservationists around the world on the different aspects of hunting and politics, and informs the public on the importance of getting children away from the TV and video games and getting them out beyond the pavement in order to better their lives.

In 2003, he was host of the VH1 reality television program ''Surviving Nugent'' in which city dwellers such as model Tila Tequila moved to Nugent's Michigan ranch in order to survive such "backwoods" activities as building an outhouse and skinning a boar. The success of the two-hour show spawned a four-part miniseries in 2004 entitled ''Surviving Nugent: The Ted Commandments''. This time it was filmed on Nugent's ranch in China Spring, Texas. During filming, Nugent injured himself with a chainsaw, requiring 44 stitches and a leg brace.

In 2003, Nugent also guested on the VH1 program ''Forever Wild'', hosted by Sebastian Bach (former lead vocalist for the band Skid Row). They shot some firearms and walked around Nugent's cabin in the woods. Two years later he hosted a reality-type show, ''Wanted: Ted or Alive'' on OLN (now the sports channel 'Versus') where contestants competed for money as well as for opportunities to go hunting with "Uncle Ted." The contestants had to kill and clean their own food to survive.

In 2006, he appeared on VH1's reality show ''SuperGroup'', with Scott Ian (Anthrax, guitar), Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard, bass), Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row, vocals) and Jason Bonham (Bonham, UFO, Foreigner, drums). The name of the supergroup was originally FIST but later was changed to Damnocracy. Bach had lobbied for the name Savage Animal. Captured on film by VH1 was a rare Nugent duet with guitarist Joe Bonamassa at the Sand Dollar Blues Room for a 45-minute blues jam. He starred in another reality show for CMT in August 2009. The show, entitled ''Runnin' Wild ... From Ted Nugent'', featured Nugent instructing competitors in the art of survival; the competitors had to use those skills in challenges in which they were hunted down by Nugent.

In 2008, Ted Nugent was on the episode ''Southwest Road Trip Special'' of ''Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'', where he spoke against obesity and public health care.

Also in 2009, he played guitar at The Alamo for a Tax Day Tea Party hosted by Glenn Beck and Fox News. Most notable in his set was a version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in which he used alternate picking and whammy bar effects. The clip and sound bite of this is played extensively on Fox News as well as on ''The Glenn Beck Program''.

Acting

In 1986, he guest starred in an episode of the hit television show ''Miami Vice'' entitled "Definitely Miami". Nugent played a villain. His song "Angry Young Man" was featured in the episode. His song "Little Miss Dangerous" was also featured on a ''Miami Vice'' episode of the same name, although he did not appear in the episode.

In 2001, Nugent appeared as himself in a third season episode of ''That '70s Show'' entitled "Backstage Pass." Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), who works for radio station WFPP, obtains tickets to the upcoming Ted Nugent concert for the entire gang. Following the concert, her boss Max (Howard Hesseman) gives Donna a backstage pass to meet Nugent, where he volunteers to sit for an interview. Meanwhile, Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson) and Fez (Wilmer Valderama) try to sell unauthorized concert t-shirts accidentally spelled ''Tad Nugent''.

Also in 2001, Nugent appeared as himself in the second episode of the short-lived university campus FOX comedy series, "Undeclared". In the episode "Full Bluntal Nugety", Nugent is a guest at the university, there to speak on his favorite topics, mainly hunting and gun control. This is where new student Steven Karp (Jay Baruchel) takes his love interest Lizzie (Carla Gallo) on their first date. Karp tries to heckle Nugent during his speech in an attempt to impress Lizzie, with disastrous results. FOX didn't like the idea of Nugent and his political views appearing on this show, so the episode was re-shot and re-edited as "Oh, So You Have a Boyfriend?" which aired without any Ted Nugent content whatsoever. The complete "Full Bluntal Nugety (Director's Cut)" episode is available in its entirety, in the "Undeclared" DVD box set (released by SHOUT! Factory), including some extra Ted Nugent scenes that had been deleted.

He made a guest appearance on the cult television series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force,'' in the episode "Gee Whiz," on Adult Swim. Locals believe to have seen the face of Jesus in a billboard, and they mention how it looks like Ted Nugent. Throughout the episode they think it's Jesus' face, but at the end they discover it was in fact Nugent's. He proceeds to shoot a flaming explosive arrow at Carl (mistaking him for a "varmint").

In 2007, Nugent appeared in the music video for Nickelback's "Rockstar", and in 2008 he played a key role in the Toby Keith movie ''Beer For My Horses'' as the quiet deputy named Skunk.

In 2007, Nugent debated ''The Simpsons'' producer Sam Simon on the ''Howard Stern Show'' about the ethics of hunting animals. Coincidentally, he would later lend his voice to an over-the-phone appearance in the season 19 episode of ''The Simpsons'', "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", where, in a humorous jab at his political stance, inmate Dwight picks up his call for voting no to the fictional Proposition 87, which bans crossbows in public schools. As part of his pre-recorded message, Nugent asks "If we outlaw crossbows in our public schools, who's going to protect our children from charging elk?".

Other media appearances

Attracting attention for his outspoken statements on issues ranging from guns to biodiversity, Nugent has been a regular guest on such programs as ''Larry King Live'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', and ''Politically Incorrect''.

In 1991. he guest-starred on the PBS science show ''Newton's Apple'' in a short comedic feature called ''Science of the Rich and Famous'' in which he demonstrates and explains the phenomenon of electric guitar feedback. On March 13, 2007, Nugent was interviewed on ABC's ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' and performed the songs "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Rawdogs and Warhogs".

Also in 2008, Nugent appeared on the Memphis-based ''The Political Cesspool'', a radio talk show known for its "pro-white" views.

On April 15, 2009, Nugent appeared onstage with his guitar in San Antonio as part of Glenn Beck's coverage of the Tax Day Tea Party protests on the Fox News Channel. He hosted the show with Glenn Beck, and played music for the protestors at the Alamo. He made an appearance in ''Guitar Hero: World Tour'' As part of the solo guitar career, the player engages in a guitar duel with Nugent, after which the song "Stranglehold" is unlocked and Dirty Nuge becomes available as a playable character.

Nugent was interviewed on the ''The Alex Jones Show'' July 30, 2008 about his new book "Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto" (2008). On July 9, 2010 Ted was again interviewed by Alex Jones and he criticized the latest policies issued by the Obama Administration and the Supreme Court concerning gun policy. He claimed that rejecting the idea of the right to self-defense being expressed in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which Nugent called "gun control" policies, are most likely to destroy the American society. Nugent also claimed similar policies were the cause of the downfall of every society in human history.

Nugent appeared on penn and teller's BS episode on P.E.T.A

Personal life

He has had two wives and has eight children, including three out of wedlock in two liaisons almost 30 years apart. In the late 1960s, prior to his first marriage, Nugent fathered a boy, Ted (Mann) and a girl, whom he gave up for adoption in infancy. This did not become public knowledge until 2010. The siblings were adopted separately and had no contact with one another. The son learned the identity of his birth father in 2010 through the daughter's quest to make contact with him and their birth parents. According to a news report, Nugent over the years had discussed the existence of these children with his other children.

In 2005 Nugent was involved in a legal battle for not paying enough child support for a child he had out of wedlock in 1995. It was finally resolved when Nugent was ordered to pay $3,500 in child support.

He was married to his first wife, Sandra Jezowski, from 1970 to 1979. They had three children, son Theodore Tobias "Toby" Nugent, and daughters Sasha and Starr Nugent. Sandra died in a car crash in 1982. His second marriage was to Shemane Deziel, whom he met while a guest on Detroit's WLLZ-FM, where she was a member of the news staff. They married on January 21, 1989. Together they have two children, son Rocco Winchester Nugent, and daughter Chantal Nugent.

In 1978, Nugent began a relationship with seventeen-year-old Hawaii native Pele Massa. Due to the age difference they could not marry so Nugent joined Massa's parents in signing documents to make himself her legal guardian, an arrangement that ''Spin'' magazine ranked in October 2000 as #63 on their list of the "100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock".

In the late 1990s, Nugent began writing for various magazines. He has written for more than 20 publications and is the author of ''New York Times'' Best Seller ''God, Guns and Rock 'n' Roll'' (July 2000), ''Kill It and Grill It'' (2002) (co-authored with his wife, Shemane), ''BloodTrails II: The Truth About Bowhunting'' (2004), and "Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto" (2008).

In 1996 Nugent joined the WWBR-FM air staff. The Ted Nugent Morning Show on 102.7 FM in Detroit was a success. He and co-host Steve Black (now host of the syndicated radio show Chop Shop and Chop Shop Classic) often shocked Detroit with their opinions and Nugent's unique method of delivering his ideas.

Nugent is a fan of the Detroit Pistons. He wore a Pistons shirt in the Damn Yankees music video for "Come Again". He is also a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and attends many games with his children and grandchildren.

Hearing loss

Nugent also suffers from hearing loss. A November 2005 ''Rolling Stone'' article noted Nugent, among others, has publicly acknowledged hearing problems. "The ear's not too good, especially with background noise", he said in a 2007 interview. "[But] that's a small price to pay. Believe me the journey was worth it."

Activism

Drugs and alcohol stances

Since the early 1990s Nugent has become both popular and criticized for his conservative beliefs and his anti-drug and anti-alcohol stances. He is a national spokesman for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, advocating the "natural highs" to be found in an outdoor lifestyle.

Concealed carry weapon (CCW) law

Nugent is a strong advocate of the right to bear arms. When interviewed by Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith in season 5 of TexasMonthlyTalks he said, "I would rather that [a victim of violent crime] in Massachusetts last month who was taking her daughter to soccer when they were carjacked by a recidivist maggot, who had been in the prison system all his life but was let out again because we feel sorry for him, maybe he had a bad childhood. Instead of her being hijacked and murdered, I'd rather she just shot the bastard dead... But in Massachusetts, somebody decided she can't do that. So she's dead. I would rather she was alive and the carjacker was dead... I'm weird."

Nugent currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Conflicts with animal rights groups

Nugent once said in an interview, “I'm stymied to come up with anything funnier than people who think animals have rights. Just stick an arrow through their lungs.” In 2000, Bhaskar Sinha was jailed briefly following an incident outside a department store in San Francisco in which he threatened and physically assaulted Nugent, who in turn took Sinha into custody until San Francisco Police arrived and arrested the protester. However, protesters claim that Nugent started the altercation by spitting in one of the protester's faces when he was offered an anti-fur flyer, although police on the scene did not witness such an action.

Nugent has reported receiving death threats against him and his family from animal rights activists. On the ''Penn & Teller's Bullshit!'' episode about People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Nugent claimed, "We've got reports and files with law enforcement across America where left-wing animal rights extremists are on record threatening to kill my children on the way to school because we eat pheasant." In 2006 he stated in an interview that "anyone who thinks hunting is terrible can kiss my ass."

In a 1992 radio interview, Nugent referred to Heidi Prescott of the Fund for Animals as a "worthless whore" and a "shallow slut," asking "who needs to club a seal, when you can club Heidi?" He was ordered by a court to pay Prescott $75,000.

Nugent owns a hunting ranch near Jackson, Michigan, called Sunrize Acres. Anti-hunters claim this fenced facility offers "canned" hunts. Nugent has said, "I understand the criticism from those who say canned hunting violates the ethic of fair chase," though he still operates the facility, and refers to it as "high fence hunting". Nugent was recently interviewed by ''Field & Stream'' magazine regarding "canned" hunts. At Sunrize Acres he personally guides customers on a hunt for trophy bull bison ($5,000), Russian boar, or white-tailed deer ($1,000 each).

In September 2009, Nugent embarked on a hunt near Somerset, El Dorado County, California. He was accompanied by a guide and a cameraman, filming for his Outdoor Channel show "Spirit of the Wild." The video taken appeared in an episode of the show first broadcast on February 9, 2010. California Fish and Game wardens who watched the broadcast noticed that it showed Nugent killing a very young buck which had been attracted by commercial bait. Both the killing of such a young deer and the use of bait are crimes under California state law. On August 13, 2010, he pled no contest in Yuba County to two misdemeanors: illegally baiting a deer, and failing to have a deer tag signed by a government official after a kill. He was fined USD $1,750 by the court.

The band Goldfinger released a song called "FTN", which is critical of Ted Nugent.

Politics

In 2007 and 2008, during a period of years when he publicly speculated about running for governor of Michigan, Nugent singled out prominent Democratic politicians for violent or vulgar rhetoric or gestures. At a concert on August 21, 2007, Nugent made controversial comments about Democratic Party presidential aspirants Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and California's senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. He complained, "Obama's a piece of shit, and I told him to suck on my machine gun." Referring to Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm (in office 2003-11), during performances he would frequently interject "Jennifer Granholm, kiss my ass" into his songs, and shoot an arrow at her likeness. In a 2007 interview, in discussing running for governor of Michigan, he stated that Granholm "is not doing an ugly job, but as the perfect woman, she is scrotumless".

Although Nugent has never run for government office, in the decade of the 2000s he publicly speculated about doing so on several occasions. In May 2005, he announced he was "getting real close to deciding to run" for governor of Michigan in 2006, while in 2007, he talked about running for that office in 2010. During the latter period, he stated, "Michigan was once a great state. Michigan was a state that rewarded the entrepreneur and the most productive, work-ethic families of the state. Now the pimps and the whores and the welfare brats are basically the state's babies." In July 2008, Nugent declared "I was serious when I threatened to run for office in the past if I cannot find a candidate who respects the U.S. Constitution and our sacred Bill of Rights." When asked by ''Imagineer'' magazine in a 2010 interview about what he would do if elected to political office, he responded: "Slash the living hell out of the waste and corruption and the outrageous army of do-nothing bureaucrats. I would fire every government worker whose job I would deem to be redundant and wasteful. No able-bodied human being would ever get a handout again."

Nugent is a veteran supporter of Republican Party politicians. On July 17, 2008, during the presidential election season, shortly before the Republican presidential nominating convention, however, he stated that front-runner John McCain was "catering to a growing segment of soulless Americans who care less what they can do for their country, but whine louder and louder about what their country must do for them. That is both un-American and pathetic". As a longtime resident of Texas, he was a weekly contributor to the newspaper, the ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' until 2009. He has been a special deputy sheriff in Lake County, Michigan since 1982 and he also has been a reserve deputy constable in McLennan County, Texas.

According to an interview in ''The Independent'' he "considers homosexuality morally wrong" and is an outspoken supporter of the United States military. As a reward for entertaining US troops in Iraq in 2004, he visited Saddam Hussein's war room. "It was a glorious moment. It looked like something out of ''Star Wars''. I saw his gold toilet. I shat in his bidet." Nugent also said: "Our failure has been not to Nagasaki them."

Nugent was initially scheduled to speak at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally on August 28, 2010, but subsequently cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.

Military

In 2006, an interviewer from the British newspaper ''The Independent'' questioned Nugent about a 1977 interview in ''High Times'' magazine in which Nugent allegedly detailed elaborate steps taken to avoid the Vietnam draft. In the interview Nugent explains that, contrary to the story in ''High Times'', he was awarded a 2-S (student) deferment because he was enrolled as a student at Oakland Community College.

Tours

Summer Blitz Tour 1997

1998 Tour

Rock Never Stops Tour 1999

Remember The Alamo Tour 2005

Unleash The Beast Tour 2006

Unleash The Nuge Beast Killer Rock Tour 2007

Rolling Thunder Tour 2008

Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead Tour 2010

I Still Believe Tour 2011

Discography

Published books

Nugent, Ted. ''Blood Trails: The Truth About Bowhunting'' Ted Nugent (1991) ISBN B0006ORP2G (146 pages)

Nugent, Ted. ''God, Guns & Rock and Roll''. Regnery Publishing, Inc. (August 21, 2000) ISBN 0-89526-173-1 (316 pages)

Nugent, Ted. ''Blood Trails II: The Truth About Bowhunting''. Woods N' Water Inc. (November 12, 2004) ISBN 0-9722804-7-2 (256 pages)

Nugent, Ted and Nugent, Shemane. ''Kill It & Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish''. Regnery Publishing, Inc. (June 25, 2005) ISBN 0-89526-164-2 (250 pages)

Nugent, Ted. ''Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto ''. Regnery Publishing Inc. (November 12, 2008) ISBN 978-1-59698-555-1 (256 pages)

Articles

References

External links

Official Ted Nugent Website

Damnocracy

Category:1948 births Category:American anti-communists Category:American rock guitarists Category:American heavy metal guitarists Category:American hunters Category:Damn Yankees members Category:Epic Records artists Category:Lead guitarists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Detroit, Michigan Category:Musicians from Michigan Category:National Rifle Association members Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People associated with firearms Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:People from Palatine, Illinois Category:People from Waco, Texas Category:The Amboy Dukes members

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Donald Leon "Don" Blankenship (born March 14, 1950) was the Chairman and CEO of Massey Energy Co., the sixth largest coal company (by 2008 production) in the United States. He has served in these roles from November 30, 2000, until 2010.

Blankenship is an active financial backer of the Republican party and participant in local and state politics, especially in his home state of West Virginia. He has frequently spoken out publicly about politics, the environment, unions, and coal production.

He was featured in a 2005 West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentary entitled ''The Kingmaker'' and in the 2008 book ''Coal River'' by Michael Shnayerson.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show Blankenship was paid $17.8 million in 2009, the highest in the coal industry. His 2009 pay represents a $6.8 million raise over 2008 and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also received a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million in 2009.

On Dec. 3, 2010, Blankenship announced that he will be retiring as CEO on Dec. 31, and will be replaced by Massey President Baxter F. Phillips Jr..

Biography

Don Blankenship was born in Stopover, Kentucky and raised in Delorme, West Virginia. His father served in the Korean War, and his mother was a member of the McCoy family; they divorced soon after Don was born, and Don's mother ran a convenience store and gas station with her divorce settlement money. Three years after graduating from Matewan High School, West Virginia, and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University in 1972. He was the recipient of Marshall University’s “Most Distinguished Alumni” award and inducted into the Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999.

Blankenship is certified as a public accountant. In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Business and Industry Hall of Fame and recognized by the West Virginia Society of CPA’s as an Outstanding Member in Business and Industry. Blankenship was also inducted into the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.

Blankenship joined a Massey subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. Since then he has served the company in a number of capacities. He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief Operating Officer from 1990 to 1991.

In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey. He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company. When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000, Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO.

He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association, Mission West Virginia Inc, and is on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

He is divorced and lives in Rawl, West Virginia. Blankenship has two children. His son John is a dirt track car racer.

Involvement in public affairs

Politics

Blankenship is an active participant in West Virginia politics. Blankenship, who grew up beside the railroad tracks in a tiny border town in the Tug Fork River valley, says he has a perspective that fuels his desire for change in West Virginia.

Photographs of Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard, while Massey had a case pending before that court, have appeared in the ''New York Times''. On Feb. 14, 2009, Blankenship told the New York Times, "I’ve been around West Virginia long enough to know that politicians don’t stay bought, particularly ones that are going to be in office for 12 years...So I would never go out and spend money to try to gain favor with a politician. Eliminating a bad politician makes sense. Electing somebody hoping he’s going to be in your favor doesn’t make any sense at all."

In 2004, Blankenship contributed $3 million to the "And For The Sake of the Kids" PAC, campaigning against the re-election of West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw. Brent Benjamin would go on to defeat McGraw in the general election. Speaking about the election, Blankenship said, "I helped defeat a judge who had released a pedophile to work in a local school, who had driven doctors out of state, and who had cost workers their jobs for thirty plus years. I think this effort helped unchain West Virginia's economy and benefited working families." However, ''USA Today'' called Blankenship's ads "venomous." According to a ''USA Today'' editorial dated March 3, 2009, Blankenship "has vividly illustrated how big money corrupts judicial elections. It puts justice up for sale to the highest bidder."

Charity

Blankenship founded Massey Energy Spousal Groups that led all charitable work for the company and its employees. The Massey website described them as providing "financial support to the Groups as they assist children, the elderly, fire departments and many other deserving individuals and programs. Projects included town and stream cleanups, school book fairs, local park improvement, senior citizen appreciation dinners and the annual Christmas Extravaganzas."

Views

At a public speech to the Tug Valley Mining Institute on Nov 20, 2008, Blankenship called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Harry Reid and former Vice President Al Gore "crazies" and "greeniacs." In the same speech, he also stated, "I don't believe climate change is real." He associated President Jimmy Carter's support for energy conservation in the 1970s with communism: "Buy a smaller car? Conserve? I have spent quite a bit of time in Russia and China, and that's the first stage."

In a letter to the editor of the ''Charleston'' (WV) ''Gazette'' dated Oct. 30, 2009 Blankenship denied that climate change, or "global warming," existed, and stated: "Why should we trust a report by the United Nations? The United Nations includes countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran."

At a 2009 Labor Day pro-coal rally in West Virginia, Blankenship expressed his true views on the role of the federal government and state authorities in ensuring miner safety:

"We also endure a Mine Safety and Health Administration that seeks power over coal miners versus improving their safety and their health. As someone who has overseen the mining of more coal than anyone else in the history of central Appalachia, I know that the safety and health of coal miners is my most important job. I don’t need Washington politicians to tell me that, and neither do you. But I also know — I also know Washington and state politicians have no idea how to improve miner safety. The very idea that they care more about coal miner safety than we do is as silly as global warming".

Controversy

Warren McGraw

Washington political journalist Michael Tomasky, himself a native West Virginian, claimed that Blankenship was "famous in West Virginia as the man who successfully bought himself a State Supreme Court Justice in 2004 and then tried to buy himself the state legislature, failing spectacularly at the latter effort." Tomasky wrote:

Michael Shnayerson, in his book ''Coal River'' (2008), reports that no such foundation was ever set up and that Blankenship's tactics didn't help other Republicans in the state. In 2006, the $3 million that he had provided to forty Republican challengers to Democratic state legislators brought just a single victory. Although Blankenship was the primary donor to "And For the Sake of Kids," other groups, including Doctors for Justice, contributed over $1 million to ASK. Another group, Citizens for Quality Health Care, which was funded in part by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, spent over $350,000 to defeat McGraw. Meanwhile, several groups spent millions opposing Benjamin and supporting McGraw, including West Virginia Consumers for Justice and Hugh Caperton, CEO of Harmon Development Corporation.

''Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co.''

As of April 2010, Massey had a $77 million case pending, Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. in which a smaller coal mining company, Harman Mining, made allegations of contract interference on Massey's part. In November 2008, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear Harman Mining's appeal of the case. Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Common Cause and Public Citizen all filed briefs in the case urging the Supreme Court to throw out the West Virginia Supreme Court's decision in favor of Massey. The corporations contended that Justice Brent Benjamin was biased in the case—specifically, in favor of Massey. Blankenship made approximately $3 million in independent expenditures against McGraw, the incumbent judge in the 2004 campaign for the West Va. Supreme Court, and only contributed $1000 to Benjamin's campaign. On June 9, 2009, ''The New York Times'' opined that the case involved "egregious ethical myopia" on the part of Justice Benjamin. .

Following the decision, many legal scholars disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision: "If the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an 'appearance of impropriety' such as to require recusal by a judge may be determined by forces external to the judge's own conscience...it will place our system on a slippery slope that knows no boundaries."

Photographer incident

On April 3, 2008, ''ABC News'' reported that Blankenship attacked an ''ABC News'' photographer at a Massey facility near Belfry, Kentucky as the photographer attempted to question Blankenship about photos published in the ''New York Times'' showing Blankenship on vacation in Monaco with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard. "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot!" Blankenship stated in the video.

Following the incident, Justice Maynard lost his bid for re-election to the West Virginia Supreme Court in the West Virginia primary election.

Upper Big Branch disaster

:''Main article:'' Upper Big Branch Mine disaster On April 5, 2010, an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 miners. It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Kentucky. In 2006, a fatal accident at Aracoma Alma (also owned by Massey Coal Co.) was one of the explosions prompting Congress to upgrade federal mine safety laws for the first time since 1977. As Blankenship came under increased scrutiny, a ''Business Week'' article said that he has a reputation for resistance to spending money, a willingness to litigate, and to personally go into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts. On April 12, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund which holds 303,550 shares of Massey stock worth about $14.1 million, called for Blankenship to resign immediately. "Massey's cavalier attitude toward risk and callous disregard for the safety of its employees has exacted a horrible cost on dozens of hard-working miners and their loved ones," DiNapoli said in a public statement reported by Reuters and others. "This tragedy was a failure both of risk management and effective board oversight. Blankenship must step down and make room for more responsible leadership at Massey." On April 22, Massey Energy's lead independent director Bobby R. Inman announced that "Blankenship has the full support and confidence of the Massey Energy Board of Directors." On April 25, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and state officials paid tribute to the 29 coal miners at a memorial service in Beckley, WV

Other

A former employee of Blankenship, Deborah May, similarly filed a lawsuit which claimed that stress from personal abuse forced her to quit her job as Blankenship's personal maid in November 2005. The lawsuit claimed that such comparatively minor mistakes as a wrong breakfast order from McDonald's, misplaced ice cream in the freezer, and an improperly hung jacket in the closet caused difficulties with Blankenship. In June 2008, West Virginia's top court ruled that May was entitled to unemployment benefits because "the unrefuted evidence" showed that Blankenship "physically grabbed" the maid, threw food after she brought back the wrong fast-food order, and tore a tie rack and coat hanger out of a closet after she forgot to leave the hanger out for his coat. "This shocking conduct" showed May was in effect fired because she felt compelled to quit, the justices said. They said the conduct was "reminiscent of slavery and is an affront to common decency.":

In 2005, Blankenship wrote a memo to employees telling them that maximizing coal production was more important than spending time constructing things like support beams or ventilation shafts:

In October 2006, Grist.org, Seattle-based environmental e-magazine, chose Blankenship as "the scariest polluter in the U.S."

When groundwater pollution from coal slurry injection by Massey Energy, began contaminating wells around Blankenship's home, Massey paid to build a water line to his home from a neighboring town. Blankenship did not offer to provide uncontaminated water to any of his neighbors.

References

Category:1950 births Category:Businesspeople in coal Category:Coal mining in the United States Category:Businesspeople from West Virginia Category:Living people Category:People from Mingo County, West Virginia Category:Massey Energy Category:West Virginia Republicans Category:People from Pike County, Kentucky Category:Businesspeople from Kentucky Category:American people of Scottish descent

Name	Nomi M. Prins
Known for	Book: ''It Takes a Pillage''
Occupation	Journalist
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	New York University
Education	Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Class	"infobox"
Website	http://www.nomiprins.com/ }}

Nomi Prins is an American author, journalist, and Senior Fellow at Demos. Prins is known primarily for her whistleblower-like book, ''It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street'', for her views on the U.S. economy, for her published spending figures on federal programs and initiatives related to the 2008 bailout, and for her advocacy for the reinstatement of the Glass–Steagall Act and regulatory reform of the financial industry.

Book review

Author Jim Hightower said, “Nomi Prins knows the mind-set, knows how to read spreadsheets, knows the people, and knows Wall Street’s games. Nomi knows and now Nomi tells.”

Works

Prins' articles have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''Fortune'', ''Newsday'', ''Mother Jones'', Slate.com, ''The Guardian'', ''The Nation'', ''The American Prospect'', Alternet, ''Left Business Observer'', ''Cineaste'', ''La Vanguardia'', and other publications.

Books

''It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street'' - Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (9/22/09); ISBN 0470529598; ISBN 978-0470529591.

''Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America'' - Publisher: New Press (8/1/06); ISBN 1595580638; ISBN 978-1595580634. An account of corporate corruption, political collusion and Wall Street deception. This book was chosen as a Best Book of 2004 by The Economist, Barron's and The Library Journal.

''Jacked: How "Conservatives" are Picking your Pocket (whether you voted for them or not)'' - Publisher: Polipoint Press (9/1/06); ISBN 0976062186; ISBN 978-0976062189. Catalogs her travels around the USA talking to people about their economic lives.

Notes

External links

Nomi Prins Website

Video: Tavis Smiley Interviews Journalist Nomi Prins

Video: Obama Banking Too Much on Banks, DemocracyNow!

Video: Wall Street's Game, Main Street's Pain

Video: Recovery is not even on horizon

Video: Nomi Prins at The Strand, Demos

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people