Mick Ronson
Raised in Hull, Northern England, Mick Ronson was an English musician, composer, arranger and producer. Mick was born May 26, 1946, and he began exploring music at an early age, hoping to become a cellist. That is, until he heard the distinctive sound of Jeff Beck's guitar style. So it makes sense to us that a man so influenced by the pioneer of modern guitar technique would end up becoming something of a pioneer himself... of glam rock.
But before he started an entire musical genre, before his collaboration with David Bowie, before becoming an international superstar, Mick Ronson was just another struggling musician.
Starting out, Mick played with a few local bands in Hull and London, but his career didn't gain any traction until he joined up with the Rats. The Rats were known as Hull's best music act, and while they managed to record for both the Oriole and UK Decca labels, they enjoyed only mild success. So Mick Ronson the musician became Mick Ronson the city gardener.
But it wasn't long before Ronson's fortune changed. In 1970, David Bowie was putting together a new backing band called the Hype. John Cambridge, an ex-Rat, was one of the Hype's members, and on his recommendation, Mick found himself another gig.
In his time working with David Bowie, Mick established himself as a musician with a unique sound and strong arrangement abilities. Ronson's work on The Man Who Sold the World featured his guitar abilities prominently, introducing a sound that was heavy metal before there was heavy metal.
Mick continued to contribute heavily to David Bowie's output, arranging half of the songs for 1971's Hunky Dory. But it was with the album Ziggy Stardust that Ronson truly made a name for himself, bringing glitter rock to the world, and creating a superstar of David Bowie.
After his time collaborating with Bowie, Ronson embarked on a solo career. He released Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, a Ziggyish album that would climb to #9 on the UK charts, followed by Play Don't Worry. But neither album achieved much critical success, and Mick moved on to his next band and his most important collaboration.
Mick joined Mott the Hoople for a brief stint, only playing on the song "Saturday Gigs". The real success of his time with the band came out of his re-introduction to Ian Hunter. this re-introduction was the beginning of a long, productive collaboration that would span the next two decades.
Following Mott the Hoople, Mick Ronson also continued to do production and studio work for some of the biggest names around. In this time, he also began work on his 3rd solo album, Heaven and Hull, which would be published posthumously after he succumbed to liver cancer in 1993, at age 47.
Like many of the greats, Mick Ronson's life was cut too short. But in the brief time he was among us, he changed the face of music, and his influence will continue to carry on.
Our Mick Ronson T-shirts are fully licensed, endorsed and made from the softest, prewashed and shrunk cotton jesery. They faithfully reproduce the original article as tracked down by Worn Free from archive images.
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