"Cult of Personality" is a song by New York City hard rock group Living Colour. The track appeared on the band's debut album Vivid and won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1989. The music video earned two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video and Best New Artist. A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a countrys leader uses mass media to create a larger-than-life public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Living Colour is a hard rock group formed in New York city in 1983 by Vernon Reid. ... Vivid is Living Colours debut album, which was released on May 3, 1988. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour (1967) as a 33 â…“ LP vinyl record A gramophone record (also phonograph record, or simply record) is an analogue sound recording medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove. ... A Compact Disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Heavy metal (sometimes referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Epic Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony BMG. // Epic was launched originally as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 by CBS. Its bright-yellow, black and blue logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz and classical releases. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Living Colour is a hard rock group formed in New York city in 1983 by Vernon Reid. ... Vivid is Living Colours debut album, which was released on May 3, 1988. ... The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance has been awarded since 1990. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The MTV Video Music Awards were established in 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year. ... The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Group Video. ... The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best New Artist. ...

The song begins with an edited quote from the beginning of a Malcolm X speech. As it appears in the song, the quote is: Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, also known as Detroit Red and Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York City) was a Muslim Minister and National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. ...

". . . And during the few moments that we have left, . . . [w]e want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand."

The unabridged beginning of the speech is:

"...And during the few moments that we have left, we want to have just an off-the-cuff chat between you and me -- us. We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand." ^[1]

At 4:35, John F. Kennedy is quoted, saying "Ask not what your country can do for you," and the song ends with Franklin Delano Roosevelt saying "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ...

Lyrics

Along with the above quotes interspersed, the lyrics in the song refer to several other well-known political and social figures:

• Benito Mussolini
• John F. Kennedy
• Josef Stalin
• Mahatma Gandhi
• God
• John Lennon (the line, "I'll tell you one and one is three")

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) was the prime minister and dictator of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... (Russian, in full: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин [Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin]; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: , Hindi: , IAST: mohandās karamcand gāndhī, IPA: ) (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948), was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ...

Appearance in popular culture

• "Cult of Personality" appears on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game soundtrack, in the setlist of alternative rock/metal station Radio X. The song also plays whenever the player enters a stadium race.
• "Cult of Personality" was used as the theme song for Professional Wrestler CM Punk during his time in Ring of Honor after winning the ROH World title.
• "Cult of Personality" will be featured in the upcoming console game Guitar Hero III. The master tracks for the song were nowhere to be found so Living Colour re-recorded the song (with a new guitar solo) specifically for the game.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth video game in the Grand Theft Auto series. ... Phillip Phil Brooks[1] (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand. ... Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion. ... Guitar Hero III will be the third official installment in the Guitar Hero video game series. ...

Notes

1. ^ Malcolm X: "Message to the Grass Roots": http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxgrassroots.htm