Roxy Music will never play together again, Phil Manzanera confirms

18 July 2024, 10:57

The art-rock legends have bid us farewell.

In 2022, Roxy Music say goodbye to their fans with a farewell tour across the US and the UK, with a homecoming concert at London's O2 Arena to cap it all off.

The tour was announced to coincide with the band's 50th anniversary, half a decade since they came together and altered the complexion of rock music.

Each of the band's members have pursued their own creative ventures in some capacity - Brian Eno departed first, singer Bryan Ferry went solo, guitarist Phil Manzanera has formed other bands and even worked with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.

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But, with the exception of Eno, Roxy Music have continually reunited for various tours or celebrations over the years, including when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock however, Manzanera has confirmed it'll never happen again, saying "I think that was it."

Talking about how the idea to put Roxy Music to bed came about, Manzanera said: "Well, when it was mentioned that it was going to be our 50th anniversary, actually."

"I got a call from Bryan Ferry. He said, 'Do you fancy doing some gigs? There’s a promoter in America who says he’d have us to do some gigs'."

"I’m always saying, 'Yeah, sure. If you’re up for it, I’m up for it.' He said, 'Yeah, I’m up for it'. So he went and got in touch with Andy, who said he was up for it - and Paul [Thompson, was also interested]."

"Then, we realised, we haven’t got a manager, we don’t have a structure. We haven’t been together for twelve years. What are we going to do?"

"We had to put all of that stuff together and luckily, it went [really well]. People were very kind and they knew it was a sort of farewell tour."

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain - Top Of The Pops - 24th August 1972

"It finished at the O2 in London and it was all sold out. I think we thought, 'Whoa, we haven’t said goodbye to Europe'."

So whilst there was talk of extending the tour into Europe, the band decided against it, calling it a day in London instead.

"Then, we thought, 'Oh, hang on. Brexit happened. It’s so difficult to go play in Europe. And then the thought occurred, 'Well, we finished on a great high. Perhaps we should just say, like poker, or something, 'I’m out of here, that’s it'."

"Let’s finish with something really good and not try and flog it and then people [might] say, 'Oh, nah, [they’re] no good now'."

"So to a certain extent," Manzanera continued, "we did our best and it was very, very enjoyable."

"As I said, I think it was the first time I thought we were able to play in the visual context we liked, with all of the imagery coming up -- and put those songs into that visual context in the live situation."

"So it was a good time to [say goodbye]. We might bring out a recording of that tour. I don’t think we’ll do any more live gigs, ever. I think that was it."

As it stands, Roxy Music is no more, and that's final. For a band that existed for a period of just twelve years in its entirety, Roxy Music have left an indelible legacy that we'll still be able to immerse in.