Profile: Goldie

Biography

Goldie started his career as a member of a breakdance crew in Wolverhampton, and made his name as a graffiti artist in the West Midlands. He moved to New York for a while and started selling gold teeth, a business he continued when he returned to England in 1988 and turned into his trademark. He became fascinated by the British breakbeat music scene, and released his first track in 1992.

Goldie became famous for his best-selling album Timeless, which shot straight into the charts at no. 7 and sold over 250,000 copies. The album fused the breakbeats and basslines common in jungle with orchestral textures and soul vocals, and its title track was a 21-minute symphonic piece.

For the last few years, Goldie has DJd all over the world. He works mainly within the jungle and drum and bass genres, and has helped to promote these styles globally. He is also a successful actor, featuring in several big-budget films, most famously the James Bond film The World is Not Enough in 1999. He also starred in Snatch (2000) and The Ninth Gate (1999) with Johnny Depp. In 2001 Goldie played Angel in EastEnders.

In 2002 Hodder & Stoughton published Goldie’s autobiography Nine Lives, which he wrote with Paul Gorman.

Gallery

Related Videos

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  • Goldie
    The Final - Goldie's Elgar

    Goldie conducts the Enigma Variations

  • Goldie
    The Final - Goldie's concerto performance

    Goldie’s Rachmaninov with Nikolai Demidenko

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    Behind the scenes: Goldie's secret

    Goldie explains how he does it; Peter is impressed

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    The crucial vote – four out of five face the cut

    Who can breathe again…

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    Goldie negotiates some tricky Mozart

    Convincing – or “car crash”?

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    Goldie's Episode 4 diary

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  • Goldie with Ivor
    Behind the scenes: Goldie and those tricky opening bars

    Ivor and the pro approach…

  • Goldie conducts Orff
    Behind the scenes: Goldie rehearses Carmina Burana

    Goldie gets off on Orff…

  • Goldie conducting
    Goldie's second attempt at conducting

    Goldie conducts Mascagni’s Intermezzo

  • Goldie at work
    Goldie conducts Orff's Carmina Burana

    Will the music’s driving rhythms suit Goldie’s style?

  • Goldie with mentor Ivor
    Goldie's Episode 3 diary

    Mentor Ivor thinks using a baton will help…

  • Goldie
    Goldie's Episode 2 diary

    Goldie draws inspiration from Gustavo Dudamel

  • Goldie performs at Baton Camp
    Goldie in concert

    Goldie performs in the final concert at Baton Camp

  • Goldie with his mentor
    Goldie with his mentor

    Goldie with his mentor, Ivor Setterfield

  • Goldie conducts for the first time
    Goldie's first attempt

    Goldie conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra for the first time.

  • Goldie at home

    Goldie on growing up and making music

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    Goldie's video diary

    Goldie muses on music for the masses

See more videos

Memorable Quotes

There are some similarities between classical music and drum’n’bass - if you don’t know it, you don’t get it.

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