Richard Branson and Nik Powell founded Virgin Records in 1972 as a record retailer and label.
Virgin's origins were connected to the Virgin Mail Order record business and the Virgin Records store in London's Oxford Street. The label's first release was Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells in 1973, which became a major commercial success and helped establish Virgin as a serious music company.
Virgin Records is often confused with the broader Virgin Group. Virgin began with music-related businesses before expanding into aviation, telecommunications, finance, and other sectors. The record label was later sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. Its history illustrates how an entrepreneurial brand can expand far beyond the market in which it started.