Brian Eno
Brian Peter George Eno (/ˈiːnoʊ/; born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music.[1] A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music.[1][2] He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures.[1][3] In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.[4]
This article is about the English musician. He is not to be confused with Brian Enos.
Brian Eno
- Eno
- Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno
- Musician
- songwriter
- record producer
- visual artist
- sound designer
- author
- political activist
1970–present
3
Born in Suffolk, Eno studied painting and experimental music at the art school of Ipswich Civic College in the mid-1960s, and then at Winchester School of Art. He joined the glam rock group Roxy Music as its synthesiser player in 1971 and recorded two albums with them before departing in 1973. He then released a number of solo pop albums, beginning with Here Come the Warm Jets (1974), and explored minimal music with the influential recordings Discreet Music (1975) and Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978), coining the term "ambient music".
Alongside his solo work, Eno collaborated frequently with other musicians in the 1970s, including Robert Fripp (as part of the duo Fripp & Eno), Harmonia, Cluster, Harold Budd, David Bowie, and David Byrne. He also established himself as a sought-after producer, working on albums by John Cale, Jon Hassell, Laraaji, Talking Heads, Ultravox, and Devo, as well as the no wave compilation No New York (1978). In subsequent decades, Eno continued to record solo albums, and produce for other artists, most prominently U2, Coldplay and Peter Gabriel, and including Daniel Lanois, Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, Slowdive, Karl Hyde, James, Kevin Shields, and Damon Albarn.
Dating back to his time as a student, Eno has also worked in other media, including sound installations, film and writing. In the mid-1970s, he co-developed Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards featuring aphorisms intended to spur creative thinking. From the 1970s onwards, his installations have included the sails of the Sydney Opera House in 2009[5] and the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in 2016. An advocate of a range of humanitarian causes, Eno writes on a variety of subjects and is a founding member of the Long Now Foundation.[6] His modern political activism has also included Gazan tragedy awareness before[7] and during[8] the 2023-24 Gaza–Israel conflict, climate change awareness,[9][10] anti-Toryism,[11] and the freedom and release of Julian Assange.[12]
Awards and honours[edit]
Asteroid 81948 Eno, discovered by Marc Buie at Cerro Tololo in 2000, was named in his honour.[159] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 May 2019 (M.P.C. 114955).[160]
In 2019, he was awarded Starmus Festival's Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication for Music & Arts.[161][162][163]
Personal life[edit]
Eno has married twice. In March 1967, at the age of 18, Eno married Sarah Grenville. The couple had a daughter, Hannah Louise (b. 1967), before their divorce.[179] In 1988, Eno married his then-manager Anthea Norman-Taylor. They have two daughters, Irial Violet (b. 1990) and Darla Joy (b. 1991).[180][181]
In an interview with Michael Bonner, published in the May 2020 issue of Uncut, Eno referred to Ray Hearn as his current manager, and also referred to his girlfriend.[182]
Raised Catholic, Eno has referred to himself as "kind of an evangelical atheist" but has also professed an interest in religion.[183] In 1996, Eno and others started the Long Now Foundation to educate the public about the very long-term future of society and to encourage long-term thinking in the exploration of enduring solutions to global issues.[184] Through the Long Now foundation's Long Bets, he won a $500 bet made in 2003 (equivalent to $830 in 2023[185]) by challenging someone who predicted a Democrat would be president of the United States following the 2004 election.[186]
In 1991, Eno appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His chosen book was Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard Rorty and his luxury item was a radio telescope.[187]