Bryan Ferry

Bryan Ferry
CBE
Ferry performing in 2022
Background information
Born (1945-09-26) 26 September 1945 (age 79)[1]
Washington, County Durham, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • harmonica
DiscographyBryan Ferry discography
Years active1967–present
Labels
Member ofRoxy Music
Websitebryanferry.com

Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter who was the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also a solo artist.[2] His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon".[3] He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to The Independent, Ferry and his contemporary David Bowie influenced a generation with both their music and their appearances.[4] Peter York described Ferry as "an art object" who "should hang in the Tate".[5]

Born to a working-class family, Ferry studied fine art and taught at a secondary school before pursuing a career in music. In 1970 he began to assemble Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances in London, and took the role of lead singer and main songwriter. The band achieved immediate international success with the release of their self-titled debut album in 1972, containing a rich multitude of sounds, which reflected Ferry's interest in exploring different genres of music. Their second album, For Your Pleasure (1973), further cultivated the band's unique sound and visual image that would establish Ferry as a leading cultural icon over the next decade.[6]

Ferry began a parallel solo career in 1973 by releasing These Foolish Things, which popularized the concept of a contemporary musician releasing an album covering standard songs and was a drastic departure from his ongoing work with Roxy Music. His second album, Another Time, Another Place (1974), featured on its cover the image Ferry posing by a pool in a white dinner jacket, a persona which Rolling Stone magazine dubbed "dandy of the bizarre".[7] Over the next two years, Roxy Music released a trilogy of albums, Stranded (1973), Country Life (1974) and Siren (1975), which broadened the band's appeal internationally and saw Ferry take greater interest in the role of a live performer, reinventing himself in stage costumes ranging from gaucho to military uniforms. In 1983, following the release of their best-selling album Avalon the previous year, Ferry disbanded Roxy Music to concentrate on his solo career, with his next album, 1985's Boys and Girls, reaching No. 1 in the UK and featuring the hit singles "Slave to Love" and "Don't Stop the Dance", while the next two albums Bête Noire (1987) and Taxi (1993) both went Top 10 in the UK.[8]

As well as being a prolific songwriter, Ferry has recorded many cover versions, including standards from the Great American Songbook, in albums such as These Foolish Things (1973), Another Time, Another Place (1974), Let's Stick Together (1976), Taxi (1993) and As Time Goes By (1999), as well as Dylanesque (2007), an album of Bob Dylan covers.[9] Including his work with Roxy Music, Ferry has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.[10] In 2019, Ferry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.[11]

  1. ^ Hoskyns, Barney (16 June 2001). "Bryan Ferry: Melancholic of Glam". The Independent. London. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ^ Bracewell, Michael (2007). Remake/Remodel:Becoming Roxy Music. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81400-6.
  3. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Avalon". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  4. ^ "David Bowie and Bryan Ferry have inspired a Seventies fashion revival this spring". The Independent. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015. David Bowie and Bryan Ferry, whose musical influence can only be equalled by the inspiration their respective appearances provided to an entire generation
  5. ^ Bracewell, Michael (7 June 2012). Roxy Music and Art-Rock Glamour: Faber Forty-Fives: 1969–1972. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571296750. Retrieved 2 December 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Bryan Ferry: The life and loves of a music icon". Belfasttelegraph – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  7. ^ Nicholl, Charles (24 April 1975). "Bryan Ferry: Dandy of the Bizarre". Rolling Stone.
  8. ^ "BRYAN FERRY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  9. ^ Gittins, Ian (2 March 2007). "Bryan Ferry, Dylanesque". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Bryan Ferry Signs Worldwide Partnership Deal with BMG Chrysalis U.K." The Hollywood Reporter. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Roxy Music". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2018.