Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is a retired English musician, songwriter and producer, best known for his debut album Tubular Bells (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Although primarily a guitarist, Oldfield played a wide range of instruments, including keyboards, percussion and occasional vocals. Throughout his career he explored numerous musical styles, such as progressive rock, world music, folk, classical, electronic, ambient and new age. His discography includes 25 studio albums, nine of which reached the UK Top Ten. Oldfield began playing guitar at the age of ten and left school in his teens to pursue a music career. From 1967 to 1970, he performed with his sister Sally Oldfield as the folk duo The Sallyangie, after which he joined Kevin Ayers before starting work on Tubular Bells in 1971. The album attracted the attention of Richard Branson, who chose it as the first release on his new label Virgin Records. Its iconic opening theme was later used in the film The Exorcist, and the album went on to sell more than 2.7 million copies in the UK. Oldfield followed it with Hergest Ridge (1974), Ommadawn (1975) and Incantations (1978), all of which, like Tubular Bells, consist largely of longform instrumental compositions. In the late 1970s, Oldfield began touring and moved toward more commercial, song‑based material, starting with Platinum (1979), QE2 (1980) and Five Miles Out (1982). His most successful album of this period was Crises (1983), which includes the worldwide hit single “Moonlight Shadow”, featuring vocalist Maggie Reilly.
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Moonlight Shadow
Shadow On The Wall
Tubular Bells
Cochise
North Star
Five miles out 1982
Sailing
Moonshine
Trick of the Light
Ommadawn
In Dulce Jubilo
Portsmouth
& Cara Dillon – Man in the rain
William Tell Overture
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