| Biography | Roy Harper is an English folk/rock singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since 1964. He has released 22 studio albums and 10 live albums.
Musically, American blues musician Lead Belly and folk singer Woody Guthrie were his earliest influences, and, in his teens, jazz musician Miles Davis. 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. As a musician, Harper is known for his distinctive fingerstyle playing and lengthy, lyrical, complex compositions, a result of his love of jazz and Keats.
His influence has been acknowledged by many musicians including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, who named the song "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" after him, Pete Townshend of the Who, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, who agreed for him to sing guest lead vocals on their song "Have a Cigar", and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, who stated Harper was his "...primary influence as an acoustic guitarist and songwriter." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph has described him as "one of Britains most complex and eloquent lyricists and genuinely original songwriters."
More recently, Harper's influence has reached across the Atlantic and 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 2011, Harper turned 70 and performed a celebratory concert at London's Royal Festival Hall. His most recent album, Man and Myth, was released in 2013. |