Oldfield, Mike (1953– )

English composer of new-age music. The phenomenal success of the album Tubular Bells (1973), a seminal work that blended rock, folk, and minimalism, and was used as a soundtrack to the film The Exorcist (1973), launched Richard Branson's Virgin record label and won Oldfield a Grammy award in 1974 for Best Instrumental Composition – he played almost all of the 30 different instruments on the album himself.

Born in Reading, Berkshire, Oldfield began recording at a very early age, and joined the folk group The Whole World as a guitarist. His follow-up to Tubular Bells, which sold over 16 million copies, was Hergest Ridge (1974), which replaced the former at number one in the UK album chart. Several albums followed, including Ommadawn (1975), and Crises (1983). In 1992, Oldfield released Tubular Bells II, which gave him another number one album, and followed with Tubular Bells III in 1998.