Tomassi, Kristen 93, 94, 95–6, 98, 99, 106, 117–19, 125, 126, 134, 153, 154, 160, 179
Tomassi, Meryll 118–19
Top Nosh 209, 211
Tosh, Peter 154
Town House 174–5
Transatlantic Records 114
Trivial Pursuit 408
Tubular Bells 115, 116–29, 130, 131–2, 134
Turner, Ted 489–90
Tutu, Archbishop 519, 520, 521, 570
TWA 330
Tyrrell, Gerrard 324, 357, 368, 372, 374, 384–5, 392
UB40 231
UCI 411
Ueyama, Shu 263, 264
Ulusaba 475, 476–8, 480, 506, 507, 512, 513, 554–5, 569
United Nations 458, 521, 522
Foundation 490
Population Fund (UNFPA) 481–2
U-Roy 154, 155
VAI Partners 501
Vanson Property 209
Varah, Chad 73
Varnom, John 108
Velvet Underground 105
Venue, The 166, 181
Vietnam War 61, 62, 105
‘Violating Virgin’ 367–70
Virgin Active 437, 447–8
Virgin America 466, 500–3, 560–1
Virgin Atlantic 12, 163, 190–211, 215, 249, 250, 254, 259, 261, 275–8, 281–2, 283, 294, 315, 319–25, 326–32, 333, 338–41, 343–4, 345, 356–65, 367–75, 377, 379, 383, 384–95, 396, 399, 404, 410, 436, 439–41, 451, 457, 481, 501, 514, 562, 564, 575
Virgin Atlantic Challenger 216–20
Virgin Atlantic Challenger II 221–7, 229, 235
Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer 465, 467–72, 496, 497, 562
Virgin Blue 441, 443, 445
Virgin Books 165, 188–90, 569
Virgin Cars 436, 445
Virgin Clothes 3
Virgin Cola 12, 401–3, 410, 569
Virgin Communications 261, 316, 336, 562
Virgin Direct 12, 405
Virgin Earth Challenge 531–2
Virgin Energy 12
Virgin Express 441
Virgin France 170
Virgin Fuels 491, 495, 517, 529, 550
Virgin Galactic 467–8, 469, 496–7, 500, 501, 514–15, 516, 529, 550, 566
Virgin Group 12, 13, 262
birth of 77, 78
flotation of 228–9, 230, 251–5, 263
Virgin Holidays 211, 316
Virgin ICO Global Balloon 413–30
Virgin Interactive 338
Virgin Islands 160–3
Virgin Lady 442
Virgin Mail Order 78–9, 80, 85, 86, 88, 92
Virgin Media 553, 559, 560, 567
Virgin Megastores 225, 256, 257, 259, 263–5, 347, 437
Virgin Mobile 404–5, 437, 438, 441, 463–5, 471, 551–2
Virgin Money 12, 405–6, 446, 559
Virgin Mount Kenya Elephant Corridor 565
Virgin Music 27, 78, 113–49, 154–9, 163–78, 182–6, 187–8, 198, 209, 211, 260, 261, 262, 263, 277, 317–19, 321, 342–3, 345, 364, 365–7, 375, 376–8, 379–83, 397, 411
Virgin Music Publishing 158, 184
Virgin Pubs 209
Virgin Radio 410
Virgin Rags 209
Virgin Records 79–88, 92–3, 96–103, 104, 106–14, 256–62, 350, 396, 398–9, 400, 574, 575, 576, 577
Virgin Records America 233, 332–4, 335, 576
Virgin Retail 211, 256, 258, 259, 260, 263, 317, 579, 580, 582
Virgin Sun 588
Virgin Television 580, 583
Virgin Territory 12
Virgin Trading Company 584
Virgin Trains 347–9, 409, 412, 442–3, 489, 514, 532–48, 559, 586, 589, 591, 593, 595
Virgin Travel 316
Virgin Unite 83, 473, 478, 481, 483, 504, 513
Virgin Vie 3, 588
Virgin Vision 209, 211, 575, 576, 579
Virgin Vodka 447
Virgin Voyager 548
Virgin Wines 446
‘Vomit Comet’ 550
V2 Records 3, 411
Wake Up Trips to Africa 484
Waldegrave, William 281, 292
Walker, Mervyn 368, 374, 390
Watts, Charlie 133
Weather Makers, The (Flannery) 495, 499
Webster, Jon 381
Weiss, Shai 529, 551
Welburn, Hugh 328, 340
Welsby, John 349
WH Allen 190
WH Smith 80, 256, 259, 260, 437
‘White Boy’ 184
White, Lord 358–9
Whitehorn, Lou 533
Whitehorn, Will 299, 344, 346, 347–8, 352, 373, 438, 439, 454, 468, 493, 515, 529, 532, 533, 535–6
Who, The 134
Whole World, the 114
Wilson, Carol 165
Wirth, Senator Tim 490
Witty, Chris 220
World Health Organisation (WHO) 521, 522
World Wildlife Fund 488
Wyman, Bill 133
X-Prize 468, 528–9
XTC 165, 171, 182
Young, Gavin 36
Yunus, Muhammad 484
Zappa, Frank 117
Zelnick, Patrick 167–8, 169, 170, 256, 257, 258, 259
Zukie, Talppa 156
Mum and Dad getting married. I was born 35 weeks later – my first public appearance?
Mum taking to the skies in an early airline poster, and later as the star of one of our first aircraft.
My fetish for sweaters started at an early age.
Lindi and me on our black pony – Snowy.
Eleven years old and already playing with fire.
Early success, before the accident that ended my sporting career.
My love for the countryside came from being brought up at Tanyards Farm in Surrey.
Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park, 1968. Debating the decade away on a soap box with Jane Butters.
First edition of Student, with cover design and illustration by Peter Blake. All rights reserved, DACS, 1998.
Student magazine was about fun.
Listening to an early tape of The Rolling Stones with a very young Mick Jagger.
Give Us Your Headaches
The Student Advisory Centre helped young people with a variety of problems.
Protesting against the Vietnam War with Vanessa Redgrave and Tariq Ali, on our way to Grosvenor Square. Spot the budding entrepreneur sixth from the right.
Just what exactly was it that the incredibly handsome Nik saw in Kristen’s sister Meryll?
Our lovely houseboat – home and headquarters.
Thinking of the future and spreading my wings at one of the many staff parties at the Manor Studios in the 1970s.
Some people say I’m tyreless – others …
Kristen and me at the Manor Studios with Bootleg, who was named after those albums in white sleeves we sold under the counter.
I have never liked desks.
Sweaters were definitely out at the Tomassi-Branson wedding at the Manor.
Long hair was definitely in for Tom Newman, Mike Armstrong, Christopher Strangeways, Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Chris Stylianou.
The 1970s dawn and so does our first shop. I had to do the live window displays personally.
Pillows. Headphones. Music. Relaxed listening and free love in our first shop.
From that to this. The Virgin Megastores – more records under one roof than any other stores in the world.
Hopefully not making too much of a splash at a Virgin Megastore opening.
Celebrating the Tokyo store opening with Mr Aoi of Marui, our then partners.
Two acres of Times Square, New York, 1992. How things have moved on since the Notting Hill pillows of 1972.
Tubular Bells – the first release on Virgin Records. It made Mike Oldfield (above) the biggest-selling artist of the 1970s and us our first fortune – to lose.
Roger Dean’s original design for our record label – Virgin Records.
Celebrating with Simon, Nik, Ken and friends from the record
label in the 1970s.
With Boy George before heroin nearly destroyed his life and his musical career.
Dodgy geezer.
After years of trying, we finally manage to sign The Stones.
The Evening Standard splash on the Virgin Music sale. I first saw the headline as I ran down Ladbroke Grove in tears.
I take Janet Jackson on a balloon trip and threaten to use her as ballast. She signs with Virgin instead.
Making the best of a sad day, Friday 4 March 1992. Signing the deal with Colin Southgate and Jim Fifield of Thorn EMI.
One of the many reasons I fell in love with Joan.
Back to the countryside with our cottage in Oxfordshire.
Family album.
Two loyal sisters, Lindi and Vanessa.
Holly on Necker Island discussing her plans to become a paediatric doctor.
Virgin Atlantic Challenger I. Before she broke up.
Challenger I going down.
She slowly sinks beneath the waves.
Passing Bishop Rock Lighthouse off the Scilly Isles and bringing the Blue Riband back to Britain.
Celebrating our arrival in St Mary’s, Scilly Isles, on Virgin Atlantic Challenger II.
Happy to be home after Challenger II. Sam’s first birthday.
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent congratulating us in the Scilly Isles.
Triumphant trip up the Thames with Margaret Thatcher and the crew.
Our own Virgin Island. Necker is one of the most beautiful jewels in the Caribbean and, with its Great Room
In the house on the hill, remains my favourite getaway.
Our wedding on Necker. A week later Sam said of a friend’s wedding, ‘But they can’t be getting married. They haven’t had any children yet.’
Impressing only the children and a couple of passing sea gulls, I arrive for our wedding with a box of chocolates in my teeth. ‘All because the lady loves …’
The wedding ceremony, with Holly listening attentively.
Balloons, balloons, balloons … Inflating the world’s biggest balloon is a 48-hour project and a lot can go wrong.
Seconds before liftoff on our Atlantic crossing in 1987.
Lifting tons of delicate fabric out of a container.
Standing inside millions of square feet of high-technology fabrics is an awesome experience, especially if your life depends on it.
Being bounced across the Irish Sea seconds before Per jumped for his life.
The Royal Navy comes to our rescue.
Good to be alive.
In the capsule with Holly and Sam a few hours before embarking on the transpacific adventure in 1991.
With Per on yet another photo shoot while we were waiting for the weather to come good for our round-the-world flight.
Buzz Aldrin – one of the first men on the moon – visits Rory, Per and me in the capsule.
Writing to Holly and Sam before embarking on our round-the-world flight.
Preparing to go – final packing.
Our doctor, Tim Evans; Joan; Holly and me in Marrakech.
Heading for the capsule – bags packed.
Painful goodbyes to Sam.
A day of contrasts – the beauty of the Atlas Mountains followed by a night of terror.
Coming in to land at dawn in the Algerian desert.
Learning the tricks of the trade that Alex Ritchie had used to save our lives.
Alex Ritchie. Taken a week before his fatal parachuting accident in January 1998.
The team preparing for our flotation on the stock market in 1986. Left to right: Ken, Simon, Robert, me, Don and Trevor.
At home on Duende.
This Maddocks cartoon hit the nail right on the head. We got hundreds of thousands of applications for our shares from the general public.
Holly proudly launches Maiden Voyager, our first plane, in the spring of 1984.
Randolph Fields and me at a press conference before the inaugural flight to New York.
Happy passengers.
Celebrity guests.
Liftoff!
Playing a prank in a simulator for our inaugural flight, with cricketers Ian Botham and Viv Richards.
Granny and her daughter, Mum, on the inaugural.
Sir Freddie wishes us better luck than he had.
Talking to and learning from passengers.
Naming a plane in Sir Freddie’s honour.
Off to get beaten at tennis by Princess Diana.
Former British prime minister, Edward Heath, and King Hussein helped us to get the hostages out of Iraq. They celebrated in style on the flight home.
Dave Gaskill’s view of our assault on the Iraqi president’s stronghold.
Informal press conference on the plane about BA’s dirty-tricks campaign.
Peter and Ceris Emerson. Our neighbours and closest friends.
The Sun headline that the editor said would have read better the other way round: BA screws Virgin!
Lord King of BA and I bump into each other a few days after Virgin’s victory.
Outside the court. A moment to savour.
‘Hurray!’ The King is dead and Princess Diana is happy.
Sometimes in the line of duty you have to make a fool of yourself.
The ‘pirate’ attacks Concorde at Heathrow.
Inaugural to Hong Kong.
On the South African inaugural this friendly cat nearly removed my beard permanently.
Meeting the man I most admire in the world.
Landing Virgin’s low-cost European carrier – Virgin Express.
Boston here we come. In this case with Will, whom I blame for the silly costumes.
Taking the Minnie.
Peter Gabriel, Bob Geldof and Feargal Sharkey launching our charitable condom company – Mates.
Launching Virgin Brides – what a drag!
Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way Page 54
