Graham Simpson (musician)
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Graham Simpson (13 October 1943 – 17 April 2012) was an English musician. He was a founding member and bassist of
Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...
. On their first album (1972), his bass notes made distinctive contributions to the tracks "Ladytron" and "Chance Meeting". However, around the time of the album's release, Simpson, who was suffering from depression following the death of his mother from cancer, was given an open-ended choice to remain with or take a hiatus from the band by Ferry. Simpson chose to leave the band and never returned to the line-up. He used his band royalties to travel the world learning about different cultures and religions, particularly
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
, returning to London in 1982. Simpson is the subject of a short film called ''Nothing But the Magnificent'' that was screened at the Portobello Film Festival in 2010. The feature-length version called ''Mighty'' was nine years in the making and due to star Hollywood film director
Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work on '' Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers' ...
and original members of Roxy Music including Bryan Ferry. Directed by West London filmmaker Miranda Little, ''Mighty'' features original material of Simpson by his former neighbour Sara Cook – an enigmatic London artist who also discovered him. He died in Ladbroke Grove, London, in April 2012. Roxy Music were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019, with Simpson named as an original band member.


References

1943 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Manchester Roxy Music members English rock bass guitarists English male bass guitarists English Sufis Glam rock musicians {{UK-bass-guitarist-stub