Virgin Radio
25 May 2024, 14:18
Business titan Sir Richard Branson revealed the incredible musical inspiration behind some of his biggest ventures, with the likes of David Bowie making a real impact.
Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group, which includes not only Virgin Radio but also Virgin Records, which signed some of the biggest names in the industry, including Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Culture Club and the Sex Pistols.
While not under the Virgin Records label, the late, great David Bowie released his 1986 single, Absolute Beginners, under the name, and it turns out the Ziggy Stardust star was the catalyst to getting Branson into space with Virgin Galactic.
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The entrepreneur first founded the spaceflight corporation in 2004 in the hopes of kick-starting space tourism, and in 2021, Branson took his first suborbital test flight to the edge of space.
While picking out his all-time favourite tracks on My Playlist with Virgin Radio host Steve Denyer (airing on Sunday, 26th May at 7pm on Virgin Radio UK), Sir Branson confessed Bowie had a major hand in his own space dreams.
“I had difficulty with David Bowie,” Branson recalled about picking his playlist choices. “Absolute Beginners was a record that we put out on Virgin and we also made the film Absolute Beginners and it’s a beautiful song.
“I picked Space Oddity because it helped inspire me to want to go to space myself. Space has played an important part of my life and David Bowie was a really delightful, delightful artist to have had and got to know and, and a very, very, very important part of Virgin.”
When quizzed about the reality of space and what it means to see the earth from above, Sir Branson elaborated: “I’ve seen the earth in all its beauty from 50,000 feet from a hot air balloon.
“Seeing it from space, you see more of it. You realise how much of the world is water and how much of the world is still unspoiled and there to be protected. We have an extraordinary world, and more extraordinary than any other planet we know about.”
Sir Branson went through his entire playlist, picking out songs and memories featuring Boy George, The Human League and Peter Gabriel, but also took a moment to share his own proudest moment from across his life and career.
“It’s been 48 years with [wife] Joan and I think we’ve just been very lucky that we’ve found each other and that our relationship has worked so well,” the business magnate replied when asked about his proudest achievement. “We’ve had some wonderful children and wonderful grandchildren and a wonderful group of friends and so that has made everything else possible.”
Branson also shared his greatest moment at the heart of Virgin, adding: “Virgin has spawned a lot of great companies that I think have made a positive difference to people’s lives. I suppose one of my ultimate successes, the most memorable day, was going to space and that was a dream that I’d had ever since watching the moon landing and a day I’ll always remember.”
Tune into My Playlist with Sir Richard Branson on Virgin Radio UK at 7pm on Sunday 26th May.