Editing Gilbert O'Sullivan (section)

==Early life==
O'Sullivan was born on 1 December 1946 in Cork Road, [[Waterford]], Ireland.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p110770/biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Biography by Jason Ankeny |publisher=Allmusic.com |access-date=5 March 2009}}</ref> He was one of six children. His mother, May, ran a [[sweet shop]] and his father was a [[butcher]] with Clover Meats.<ref name="ireland's own">{{cite web |title=Home again, naturally! |url=https://www.irelandsown.ie/gilbert-osullivan-home-again-naturally/ |website=Ireland's Own |access-date=27 August 2020 |quote="There were six children in my family, and at that time it was common for many homes in the UK to have a piano. The thinking behind it was that if one of the children became good at it they could go on to earn a few bob playing in the pubs, though I never went down that route." |archive-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115235903/https://www.irelandsown.ie/gilbert-osullivan-home-again-naturally/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="strange case">{{cite news |last1=Ingle |first1=Róisín |title=The strange case of Gilbert O'Sullivan |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/the-strange-case-of-gilbert-o-sullivan-1.1165441 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="SwindonWeb">{{cite web |title=Guide to Swindon - Gilbert O'Sullivan |url=http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=9&ss=227&t=Gilbert+O%27Sullivan |website=SwindonWeb |access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> The O'Sullivans emigrated due to a job offer in England.<ref name="irish roots">{{cite web |last1=Richard |first1=Fitzpatrick |title=Gilbert O'Sullivan is proud of his Irish roots |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20333411.html |website=Irish Examiner |date=29 May 2015 |access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> The family first moved to [[Battersea]], London, when O'Sullivan was seven, before settling in [[Swindon]], Wiltshire, a year later. He began playing piano there, later explaining: "I come from a working-class background, but we always had a piano, the thinking of my parents was that if one of your kids could play it, you could make some money at it."<ref name="Interview: Gilbert O Sullivan">{{cite web|last1=Hutchinson|first1=Martin|title=Interview: Gilbert O Sullivan|url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/music/9613630.Interview__Gilbert_O_Sullivan/|website=Southern Daily Echo|date=26 March 2012 |access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> A period of going to piano lessons was short-lived, as O'Sullivan was not enamoured of [[music theory]] and played the pieces by ear instead.<ref name="Sodajerker">{{cite web|title=Episode 72 - Gilbert O'Sullivan|url=https://www.sodajerker.com/episode-72-gilbert-osullivan/|website=Sodajerker|access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> His father died two years after the move to Swindon.<ref name="SwindonWeb"</> O'Sullivan did not mourn his death, later stating that "the fact of the matter is, I didn't know my father very well, and he wasn't a good father anyway".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.superseventies.com/1972_2singles.html | title="Alone Again (Naturally)" - Gilbert O'Sullivan }}</ref>

O'Sullivan attended [[St Joseph's Catholic College]] before studying at [[Swindon College]] where he specialised in graphic design and also played with several semi-professional bands. These included the Doodles and the Prefects. He was mostly a drummer in a band called Rick's Blues, along with Malcolm Mabbett (guitar), Keith Ray (bass) and founder [[Rick Davies]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/318 318]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/318
}}</ref><ref name="Harrison">{{cite web|url=http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/14990864.Singing_star___s_far_from_Alone_Again/|title=Gilbert O'Sullivan's far from Alone Again as musicians reunite|last=Harrison|first=Flicky|date=28 December 2016|work=This Is Wiltshire|access-date=13 January 2017}}</ref> Davies, who later founded [[Supertramp]], taught O'Sullivan how to play both drums and piano.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Melhuish|first=Martin|title=The Supertramp Book|place=Toronto, Canada|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1986|isbn=0-9691272-2-7|page=18}}</ref> O'Sullivan's drumming informed his style of piano-playing, which often utilises a distinctive percussive piano pattern. He has explained, "My left hand is hitting the high hat and the right hand is the snare."<ref name="Sodajerker" /> He started writing songs, heavily influenced by [[the Beatles]], as writers, and [[Bob Dylan]], as a performer.<ref name="official biog"/>