Mike Oldfield facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mike Oldfield
Oldfield at the Night of the Proms in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Michael Gordon Oldfield
Born	(1953-05-15) 15 May 1953 (age 72) Reading, Berkshire, England
Genres	Progressive rock world folk classical ambient new-age pop experimental minimalist
Occupation(s)	Musician songwriter record producer video game designer
Instruments	Guitar bass keyboards percussion vocals
Years active	1967–2023
Labels	Virgin Epic Reprise/Warner Bros. Mercury/Virgin EMI/Universal

Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English musician, songwriter, and producer. He is famous for his first album, Tubular Bells (1973). This album became a huge success, even though it was very different from other music at the time. Mike Oldfield mainly plays the guitar, but he can play many other instruments too, like keyboards and drums. He has explored many music styles, including progressive rock, world music, folk, classical, electronic, ambient, and new age music.

Mike Oldfield started playing guitar when he was ten years old. He left school as a teenager to focus on music. From 1967 to 1970, he played folk music with his sister Sally Oldfield in a duo called the Sallyangie. After that, he played with musician Kevin Ayers. In 1971, Oldfield began working on Tubular Bells. This music caught the attention of Richard Branson, who decided to release it on his new record label, Virgin Records. A part of Tubular Bells was used in the horror movie The Exorcist. The album sold over 2.7 million copies in the UK.

After Tubular Bells, Oldfield released other albums like Hergest Ridge (1974), Ommadawn (1975), and Incantations (1978). These albums mostly featured long, instrumental pieces. In the late 1970s, Oldfield started making more pop-friendly music and began touring. Albums like Platinum (1979), QE2 (1980), and Five Miles Out (1982) showed this change. His album Crises (1983) was very successful. It included the popular song "Moonlight Shadow" with singer Maggie Reilly.

In the early 1990s, Oldfield signed with WEA. His most important album from this time was Tubular Bells II (1992). He also experimented with virtual reality and games through his MusicVR project. In 2012, he performed at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Mike Oldfield has released 26 studio albums, with nine reaching the top ten in the UK. His last album, Return to Ommadawn, came out in 2017. His record label announced his retirement in 2023.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Michael Gordon Oldfield was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, on 15 May 1953. His father, Raymond, was a doctor, and his mother, Maureen, was a nurse. Mike has two older siblings, a sister named Sally and a brother named Terence. Mike had a younger brother who sadly passed away when he was a baby.

Mike Oldfield started playing the guitar when he was ten years old. His father gave him a 6-string acoustic guitar. He learned by listening to songs from folk guitarists like Bert Jansch and John Renbourn on a record player and trying to play along. He found it hard to read music notes but could write them down if he needed to. By age twelve, Mike was playing electric guitar and performing in local clubs and dances. He earned about £4 for each show, which was a good amount of money back then.

When Mike was fifteen, his school principal asked him to cut his long hair. Mike refused and left school for good. At this point, he decided to become a full-time musician.

Early Career (1968–1972)

After leaving school, Mike joined his sister Sally to form a folk duo called the Sallyangie. They toured England and Paris and released one album, Children of the Sun (1969). After the duo split, Mike played bass for a band called Barefoot, which included his brother Terry.

In 1970, Mike Oldfield became the bassist for the Whole World, a new band formed by Kevin Ayers. Even though bass was a new instrument for him, he quickly learned it. He also played guitar sometimes. Mike played on Ayers's albums Shooting at the Moon (1970) and Whatevershebringswesing (1971). These albums were recorded at Abbey Road Studios. There, Mike learned about many different instruments, like orchestral drums, piano, and harpsichord. He started to create his own music ideas during this time. Mike also worked as a guitarist for a short time in a stage show called Hair.

The Virgin Years (1971–1991)

The Success of Tubular Bells

By mid-1971, Mike Oldfield had made a demo tape of a long instrumental piece he called "Opus One." He tried to get a record deal, but no one was interested. In September 1971, Mike was recording at The Manor Studio, which was owned by businessman Richard Branson. Branson was about to start his new record label, Virgin Records. The engineers at the studio heard Mike's demos and showed them to Branson. Branson gave Mike one week to record at The Manor. In that week, Mike finished "Part One" of his music, which became Tubular Bells. He finished "Part Two" in 1973. Branson agreed to release Tubular Bells as the very first record on the Virgin label.

Tubular Bells was released on 25 May 1973. Mike Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments on the album, layering them to create a rich sound. The music combined many different styles. The album sold 2.76 million copies in the UK, making it one of the best-selling albums there. The opening part of Tubular Bells became famous when it was used in the movie The Exorcist in 1973. The album is now seen as an important early work in new-age music.

More Albums and Hits

In 1974, Mike Oldfield released his next album, Hergest Ridge. It reached No. 1 in the UK for three weeks, even before Tubular Bells did. Like Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge was a two-part instrumental piece. In 1975, he released Ommadawn, which was a pioneering world music album.

In 1975, Mike Oldfield recorded a Christmas song called "In Dulci Jubilo," which reached No. 4 in the UK charts. He also won a Grammy Award for "Tubular Bells – Theme from The Exorcist." In 1976, his song "Portsmouth" became his most successful single in the UK, reaching No. 3.

Oldfield recorded the double album Incantations between 1977 and 1978. This album featured more singing from his sister Sally Oldfield and other choirs. It was released in December 1978 and sold over 300,000 copies. In 1979, Mike Oldfield toured Europe to support Incantations. He also released a disco-influenced song called "Guilty," which reached No. 22 in the UK.

Mike Oldfield's music was used in The Space Movie (1980), a film celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon mission. In 1979, he recorded a version of the theme tune for the BBC children's TV show Blue Peter, which was used for ten years.

Changing Styles and New Success

Mike Oldfield's fifth album, Platinum, came out in November 1979. This album showed his move from long instrumental pieces to more mainstream pop music. He toured Europe again in 1980.

In 1980, Oldfield released QE2, named after the famous ocean liner. This album featured guest musicians like Phil Collins. In 1981, Oldfield performed at a free concert celebrating the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. He even wrote a new song for the event called "Royal Wedding Anthem."

His next album, Five Miles Out, was released in March 1982. The album Crises continued his pattern of having one long instrumental piece and shorter songs. The first song from this album, "Moonlight Shadow" with Maggie Reilly singing, became Oldfield's most successful song. It reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 1 in nine other countries. The Crises Tour in 1983 ended with a concert at Wembley Arena to celebrate ten years of Tubular Bells. The album Discovery followed in 1984, featuring the song "To France".

Oldfield also wrote the music for the movie The Killing Fields (1984). His album Islands (1987) also had an instrumental side and a side with rock/pop songs. Songs like "Islands" (sung by Bonnie Tyler) and "Magic Touch" were popular.

In July 1989, Oldfield released Earth Moving, which was his first album made only of rock and pop songs. It featured seven different singers. Songs like "Innocent" were released as singles.

For his next instrumental album, Virgin Records wanted him to call it Tubular Bells 2. Instead, Oldfield released Amarok (1990), a long piece of music with many changing themes. This album was very experimental. In February 1991, Oldfield released his last album for Virgin, Heaven's Open. On this album, he sang all the main vocals himself.

The Warner Years (1992–2003)

In 1992, Mike Oldfield signed with WEA Warner. He recorded Tubular Bells II with producer Trevor Horn. The album was released in August 1992 and reached No. 1 in the UK. Its first live performance was at Edinburgh Castle. Oldfield toured in 1992 and 1993 to support the album. By April 1993, the album had sold over three million copies worldwide.

Oldfield continued to try new music styles. The Songs of Distant Earth (1994), based on a book by Arthur C. Clarke, had a softer, new-age sound. In 1994, an asteroid was even named after him: 5656 Oldfield.

In 1995, Oldfield released Voyager, an album with a Celtic theme. In 1998, he released Tubular Bells III, which was inspired by the dance music scene in Ibiza, where he lived at the time.

In 1999, Oldfield released two albums. The first, Guitars, used only guitar sounds for all the instruments, even the drums. The second, The Millennium Bell, featured music in different styles from various historical periods. This work was performed live in Berlin for the city's millennium celebrations.

He also started the MusicVR project, which combined his music with a virtual reality computer game. His first work on this was Tres Lunas, launched in 2002. This project came as a double CD, one with music and one with the game.

In 2002 and 2003, Oldfield re-recorded Tubular Bells using modern equipment for its 30th anniversary. This new version, Tubular Bells 2003, featured actor John Cleese as the Master of Ceremonies.

The Mercury Years (2004–Present)

On 12 April 2004, Oldfield launched his next virtual reality project, Maestro. This game included music from Tubular Bells 2003 and some new relaxing melodies. These games are now available for free online.

In 2005, Oldfield signed with Mercury Records UK. He released his first album on this label, Light + Shade, in September 2005. It was a double album with music of different moods: relaxed and upbeat. In 2006 and 2007, Oldfield was the main performer for the Night of the Proms tour in Europe. In 2007, he also released his autobiography, Changeling.

In March 2008, Oldfield released his first classical album, Music of the Spheres. It quickly topped the UK Classical chart and reached No. 9 on the main UK Album Chart. In 2009, Mercury reissued his older albums with extra content. The compilation album The Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983 reached No. 11 in the UK chart.

In 2012, Mike Oldfield performed live at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. His performance included parts of Tubular Bells and other songs. This performance was part of the official soundtrack album Isles of Wonder. Later in 2012, the album Two Sides: The Very Best of Mike Oldfield was released and reached No. 6 in the UK.

In October 2013, the BBC aired Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story, a documentary about his life. Oldfield's rock album, Man on the Rocks, was released on 3 March 2014. The song "Nuclear" from this album was used in a trailer for the video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

In 2015, Oldfield mentioned he was working on a sequel to Tubular Bells. Later that year, he started on a sequel to Ommadawn. This album, called Return to Ommadawn, was finished in 2016 and released in January 2017. It reached No. 4 in the UK.

A 50th anniversary edition of Tubular Bells was released on 26 May 2023. It included a new version of the original album and an unreleased 8-minute track called "Introduction to Tubular Bells 4." This track was a demo Oldfield recorded in 2017. His record label said he decided not to continue with the Tubular Bells 4 project, and this might be the last music he ever recorded.

How Mike Oldfield Makes Music

In the 1970s, Mike Oldfield's music was known for using many different instruments, mostly played by himself. He also used special guitar effects to make his guitar sound like other instruments, such as bagpipes or mandolins.

In the 1980s, Oldfield became skilled at using digital synthesizers and sequencers, which are electronic instruments that can create and arrange sounds. These became a big part of his music. From the late 1990s, he started using computer software to create sounds. However, he often returned to projects that focused on real instruments played by hand, like Amarok (1990) and Guitars (1999).

While he often used other singers, Oldfield also sang lead and backup parts in his songs. He also created unique vocal effects, like the "Piltdown Man" impression on Tubular Bells.

Guitars Mike Oldfield Used

Mike Oldfield has used many different guitars over the years. Some of his notable guitars include:

• A 1963 Fender Stratocaster in salmon pink. He used this from 1984 to 2006.
• A 1989 PRS Artist Custom 24 in amber. He has used this guitar from the late 1980s until recently.
• A 1966 Fender Telecaster in blonde. This guitar was once owned by Marc Bolan and was the only electric guitar used on Tubular Bells.
• Various Gibson Les Paul, Zemaitis, and SG guitars. He used these a lot in the 1970s and 1980s. A 1962 Gibson Les Paul/SG Junior was his main guitar for recording Ommadawn.

Oldfield has a unique way of playing guitar. He uses his fingers and long fingernails on his right hand. He also uses different ways to create vibrato, which is a wavering effect in the sound. He says his playing style comes from his background in folk music and playing bass guitar.

Keyboards and Recording

Mike Oldfield has owned and used many synthesizers and keyboard instruments. For example, he used a Fairlight CMI to create the music for The Killing Fields movie. He has also used Korg M1 and Steinway pianos. In recent years, he has used software that creates sounds on a computer.

Oldfield has recorded and produced many of his albums himself, often playing most of the instruments in his home studios. In the 1990s and 2000s, he mainly used computer programs like Apple Logic and Avid Pro Tools for recording. For writing orchestral music, he used the software Sibelius.

Personal Life

Family Life

In 1978, Mike Oldfield married Diana Fuller, but their marriage lasted only three months. From 1979 to 1986, he was in a relationship with Sally Cooper, and they had three children together. Sadly, in 2015, his son Dougal passed away. After his relationship with Sally Cooper ended, Oldfield was in a relationship with Norwegian singer Anita Hegerland until 1991. They had two children. Between 2002 and 2013, Oldfield was married to Fanny Vandekerckhove, and they have two sons.

Other Interests

Mike Oldfield and his siblings were raised Catholic. In 1978, Oldfield took part in a self-improvement program called Exegesis. This experience had a big impact on him, helping him overcome fears. After this, he became more open, gave interviews, and even got his pilot's license and bought his own plane.

Oldfield has been a fan of model aircraft for a long time. He also loves motorcycles and has written songs inspired by riding them. He has owned several different models of motorcycles.

Since 2009, Oldfield has lived in Nassau, Bahamas, and is a Bahamian citizen. He has also lived in Spain, Los Angeles, and Monaco. In 2012, Oldfield said he decided to leave England because he felt there was too much government control.

Awards and Recognition

Mike Oldfield has received several awards and nominations for his music:

Honours

• In 1981, Mike Oldfield was given the Freedom of the City of London.

Discography

Mike Oldfield has released many studio albums throughout his career:

Concert Tours

Mike Oldfield has performed in many concert tours:

• Tour of Europe 1979 (March–May 1979)
• In Concert 1980 (April–December 1980)
• European Adventure Tour '81 (March–August 1981)
• Five Miles Out World Tour 1982 (April–December 1982)
• Crises Tour 1983 (May–July 1983)
• Discovery Tour 1984 (August–November 1984)
• Tubular Bells II 20th Anniversary Tour (March–October 1993)
• Live Then & Now '99 (June–July 1999)
• Nokia Night of the Proms (December 2006)
• Night of the Proms Spain (March 2007)

Images for kids

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  Oldfield at the Night of the Proms in 2006

See also

In Spanish: Mike Oldfield para niños