XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.

Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, The xx, Gil Scott-Heron, Jai Paul, Tyler, the Creator, and Adele. The label releases albums worldwide and operates across a range of genres.

The label was launched in 1989 to release rave and dance music. It was originally an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records' more commercial dance label called Citybeat which was known for records by acts such as Freeez, Starlight, Dream Frequency and the Ultramagnetic MCs. However with the success of acts such as The Prodigy and SL2, XL superseded Citybeat in the company's line up.

During the early nineties, XL Recordings releases were dance orientated ranging from Belgium techno (T99 "Anasthasia") to Breakbeat hardcore (SL2 "On a Ragga Tip") to Drum and Bass (Jonny L "I'm Leavin'"). This period of XL's history has been recorded on the XL Recordings Chapters compilation series. In 1993 Halkes left XL to form the EMI-owned commercial dance label Positiva, and subsequently his own independent commercial dance label Incentive. After Palmer retired Russell took over the running of the business.

Richard Russell (born 18 March 1971) is the owner of British record label XL Recordings.

XL Recordings was founded in 1989 by Russell, Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes (in partnership with Beggars Banquet Records) to release rave and electronic music on 12" vinyl singles.

In 1993 Halkes left XL. In 1994 Palmer retired from the music business, leaving Russell in sole charge of XL. Russell later broadened the musical horizons of the label whilst maintaining a credo of working with artists he saw as original and inventive.

XL enjoyed early success with The Prodigy whose first three albums were released by the label. They have since worked with Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, The xx, Gil Scott-Heron and Adele.

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, based around songs written by Jack White of The White Stripes.

Jonny L, real name John Lisners, is a British drum and bass producer. He has also released music under the alias of Mr. L.

He first came to prominence with the rave single "Hurt You So" in 1992 (That single would later be sampled and looped in the 1998 track "Oh Boy" by The Fabulous Baker Boys). He signed to XL Recordings, the same label as The Prodigy and SL2. He produced more rave singles such as "Ooh I Like It".

In 1995, he changed direction making drum and bass records, beginning with "I'm Leavin'". With that he produced two other EPs before his first album Sawtooth in 1997. From this album, the hit single, "Piper" proved to be a success even though it was extreme in its sound, although on the album there were other electro-influenced tracks. By 1998 the next album, Magnetic, carried on in a similar vein.

He left XL to form his own record label, Piranhna Records. Another album, 27 Hours A Day followed with the George W. Bush-sampled single "Let's Roll".

Jonny also produced True Steppers' "Out of Your Mind", the hit single featuring Dane Bowers and Victoria Beckham, and also produced "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Do It Till We Drop" for S Club's 2002 album, Seeing Double.

Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack ( /ˈwoʊmæk/; born March 4, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 50 years and has spanned a repertoire in the styles of R&B, soul, rock and roll, doo-wop, gospel, and country.

Womack wrote and originally recorded The Rolling Stones' first UK No. 1 hit, "It's All Over Now" and New Birth's "I Can Understand It" among other songs. As a singer he is most notable for the hits "Lookin' For a Love", "That's The Way I Feel About Cha", "Woman's Gotta Have It", "Harry Hippie", "Across 110th Street" and his 1980s hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now".

In 2009, Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Born and raised in Cleveland's East 85th & Quincy area to Naomi Womack and Friendly Womack, Womack was the third of five brothers. Raised Baptist, their mother played organ in their church and their father was a minister and musician, often known to play guitar though he advised his sons to not touch the instrument while he was away. One night, eight-year-old Bobby, who was often playing it, broke a guitar string. After Friendly Womack fixed the string, he let Bobby play the guitar for him. According to Bobby later, Friendly was shocked by his son's talents as well as the talents of his other sons. Soon afterwards, he bought Bobby his own guitar and formed The Womack Brothers. The group toured the gospel circuit with their parents accompanying them on organ and guitar respectively. In 1954, the group under the moniker Curtis Womack and the Womack Brothers, the group issued the Pennant single, "Buffalo Bill". Bobby was only ten years old at the time.

The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. They have sold over 25 million records worldwide. The group has won numerous music awards throughout their career, including two Brit Awards—winning Best British Dance Act twice, three MTV Video Music Awards, two Kerrang! Awards, five MTV Europe Music Awards, and have twice been nominated for Grammy Awards.

The group's brand of music makes use of various styles ranging from rave, hardcore techno, industrial, and breakbeat in the early 1990s to big beat and electronic rock with punk vocal elements in later times. The current members include Liam Howlett (keyboardist and composer), Keith Flint (dancer and vocalist), and Maxim (MC and vocalist). Leeroy Thornhill (dancer and very rarely a live keyboardist) was a member of the band from 1990 to 2000, as was a female dancer and vocalist called Sharky who left the group during their early period. The Prodigy first emerged on the underground rave scene in the early 1990s, and have since then achieved immense popularity and worldwide renown.