Brian Eno

Brian Eno is frequently referred to as one of popular music's most influential figures – a composer, producer, visual artist and a pioneer of musical electronics.

Brian came to fame in the early 1970s as a founding member of the band Roxy Music. His solo albums and collaborations with John Cale, Robert Fripp, David Byrne, Jon Hassell and David Bowie have been in worldwide circulation for over 30 years. Eno has produced records for artists including U2, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Jane Siberry, Coldplay and performance artist Laurie Anderson. He identified and described 'ambient music' and 'generative music', both of which have since become major musical movements.

Brian has also been involved in the design and production of audio-visual gallery installations since 1978. Currently these use his 77 Million Paintings software – a system which produces an endless and non-repeating series of changing paintings. He produced (with Peter Chilvers) Bloom –  one of the most successful music apps for the iPhone. His widely used set of oracle cards, Oblique strategies, was first published in 1975 and remains in print. His diary and essays A year (with swollen appendices) was published 1996.

A committed activist in the anti-war movement, he is a board member of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) and the environmental NGO ClientEarth.

Photo: © Nick Robertson