Bryan Ferry (born September 26 1945 in Washington, Tyne and Wear) is a British singer, musician and songwriter who came to public prominence in the 1970s as lead vocalist with Roxy Music. He has since pursued a highly successful solo career.

Born into a working-class family, Ferry studied fine art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne before becoming a pottery teacher in London, all the while aiming for a career in music. He formed Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances, initially just Graham Simpson who, like Ferry, had been part of a band called The Gas Board. The Roxy Music line-up expanded to include Andy MacKay and his acquaintance Brian Eno, who owned tape recorders and played Andy McKay's synthesiser. Other early members included a timpanist and ex-Nice guitarist David O'List, who were replaced respectively by Paul Thompson and Phil Manzanera before the band recorded its first album. (Early Peel sessions for UK radio station Radio 1 feature O'List's playing.)

Roxy Music's first hit, "Virginia Plain", just missed topping the charts, and they followed up with several hit singles and albums, with Ferry as vocalist and occasional instrumentalist (he taught himself piano in his mid-twenties) and Eno contributing synthesiser backing. Their sartorial style heralded the beginning of the glam rock phenomenon.

By 1973 (see 1973 in music), Ferry had launched a parallel solo career, specialising in cover versions of old standards on albums such as These Foolish Things . Eno soon left Roxy Music, leaving Ferry its undisputed leader. Ferry then began a relationship with model Jerry Hall, and Roxy's success waned as his solo career took off. (His solo album The Bride Stripped Bare contains references to his break-up with Hall, who left him for Mick Jagger.) After a couple of years as a solo artist, he re-formed the band and took them to new heights, the pinnacle of their success being their only UK number one hit, "Jealous Guy", released in tribute to John Lennon - ironically, the only one of their singles not written by Ferry.

Ferry eventually settled down to married life with Lucy Helmore , and they had four sons, including Otis Ferry . He continued to record, and released albums that reached the UK top 10, such as Boys and Girls in 1985 (a number one album in Britain), Taxi in 1993, and As Time Goes By in 1999, a collection of 1930s standards. He even teamed up again with Brian Eno for Mamouna in 1994 (collaborating with Robin Trower on guitar and as producer), and its long-awaited follow-up Frantic in 2002, which mixed Ferry originals with covers - something that Ferry hadn't attempted on a solo album since The Bride Stripped Bare 14 years before.

After lengthy ("debilitating") tours like the gruelling schedule used to promote the Avalon album in 1983, Ferry was rather reluctant to return to life on the road; however, a change of management persuaded him to try touring again in 1988 to belatedly promote the previous year's Bête Noire release; he spoke enthusiastically about the experience and repeated it for Mamouna in 1994/1995. After another lengthy spell away, in 1999 he began to perform a mix of 1930s songs (from As Time Goes By) and songs of his own, including several from the Roxy collection. Surprisingly for anyone familiar with his 1980s persona, so focussed on intricate and ambitious studio work, Ferry has rarely been away from the stage since: there have been several tours, significant changes of personnel within his tour band and the largely successful reformation of Roxy Music as - so far - a live act, playing its repetoire to great acclaim. Ferry has admitted in interviews that all this might be a way of keeping his mind from other things, such as his divorce from his wife Lucy, granted in 2003.

In 1999 Bryan Ferry appeared with Alan Partridge (played by Steve Coogan) on BBC's Comic Relief. In 2004, he starred in the short film The Porter.

Bryan Ferry is currently working on his next solo album. Guitarist David Williams has been involved with some recent sessions for the album. There is no indication of an album title or release schedule as yet but the album is hopeful for 2005.