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Bryan Ferry Bio

Bryan Ferry

An early 1970’s suave singing sex symbol and former boyfriend of former super model Jerry Hall, he has gone from being a teacher to musician, singer, to song writer and actor all in thirty years. Bryan Ferry was born in Washington, Sunderland, UK on September 26^th 1945, the son of a coal miner in a working class family.

His education after secondary school took him to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he studied fine art. He later applied to study at the University of London but did not obtain a place. Ferry became a teacher of pottery but always had it in the back of his mind to follow a career in music.

After teaching himself to play the piano in his mid twenties he formed a band which he named the Banchees and later he established another band called The Gas Board. Neither group were more than local attractions and Bryan never gained any recognition while performing with them. Bryan went on to form Roxy Music in 1972 with a group of friends. The group gained attention in the music business and were soon celebrating the success of their first hit ‘Virginia Plain’ which they followed with several hit albums and singles throughout the 1970’s with Brian as the lead vocalist.

During his hey days Ferry was known for dating some of the world’s most beautiful women including model Amanda Lear and later, model Jerry Hall whom he met at a photo shoot in 1975. By 1976 Roxy Music disbanded and Bryan released his first solo album specializing in cover versions of old favourites such as The Beatles’ ‘She’s Leaving Home.’ While touring to promote his albums Ferry returned to discover that Jerry had been having a relationship with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones and that finally ended the relationship between Bryan and Jerry. Brian was hard hit by the breakup and this was reflected in many of the lyrics he wrote for his future albums. He has never voluntarily spoken in public about the breakup.

1978 saw Roxy Music reforming and during that time they achieved their only UK number one hit with their tribute to John Lennon, ‘Jealous Guy’. By 1983 Bryan had tired of touring with Roxy Music and decided to pursue his solo career once again. Eventually Ferry settled down and married model Lucy Helmore, 25 years his junior and known at that time for her affiliation with designers such as Christian Lacroix, Manolo Blahnik and Philip Treacy. The couple went on to have four sons.

When Bob Geldof and Midge Ure put together their 1985 Live Aid concert, Ferry was invited to perform at London’s Wembly arena in support of the charity. His performance was marred by electrical and technical problems but eventually he performed ‘Slave to Love’ and “Jealous Guy’ and the crowd responded favorably.

In 2003 Ferry divorced his wife Lucy and during that period he attempted to distract himself from the divorce with live appearances of Roxy Music to great acclaim. 2003 saw Brian starring in ‘The Porter’, a short movie with Dannii Minogue, sister of Kylie Minogue.

The 35 year celebration of the Isle of Wight Festival in 2005 had Bryan lined up with artists such as Snow Patrol and R.E.M. The original festival in 1970 had seen groups such as The Who, Chicago, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. It was also in 2005 that Brian appeared in the movie ‘Breakfast on Pluto’ which starred Cillian Murphy and Liam Neeson.

Through all Bryan Ferry’s achievements and his solo career it is his tenure as the front man for the legendary ‘Roxy Music’ that remains his biggest accolade in the music industry to date.

ABB