Roxy Music

Roxy Music were an English rock band that were formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry–who became the band's lead singer and main songwriter–and bass guitarist Graham Simpson. Alongside Ferry, the other longtime members were Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe), and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Other members included Brian Eno (synthesizer and "treatments"), Eddie Jobson (synthesizer 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 became a successful act in Europe and Australia during the 1970s. This success began with their self-titled debut album, Roxy Music (1972). The band pioneered more musically sophisticated elements of glam rock while significantly influencing early English punk music, and provided a model for many new wave acts while innovating elements of electronic composition. The group also distinguished their visual and musical sophistication through a preoccupation with glamorous fashions. Ferry and co-founding member Eno have had influential solo careers. The latter became one of Britain's most significant record producers 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, though it dropped the group from its updated list in 2011.The band's final studio album was Avalon (1982), which became platinum-certified in the United States. In 2005 the band 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 does not think they will ever record as Roxy Music again. The album ultimately became Ferry's 2010 solo album Olympia, which featured contributions from Eno, Manzanera and Mackay (amongst many other session players.) Roxy Music played a series of 40th anniversary shows in 2011, but has since become inactive as a performing entity. In 2019, Roxy Music were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.