PAUL OAKENFOLD:
Just a few years later, he helped push the new dance crossover into the charts by masterminding hit productions by Happy Mondays (among others) and forming one of the most successful dance labels of the 1990s, Perfecto Records.
Even well over a decade after his emergence, Oakenfold remained, quite simply, dance music’s most popular DJ. By the mid-‘90s, dance music had reached the mainstream of British radio and culture, with Oakenfold at the front of a new wave of globe-trotting DJs and being voted no.1 in the world for 2 years running by DJ Mag voters; he toured with U2 and supported live gigs by INXS, The Orb, Simply Red, Boy George, and Primal Scream. On Britain’s ever-growing club circuit, he inaugurated the London superclub Ministry of Sound early in the 1990s and became a resident at Britain’s other superclub, Liverpool’s Cream, instead of taking big money for independent gigs. He also cut down his remix schedule to less than five per year,concentrating instead on the release of half-a-dozen mix albums, including several volumes in the Journeys by DJ series. Oakenfold left Cream in 1999, after which Virgin commemorated the occasion with the release of Resident: Two Years of Oakenfold at Cream. Perfecto Presents Another World arrived the following year. A monumental U.S. tour and the fresh Voyage into Trance appeared in early 2000, as did Swordfish: The Album, a soundtrack Oakenfold constructed for the sci-fi film of the same name. In 2002, Bunkka became his first official studio album. Bunkka is a compilation of styles which Paul has learned to mix throughout his career; the blending in of progressive trance with goa makes the album different from other conventional dance album. It is also Oakenfold’s best selling album to date, with sales largely exceeding 1,000,000 (1 million) copies worldwide. During Paul’s career he has remixed a variety of songs from Madonna, like “What It Feels Like For A Girl”, “Hollywood”, “American Life”, “Sorry” and later in 2008 “Give It 2 Me” from her album Hard Candy, Paul went on tour with Madonna for two months opening her presentation in the Confessions Tour, previously he had supported her in 2004 at Slane Castle in Ireland. His sets lasted for an hour and a half, followed by Madonna’s two-hour show. In August 2008, he started his first Resident DJ position in the United States. Paul Oakenfold Presents – Perfecto Las Vegas was conceptualized specifically for Rain Nightclub, the legendary 2,300 m2 nightclub and concert venue at the Palms Casino Resort known for its special effects and international headliner acts. From July to August 2009, Paul again opened Madonna’s concerts for the Sticky & Sweet Tour in Europe.
- Paul Oakenfold has been touted as one of the world’s leading DJ/remixers by various outlets
including CNN, Rolling Stone, BPM, Remix and more. - His third artiste album, Pop Killer, will be released summer 2009.
- Voted Best UK DJ by Express Magazine as well as being recognized in the Guinness Book of
Records (in a specially created category) as The Most Successful DJ in the World. - He has consistently been listed amongst the Top 25 of DJ MAG’s TOP 100 DJ’s IN THE
WORLD since the lists inception and been voted No.1 twice consecutively. - In August 2008, Oakenfold took up his first US residency at Rain superclub in The Palms
Casino, Las Vegas. - Also in 2008, he toured extensively with Madonna, opening for her in the UK and both North
and South America. - The DVD 24/7 – a behind-the-scenes documentary about the life of Paul Oakenfold – and
Paul Oakenfold, The Authorized Biography, were both released in 2008. - Paul Oakenfold Greatest Hits & Remixes was released in 2007 through Perfecto/Ultra
Records –a 20-selection strong collection of his seminal dance recordings and remixes.
Its track listing ranges from original productions such as his massive singles “Starry Eyed Surprise” “Ready Steady Go,” and “Faster Kill Pussycat” featuring Brittany Murphy. In
addition, there are remixes galore of artists like Justin Timberlake, U2, Madonna, The
Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and Underworld and soundtrack pieces such as David Arnold’s James Bond Theme from the motion picture Die Another Day and Oakenfold’s “Dread Rock” from Matrix Reloaded.
- 2x Grammy nominee, “Best Electronic/Dance Album” A Lively Mind (2007, Maverick Records) and Creamfields (2004, Thrive Records)
- Paul Oakenfold released his second album for Maverick A Lively Mind in June 2006.
This Grammy-nominated album includes the single, “Faster Kill Pussycat” featuring Brittany Murphy. Other guests on the album include Pharrell Williams, Grandmaster Flash, Ryan Tedder of One Republic, Spitfire, Bad Apples and more.
- In 2002, Q magazine named Oakenfold in their list of the “50 Bands To See Before You Die”.
- His first album for Maverick Bunkka was released in 2002. It included “Starry Eyed Surprise”
featuring Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town, a Top 10 hit in both America and the U.K.
Other guests on the album were Perry Farrell, Nelly Furtado, Ice Cube, Tricky and Hunter S. Thompson (his last recording before he passed away).
- Paul Oakenfold’s 2004 mix album Another World has reached gold status in sales making it
one of the biggest selling dance albums of all time. In total his releases have sold almost 2
million in the U.S. alone. - Film credits include music for Nobel Son Collateral, Swordfish, The Matrix Reloaded, Piratesof the Caribbean, Die Another Day, Planet Of The Apes, The Bourne Identity and Shrek II. TV
credits include music for Alias, Big Brother and Las Vegas. - Remix credits include, among many others, works for U2, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson,
Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, Salt N Pepa and The Cure. - As a touring musician, Oakenfold has DJ’d in hundreds of places around the world. Some
unique locations he has appeared at include the Great Wall of China, the Hollywood Bowl in
Los Angeles (sold out) and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
Other foreign territories he’s appeared include Cypress, Lebanon, Ibiza, Korea and more. He’s also noted as one of
the most well traveled electronic touring artists within the United States.
- He scored GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, the James Bond-inspired videogame.
- Paul Oakenfold was the star of Spike TV series The Club and had a cameo appearance in the
film The Rules of Attraction. - Prior to becoming a world famous DJ and producer, Oakenfold served as an A&R consultant
for Profile Records and Def Jam, where he signed artists including Salt N’ Pepa, DJ Jazzy Jeff
and Will Smith. - Paul Oakenfold was born in London, England and currently resides in the U.S. Before
becoming a major force in the music industry he graduated from the Westminster Technical
culinary institute becoming a certified chef.
He was also an investor along with rockers
Tommy Lee and Dave Navarro in the Hollywood, CA nightlife establishment Rokbar.
