Richard Russell (XL Recordings)

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Richard Russell, born March 18, 1971, is a record label owner who is regularly named as one of the British music industry's most influential but media shy figures. He founded the independent record label XL Recordings [1] in 1989 (in partnership with Beggars Banquet Records [2]) to release rave and electronic music on 12" vinyl singles. XLs first success was The Prodigy [3], who were one of the three best-selling UK artists of the nineties. Since then the label has broadened into other credible musical genres, and is now home to artists including The White Stripes [4], The Raconteurs [5], Dizzee Rascal [6], Basement Jaxx [7], M.I.A. [8], Devendra Banhart [9] and Thom Yorke [10].

XL has been recognised for its consistency in taking cutting edge music to the mainstream, and Yorke's 2006 debut solo release for the label "The Eraser" [11] was the most successful album the label has released to date.

In 2005 Russell appeared at the In The City conference in Manchester alongside other British independent record label founders Chris Blackwell, Tony Wilson, and Alan McGee on a panel entitled "I Wasn't Born To Follow".

In 2006 he co-produced the avant-garde orchestral album "Aluminium" by Aluminium[12], based around songs written by Jack White of The White Stripes [13].