Mike Oldfield | |
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 Oldfield at theNight of the Proms in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Michael Gordon Oldfield (1953-05-15)15 May 1953 (age 72) Reading, Berkshire, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1967–2023 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | The Sallyangie |
Spouses | |
| Website | mikeoldfieldofficial |
Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut albumTubular Bells (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a guitarist, Oldfield played a range of instruments, which included keyboards and percussion, as well as vocals. He had adopted a range of musical styles throughout his career, includingprogressive rock,world,folk,classical,electronic,ambient andnew age music. His discography includes 25 studio albums, nine of which have reached the UK top ten.
Oldfield took up the guitar at age ten and left school in his teens to embark on a music career. From 1967 to 1970, he and his sisterSally Oldfield were a folk duo,the Sallyangie, after which he performed withKevin Ayers before starting work onTubular Bells in 1971. The album caught the attention ofRichard Branson, who agreed to make it the first-ever release on his new labelVirgin Records.[1] Its opening was used in the horror filmThe Exorcist, and the album went on to sell over 2.7 million copies in the UK. Oldfield followed it withHergest Ridge (1974),Ommadawn (1975) andIncantations (1978). LikeTubular Bells, these albums consist of longform, mostly instrumental pieces.
In the late 1970s, Oldfield began to tour and release more commercial and song-based music, beginning withPlatinum (1979),QE2 (1980) andFive Miles Out (1982). His most successful album of this period wasCrises (1983), which features the worldwide hit single "Moonlight Shadow," with thevocalistMaggie Reilly. After leaving Virgin and signing withWEA, the 1990s saw him releaseTubular Bells II (1992) andTubular Bells III (1998) among other albums, and he experimented with virtual reality and gaming content with hisMusicVR project. In 2012, Oldfield performed at the opening ceremony for the2012 Olympic Games held in London, while 2017 saw the release of his final album,Return to Ommadawn. Oldfield's label announced his retirement in 2023.[2]
Michael Gordon Oldfield was born inReading, Berkshire, on 15 May 1953, to Raymond Henry Oldfield (1923–2016),[3] an Englishgeneral practitioner, and Maureen (née Liston 1919-1975), an Irish nurse fromCharleville, County Cork, who emigrated to England to pursue career in nursing.[4][5][6][7] Oldfield has two elder siblings, sisterSally and brotherTerence.[8] In 1959, when Oldfield was six, his mother gave birth to a younger brother, David, who hadDown syndrome. The parents dropped off David in an institution and lied to Mike, Sally and Terence that the baby had died in infancy.[9] His mother was prescribedbarbiturates, to which she became addicted, and developed mental health problems. She spent much of the rest of her life in mental institutions and died in early 1975, shortly after Oldfield had started writingOmmadawn.[10][9] Oldfield attendedHighlands Junior School, followed by St. Edward's Preparatory School[11] andPresentation College, all in Reading. When he was thirteen, the family moved toHarold Wood,Essex, and Oldfield attendedHornchurch Grammar School where, having already displayed musical talent, he earned oneGCE qualification in English.[12]
Oldfield took up the guitar aged ten, first learning on a 6-string acoustic which his father had given to him.[13] He learned technique by copying parts from songs, by folk guitaristsBert Jansch andJohn Renbourn, that he played on a portable record player. He tried to learn musical notation but was a "very, very slow" learner, saying: "If I have to, I can write things down. But I don't like to."[14] By the time he was twelve, Oldfield played the electric guitar and performed in local folk and youth clubs and dances, earning as much as £4 (equivalent to £98 in 2023) per gig.[13][14][15] During a six-month break from music that Oldfield had around this time, he took up painting. In May 1968, when Oldfield turned fifteen, his school headmaster requested that he cut his long hair. Oldfield refused, left abruptly and never returned. It was at this point when he decided to pursue music on a full-time, professional basis.[12][13]
After leaving school Oldfield accepted an invitation from his sister Sally to form a folk duothe Sallyangie, taking its name from her name and Oldfield's favourite Jansch tune, "Angie".[16] They toured England and Paris and signed a deal withTransatlantic Records, for which they recorded one album,Children of the Sun (1969). After they split in the following year Oldfield had anervous breakdown. He auditioned as bassist forFamily in 1969 following the departure ofRic Grech, but the group did not shareRoger Chapman's enthusiasm towards Oldfield's performance.[17] Oldfield spent much of the next year living off his father and performing in an electric rock band named Barefoot that included his brother Terry on flute, until the group disbanded in early 1970.[18][19]
In February 1970, Oldfield auditioned to become the bassist in the Whole World, a new backing band that formerSoft Machine vocalistKevin Ayers was putting together. He landed the position despite the bass being a new instrument for him, but he also played occasional lead guitar and later looked back on this time as providing valuable training on the bass.[20][14] Oldfield went on to play on Ayers's albumsShooting at the Moon (1970) andWhatevershebringswesing (1971), and played mandolin onEdgar Broughton Band (1971).[19] All three albums were recorded atAbbey Road Studios, where Oldfield familiarised himself with a variety of instruments, such as orchestral percussion, piano,Mellotron andharpsichord, and started to write and put down musical ideas of his own.[14] While doing so Oldfield took up work as a reserve guitarist in a stage production ofHair at theShaftesbury Theatre, where he played and gigged withAlex Harvey. After ten performances Oldfield grew bored of the job and was fired after he decided to play his part for "Let the Sunshine In" in7/8 time.[14][15]
By mid-1971, Oldfield had assembled a demo tape containing sections of a longform instrumental piece initially titled "Opus One". Attempts to secure a recording deal to record it professionally came to nothing. In September 1971, Oldfield, now a session musician and bassist for theArthur Louis Band, attended recording sessions atThe Manor Studio atShipton-on-Cherwell,Oxfordshire, owned by businessmanRichard Branson and run by engineersTom Newman and Simon Heyworth.[15] Branson already had several business ventures and was about to launchVirgin Records with Simon Draper. Newman and Heyworth heard some of Oldfield's demos and took them to Branson and Draper, who eventually gave Oldfield one week of recording time at The Manor, after which Oldfield had completed what became "Part One" of his composition,Tubular Bells. He recorded "Part Two" mostly at night in the studio downtime, from February to April 1973.[21] Branson agreed to releaseTubular Bells as the first record on the Virgin label and secured Oldfield a six-album deal with an additional four albums as optional.[22]
Tubular Bells was released on 25 May 1973. Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in themulti-layered recording, and its style moved through diverse musical genres. Its 2,760,000 UK sales puts it at No. 42 on the list of the best-selling albums in the country.[23] The title track became a top-10 hit single in the US after the opening was used in the filmThe Exorcist in 1973. It is today considered to be a forerunner of thenew-age music movement.[24]
In 1974, Oldfield played the guitar on the critically acclaimed albumRock Bottom byRobert Wyatt.
In late 1974, his follow-up LP,Hergest Ridge, was No. 1 in the UK for three weeks before being dethroned byTubular Bells. AlthoughHergest Ridge was released over a year afterTubular Bells, it reached No. 1 first.Tubular Bells spent 11 weeks (10 of them consecutive) at No. 2 before its one week at the top. LikeTubular Bells,Hergest Ridge is a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield'sHerefordshire country retreat. It was followed in 1975 by the pioneeringworld music pieceOmmadawn released after the death of his mother, Maureen.[15][25]
In 1975, Oldfield recorded a version of the Christmas piece "In Dulci Jubilo" which charted at No. 4 in the UK.
In 1975, Oldfield received aGrammy award for Best Instrumental Composition in "Tubular Bells – Theme fromThe Exorcist".
In 1976, Oldfield and his sister joined his friend and band memberPekka Pohjola to play on his albumMathematician's Air Display, which was released in 1977. The album was recorded and edited at Oldfield's Througham Slad Manor inGloucestershire by Oldfield and Paul Lindsay. Oldfield's 1976 rendition of "Portsmouth" remains his best-performing single on theUK Singles Chart, reaching No. 3.[26]
Oldfield recorded the double albumIncantations between December 1977 and September 1978. This introduced more diverse choral performances fromSally Oldfield,Maddy Prior and theQueen's College Girls Choir. When it was released on 1 December 1978, the album went to No. 14 in the UK and reached platinum certification for 300,000 copies sold.
In 1979, Oldfield supportedIncantations with a European tour that spanned 21 dates between March and May 1979. The tour was documented with the live album and concert film,Exposed. Initially marketed as a limited pressing of 100,000 copies, the strength of sales for the album were strong enough for Virgin to abandon the idea shortly after, transferring it to regular production.[19] During the tour Oldfield released the disco-influenced non-album single "Guilty", for which he went to New York City to find the best session musicians and write a song with them in mind. He wrote a chord chart for the song and presented it to the group, who completed it in the studio.[17] Released in April 1979, the song went to No. 22 in the UK and Oldfield performed the song on the national television showTop of the Pops.
Oldfield's music was used for the score ofThe Space Movie (1980), aVirgin Films production that celebrated the tenth anniversary of theApollo 11 mission.[27] In 1979, he recorded a version ofthe signature tune for the BBC children's television programmeBlue Peter, which was used by the show for 10 years.[28]
Oldfield's fifth album,Platinum, was released in November 1979 and marked the start of his transition from long compositions towards mainstream and pop music. Oldfield performed on tour across Europe between April and December 1980.[citation needed]
In 1980, Oldfield releasedQE2, named after theocean liner, which features a variety of guest musicians includingPhil Collins on drums. This was followed by the European Adventure Tour 1981, during which Oldfield accepted an invitation to perform at a free concert celebrating thewedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana inGuildhall. He wrote a new track, "Royal Wedding Anthem", for the occasion.[19]
His next album,Five Miles Out, followed in March 1982, with the 24-minute track "Taurus II" occupying the whole of side one. The Five Miles Out World Tour 1982 saw Oldfield perform from April to December of that year.Crises saw Oldfield continue the pattern of one long composition with shorter songs. The first single from the album, "Moonlight Shadow", withMaggie Reilly on vocals, became Oldfield's most successful single, reaching No. 4 in the UK[19] and No. 1 in nine other countries. The subsequent Crises Tour in 1983 concluded with a concert atWembley Arena to commemorate the tenth anniversary ofTubular Bells. The next album,Discovery, continues with this trend, being the first single "To France" and subsequent Discovery Tour 1984.
Oldfield later turned to film and video, writingthe score forRoland Joffé's acclaimed filmThe Killing Fields and producing substantial video footage for his albumIslands.Islands continued what Oldfield had been doing on the past couple of albums, with an instrumental piece on one side and rock/pop singles on the other. Of these, "Islands", sung byBonnie Tyler and "Magic Touch", with vocals byMax Bacon (in the US version) andGlasgow vocalist Jim Price (Southside Jimmy) in the rest of the world,[29] were the major hits. In the US "Magic Touch" reached the top 10 on theBillboard album rock charts in 1988. During the 1980s, Oldfield's then-partner, Norwegian singerAnita Hegerland, contributed vocals to many songs including "Pictures in the Dark".
Released in July 1989,Earth Moving features seven vocalists across the album's nine tracks.[19] It is Oldfield's first to consist solely of rock and pop songs, several of which were released as singles: "Innocent" and "Holy" in Europe and "Hostage" in the US.
For his next instrumental album, Virgin insisted that Oldfield use the titleTubular Bells 2.[30] Oldfield's rebellious response wasAmarok, an hour-long work featuring rapidly changing themes, unpredictable bursts of noise and a hiddenMorse code insult, stating "Fuck off RB", allegedly directed atBranson.[31][32] Oldfield did everything in his power to make it impossible to make extracts and Virgin returned the favour by barely promoting the album.[33]
In February 1991, Oldfield released his final album for Virgin,Heaven's Open, under the name "Michael Oldfield". It marks the first time he handles all lead vocals. In 2013, Oldfield invited Branson to the opening of St. Andrew's International School of The Bahamas, where two of Oldfield's children were pupils. This was the occasion of the debut ofTubular Bells for Schools, a piano solo adaptation of Oldfield's work.[34]
By early 1992, Oldfield had secured Clive Banks as his new manager and had several record label owners listen to his demo ofTubular Bells II at his house. Oldfield signed withRob Dickins ofWEA Warner and recorded the album withTrevor Horn as producer.[17] Released in August 1992, the album went to No. 1 in the UK. Its live premiere followed on 4 September atEdinburgh Castle which was released on home video asTubular Bells II Live. Oldfield supported the album with his Tubular Bells II 20th Anniversary Tour in 1992 and 1993, his first concert tour since 1984. By April 1993, the album had sold over three million copies worldwide.[35]
Oldfield continued to embrace new musical styles, withThe Songs of Distant Earth (based onArthur C. Clarke'snovel of the same name) exhibiting a softer new-age sound. In 1994, he also had anasteroid,5656 Oldfield, named after him.[36][37]
In 1995 Oldfield continued to embrace new musical styles by producing theCeltic-themed albumVoyager. In 1992, Oldfield metLuar na Lubre, a Galician Celtic-folk band (fromA Coruña, Spain), with the singerRosa Cedrón. The band's popularity grew after Oldfield covered their song "O son do ar" ("The sound of the air") on hisVoyager album.
In 1998 Oldfield producedthe thirdTubular Bells album (also premiered at aconcert, this time inHorse Guards Parade, London), drawing on thedance music scene at his then new home on the island ofIbiza. This album was inspired by themes fromTubular Bells, but differed in lacking a clear two-part structure.
During 1999 Oldfield released two albums. The first,Guitars, used guitars as the source for all the sounds on the album, including percussion. The second,The Millennium Bell, consisted ofpastiches of a number of styles of music that represented various historical periods over the past millennium. The work wasperformed live in Berlin for the city's millennium celebrations in 1999–2000.
He added to his repertoire theMusicVR project, combining his music with avirtual reality-based computer game. His first work on this project isTres Lunas launched in 2002, a virtual game where the player can interact with a world full of new music. This project appeared as a double CD, one with the music and the other with thegame.
In 2002 and 2003, Oldfield re-recordedTubular Bells, using modern equipment, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original. He had wanted to do it years before, but his contract with Virgin had kept him from doing so.[38] This new version featuredJohn Cleese as theMaster of Ceremonies, sinceVivian Stanshall, who had appeared on the original, had died in 1995.Tubular Bells 2003 was released in May 2003.[39]
On 12 April 2004, Oldfield launched his nextvirtual reality project,Maestro, which contains music from theTubular Bells 2003 album and some newchillout melodies.[40] The games have since been made available free of charge on Tubular.net.[41]
In 2005 Oldfield signed a deal withMercury Records UK, who secured the rights to his catalogue when the rights had reverted to himself.[42] Mercury acquired the rights to Oldfield's back catalogue, in July 2007. Oldfield released his first album on the Mercury label,Light + Shade, in September 2005. It is a double album of music of contrasting mood: relaxed (Light) and upbeat and moody (Shade). In 2006 and 2007, Oldfield headlined theNight of the Proms tour, consisting of 21 concerts across Europe.[43] Also in 2007, Oldfield released his autobiography,Changeling.[44]
In March 2008, Oldfield released his first classical album,Music of the Spheres;Karl Jenkins assisted with the orchestration.[45] In the first week of release the album topped theUK Classical chart and reached No. 9 on the main UK Album Chart. A single "Spheres", featuring a demo version of pieces from the album, was released digitally.[46] The album was nominated for aClassical Brit Award, theNS&I Best Album of 2009.[47]
In 2008, when Oldfield's original 35-year deal with Virgin Records ended, the rights toTubular Bells and his other Virgin releases were returned to him,[48] and were then transferred to Mercury Records.[41] Mercury announced that his Virgin albums would be reissued with bonus content from 2009.[49] In 2009, Mercury released the compilation albumThe Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983, that went to No. 11 in the UK chart.
In 2008 Oldfield contributed a new track, "Song for Survival", to the charity albumSongs for Survival in support ofSurvival International.[50][51] In 2010, lyricistDon Black said that he had been working with Oldfield.[52] In 2012 Oldfield was featured onJourney into Space, an album by his brother Terry, and on the track "Islanders" by German producerTorsten Stenzel'sYork project. In 2013, Oldfield and York released a remix album entitledTubular Beats.
Oldfield performed live at the2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. His set included renditions ofTubular Bells, "Far Above the Clouds" and "In Dulci Jubilo" during a segment about theNational Health Service.[15] This track appears on the officially released soundtrack albumIsles of Wonder. Later in 2012, the compilation albumTwo Sides: The Very Best of Mike Oldfield was released and reached No. 6 in the UK.[53][54]
In October 2013, theBBC broadcastTubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story, a documentary on Oldfield's life and career.[55] Oldfield's rock-themed album of songs, titledMan on the Rocks, was released on 3 March 2014 byVirgin EMI. The album was produced bySteve Lipson. The album marked a return of Oldfield to a Virgin branded label, through the merger of Mercury Records UK and Virgin Records after Universal Music's purchase of EMI. The track "Nuclear" was used for the E3 trailer ofMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
In 2015 Oldfield toldSteve Wright on his BBC radio show that a sequel album toTubular Bells was in early development, which he aimed to record on analogue equipment.[56] Later in 2015, Oldfield revealed that he had started on a sequel toOmmadawn.[57] The album, namedReturn to Ommadawn, was finished in 2016 and released in January 2017.[15] It went to No. 4 in the UK.[58] Oldfield again hinted at a fourthTubular Bells album when he posted photos of his new equipment, including a newTelecaster guitar.[59]
A 50th anniversary edition ofTubular Bells was released on 26 May 2023.[60] It features a new master of the original album along with an additional previously unreleased 8-minute track, the "Introduction toTubular Bells 4".[60] "Introduction toTubular Bells 4" was recorded by Oldfield as a demo in 2017. His record label indicated that he had decided not to go forward with theTubular Bells 4 project and that this "may well be the last piece ever to be recorded by Oldfield".[2]
Oldfield's 1970s recordings were characterised by a very broad variety of instrumentation predominantly played by himself, plus assorted guitar sound treatments to suggest other instrumental timbres (such as the "bagpipe", "mandolin", "Glorfindel" and varispeed guitars on the originalTubular Bells).During the 1980s Oldfield became expert in the use of digital synthesizers and sequencers (notably theFairlight CMI) which began to dominate the sound of his recordings: from the late 1990s onwards, he became a keen user ofsoftware synthesizers. He has, however, regularly returned to projects emphasising detailed, manually played and part-acoustic instrumentation (such as 1990'sAmarok, 1996'sVoyager and 1999'sGuitars).
While generally preferring the sound of guest vocalists, Oldfield has frequently sung both lead and backup parts for his songs and compositions. He has also contributed experimental vocal effects such as fake choirs and the notorious "Piltdown Man" impression onTubular Bells.
Over the years, Oldfield has used a range of guitars. Among the more notable of these are:
Oldfield used a modifiedRoland GP8 effects processor in conjunction with his PRS Artist to get many of his heavilyoverdriven guitar sounds from theEarth Moving album onwards.[61] Oldfield has also been usingguitar synthesizers since the mid-1980s, using a 1980sRoland GR-300/G-808 type system, then a 1990s Roland GK2 equipped red PRS Custom 24 (sold in 2006) with a Roland VG8,[61] and most recently aLine 6Variax.
Oldfield has an unusual playing style, using fingers and long right-hand fingernails and different ways of creating vibrato: a "very fast side-to-side vibrato" and "violinist's vibrato".[66] Oldfield has stated that his playing style originates from his musical roots playing folk music and the bass guitar.[11]
Over the years, Oldfield has owned and used a vast number of synthesizers and other keyboard instruments. In the 1980s, he composed the score for the filmThe Killing Fields on aFairlight CMI.[61] Some examples of keyboard and synthesised instruments which Oldfield has made use of includeSequential Circuits Prophet-5s (notably onPlatinum andThe Killing Fields), Roland JV-1080/JV-2080 units (1990s), aKorg M1 (as seen in the "Innocent" video), aClaviaNord Lead andSteinway pianos. In recent years, he has also made use of software synthesis products, such asNative Instruments.[67]
Oldfield has self-recorded and produced many of his albums, and played the majority of the featured instruments, largely at his home studios. In the 1990s and 2000s he mainly usedDAWs such asAppleLogic,AvidPro Tools andSteinbergNuendo as recording suites.[68] For composing orchestral music Oldfield has been quoted as using the software notation programSibelius[44] running on AppleMacintoshes.[69] He also used theFL Studio DAW on his 2005 double albumLight + Shade.[70] Among the mixing consoles Oldfield has owned are anAMS Neve Capricorn 33238, aHarrison Series X,[71] and aEuphonix System 5-MC.[72]
In 1978, Oldfield married Diana Fuller, a relative of theExegesis group leader. The marriage lasted for three months.[73][74] Oldfield recalled that he phoned label bossRichard Branson the day after the ceremony and said he had made a mistake.[75] From 1979 to 1986, Oldfield was in a relationship with Sally Cooper, whom he met through Virgin. They had three children.[76] In 2015, his son Dougal died after collapsing while working at a film production company in London.[77][78] By the time of birth of their third child, in 1986, the relationship had broken down and they amicably split. Oldfield entered a relationship with Norwegian singerAnita Hegerland that lasted until 1991.[79] The pair met backstage at one of Oldfield's gigs while touring Germany in 1984.[76] They lived in Switzerland, France and England. They have two children.[76]
In the late 1990s, Oldfield posted in a lonely hearts column in a local Ibiza newspaper. It was answered by Amy Lauer; the pair dated, but the relationship was troubled by Oldfield's bouts of alcohol and substance abuse and it ended after two months.[80][better source needed] In 2001, Oldfield began counselling and psychotherapy.[75] Between 2002 and 2013, Oldfield was married to Fanny Vandekerckhove, whom he met while living in Ibiza. They have two sons.[81]
Oldfield and his siblings were raised as Catholic, their mother's faith.[82]
In June 1978, during the recording ofIncantations, Oldfield and his siblings completed a three-dayExegesis seminar, a self-assertiveness programme based onWerner Erhard'sEST training programme. The experience had a significant effect on Oldfield's personality, who recalled that he underwent a "rebirth experience" by reliving past fears. "It was like opening some huge cathedral doors and facing the monster, and I saw that the monster was myself as a newborn infant, because I'd started life in a panic."[19][83] Following the Exegesis seminar, the formerly reclusive Oldfield granted press interviews, posed nude for a promotional photo shoot forIncantations and went drinking with news reporters. He had also conquered his fear of flying, gained a pilot's licence and bought his own plane.[35]
He used drugs in his early life, includingLSD, which he said affected his mental health.[11] In the early 1990s, Oldfield set up Tonic, a foundation that sponsored people to receive counselling and therapy.[11]
In 1980, Oldfield, a longtime fan ofmodel aircraft, acquired his pilot's licence.[4][84] He later became a motorcycle enthusiast and has been inspired to write songs from riding them. He has owned various models, including aBMW R1200GS,Suzuki GSX-R750,Suzuki GSX-R1000 and aYamaha R1.[85]
Oldfield has lived inNassau, Bahamas, since 2009 and is a Bahamian citizen.[86][87] He has also lived in Spain, Los Angeles andMonaco. In 2012, Oldfield stated that he had decided to leave England after feeling that the country had become a "nanny state" with too much surveillance and state control.[88] Oldfield has remarked that while he is close to other celebrity residents in the Bahamas, he chose not to live within a wealthy gated community with staff and described his lifestyle as "austere."[89]
In 2017, Oldfield expressed support for then US PresidentDonald Trump and said he would have played atTrump's inauguration if he had been invited to do so. In the same interview, he also stated that he was in favour ofBrexit.[89][90]
| Award | Year | Nominee(s) | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APRS Annual Sound Fellowships Lunch | 2015 | Himself | Honour Fellowship | Won | [91] |
| British Academy Film Awards | 1985 | The Killing Fields | Best Original Music | Nominated | [92] |
| Brit Awards | 1977 | Tubular Bells | British Album of the Year | Nominated | [93] |
| Daily Mirror The British Rock & Pop Awards | 1977 | Himself | Best Instrumentalist | Won | [94] |
| Golden Globe Awards | 1985 | The Killing Fields | Best Original Score | Nominated | [92] |
| Goldene Europa | 1987 | Himself | Best International Artist | Won | [95] |
| 1998 | Won | ||||
| Grammy Awards | 1975 | "Tubular Bells" | Best Instrumental Composition | Won | [96] |
| 1998 | Voyager | Best New Age Album | Nominated | ||
| Grammy Hall of Fame | 2018 | Tubular Bells | Album Induction | Won | [97] |
| Hungarian Music Awards | 1997 | Voyager | Best Foreign Album | Nominated | [98] |
| Ivor Novello Awards | 1984 | "Moonlight Shadow" | Most Performed Work | Nominated | [99] |
| NME Awards | 1975 | Himself | Best Miscellaneous Instrumentalist | Won | [100] |
| 1976 | Won | ||||
| 1977 | Won | ||||
| Online Film & Television Association | 1999 | The X-Files | Best Music, Original Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Score | Nominated | [92] |
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Studio albums
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I've just written with Mike Oldfield and he sent me Tubular Bells and I thought, "What goes with that?"
My mother being Irish, she was a Roman Catholic. They put me on the first stages of educating me to be a Catholic.
Sources
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
