Music

Bryan Ferry was born on September 26, 1945 in a mining town in England. While his father raised horses for the mine, the young man worked on Saturdays for a local tailor. 

Passionate about pop and contemporary art, he chose to study art at Newcastle University where he had the chance to join the class of Richard Hamilton, a founder of pop art. "Initially, I wanted to become a painter, that was my dream," says the man who now has a large collection of works.

In addition to his studies, Ferry indulged in another of his passions by playing in an amateur rock band, the Banshees. He then joined a second band, The Gas Board, where he met bassist Graham Simpson. Together, they founded Roxy Music in 1970. They were then joined by a saxophonist (Andy Mackay), a synth player (Brian Eno), a drummer (Paul Thompson) and finally a guitarist (Phil Manzanera). Their first album, soberly titled "Roxy Music" is said to have cost only 5000 pounds sterling (EUR 6,000 or USD 6,700) to record at the time. It was released in 1972 and was followed a year later by "For Your Pleasure".

Roxy Music: precursors of glam rock

The band of young Englishmen were soon in the charts and became one of the essential bands of the day. Often considered as the precursors of glam rock, alongside David Bowie, they stand out and intrigued audiences.  "The other bands wanted to destroy hotel rooms, Roxy Music wanted to redecorate them," Bryan Ferry later joked.

The influence of Ferry (who composed most of the tracks) on the band did not please everyone, however, and Brian Eno left Roxy Music after the release of the second album. The singer then decided to leave more room for the other members of the team and began a solo career.

He brought Phil Manzanera and Paul Thompson into this new adventure. This is how "These Foolish Things", the singer's first solo album, was released in 1973 with covers of hits by Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Prestley.

The end of Roxy

He then recorded several other albums of covers, such as "Another Time, Another Place". He appears on the cover in a white tuxedo in front of a swimming pool. This elegance is undeniably part of his legend. In 1977, "In Your Mind" was his first album entirely composed of original songs. Its mixed success somewhat clouds the dandy's enthusiasm, already saddened by his breakup with Jerry Hall (who appears on the cover of Roxy Music's fifth album, "Siren"). She left him for the arms of Mick Jagger.

The ideal son-in-law from the United Kingdom continued to work in parallel with Roxy Music on the rest of their career. Eight more albums were released. They include a number of hits, such as "Love Is the Drug" and the unforgettable "More Than This". Their last album, "Avalon", was released in 1982 and marked the breakup of the band.

Back with Eno

Bryan Ferry returned to the studios alone. "Boys and Girls" (1985) quickly rose to the top of the British charts, with "Slave to Love" becoming one of the flagship titles of the time. It was followed by "Bête noire" (1987), which includes only original compositions and is often considered one of his most accomplished albums. In 1994, the two former enemies of Roxy Music reunited, some twenty years after their separation. Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry collaborated together on "Mamouna". And they were not alone, as MacKay and Manzanera also turned up. However, the magic didn’t really work anymore and the album didn’t have the success previous releases.

In 1999, an album mixing covers of songs from the 30s and the singer's compositions was released: "As Time Goes By". The former leader of Roxy Music still keeps in touch with his former acolytes, and in 2001 began a tour with Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera. The singer then turned once again to covers with "Dylanesque" in 2007, dedicated to the work of Bob Dylan. Three years later, the former members of Roxy Music reunited, alongside other artists such as Jonny Greenwood and Nile Rogers to record "Olympia".

Looking back

 In 2014, "Avonmore" marked his return to a more sophisticated pop rock. Four years later, he switched to jazz in "Bitter-Sweet". In 2024, Bryan Ferry presented “Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023", a box set of 81 songs collected in five discs, retracing fifty years of career. Rarer titles rub shoulders with the most popular ones as well as, for the first time in ten years, an original and unreleased song, "Star". The title comes from a collaboration with Amélia Barratt, painter and writer. "I'm very excited about this new title. There is still a lot to come," commented the crooner.

(CMa - Photo : Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Bryan Ferry on the stage of Bozar in Brussels (Belgium) on 15 June 2019 (© Etienne Tordoir)