Bryan Ferry to play Tel Aviv
It’s been a long journey that’s taken Bryan Ferry from his working-class upbringing in Durham, England, to last week, receiving the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for being included on Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors list, along with luminaries like actor Colin Firth.
And it involved an unexpected stop in the hospital in April. The once and future lead singer for British art rock pioneers Roxy Music was riding high on superlative reviews for his latest album, Olympia, which saw him hosting a five-star guest list including Nile Rodgers, Roxy band mates Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay, and Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, and featured stunning remakes of Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren” and Traffic’s “No Face, No Name, No Number.”
But as he was set to embark on a tour that was to have taken him to Tel Aviv, the 65-year-old singer was mysteriously hospitalized for tests. While the outcome has never been publicized, Ferry was ordered to rest and the tour was postponed. Now presumably healthy and chomping at the bit, he launched an ambitious fivemonth tour of Europe and the US that will see him arriving in Israel for a performance at Tel Aviv’s Heichal Hatarbut on June 22.