Roy Bailey

Roy Bailey began his singing career in a skiffle group in 1958. For nearly 50 years he has sung in folk clubs, concerts and festivals the length and breadth of England, Scotland and Wales and from Sydney to Vancouver, from Cape Town to Stockholm. His career has been hailed as representing "the very soul of folk's working class ideals... a triumphal homage to the grass roots folk scene as a radical alternative to the mainstream music industry." (Colin Irwin, MOJO)

In the 2000 Honours List, Roy received the MBE for 'services to folk music'. He has returned this award in protest at the government's foreign policy. In 2003, Roy and Tony Benn were awarded 'Best Live Act' at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, for their hugely successful programme 'Writing on the Wall.'

Introducing Roy at his highly successful Royal Albert Hall concert in 1998 Chris Smith, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, described Roy as "one of folk music's finest performers and one of the world's best carriers of the people's message."  His warmth and humour create a unique atmosphere of humanity and comradeship and as Billy Bragg once said of him, "(Roy's voice is) as powerful and moving as anything I'd heard by The Clash".