10 Things You Didn't Know About Goldie

It sounds funny, right? Goldie's an individual who has seen his life play out in the press for years, and in interviews he wears his honesty on his sl

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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It sounds funny, right? Goldie's an individual who has seen his life play out in the press for years, and in interviews he wears his honesty on his sleeve. He's truly an open book, which is something that plays out in the emotional tracks he's created over the years. As with anyone else, there are still some things that those with a passing interest in his life just don't know.

From his work in TV and Hollywood to how the Metalheadz name came to be, as well as which singer he was engaged to and what national English sports team he used to play for. Here are 10 things you didn't know about Goldie.

Goldie's Nickname Came from an Old Hairstyle

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Goldie was a Good Roller-Hockey Player

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Grooverider Helped Coin the "Metalheadz" Name

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Goldie Invented "Time Stretching"

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It's true. Studio experimentation with breakbeats and old guitar equipment created the unique way of stretching beats that we heard we heard in Goldie's seminal single "Terminator," a sound that came to be known as "time-stretching;" a sound that was utilized by many drum & bass producers following him.

DC Shoes Collaborated with Metalheadz Early On

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Goldie was Engaged to Bjork

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For a few years in the mid-1990s, Goldie and Bjork were romantically linked. There was definitely something magical between them; both were artists that worked within a digital realm, but their work was really about dipping into different sounds as they saw fit, and not trying to be pigeonholed. You could hear the fruits of their union in the "Isobel's Lonely Heart" remix that Goldie did, but it all ended up going down hill.

Legend has it that during one NY gig, Goldie got into an altercation with trip-hop pioneer Tricky, who had also been romantically linked with Bjork. Some say that Bjork's "5 Years" was written about Goldie, but this has never been officially confirmed.

Goldie Acted in a James Bond Film

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Goldie is a Reality TV Star

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Probably due to his unforgettable personality, Goldie's done many stints in the UK reality TV show circuit, being featured on everything from Celebrity Big Brother UK and The Games to Goldie's BandStrictly Come Dancing and Maestro, a show where he had to learn to conduct a concert orchestra. He placed second on Maestro, which spawned a sequel of sorts, the two-part BBC piece Classic Goldie, which followed him learning how to write a score that would be played at Royal Albert Hall.

Goldie is Great at Impersonations

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This is an odd one, and it might speak to Goldie being part Jamaican and being able to switch off his patois when needed, but he's very good at impersonations. Anytime he's doing an interview and needs to speak about/as a person within his life he's able to slip into the dialect of whomever he's speaking about, be them from another part of England or being down in Miami. Just check out how he kicked off the "Garage Shout Outs" during his visit to Skream & Benga's BBC Radio 1 show:

Goldie Practices Bikram Yoga

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