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

Tim Rice-Oxley
Background information
Birth nameTimothy James Rice-Oxley
Also known asTim Rice-Oxley
Born (1976-06-02) 2 June 1976 (age 47)
Oxford, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • producer
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Piano
  • keyboards
  • vocals
  • bass
Years active1995–present
Member of

Life and career edit

 
Rice-Oxley playing his Yamaha CP-70 alongside drummer Richard Hughes during the January 2005 Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert

Timothy James Rice-Oxley was born in Oxford 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, 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.[1]

Keane edit

Rice-Oxley provides live and studio backing vocals for Keane, except for the studio songs "Sunshine", "This Is the Last Time" (demo version) and "Your Love" where he sings the lead vocals, as well as some Under the Iron Sea DVD and Perfect Symmetry demos.

Compositions edit

In 2006, Rice-Oxley co-wrote the songs "Early Winter", and "The Girl Inside" (unreleased) on Gwen Stefani'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's eleventh studio album, Aphrodite.[2]

Rice-Oxley composed all the songs for the side-project Mt. Desolation with Jesse Quin 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 for the latter's solo album, Since I Saw You Last.

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

Mt. Desolation edit

Mt. Desolation is an alt-country side-project that Rice-Oxley formed with bassist Jesse Quin. The band also consists of members of Mumford & Sons, The Killers and The Staves. 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.[3]

The band's second album, When the Night Calls, was released on 25 May 2018. It was followed by a short tour of the UK in June 2018.[4]

Personal life edit

Rice-Oxley lives in Polegate, East Sussex. He has two daughters, Lilac and Anna.

Reportedly, the effects of touring took their toll on Rice-Oxley's marriage to Jayne, and they split up in 2012 after seven years of marriage.[5]

Awards edit

Rice-Oxley won an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year in May 2005.

Discography edit

With Keane edit

With Mt. Desolation edit

Studio albums

References edit

  1. ^ "About songs: The Way You Want It". Retrieved 1 August 2006.
  2. ^ Brockington, Ryan (11 June 2010). "Kylie's 'Aphrodite' album is perfect". New York Post. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Mt. Desolations official blog". Mtdesolation.com. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Mt. Desolation tour". facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  5. ^ Keane – Back to Battle.1066times.com. 20 August 2015