Bryan Ferry

Bryan Ferry first gained recognition in the 1970s as creator, singer and principal songwriter of the legendary Roxy Music. Always creatively restless, drawing on art, cinema, poetry, literature, love and the price of love – and music of all description – with Roxy and as a solo artist he has recorded twenty-four albums over the course of a career that has now spanned six decades.

Born in Washington, Co Durham, Ferry studied fine art at Newcastle University. That training profoundly influenced his vision for Roxy Music, a group he once defined as “a state of mind.” At once timeless and ultra-modern, across eight constantly evolving albums Roxy became known as much for combining ideas about art, design and fashion in the performance and presentation of their music as the trailblazing music itself. Released in 1972, their self-titled first album is regularly hailed as one of the greatest debuts of all time. Roxy’s last studio album, 1982’s Avalon, has similarly been canonised among the landmark recordings of its era.

Ferry began his solo career in 1973, in tandem with his work with Roxy. As songwriter, in tracks like 1985’s “Slave To Love,” he again created some of the key records of the period. Simultaneously, through an unpredictable series of cover versions, he has carved a reputation as one of the great modern interpreters of song, with the ability to make other people’s songs practically his own, as demonstrated by his definitive version of Wilbert Harrison’s “Let’s Stick Together,” and Roxy’s remake of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.”

A unique and abidingly influential figure worldwide, in 2011 Ferry was awarded a CBE for his contribution to British music. In 2012, he received the French national honour of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2014 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Music by Newcastle University. Roxy Music were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2019.