Roxy Music

Roxy Music is an English rock group from London, formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry and bassist Graham Simpson. Ferry serves as lead vocalist and principal songwriter. The band’s long-term members include Phil Manzanera on guitar, Andy Mackay on saxophone and oboe, and Paul Thompson on drums and percussion. Other members include Brian Eno on synthesizer and treatments, Eddie Jobson on synthesizer and violin, Sal Maida, and David Skinner.

Style and influence

The group works across art pop, art rock, glam rock, new romantic, new wave, and pop rock. It helps develop a more musically sophisticated strain of glam rock and also influences early English punk music. At the same time, it provides a model for later new wave acts and incorporates elements of electronic composition. Roxy Music is also known for its emphasis on glamorous fashion and a distinctive visual identity.

Career

Roxy Music begins its commercial success in Europe and Australia in the 1970s, led by its self-titled debut album. The band’s studio albums include Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure, Stranded, Country Life, Siren, Manifesto, Flesh and Blood, and Avalon. Avalon is the final studio album and is certified Platinum in the United States. The group pauses activities in 1976 and again in 1983, then reunites for a concert tour in 2001 and continues to tour intermittently. It also plays a series of 40th-anniversary shows in 2011 and becomes inactive as a performing act after those concerts. In 2022, it reforms for a tour marking the 50th anniversary of its debut album.

Related work and recognition

Ferry often uses Roxy Music members as session musicians on his solo recordings. Ferry and co-founding member Eno both build influential solo careers, and Eno becomes one of the most significant British record producers of the late 20th century. In 2005, the band begins recording material that would later appear on Ferry’s solo album Olympia, with Eno contributing to two songs and playing keyboards; the finished album also includes contributions from Manzanera and Mackay. Roxy Music is originally ranked at No. 98 on Rolling Stone’s greatest artists list and is later removed from the updated version. The group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.