The debonair Ferry looked, as always, pitch perfect in a crisp morning suit at the investiture ceremony, where he picked up the title as part of the Queen’s birthday honours roll. Ferry remains a music and style icon to this day, over 40 years since he broke new ground with experimental art rockers Roxy Music.

Style has always been a distinguishing feature of the Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music’s repertoire and their carefully managed look and artistic aesthetic came to influence not only a whole generation of fans, but a an uncountable number of artists and bands whole looked to the influential rocker in a well-cut suit for inspiration and ideas.

Always a man to confound expectations, Ferry has continually pushed the boundaries of his art while staying true to his sartorially conservative tastes, a dichotomy that served to cement his place as a mercurial figure on the art music scene and a persona that proved irresistible to both men and women alike.

Dolce&Gabbana have given the nod to this debonair eccentric of English music with their line of iconic t-shirts bearing images of the performer. Ferry is enjoying much success with his current album Olympia but his back catalogue remains as fresh-sounding and as influential as ever. Now the British establishment and the Monarch herself has seen fit to honour the gallant gentleman that is Sir Bryan Ferry.

“Getting something like this is actually very humbling and I was very pleased to be recognised for a long career and doing something I love.

To get an official award like this is incredibly nice and quite a surprise – a very good surprise. I always knew I was going to be an artist – and spent four years studying painting, I thought that’s what I wanted to do.

I got to a point where I thought I’d put a band together and make a record and if it doesn’t work I’ll go back to painting, but the band worked incredibly well,” he said.

Accompanied to the ceremony with his sons Otis, Isaac, Tara and Merlin, Ferry paid tribute also to former band members of Roxy Music – Graham Simpson, Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay, Paul Thompson, Brian Eno and Eddie Jobson.

True style never goes out of fashion and Bryan Ferry, who embodies the eccentric nature of the English gentleman, is testament to the power of fashion to engrave iconography on our collective consciousness. To all people, everywhere he remains a source of inspiration and an example to be emulated. You just can’t keep a well-dressed man down, it would seem.

Arise, Sir Brian Ferry.

For all things Ferry and a history of the artist go to:

Bryanferry.com

You can see what happened when we caught Sir Bryan Ferry earlier this year below:

Written by Hugo Mc Cafferty