Billy Currie
| Billy Currie | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Lee Currie |
| Also known as | Billy Curry |
| Born | 1 April 1950 |
| Origin | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | New wave, art rock, post-punk, synthpop, glam rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Viola, violin, piano, keyboards |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Associated acts | Tiger Lily, Ultravox, Visage, Tubeway Army, Gary Numan, Steve Howe, Dead or Alive, Sam Blue, Vinny Burns, Humania, Phil Lynott |
William Lee "Billy" Currie (born 1 April 1950, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England) is an English violist, violinist, pianist, keyboardist, and songwriter. He is best known for his work with new wave band Ultravox, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1980s.
In 1974, Currie left the art group Ritual Theatre to join the glam rock band Tiger Lily on viola and keyboard. In 1976, after several name changes, the band ultimately became Ultravox and recorded three albums, Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha! and Systems of Romance, before singer John Foxx left to pursue a solo career in March 1979.
During Ultravox's subsequent hiatus, Currie dedicated himself to different projects. He collaborated with Gary Numan who had admired the Systems Of Romance album and asked Currie to record some songs that were included on his first solo album, The Pleasure Principle. Currie toured with Numan's band during 1979. During soundchecks for the tour Currie, with Gary Numan band musicians Chris Payne and Cedric Sharpley began to develop a song of their own called "Toot City". Currie had also joined the studio-based band Visage, fronted by Steve Strange, that also included Midge Ure. Currie and Ure developed a solid working relationship. Visage drummer Rusty Egan encouraged Currie to ask Ure to join the defunct Ultravox as lead singer/guitarist. Whilst composing material for a new Ultravox album and for the debut Visage album, Ure collaborated with Currie on the "Toot City" track which eventually became "Fade to Grey". The single became a huge hit for Visage in early 1981. However, this was surpassed by Ultravox's hit "Vienna", released around the same time. Both Ultravox and Visage became highly successful recording acts in the early 1980s. Ure decided to leave Visage to focus on Ultravox full-time in 1982. Currie remained with Visage for a while longer, but he too had left by 1984.
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