Goldie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Goldie MBE
Goldie in 2003
Born	Clifford Joseph Price (1965-09-19) 19 September 1965 (age 59) Walsall, England
Occupation	Music producer DJ actor
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Sonjia Ashby ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2005)​ Mika Wassenaar ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	5
Musical career
Genres	Electronic jungle breakbeat hardcore drum and bass darkcore
Labels	Metalheadz FFRR Razor's Edge Reinforced Records Moving Shadow

Clifford Joseph Price, known as Goldie, is a famous English music producer, DJ, and actor. He was born on September 19, 1965. He also has an honor called the MBE.

Goldie first became known for his amazing graffiti art. Later, in the 1990s, he became a pioneer in UK jungle, drum and bass, and breakbeat hardcore music. He released many songs under the name Rufige Kru and helped start the record label Metalheadz. He also released albums under his own name, like Timeless in 1995, which was very popular.

Goldie has also acted in movies and TV shows. He was in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Guy Ritchie's movie Snatch (2000). He also appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2001 to 2002. You might have seen him on celebrity reality TV shows too, like Strictly Come Dancing.

Goldie's Early Life and Art

Goldie was born in Walsall, England, but grew up in Wolverhampton. He has both Jamaican and Scottish family roots. When he was three, he was adopted and lived in care homes and with different foster parents. He faced difficult times during his childhood.

In the 1980s, Goldie was part of a breakdance group called Westside in Wolverhampton. He later joined another breakdance crew, the Birmingham Bboys. He became well-known for his graffiti art in the West Midlands.

His artwork in Birmingham and Wolverhampton was shown in a documentary called Bombin by Dick Fontaine. His graffiti was also featured in the book Spraycan Art by Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff.

Goldie moved to the United States for graffiti projects. He also started a business selling grills, which are gold teeth jewelry, in New York and Miami. He continued this business when he returned to the UK in 1988. His nickname "Goldie" came from an earlier nickname, "Goldielocks," which was shortened.

Goldie's Music Career

Starting in Music

By 1991, Goldie became very interested in the British breakbeat music scene. His girlfriend, DJ Kemistry, introduced him to important jungle and drum and bass music producers, Dennis "Dego" McFarlane and Mark "Marc Mac" Clair, who were known as 4hero. Goldie then helped with design and finding new artists for 4hero's Reinforced Records label.

In 1992, Goldie first appeared on a record by contributing to an EP (Extended Play) by the Icelandic group Ajax Project. The EP included a track called Ruffige.

He released songs like Killa Muffin b/w Krisp Biscuit and the Dark Rider EP under the name "Rufige Kru." His song "Terminator," released in 1992 under the name "Metal Heads," was a big hit in the jungle music scene. It was known for its special use of pitch shifting, which changes the speed of sounds. In 1993, he released another song called Angel. In 1994, he started his own record label, Metalheadz.

Famous Albums and Songs

Goldie's first studio album, Timeless, came out in 1995. This album was very successful and reached number seven on the UK Albums Chart. Timeless mixed the fast breakbeats and deep basslines of jungle music with sounds from orchestras and soul singers, like Diane Charlemagne. The main song on the album was a long, 21-minute orchestral piece. Another song from the album, "Inner City Life", reached number 39 on the UK Singles Chart.

Timeless helped make drum and bass music more popular. Music critic Simon Reynolds said that Goldie was a huge innovator in the jungle/breakbeat scene. He mentioned that Goldie "revolutionised jungle not once but thrice" with his songs "Terminator," "Angel," and "Timeless."

In 1996, Goldie remixed the Bush song "Swallowed", which became very popular in the US and Canada.

His second album, Saturnz Return, was released in 1998. The first song on this album, "Mother," was an hour-long orchestral drum and bass piece. Famous artists like David Bowie, Noel Gallagher, and KRS-One appeared on the album. The album received mixed reviews from critics.

In 2002, Goldie mentioned he was working on a film called Sine Tempus. He released the soundtrack for this film as his new album in 2008 through the Metalheadz website, but the film itself has not been released.

Goldie is also known for leading Rufige Kru, a music group that changes its members. It has included other drum and bass producers like Technical Itch and Doc Scott.

In March 2013, a collection of his best songs, The Alchemist: The Best of Goldie 1992–2012, was released. Another collection, the three-CD Masterpiece set, came out in 2014. It included songs that influenced him and important moments from the drum and bass scene.

In 2017, Goldie released the album The Journey Man, which he called his most important work. In 2020, he started a new record label called Fallen Tree 1Hundred.

A special 25th anniversary edition of Timeless was released in 2021 by London Records. This new release included vinyl and CD versions, bringing the total number of versions of the album to 44.

Goldie's Acting Roles

Goldie has appeared in several films, including Guy Ritchie's Snatch and the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough. He also played a character named Angel Hudson in the British soap opera EastEnders from 2001 to 2002. In 1999, Goldie starred in Everybody Loves Sunshine with David Bowie.

Goldie on Television

Goldie has been on TV many times. In October 1987, he appeared on BBC1's Daytime Live to talk about urban art in the UK. He also promoted graffiti as an art form on Central Weekend. A small documentary about his art was shown on Central TV's Here and Now program. He appeared on young people's TV shows as part of the Bboys breakdance crew.

In 2002, Goldie presented the documentary series The World's Deadliest Gangs on Bravo. He also appeared on the second series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2002.

In 2006, he was supposed to be on The Games, a UK reality TV show. However, he broke his leg during training and could not take part.

In August and September 2008, the BBC aired Maestro, a reality show where celebrities learned to conduct an orchestra. Goldie came in second place.

On July 31, 2009, a two-part TV program called Classic Goldie was broadcast. It showed him learning to write music for a large orchestra and choir after his success on Maestro. His composition, called Sine Tempore (meaning Timeless), was performed at children's Promenade concerts in the Royal Albert Hall.

He appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in December 2009 and on Strictly Come Dancing in September 2010. In December 2010, he was on a Celebrity Come Dine with Me Christmas special.

In March 2011, he appeared in a three-part reality TV series, Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment. In this show, he led music experts to find young talented musicians across the country. They chose and coached 12 musicians who then performed at Buckingham Palace. In 2014, he appeared on the telethon BBC Children in Need.

Goldie's Art Exhibitions

In 2007, Goldie returned to the art world with an exhibition called "Love Over Gold" in London. In 2008, he worked with Pete Tong to create artwork for Tong's new Wonderland club night in Ibiza.

There was an exhibition of Goldie's art in Berlin in June 2008. In April 2009, a special exhibition called "Kids Are All Riot" took place in Shoreditch, London. Around 2008, Goldie's artwork was displayed on the London Underground by the arts company Art Below.

In 2021, he modeled for Louis Vuitton Menswear and contributed a song to their collection.

Books About Goldie

The unique nature of Goldie's art and music was a key theme in Kodwo Eshun's book 'More Brilliant Than The Sun' (1998). This book is seen as an important text on Afro-futurism. Eshun mentioned Goldie's 1986 graffiti piece "Future World Machine" and his 1992 song "Terminator," noting the connections between his painting and sound.

In 2002, Goldie's autobiography 'Nine Lives' was published. Written with Paul Gorman, the book told his life story from his childhood in care homes to his early success as a musician.

A second autobiography, 'All Things Remembered', was published in November 2017. Written when Goldie was 52, this book covered more of his life and had a more thoughtful tone. It included stories from his childhood, thoughts on his musical heroes, and memories of his work in TV and film. The book also featured pictures of Goldie with David Bowie.

Goldie's Personal Life

In the early 1990s, Goldie had a relationship with drum and bass artist Kemistry. He was also romantically involved with Icelandic singer Björk in 1996.

In 1998, Goldie bought a country house in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire. He married model Sonjia Ashby in 2002, and they divorced in 2005. As of 2003, he had five children, including social content creator Danny Price.

In 2007, Goldie started a relationship with Mika Wassenaar, who is Canadian. They appeared on ITV's All Star Mr & Mrs in 2009. Mika and Goldie got married in 2010.

On April 29, 2010, Goldie opened the William Tyndale Primary School Sports Pitch in Islington, London. In July 2010, he received an honorary doctorate from Brunel University. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton in September 2010.

As of 2017, Goldie and his wife were living in Thailand, where they had moved in 2015.

Goldie was given the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award in 2016 for his contributions to music and his work with young people.

In 2017, Goldie seemed to reveal the first name of the famous graffiti artist Banksy as "Rob" on a podcast. He said, "No disrespect to Rob, I think he is a brilliant artist."

Goldie's Music List

Albums

Studio Albums

• Timeless (1995)
• Saturnz Return (1998)
• The Journey Man (2017)

as Rufige Kru

• Malice in Wonderland (2007)
• Memoirs of an Afterlife (2009)
• Alpha Omega (2025)

Soundtrack Albums

• Sine Tempus – The Soundtrack (2008)

Collaboration Albums

• Subject One – Music for Inanimate Objects (2019) with James Davidson as Subjective
• The Start of No Regret (2022) with James Davidson as Subjective

Selected Songs and EPs

• "Kris Biscuit / Killer Muffin" (as Rufige Cru) (Reinforced Records, 1992)
• Darkrider EP (as Rufige Cru) (Reinforced Records, 1992)
• Terminator EP (as Metal Heads) (Synthetic Hardcore Phonography, 1992)
• "Ghosts of My Life / Terminator 2" (as Rufige Kru) (Reinforced Records, 1993)
• "Angel / You and Me" (as Metal Heads) (Synthetic Hardcore Phonography, 1993)
• Internal Affairs EP (as Internal Affairs with 4hero) (Reinforced Records, 1993)
• "VIP Riders Ghost" (as Rufige Kru) (Metalheadz, 1993)
• "Inner City Life" (as Goldie presents Metalheadz) (FFRR, 1994) – UK No. 39 (UK Singles Chart)
• "Angel" (FFRR, 1995) – UK No. 41
• "Jah / Deadly Deep Subs" (Remixes) (Razors Edge, 1996)
• "State of Mind" (FFRR, 1996)
• "Digital" (feat. KRS-One) (FFRR, 1997) – UK No. 13
• "The Shadow" (as Rob & Goldie) (Moving Shadow, 1997) – UK No. 82
• "Kemistry V.I.P. / Your Sound" (Remixes) (Razors Edge, 1997)
• Ring of Saturn (FFRR, 1998)
• "Temper Temper" (featuring Noel Gallagher) (FFRR, 1998) – UK No. 13
• "Believe" (FFRR, 1998) – UK No. 36
• "Beachdrifta / Stormtrooper VIP" (Metalheadz, 2001)
• "Say You Love Me" (Metalheadz, 2005)
• "Monkey Boy / Special Request" (Metalheadz, 2007)
• "Vanilla" (Metalheadz, 2007)
• "Freedom" (feat. Natalie Duncan) (Metalheadz, 2012)
• "I Adore You" feat. Ulterior Motive (2017)
• "Upstart" feat. Skepta (2018)
• "Breakout" feat. LaMeduza (as Subjective) (2022)

Selected Mixes

• INCredible Sound of Drum'n'Bass (1999)
• Goldie.co.uk (2001)
• MDZ.04 (2004)
• Drum & Bass Arena: The Classics (2006)
• Watch the Ride (2008)
• FabricLive.58 (2011)

Goldie's Filmography

• Everybody Loves Sunshine (1999) – Terry
• The World Is Not Enough (1999) – Mr. Bullion
• Snatch (2000) – Bad Boy Lincoln
• The Price of Air (2000) – The Greaser
• The Case (2002) – DJ Gabriel

See also

In Spanish: Goldie para niños