Roland Orzabal
2232500
225956241
2008-07-16T05:08:26Z
58.7.143.77
/* Solo work */
{{Infobox Musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| Name = Roland Orzabal
| Img = Rorzabal.jpg
| Img_size = 150
| Landscape =
| Background = solo_singer
| Birth_name = Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana
| Alias =
| Born = {{birth date and age|1961|08|22}}
| Died =
| Origin = [[Portsmouth]], [[England]]
| Instrument = [[Vocals]], [[guitar]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]
| Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Rock music|rock]]
| Occupation = [[Musician]], [[Record producer|producer]]
| Years_active = 1979–present
| Label = [[Mercury Records]], [[Eagle Records]], [[Sony Records]]
| Associated_acts = [[Graduate (band)| Graduate]], [[Tears for Fears]]
| URL =
| Notable_instruments =
}}
'''Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana''' (born [[22 August]] [[1961]]) is a British [[musician]], [[songwriter]] and [[record producer]]. He is known mainly as a co-founding member of [[Tears for Fears]], of which he is the main songwriter and predominant vocalist, but he has also achieved success as a producer of other artists.
== Early career ==
{{main|Tears for Fears}}
Orzabal met [[Curt Smith]] while both were in their early teens in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[England]]. In the late-1970s, they formed a [[ska]] music group, [[Graduate (band)|Graduate]], along with three other members. Following the release of their debut album, ''Acting My Age'', the group disbanded and Orzabal and Smith went on to form [[Tears for Fears]], a [[synth pop]]/[[new wave music]] outfit directly inspired by the writings of American psychologist [[Arthur Janov]].
== Solo work ==
After a decade of major international success, Orzabal and Smith had an acrimonious split in the early 1990s. Although Orzabal continued to work as [[Tears for Fears]] after he and Smith parted ways, the subsequent TFF albums ''[[Elemental (Tears for Fears album)|Elemental]]'' (1993) and ''[[Raoul and the Kings of Spain]]'' (1995) are effectively solo works by him in all but name. Elemental was a success being certified as Gold status in the US and Silver in the UK, while "Raoul" took a more artistic direction garnering less chart success. In 2001 he released his first proper solo album, ''[[Tomcats Screaming Outside]]'', under his own name as he and Smith had reconciled by that point and were working on a new [[Tears for Fears]] album together - (2004's ''[[Everybody Loves a Happy Ending]]''). Orzabal did a duet with Julian Lennon, they sang one of Julian's fathers (John Lennon) biggest hit, Stand By Me.
== Work as a producer/songwriter ==
In addition to co-producing most of [[Tears for Fears]]' records, Orzabal also produced [[Oleta Adams]]' successful album ''Circle Of One'' (1990) along with [[Dave Bascombe]], following on from Adams' collaboration on the 1989 [[Tears for Fears]] album ''[[The Seeds of Love]]''. The album reached #1 in the UK and was top 20 in the US. Orzabal also co-wrote the lead track "Rhythm of Life" for the album, which was initially intended for ''[[The Seeds of Love]]''. He also appeared in the song's accompanying music video as well as played guitar and sung back up vocals on the track.
In 1999, Orzabal also co-produced the Icelandic singer-songwriter [[Emiliana Torrini]]'s acclaimed album ''[[Love In The Time Of Science]]'', along with Tears for Fears associate Alan Griffiths. The pair also wrote two tracks for the album.
Although he did not produce it, Orzabal's talents as a songwriter were recognised again in recent years after Gary Jules' cover version of the song "[[Mad World]]" became the Christmas #1 single in the UK in 2003. It is taken from the soundtrack of the film ''[[Donnie Darko]]''. The song was originally composed by Orzabal and was [[Tears for Fears]]' first hit single in 1982.
== Personal life ==
Born in [[Portsmouth]], [[England]], Orzabal's [[mother]] is English and his [[father]] is from [[Paris]], but of Spanish-Basque descent. Orzabal was originally named "Raoul" at birth for two weeks, but this was subsequently changed to Roland to anglicize the name as they were living in England.
Orzabal has been married to his wife Caroline since 1982. They have two children, Raoul and Pascal.
At the height of [[Tears for Fears]]' popularity in 1985, Orzabal gained considerable press attention for his strained relationship with his father and a humorous cartoon was printed in the UK tabloid ''[[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]'' pertaining to this. The cartoon was later reprinted within the cover artwork for the Tears for Fears single "I Believe".
Other than music and psychology, Orzabal has cited interests in photography, politics, sociology and astrology.
==Discography==
{{see also|Tears for Fears discography}}
* ''[[Tomcats Screaming Outside]]'' (2001 Eagle)
==External links==
* [http://www.tearsforfearsfans.com/TFFdirectory.html Official TFF/Roland Orzabal fansite]
* [http://www.tearsforfears.net/index.html Official Tears For Fears website]
* [http://www.tears-for-fears.com Official Tears for Fears/Curt Smith website]
{{Primarysources|date=March 2007}}
{{Tears for Fears}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orzabal, Roland}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English male singers]]
[[Category:English rock singers]]
[[Category:Tears for Fears members]]
[[Category:People from Portsmouth]]
[[Category:People of Basque descent]]
[[Category:Ivor Novello Award winners]]
[[Category:English songwriters]]
[[ca:Roland Orzabal]]
[[es:Roland Orzabal]]
[[fr:Roland Orzabal]]
[[it:Roland Orzabal]]
[[hu:Roland Orzabal]]
[[pt:Roland Orzabal]]