[5] He spent the academic year 1980–81 at St Anne's College, Oxford studying English Language and Literature.

The BBC commissioned film director Jaine Green to follow him in his final year with the CBSO to make Simon Rattle—Moving On.

In 1992, Rattle was named a principal guest conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE), along with Frans Brüggen.

He led two attempts at gaining the record for the World's Largest Orchestra, both designed to raise awareness of youth music in schools.

From 29 April to 17 May 2002, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, making live recordings of the complete Beethoven symphonies.

Rattle made his conducting debut with the Berlin Philharmonic (BPO) in 1987, in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.

At the time the vote was considered somewhat controversial, as several members of the orchestra were earlier reported to have preferred Daniel Barenboim for the post.

[19] Since his appointment, Rattle has reorganised the Berlin Philharmonic into a foundation, meaning its activities are more under the control of the members rather than politicians.

[20] He gave his first concert as principal conductor of the BPO on 7 September 2002, leading performances of Thomas Adès' Asyla and Mahler's Symphony No.

5, performances which received rave reviews from the press worldwide[21] and were recorded for CD and DVD release by EMI.

[29] In 2007, the BPO/Rattle recording of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem received the Classic FM Gramophone best choral disc award.

[36] Rattle made his North American debut in 1976, conducting the London Schools Symphony Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl.

He first conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1979 during the music directorship of Carlo Maria Giulini, and was their principal guest conductor from 1981 to 1994.

In January 2021, the BRSO announced the appointment of Rattle as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2023–2024 season, with an initial contract of five years.

[50] His inaugurual concert as the orchestra's chief conductor took place on 21 September 2023, with a performance of Haydn's The Creation at the Herkulessaal, Munich Residenz.

In February 2024, the Czech Philharmonic announced the appointment of Rattle as its next principal guest conductor, effective with the 2024-2025 season, for a period of five years, with the title of 'Rafael Kubelík Conducting Chair'.

[52][53] Rattle has conducted a wide variety of music, including some with period instruments (either actual surviving historical musical instruments or modernly made ones informed by commonly used designs and material of the time), but he is best known for his interpretations of late 19th- and early 20th-century composers such as Gustav Mahler, with a recording of Mahler's Second Symphony winning several awards on its release.

The Gramophone Magazine praised the latter as a "magnificent disc" and drew favourable comparisons with interpretations of the piece by Rattle's immediate predecessors, Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan.

Rattle and the BPO also recorded Gustav Holst's The Planets (EMI), which was the BBC Music Magazine Orchestra Choice.

Rattle's recording of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem with the BPO received the Choral Performance Grammy Award in 2008.

[68] Rattle's first marriage was to Elise Ross, an American soprano, with whom he had two sons: Sacha, who is a clarinettist, and Eliot, who is a painter.

[76] Rattle announced in January 2021 that he had applied for German citizenship, describing it as "an absolute necessity" for him in order to continue to work freely around the EU after Brexit.