Roy Harper (born 12 June 1941) is an English folk rock singer, songwriter, poet and guitarist. He has released 22 studio albums (and 10 live ones) across a career that stretches back to 1966. As a musician, Harper is known for his distinctive fingerstyle playing and lengthy, lyrical, complex compositions, reflecting his love of jazz and the poet John Keats.

Harper's influence has been acknowledged by Led Zeppelin, Pete Townshend, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, and Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull, who said Harper was his "primary influence as an acoustic guitarist and songwriter." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described him as "one of Britain's most complex and eloquent lyricists and genuinely original songwriters... much admired by his peers". Across the Atlantic, his influence has been acknowledged by Seattle-based acoustic band Fleet Foxes, American musician and producer Jonathan Wilson, and Californian harpist Joanna Newsom, with whom he has also toured.

In 2005, Harper was awarded the MOJO Hero Award, and in 2013 a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. His most recent album, Man and Myth, was released in 2013. In 2016, Harper celebrated his 75th birthday by performing concerts in Clonakilty, Birmingham, Manchester, London, and Edinburgh. He performed additional concerts in 2025.

Early life

Harper was born in 1941 in Rusholme, a suburb of Manchester. His mother, Muriel, died three weeks after he was born. From the age of six, he lived in St Annes-on-Sea, a place he described as being "like a cemetery with bus stops". He was brought up by his father and stepmother, with whom he became disillusioned because of her religious beliefs (although they reconciled in 1980, just before her death). His anti-religious views would later become a familiar theme within his music.

Harper began writing poems when he was 12. At the age of 13, he began playing skiffle music with his younger brother David ("Davey" on the album Flat Baroque and Berserk), as well as becoming influenced by blues music. At 14 he formed his first group (De Boys) with his brothers David and Harry. Harper was educated at King Edward VII School, Lytham St Annes, then a grammar school, and left at the age of 15 (1956) to join the Royal Air Force to follow an ambition to be a pilot. After two years, Harper rejected the rigid discipline and feigned madness to obtain a military discharge, as a result receiving an electroconvulsive therapy treatment at Princess Mary's RAF Hospital, Wendover. After being discharged from there, he spent one day inside the former Lancaster Moor Mental Institute before escaping. These experiences would be recalled in "Committed", a song on Harper's debut album, Sophisticated Beggar. From around 1961, he busked around North Africa, Europe, and London for a few years.

Musically, Harper's earliest influences were American blues musician Lead Belly and folk singer Woody Guthrie and, in his teens, jazz musician Miles Davis. Of the blues musicians Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, and Josh White, Harper said they made music which "...seemed to be from a different planet ...We'd never heard anything like it. It changed our world overnight, a sledge hammer of a cultural change ...an equivalent would be to suddenly hear music from outer space". Harper was also exposed to classical music in his childhood and has pointed to the influence of Jean Sibelius's Karelia Suite. Lyrical influences include the 19th century Romantics, especially Shelley, and Keats's poem "Endymion". Harper has also cited the Beat poets as being highly influential, particularly Jack Kerouac. Harper played his first paid performance at a poetry reading in Newcastle in 1960.

Returning to the UK in 1963 or 1964, Harper started to write more songs than poetry. He obtained a residency at London's famous Soho folk music club Les Cousins in 1965, having been introduced to it by Peter Bellamy of The Young Tradition. Harper's first advertised performance was on 5 October 1965. Within his first week Harper saw John Renbourn, Alexis Korner, Paul Simon, Alex Campbell, and Bert Jansch play, was notable for marking a widening of his musical style away from the more traditional side of contemporary folk music heard at the time. Harper had an interest in traditional folk but did not consider himself a bona fide member of the folk scene. He later explained: Harper's record company had different expectations. 'They wanted me to write commercial pop songs and when they heard the album I made for them, they didn't have a clue. They wanted hits. And I gave them "Circle"'. and tour the UK, performing at numerous venues such as the Lyceum Ballroom, Klooks Kleek and Mothers; venues that would gradually gain recognition for the variety and quality of their musical acts. Mothers in Birmingham was one such venue, and one to which Harper would frequently return. Harper later told Brum Beat magazine:

Of Bush, Harper later said, A decade later, Harper and Bush would again collaborate on his 1990 release Once.

1981–89: Recession and repossession

Harper's 1982 album Work of Heart was released on Public Records, a newly formed record label Harper created with Mark Thompson (son of English historian, socialist and peace campaigner E.P. Thompson). During this period Harper toured with a band consisting of Tony Franklin on Bass, Bob Wilson of the Steve Gibbons Band, George Jackson on drums and Dave Morris on keyboards. The album was chosen by Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times as "Album of the Year" in 1982, but it did not sell well and the short-lived label went under.

During this period Harper lost his home, a farm in the village of Marden, Herefordshire, to the bank. Of this period Harper stated:

The original demo version of Work of Heart was later released (in 1984) on a limited edition (830 copies) vinyl release entitled Born in Captivity.

Throughout 1984, Harper toured the United Kingdom with Jimmy Page performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as the MacGregors, and Themselves. In 1985, Whatever Happened to Jugula? was released. The album caused a resurgence of interest in Harper and his music. (Tony Franklin, bass player in Harper's group at this time, later joined Page in the Firm). In April 1984, Harper and Gilmour performed "Short and Sweet" (a song they co-wrote) during Gilmour's three-night run at the Hammersmith Odeon. This version later appeared on the David Gilmour Live 1984 concert film. Harper also provided backing vocals on Gilmour's newly released album, About Face.

On 20 June 1984 Harper performed at the last Stonehenge Free Festival, sharing the bill with Hawkwind and the Enid. The concert was videoed and released as Stonehenge 84.

As a result of his continual touring and the popularity of Whatever Happened to Jugula?, Harper re-signed to EMI and in 1986 released a live album, In Between Every Line (containing recordings from his performances at the Cambridge Folk Festival), and in 1988 the studio album, Descendants of Smith. The renewed relationship between Harper and EMI did not last and from 1985 more of his earlier albums were becoming available on the newly formed Awareness Records label.

1988 also saw the release of Loony on the Bus, a collection of tracks recorded a decade earlier and intended for release in 1977 as Commercial Breaks (with the sub-title, 'doesn't it?'). The original release having been held back because of disputes over funding and content between Harper and EMI. Sales of Loony on the Bus would fund Harper's 1990 release; Once.

1990–99: Science Friction

In 1993, Harper established his own record label Science Friction and obtained the rights to all his previously released albums. As a result, from 1994 much of Harper's back catalogue became available on CD once more.

Harper was very productive during the decade, releasing five studio albums: Once (1990), Death or Glory? (1992), Commercial Breaks (1994), The Dream Society (1998), a collection of poetry and spoken word tracks Poems, Speeches, Thoughts and Doodles (1997); two live albums: Unhinged (1993) and Live at Les Cousins (1996; recorded in 1969) and six individual CDs of live concerts and sessions recorded by the BBC (1997). Two official C90 cassette tapes of concerts at the Red Lion in Birmingham (1984 & 1985) were made available from Harper's agency (Acorn Entertainments).

In addition, Harper released a live video, Once (1990), an EP Burn the World (1990), a 4-track CD single Death or Glory? (1992), a limited edition live cassette Born in Captivity II (1992) (featuring cricketer Graeme Fowler and a cricket poem written by Harper: "Three Hundred Words"), a compilation album An Introduction to ..... (1994), and a reissue of Descendants of Smith (his 1988 release) renamed Garden of Uranium (1994).

Once again, Harper collaborated with David Gilmour and Kate Bush on his 1990 release, Once. The album also featured contributions from Nigel Mazlyn Jones, Mark Feltham and Tony Franklin. One of the album tracks, "The Black Cloud of Islam" a song written about Colonel Gaddafi, the Lockerbie bombing, and a despairing castigation of radical Islam, provoked criticism from some of Harper's fans at the time. Whilst religion, Harper's "first and only enemy" has always been a recurring theme in his music, he was 'red-carded by a lot of his 1990 following... who left in substantial numbers'.

Throughout the decade, Harper's musical influence began to be recognised by a younger generation of musicians, some of whom covered his songs or invited him to make guest appearances on their albums. In 1995, Harper contributed spoken words on the Tea Party's 1995 album The Edges of Twilight, and appeared on stage for their New Year concert in Montreal. In 1996, Roy recited "Bad Speech" from his album Whatever Happened to Jugula? on Anathema's album Eternity (the album also contains a cover version of "Hope" from the same album). The track "Time" from The Tea Party's 1996 multimedia CD, Alhambra, was sung and co-written by Harper.

Harper contributed his version of Jethro Tull's song, "Up the 'Pool" (from Living in the Past) for the 1996 tribute album, To Cry You a Song – A Collection of Tull Tales, a version Anderson liked so much he began to perform the "forgotten piece" again in concert and later described it as his favourite Jethro Tull cover song.

In 1998, Jethro Tull singer Ian Anderson contributed flute to the song, "These Fifty Years" on Harper's The Dream Society, an album based on emotional, philosophical and actual events in Harper's life. Views of procreation, his mother's continued presence in him and something of his psychological impulses are punctuated by a couple of moments of satire, a love song and a lament, followed by the lengthy "These Fifty years", of which he has said, "In some ways its (anti-organised religion) theme is similar to 'The Same Old Rock', but in many others I think it's stronger". Reportedly, Anderson said that the only reason he originally left Blackpool was because Harper did. Other artists who covered Harper's songs (or songs on his albums) throughout the decade include Dean Carter, Ava Cherry & The Astronettes, Green Crown, The Kitchen Cynics, the Levellers, Roydan Styles, and Pete Townshend. Harper also undertook a short tour of the US, where some performances were supported by Daevid Allen, former Soft Machine and Gong band member.

2000–10: Into the new millennium

In 2000, Harper released an almost entirely acoustic album, The Green Man, accompanied by the Tea Party's Jeff Martin on guitar, hurdy-gurdy and numerous other instruments. The following year (2001) Harper celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert performance at London's Royal Festival Hall and was joined by numerous guest artists including; David Bedford, Nick Harper, Jeff Martin and John Renbourn. The concert was recorded and released shortly after as a double CD, Royal Festival Hall Live – 10 June 2001.

In 2003, Harper published The Passions of Great Fortune, a large format book containing all the lyrics to his albums (and singles) to date, it also contained a wealth of photographs and commentary on his songs.

Harper released his second CD single in April 2005; "The Death of God". The 13-minute song, a critique of the war in Iraq, featured guest guitarist Matt Churchill (who also performed live with Harper during this period). A video of the track, intermixing animation with a live performance, is . 2003 also saw the release of Counter Culture, a double compilation album featuring songs from Harper's 35-year songwriting period. Counter Culture received a five-star review from Uncut magazine. Harper also contributed a recital of "Jabberwocky" for The Wildlife Album, an 18-track compilation CD to benefit the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Ulster Wildlife Trust.

thumb|left|Performing at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, 18 September 2010

2005 saw Harper release his first DVD, Beyond the Door. Composed of live footage recorded in 2004 at Irish folk club "De Barra's" in Clonakilty, Cork and "The Death of God" video. The package also includes an additional 10-track audio CD and received a 4-star review from Mojo, Uncut, and Classic Rock magazine, who made it their "DVD of the month".

In September 2007, Harper supported Californian harpist Joanna Newsom at her Royal Albert Hall performance. Newsom, impressed by Harper's 1971 album Stormcock found it served as an inspiration for her similarly expansive second album, Ys.

During this period, Harper dedicated his time to collecting and compiling his life's work in various formats. One of the intended projects was to be the making of a documentary DVD to round off this process. However, as of 2016 this remains unreleased.

In 2010, Newsom once again invited Harper to guest for her on several of her European Tour Dates.

Plans for Harper to star as Rodriguez El Toro in the film Rebel City Rumble were also announced. As of 2016 the project is still categorised as 'in development'.

2011–present: Man and Myth

On 2 April 2011, Roy Harper played a concert for a small audience at Metropolis Studios as part of the ITV Legends series.

The concert was recorded on video and released on DVD as Classic Rock Legends: Roy Harper – Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios. The package also contains an audio CD of the concert. Through the summer of 2011, Harper made a number of appearances on broadcast media. On 24 July 2011, Harper appeared as the lunchtime guest on the British cricketing radio programme, Test Match Special. During the show Harper was interviewed and also performed "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease". A televised interview followed on BBC Breakfast on 19 September 2011, and Harper was also interviewed by Robert Elms on his BBC London 94.9 show on 20 September 2011. During the show, Harper performed "Another Day" (a song from his 1970 album Flat Baroque and Berserk) live in the studio. A further interview took place on Mike Harding's BBC Radio 2 show on 21 September 2011. On 23 September Harper was interviewed on Later... with Jools Holland. A segment of Harper performing "Commune" (from his 1974 album Valentine) on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974 was shown. Harper performed "Another Day", an abbreviated version of "I Hate The White Man" (from his 1970 album Flat Baroque and Berserk) and "The Green Man" (as part of a web exclusive performance).

The media appearances were to promote the release of a new compilation album, Songs of Love and Loss, a compilation of Harper's love songs released as an introduction to the digital release of 19 of Harper's albums for the first time. The digital catalogue was to be released in batches of four over the forthcoming months. The album (and most of Harper's back catalogue) remain available to download on Harper's website in FLAC and MP3 formats.

On 5 November 2011, Harper returned to London's Royal Festival Hall to celebrate his 70th birthday and perform once again with special guests Jonathan Wilson, Nick Harper, Joanna Newsom and Jimmy Page. The performance was described in The Daily Telegraph as "...an evening of devastating musical brilliance..." and by The Guardian as an "...historic concert".

In 2012, the Press Photographers Association of Ireland awarded third place in the Portraits section of their annual competition to a photographic portrait of Harper by photographer Alan Place.

In December 2012, plans to release a new album, Harper's first studio release of newly recorded material for 13 years, were confirmed. The album, Man and Myth, featured contributions from Pete Townshend and Jonathan Wilson, and was released 23 September 2013.

Harper performed live through August 2013, playing at Debarras Folk Club in Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland (11 August), at the Green Man Festival in Glanusk, Wales (17 August) and at Beautiful Days in Escot Park, Devon (18 August).

During this period Harper was interviewed by Laura Rawlings on her BBC Radio Bristol show on 15 August 2013, and also by Rob Hughes of the Telegraph Online who declared "Roy Harper has spent the past five decades crafting some of the most vivid, ravishingly beautiful music of our times...". Harper also performed at an in-store performance at Rough Trade East, London. A limited number of tickets were available to those who purchased the album in store that day, and the event was also streamed live to a limited number of fans who had pre-ordered the album.

On 25 September, Sky Arts broadcast Roy Harper: Man & Myth – The Documentary. An exclusive documentary film, shot mainly at Harper's home in Ireland, it traced Harper's career and examined his output. Included were interviews with fellow musicians Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Johnny Marr.

In support of Man and Myth's release, Harper undertook a short, three-date, UK tour, performing at the Royal Festival Hall, London (22 October), the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (25 October) and the Colston Hall, Bristol (27 October). At each performance he was accompanied by Jonathan Wilson and supported by a string and brass ensemble.

In November 2013, Uncut placed Man & Myth at 6 in their top 50 Albums of 2013. Mojo also placed Man and Myth at 39 in their list of the top 50 Albums of 2013.

In April 2016, to celebrate his 75th birthday, Harper announced four concerts in September with string and brass ensemble, in Birmingham, Manchester, London and Edinburgh. He kicked off the tour at De Barra's pub in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Ireland.

In March 2019, Harper toured the UK again, with concerts in Birmingham, Bexhill-on-Sea, London (The London Palladium), Liverpool, Gateshead, Leeds and Edinburgh. Once again, the tour began at De Barra's pub in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Ireland.

Harper performed at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival, and concerts, in which he was joined by Nick Harper, in September in Clonakilty, Manchester, and London; and October in Birmingham.

Awards

HQ was awarded Record of the Year in Portugal in 1975. That year Harper also received a similar award in Finland for the same record.

Work of Heart was named The Sunday Times Album of the Year in 1982.

Harper was given the MOJO Hero Award by the staff of Mojo magazine on 16 June 2005 at the Porchester Hall, London. The award itself was presented by longtime collaborator and friend, Jimmy Page and now hangs upon the wall at De Barras Folk Club in Clonakilty, Ireland.

On 30 January 2013, Harper was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Personal life

One of Harper's sons, Nick Harper (by Monica "Mocy" Weston), is a singer-songwriter. He has occasionally toured and recorded with his father and appeared as a guitarist on a number of his albums since 1985. Another son, Ben Harper (by English actress Verna Harvey), lives in the US. Songwriter and record producer Felix Howard says Harper is his children's "biological grandfather".

Harper is an atheist.

Following police interviews in February 2013, Harper was charged in November 2013 with ten counts of alleged historical child sexual abuse over a period of several years with an under-age female. After a two-week trial in early 2015, he was found not guilty by a jury of two of the charges with no verdicts on the remaining five, then in November 2015, following a review by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, the remaining charges were dropped.

Discography

Studio albums

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  • 1966 – Sophisticated Beggar
  • 1967 – Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith
  • 1969 – Folkjokeopus
  • 1970 – Flat Baroque and Berserk
  • 1971 – Stormcock
  • 1973 – Lifemask
  • 1974 – Valentine
  • 1975 – HQ
  • 1977 – Bullinamingvase
  • 1980 – The Unknown Soldier
  • 1982 – Work of Heart

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  • 1984 – Born in Captivity
  • 1985 – Whatever Happened to Jugula? <small>(with Jimmy Page)</small>
  • 1988 – Descendants of Smith
  • 1988 – Loony on the Bus
  • 1990 – Once
  • 1992 – Death or Glory?
  • 1994 – Commercial Breaks <small>(previously unreleased album from 1977; 9 of its 12 tracks are available on Loony on the Bus)</small>
  • 1997 – Poems, Speeches, Thoughts and Doodles
  • 1998 – The Dream Society
  • 2000 – The Green Man
  • 2013 – Man and Myth

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Live albums

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  • 1974 – Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion
  • 1986 – In Between Every Line
  • 1990 – Live at the Red Lion, Birmingham (1984) (volume I & II limited edition cassette)
  • 1990 – Live at the Red Lion, Birmingham (1985) (volume III limited edition cassette)
  • 1992 – Born in Captivity II (limited edition cassette)
  • 1993 – Unhinged (edited version of Born in Captivity II)

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  • 1996 – Live at Les Cousins
  • 1997 – The BBC Tapes – Volume II (In Concert 1974)
  • 1997 – The BBC Tapes – Volume IV (In Concert 1975)
  • 1997 – The BBC Tapes – Volume VI (In Concert 1978 with Andy Roberts)
  • 2001 – Royal Festival Hall Live – June 10th 2001
  • 2005 – Beyond the Door (DVD) (includes CD recorded live in Clonakilty 2004)
  • 2011 – Classic Rock Legends: Roy Harper – Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios (DVD + audio CD)

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Compilation albums

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  • 1978 – Harper 1970–1975
  • 1994 – An Introduction to .....
  • 1997 – Song of the Ages (3-CD collection of Roy Harper interviews)
  • 1997 – The BBC Tapes – Volume I (1969–1973)
  • 1997 – The BBC Tapes – Volume III (BBC Sessions 1974)
  • 1997 – The BBC Tapes – Volume V (BBC Sessions 1975–1978)
  • 2001 – Hats Off (compilation of collaborative tracks)

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  • 2001 – East of the Sun (compilation of love songs)
  • 2002 – Today Is Yesterday (compilation of demo, unreleased and rare material from 1964 to 1967)
  • 2005 – Counter Culture (double disc compilation)
  • 2007 – From Occident to Orient (compilation and initially, only released in Japan whilst Harper toured there)
  • 2011 – Songs of Love and Loss (two volume compilation of love songs)

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Reissues and remixes

  • 1977 – The Early Years (reissue of Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith)
  • 1994 – Garden of Uranium (reissue of Descendants of Smith)
  • 1998 – Death or Glory? (tracks 1 & 9 remixed)
  • 2017 – HQ

Singles and EPs

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  • 1966 – "Take Me into Your Eyes" / Pretty Baby"
  • 1967 – "Midspring Dithering" / "Zengem"
  • 1968 – "Life Goes By" / "You Don't Need Money"
  • 1972 – "Bank of the Dead" / "Little Lady"
  • 1974 – "(Don't You Think We're) Forever" / "Male Chauvinist Pig Blues" (live)
  • 1974 – "Home" (live) / "Home" (studio)
  • 1975 – "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease" / "Hallucinating Light" (acoustic)
  • 1975 – "Grown-Ups Are Just Silly Children" / "Referendum" ("Legend")
  • 1977 – "One of Those Days in England" / "Watford Gap"
  • 1977 – "One of Those Days in England" / "Watford Gap" (Germany)
  • 1977 – "Sail Away" / "Cherishing the Lonesome"

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  • 1978 – "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease" / "Home" (studio)
  • 1980 – "Playing Games" / "First Thing in the Morning"
  • 1980 – "Short and Sweet" / "Water Sports" (live) / "Unknown Soldier" (live)
  • 1982 – "No-One Ever Gets Out Alive" / "Casualty" (live at Glastonbury 1982)
  • 1983 – "I Still Care" / "Goodbye Ladybird" (acoustic)
  • 1985 – "Elizabeth" / "Advertisement" / "I Hate the White Man" (live)" (12" single)
  • 1988 – "Laughing Inside" / "Laughing Inside" (acoustic)
  • 1990 – Burn the World (2 track CD EP)
  • 1992 – Death or Glory? (4-track CD single)
  • 2005 – The Death of God (2-track CD single)

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Collaborations

  • 1970 – "St. Thomas" (guest lead vocal and lyrics for the Nice and appears on America – The BBC Sessions)
  • 1971 – "Ravneferd" (co-written with Lillebjørn Nilsen and appears on the album Tilbake)
  • 1975 – "Have a Cigar" (guest lead vocals for Pink Floyd)
  • 1978 – "Short and Sweet" (co-written with David Gilmour for his first solo album; Harper's version appears on The Unknown Soldier)
  • 1980 – "Breathing", backing vocals on a track on the Kate Bush album Never for Ever.
  • 1995 – The Edges of Twilight (spoken word on hidden track for the Tea Party)
  • 1995 – "Time" (guest lead vocals for the Tea Party's Alhambra multimedia CD)
  • 1996 – "Hope" & "Bad Speech" on Anathema's album Eternity.

Downloads

  • 2005 – The Passions of Great Fortune, Vol. 1 (iTunes Download)

Videography

  • 1984 – Stonehenge 84
  • 1986 – Live in Your Living Room
  • 1990 – Once Live
  • 2005 – Beyond the Door (DVD) (includes CD recorded live in Clonakilty 2004)
  • 2011 – Classic Rock Legends: Roy Harper – Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios (DVD + audio CD)

Filmography

  • 1972 – Made
  • 1976 – The Song Remains the Same
  • 2009 – Brokeback Cowboy

Bibliography

  • 2003 – The Passions of Great Fortune – The Songs Explored ()

References

  • Roy Harper Official Website
  • The Stormcock Community fan site
  • Roy Harper fan site and archive