Timothy James Rice-Oxley (born 2 June 1976) is an English musician, best known for being the keyboardist, singer and songwriter of the pop rock band Keane. In 2010, he formed a side-project, Mt. Desolation, with his Keane bandmate

Jesse Quin Jesse Joseph Quin (born 3 September 1981) is an English multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer best known as the bass player of the British pop rock band Keane. Jesse also founded and runs an arts centre on an abandoned U.S. Air ...

Life and career

Timothy James Rice-Oxley was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to Charles Patrick and Margaret Rice-Oxley. He has a younger brother, Tom, born in 1979. He had piano lessons when he was a teenager but admitted to hating them and never practising pieces because they were all

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

which he found boring. After his parents stopped his lessons, Rice-Oxley developed a liking for piano and so taught himself how to play, mainly because of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Keane

Rice-Oxley provides live and studio backing vocals for Keane, except for the studio songs ofc " Sunshine", "

This Is the Last Time "This Is the Last Time" is a song performed and composed by British rock band Keane, released on 22 November 2004 as the fourth commercial single from their debut album, '' Hopes and Fears'' (2004). It was first released with Fierce Panda R ...

" (demo version) and " Your Love" where he sings the lead vocals, as well as some ''

Under the Iron Sea ''Under the Iron Sea'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Keane, released on 12 June 2006. During its first week on sale in the UK, the album opened at number one, selling 222,297 copies according to figures from the Official ...

'' DVD and '' Perfect Symmetry'' demos.

Compositions

In 2006, Rice-Oxley co-wrote the songs " Early Winter", and "The Girl Inside" (unreleased) on

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

's second solo album, '' The Sweet Escape''. "Early Winter" has been performed by Keane live. The song " Perfect Symmetry" from the album of the same name is considered by Chaplin to be one of the best Rice-Oxley has written. In 2009, he co-wrote the song "Everything Is Beautiful" for

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

's eleventh studio album, ''

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...

''. Rice-Oxley composed all the songs for the side-project Mt. Desolation with

in 2010. That same year Rice-Oxley provided the main vocal in Keane for the first time on the song "Your Love", which appeared on the experimental EP '' Night Train''. He sang the song live. In 2013, he co-wrote the song "Jump" with

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

for the latter's solo album, ''

Since I Saw You Last ''Since I Saw You Last'' is the fourth solo studio album released by British singer-songwriter Gary Barlow. The album was released by Polydor Records on 22 November 2013 in Ireland, and on 25 November in the United Kingdom. It debuted at number ...

''. In 2016 he co-wrote the song "Magnificent Time" by Travis.

Mt. Desolation

Mt. Desolation is an alt-country side-project that Rice-Oxley formed with bassist

. The band also consists of members of

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, k ...

The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...

and

The Staves The Staves are an English indie folk trio of sisters Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor from Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Career The Staves began performing together at open-mic nights in Watford hosted by a local pub, The Horns. ...

. Mt. Desolation released their self-titled debut album on 18 October 2010. The band toured the UK and Ireland in September 2010 and the US and Canada in October 2010. The band's second album, ''

When the Night Calls ''When the Night Calls'' is the second studio album by English alternative country duo Mt. Desolation. This is the second album by the side project of the band Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin. Track listing * All tracks written by Tim ...

'', was released on 25 May 2018. It was followed by a short tour of the UK in June 2018.

Personal life

Rice-Oxley lives in

Polegate Polegate is a town and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It ...

, East Sussex. He has two daughters, Lilac and Anna. Reportedly, the effects of touring took their toll on Tim's marriage to Jayne, and they split up in 2012 after seven years of marriage.Keane – Back to Battle
1066times.com. 20 August 2015

Awards

Rice-Oxley won an

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

Award for Songwriter of the Year in May 2005.

Discography

With Keane

;Studio albums :* ''

Hopes and Fears ''Hopes and Fears'' is the debut studio album by the English alternative rock band Keane. It was released on 10 May 2004 in the United Kingdom and topped the UK Albums Chart upon release. It was the second best-selling British album of 2004, ...

'' (2004) :* ''

'' (2006) :* '' Perfect Symmetry'' (2008) :* '' Strangeland'' (2012) :* ''

Cause and Effect Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cau ...

'' (2019) ;EPs :* '' Retrospective EP1'' (2008) :* '' Night Train'' (2010) :* '' Retrospective EP2'' (2010) :* ''Retroactive – EP1'' (2019) ;Compilations album :* ''

The Best of Keane ''The Best of Keane'' is the first official compilation album by British group Keane. It was released on 11 November 2013 through Island Records. The album contains all of the singles from the band's first four studio albums, ''Hopes and Fears' ...

'' (2013)

With Mt. Desolation

;Studio albums :*'' Mt. Desolation'' (2010) :*''

'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice-Oxley, Tim 1976 births Alternative rock pianists English male guitarists Male bass guitarists English male singer-songwriters English rock pianists Keane (band) members English keyboardists Living people Alumni of University College London Musicians from Oxford People from Battle, East Sussex Ivor Novello Award winners People educated at Tonbridge School Musicians from Kent Male pianists 21st-century English bass guitarists Mt. Desolation members People from Polegate