Editing Bryan Ferry (section)

===Roxy Music (1970–1983)===
{{Main|Roxy Music}}
[[File:Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music) - TopPop 1973 2 (crop).png|thumb|Ferry performing with Roxy Music on Dutch television in 1973]]Ferry formed Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances, beginning with bassist Graham Simpson, an art school classmate, in November 1970. The line-up was expanded to include saxophonist/oboist [[Andy Mackay]] and [[Brian Eno]], an acquaintance who owned tape recorders and played Mackay's synthesiser. Other early members included timpanist Dexter Lloyd and ex-[[The Nice|Nice]] guitarist [[David O'List]], though by the time the band recorded [[Roxy Music (album)|their first album]], the line-up had settled as Ferry, Simpson, Mackay, Eno, drummer [[Paul Thompson (musician)|Paul Thompson]] and guitarist [[Phil Manzanera]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://vivaroxymusic.com/reviews_2004_279.shtml|title= Getting Roxy Music in with 'The 'In' Crowd' – An Interview With Davy O'List|website=VivaRoxyMusic.com|date= 25 April 2004|access-date=15 June 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070515142126/http://vivaroxymusic.com/reviews_2004_279.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 15 May 2007}}</ref> Around late 1970/early 1971, Ferry auditioned for [[King Crimson]], who were seeking a new singer and bassist to replace [[Gordon Haskell]]. Although his voice was deemed not right for Crimson, band members [[Robert Fripp]] and [[Peter Sinfield]] were still impressed with Ferry and quickly developed a friendship with him that would lead to Roxy Music being signed to Crimson's management company [[E.G. Records|E.G.]] and Sinfield producing their first album and its subsequent non-album single "[[Virginia Plain]]".

Released on 16 June 1972, Roxy Music's self-titled debut album reached no. 10 on the UK album charts and immediately established the band's presence in the British music scene.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=ROXY MUSIC {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14677/roxy-music/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=Officialcharts.com}}</ref> By the time the album was released Simpson had departed and the band would undergo several changes of bassist for the next few years. Later that summer the band made its television debut on ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', performing their first hit single, "Virginia Plain", marking one of the first electronic music performances on a mainstream television show.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/roxy-music-virginia-plain-top-of-the-pops-video-1972/|title = Roxy Music play 'Virginia Plain' on Top of the Pops, 1972|date = 11 March 2020}}</ref> The first two Roxy Music albums were written solely by Ferry; the debut contained a pastiche of musical styles, representing Ferry's wide-ranging interests, while the second album, ''[[For Your Pleasure]]'' (1973), pursued a darker, more determined mood.

Ferry met women's fashion designer [[Antony Price]] at a party in Holland Park in 1972, and later that year enlisted him alongside other friends including Nick de Ville to create the cover for Roxy Music's debut album. Featuring model [[Kari-Ann Moller]] splayed on the floor in a dress designed by Price, the cover image captivated the attention of the general public and according to writer Richard Williams was, "nothing less than a challenge, bold and direct, to the prevailing complacency."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.moredarkthanshark.org/eno_int_quiet-feb18.html|title=Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK|website=Moredarkthanshark.org}}</ref> Ferry would continue art-directing each Roxy Music album cover to follow.

Ferry began a parallel solo career in 1973, performing cover versions of old standards on his debut studio album ''[[These Foolish Things (album)|These Foolish Things]]'' (1973) and his second album ''[[Another Time, Another Place (Bryan Ferry album)|Another Time, Another Place]]'' (1974), both of which reached the UK top 5.<ref name=":2" /> Ferry's interest in the Great American Songbook represented a stark departure from Roxy Music, and the success of these two albums created a template which would be followed later by other artists including [[Joni Mitchell]], [[Rod Stewart]] and [[Bob Dylan]].<ref name="note1"/> Embarking on his first solo tour in support of these albums, in 1973 Ferry was notably denied his request for a show at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] due to a ban on rock concerts before ultimately being granted his first performance a year later, in December 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2015/may/unearthed-letters-reveal-that-bryan-ferrys-planned-royal-albert-hall-debut-was-blocked/ |title=Unearthed letters reveal that Bryan Ferry's planned Royal Albert Hall debut was blocked |publisher=Royal Albert Hall |last=Griffin |first=Matt |date=29 May 2015 |access-date=20 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004094229/https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2015/may/unearthed-letters-reveal-that-bryan-ferrys-planned-royal-albert-hall-debut-was-blocked/|archive-date=2023-10-04}}</ref> Ferry's debut at the Royal Albert Hall was recorded and later released as ''Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1974'' in 2020. Contemporary reviews of this period of Ferry's live performances noted his "actor's instinct for understatement" and praised his novelty and command on stage, concluding "to be Bryan Ferry in 1974 was like being Bob Dylan in 1965, [[Clark Gable]] in 1939, and [[Oscar Wilde]] in 1895."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/bryan-ferry-live-at-the-royal-albert-hall-1974/|title=Bryan Ferry: Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1974|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=Roxy Music changed the face and curves, the visage and physique, of rock and pop. From their definitively art-school debut album of 1972, the collision of past and future of which still startles, through the Gatsby sighs of Ferry's gondolas, glam and goddesses period, then the two-year split, then the return with the likes of ''Manifesto'' and ''Avalon'' (so improbably refined that they shouldn't exist, can't exist, but do), Roxy were the ultimate marriage of style and substance: inspiring, influential, intoxicating.|sign=Chris Roberts, "Olympian Heights: Bryan Ferry Talks to Chris Roberts", ''[[The Quietus]]'' (18 November 2010).<ref name="Roberts">{{cite news |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/05305-bryan-ferry-roxy-music-interview |title=Olympian Heights: Bryan Ferry Talks To Chris Roberts |last=Roberts |first=Chris |work=[[The Quietus]] |location=London |date=18 November 2010 |access-date=30 April 2022}}</ref>}}

Between 1972 and 1974, Ferry's creative output was prolific, as he released a total of six studio albums between his solo career and Roxy Music. The third Roxy Music album, ''[[Stranded (album)|Stranded]]'' (1973), saw the departure of Brian Eno and the recruitment by Ferry of violinist and keyboardist [[Eddie Jobson]], a contributor to Ferry's first solo album. ''Stranded'' became Roxy Music's first UK no. 1 album, dominating the charts for four months, and its supporting world tour saw Ferry wear a white dinner jacket and move out from behind the keyboard to take centre stage. The Rake notes, "the suit became the lynchpin of his onstage persona, buoyed by iconic, ostentatious tailoring by the likes of Anthony Price."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://therake.com/stories/icons/thrill-bryan-ferry/ | title=The Thrill of It All: Bryan Ferry &#124; the Rake|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004093940/https://therake.com/stories/icons/thrill-bryan-ferry/|archive-date=2023-10-04 }}</ref> After the concert tour in support of their fifth studio album, ''[[Siren (Roxy Music album)|Siren]]'' (1975), Roxy Music temporarily disbanded in 1976, though some Roxy members - Paul Thompson, Phil Manzanera, Eddie Jobson and bassists [[John Gustafson (musician)|John Gustafson]], [[John Wetton]] and [[Rick Wills]] - took part in the recording of Ferry's subsequent solo material. He released three solo albums during this period, ''[[Let's Stick Together]]'' (1976), ''[[In Your Mind (album)|In Your Mind]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Bride Stripped Bare (album)|The Bride Stripped Bare]]'' (1978), all of which charted in the UK top 20.<ref name=":2" />

Disappointed by the lukewarm response to ''The Bride Stripped Bare'', Ferry reformed Roxy Music at the end of 1978 to record tracks for what would become their sixth studio album, ''[[Manifesto (Roxy Music album)|Manifesto]]'', which was released in early 1979 and reached no. 7 in the UK album charts.<ref name=":3" /> By now, Roxy Music was a core quartet of Ferry, Mackay, Thompson and Manzanera, and then a core trio following Thompson's departure at the end of 1979, augmented by a wide array of other musicians in the studio and on stage, some drawn from Ferry's solo output. 1980's ''[[Flesh and Blood (Roxy Music album)|Flesh + Blood]]'' album reached no. 1 in the UK album charts, two years before the group's final studio release ''[[Avalon (Roxy Music album)|Avalon]]'' in 1982, which also reached no. 1 in the UK album charts.<ref name=":3" /> In-between these two albums, the band also achieved their first and only UK no. 1 single, "[[Jealous Guy]]", released in 1981 as a posthumous tribute to its author, [[John Lennon]], who had been [[Murder of John Lennon|murdered two months earlier]].<ref name=":3" /> It was the only one of their singles not to be written or co-written by Ferry. After lengthy tours to promote the ''[[Avalon (Roxy Music album)|Avalon]]'' album, Ferry disbanded Roxy Music in 1983 and continued as a solo artist.