Roxy Music

Roxy Music
Roxy Music on TopPop in 1973. Left to right: Eddie Jobson, Paul Thompson, Phil Manzanera, Bryan Ferry, John Gustafson, Andy Mackay
Background information
Origin	Newcastle upon Tyne/London, England
Genres	Art rock glam rock pop rock art pop progressive rock
Years active	1972–76, 1978–83, 2001–11
Labels	Island EG Virgin Atco Reprise/Warner Bros.
Associated acts	The Explorers 801
Website	roxymusic.co.uk
Past members	Bryan Ferry Phil Manzanera Andy Mackay Paul Thompson Brian Eno Graham Simpson Eddie Jobson John Gustafson David O'List Rik Kenton Roger Bunn Dexter Lloyd Gary Tibbs

Roxy Music were an English rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the band's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. Alongside Ferry, the other longtime members were Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe) and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Other former members include Brian Eno (synthesizer and "treatments"), Eddie Jobson (synthesiser and violin), and John Gustafson (bass). Although the band took a break from group activities in 1976 and again in 1983, they reunited for a concert tour in 2001, and toured together intermittently between that time and their break-up in 2011. Ferry frequently enlisted members of Roxy Music as session musicians for his solo releases.

Roxy Music attained popular and critical success in Europe and Australia during the 1970s and early 1980s, beginning with their debut album, Roxy Music (1972). The band was highly influential as pioneers of the more experimental, musically sophisticated elements of glam, and significantly influenced early English punk music. They also provided a model for many new wave acts and the experimental electronic groups of the early 1980s. The group was distinguished by their visual and musical sophistication and their preoccupation with style and glamour. Ferry and co-founding member Eno have also had influential solo careers, the latter becoming one of the most significant record producers and collaborators of the late 20th century. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Roxy Music No. 98 on its "The Immortals – 100 The Greatest Artists of All Time" list.

The band's final studio album was Avalon (1982), which became platinum-certified in the United States. In 2005 they began recording a new studio album, which would have been their ninth, and would have been their first record since 1973 with Brian Eno, who wrote two songs for it and also played keyboards. However, Bryan Ferry eventually confirmed that material from these sessions would be released as a Ferry solo album, with Eno playing on "a couple of tracks," and that he doesn't think they'll ever record as Roxy Music again. The album ultimately became Ferry's 2010 album Olympia. Roxy Music played a series of 40th anniversary shows in 2011, but has since become inactive as a performing entity.