Roland Orzabal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roland Orzábal
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Orzabal in 2020
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roland Jaime Orzábal De La Quintana |
| Born | 22 August 1961 Portsmouth, England |
| Origin | Bath, Somerset, England |
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| Years active | 1979−present |
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Roland Jaime Orzábal De La Quintana, born on August 22, 1961, is a talented English musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as a co-founder and constant member of the famous band Tears for Fears. Roland also helps other artists make music as a producer. In 2014, he even wrote a romantic comedy novel.
Contents
Early Life
Roland Orzabal was born in Portsmouth, England. He grew up in a nearby town called Havant. Roland started writing songs when he was just seven years old! Later, his family moved to Bath, Somerset. There, he went to Culverhay School and joined a youth theater group.
Music Career
Starting Out
Roland Orzabal met Curt Smith when they were teenagers in Bath. In the late 1970s, they formed a band called Graduate with three other friends. After releasing their first album, Acting My Age, the group broke up. Roland and Curt then joined another band called Neon for a short time.
Soon after, they decided to form their own band, Tears for Fears. This new band was inspired by the ideas of an American psychologist named Arthur Janov. In Tears for Fears, Roland sings and plays guitar, while Curt sings and plays bass guitar. Roland is also the main songwriter for the band.
Tears for Fears Success
Tears for Fears' first album, The Hurting, came out in 1983 and quickly became number one in the UK. Their second album, Songs from the Big Chair (1985), was a huge hit. It reached number one in the US and sold millions of copies in both the UK and the US. This album included two very popular songs that reached number one in the US: "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".
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After their third album, The Seeds of Love, was released in 1989, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal decided to work separately in 1991. Roland continued to make music under the Tears for Fears name. He released albums like Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995).
Later, Roland and Curt reunited as Tears for Fears and released Everybody Loves a Happy Ending in 2004. Their seventh album, The Tipping Point, was released in February 2022.
Solo Music
In 2001, Roland Orzabal released his first album as a solo artist. It was called Tomcats Screaming Outside.
Working as a Producer and Songwriter
Roland Orzabal is a very successful songwriter and has won the Ivor Novello Award three times. His first award was in 1986 for "Songwriter of the Year."
Roland and Curt Smith helped discover the talented singer and pianist Oleta Adams. They invited her to work on their 1989 album, The Seeds of Love. Oleta sang on several songs, including the hit "Woman in Chains" with Roland. Roland then helped produce Oleta Adams' album Circle of One (1990), which was very popular. He also co-wrote a song called "Rhythm of Life" for her album.
In 1999, Roland Orzabal also helped produce an album for Icelandic singer-songwriter Emiliana Torrini.
Roland wrote the famous song "Mad World". This song was first a hit for Tears for Fears in 1982. Later, a new version of "Mad World" by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules became a number-one hit in the UK in 2003. This earned Roland his second Ivor Novello Award. In 2021, Roland and Curt Smith received their third Ivor Novello Award for their amazing collection of songs as Tears for Fears.
Author
Roland Orzabal wrote a romantic comedy novel called ... and Opera, which was published in 2014. The book is about a pop star who tries to restart his career by joining a reality TV show. Roland got the idea for the book because he was asked to be on a similar TV show himself, though he didn't join it.
Personal Life
Family
In 1982, Roland married Caroline Johnston. They had two sons together. Caroline sadly passed away in 2017. In 2020, Roland married Emily Rath, who is a photographer and writer.
Views on Society
After a political leader was re-elected in 1987, Roland Orzabal became interested in ideas about how society should work, especially regarding fairness for everyone. He expressed some of these feelings in the lyrics of the Tears for Fears song "Sowing the Seeds of Love".
Discography
Solo Albums
- Tomcats Screaming Outside (2001)
With Graduate
- Acting My Age (1980)
With Tears for Fears
- The Hurting (1983)
- Songs from the Big Chair (1985)
- The Seeds of Love (1989)
- Elemental (1993)
- Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995)
- Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (2004)
- The Tipping Point (2022)
- Songs for a Nervous Planet (2024)
With Mancrab
- "Fish for Life" (1986)
See also
In Spanish: Roland Orzabal para niños
