Roy Bailey is an English socialist folk singer from Bow, London. Born in 1935 and dying in 2018, he begins his musical career in a skiffle band in 1958 before moving into folk music.

Career

Bailey joins the folk supergroup The Three City Four as a replacement for Martin Carthy. He later releases his first solo album in 1971. He also appears with Band of Hope and The Anti-Capitalist Roadshow.

Recognition and public role

In 2000, Bailey receives an MBE for services to folk music, then returns it in 2006 in protest at UK foreign policy regarding Lebanon and Palestine. In 2003, he and Tony Benn are named Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for the programme Writing on the Wall, and Benn describes him as the greatest socialist folksinger of his generation.

Other roles and associations

Bailey is Emeritus Professor of Social Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. He is also patron of Towersey Village Festival, Shepley Spring Festival, and the Music on the Marr Festival in Castle Carrock, Cumbria. He is the father-in-law of singer and guitarist Martin Simpson through his daughter Kit.