Thompson

Born 13th May 1951 Newcastle, UK.

Drummer, aka The Great Paul Thompson. He joined Roxy Music in June 1971 replacing Dexter Lloyd via an audition in which he borrowed a drum kit. He had previously been in a variety of Newcastle bands but had moved to London at the beginning of 1971. His only songwriting credit to date is 'Your Application's Failed' which is a B-Side to 'All I Want Is You'. Paul wrote it on a guitar and took it to Phil Manzanera.
Paul played on the first six Roxy albums and departed due to the time honoured reason of there being musical differences. During his period with Roxy, he also played on the first four Bryan Ferry solo albums, and both Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera's solo work. He he also played on the first Eno's 'Here Com the Warm Jets' album and toured with Phil Manzanera's 801 in 1977.
His post Roxy session work included such diverse acts as punk band, The Angelic Upstarts on their 1983 album 'Reason Why' and Blues/Rock man Gary Moore on his Emerald Aisles Live In Ireland tour in 1985 which was released on video.
He joined the band Concrete Blonde who covered Roxy's "End Of The Line" and had two successful albums in Bloodletting and Mexican Moon. He spent most of the 1990's in local bands in his native Newcastle. He joined the tour of the reformed Roxy Music of 2001, much to the delight of the fans and has proved show after show on the 2001 tour that he is a major part of the history of Roxy Music and an integral part of the Roxy sound.
Paul joined Bryan in the studio after the Roxy Music tour to record some drums to finish the log awaited Bryan Ferry album 'Frantic' and has also joined Bryan for his 'Frantic' 2002 tour.