Editing Billy Currie (section)

==Biography==
Currie was born in [[Huddersfield, West Yorkshire]] and had an interest in music from an early age. As a child he sang a lot and at the age of ten he got a [[guitar]]. In 1961 he picked up the [[violin]] at school and also sang in a [[choir]]. A year later he was in the school orchestra, but had to change instrument to [[viola]] to get a place at the [[Huddersfield School of Music]], which he joined in 1965. The education was a preparation to become an orchestral player, learning viola with [[piano]] as his second instrument and also studying [[Composer#Training|composition]] and [[harmony]]. During this time he joined a [[string quartet]], played viola in an orchestra and performed with a viola, clarinet and piano trio. At this time Currie was excited to discover composers like [[Béla Bartók]], [[Arnold Schoenberg]], [[Arthur Honegger]] and [[Edgar Varese]]. By 1967 he became increasingly interested in [[rock music]], excited by the fact that bands created something unique and original together. In 1969 he had qualified for a place at the [[Royal Academy of Music]] in [[London]] for further education, but decided not to go. Currie was interested in breaking into other areas of music and joined a rock band instead, playing viola. In the early 1970s he was a member of the experimental art group The Ritual Theatre, which included four classically trained musicians and four dancers. With this group Currie performed in [[Holland]], [[Edinburgh Festival]] and various other places.

In 1974, Currie left Ritual Theatre to join the glam rock band [[Tiger Lily (UK band)|Tiger Lily]] on viola and keyboard. In 1976, after several name changes, the band ultimately became [[Ultravox]] and recorded three albums, ''[[Ultravox! (album)|Ultravox!]]'', ''[[Ha!-Ha!-Ha!]]'' and ''[[Systems of Romance]]'', before singer [[John Foxx]] left to pursue a solo career in March 1979.

During Ultravox's subsequent hiatus, Currie dedicated himself to different projects. He collaborated with [[Gary Numan]] who had admired the ''Systems of Romance'' album and asked Currie to record some songs that were included on his first solo album, ''[[The Pleasure Principle (Gary Numan album)|The Pleasure Principle]]''. Currie toured with Numan's band during 1979. During soundchecks for the tour Currie, with Gary Numan band musicians [[Dramatis|Chris Payne]] and [[Cedric Sharpley]] began to develop a song of their own called "Toot City".  Currie had also joined the studio-based band [[Visage (band)|Visage]], fronted by [[Steve Strange]], that also included [[Midge Ure]]. Currie and Ure developed a solid working relationship. Visage drummer [[Rusty Egan]] encouraged Currie to ask Ure to join the defunct Ultravox as lead singer/guitarist. Whilst composing material for a new Ultravox album and for the debut Visage album, Ure collaborated with Currie on the "Toot City" track which eventually became "[[Fade to Grey (Visage song)|Fade to Grey]]". The single became a huge hit for Visage in early 1981. However, this was surpassed by Ultravox's hit "[[Vienna (Ultravox song)|Vienna]]", released around the same time. Both Ultravox and Visage became highly successful recording acts in the early 1980s. Ure decided to leave Visage to focus on Ultravox full-time in 1982. Currie remained with Visage for a while longer, but he too had left by 1984.

From 1980 to 1986, Ultravox released seven top 10 albums, including a live album and a "greatest hits" compilation and featured in [[Live Aid]] in [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] on 13 July 1985. During the last days of the band, there were tensions between Currie and Ure. With an underwhelming response to their 1986 album ''[[U-Vox]]'', the band effectively disintegrated.

In 1988, Currie put out an [[instrumental]] solo album ''Transportation'', released on the IRS NoSpeak [[record label]]. [[Steve Howe (guitarist)|Steve Howe]] played guitar on some of the tracks, with Currie later playing keyboards in Howe's 1991 album [[Turbulence (Steve Howe album)|Turbulence]]. In 1989 he formed the band [[Humania (band)|Humania]]. An album by them called ''Sinews of Soul'' was released in 2005.

In 1992, Currie reformed Ultravox with a new line-up (himself being the only original member involved). With [[Tony Fennell]] on vocals, they recorded the album "Revelation". At the outset of the subsequent tour, Fennell left to be replaced by Sam Blue. The tour took in the former USSR and [[Malta]] amongst other locations. Many of the synthesisers for which Currie was famous, apart from the often-volatile [[OSC_OSCar|OSCar]] and [[Minimoog]], were abandoned for this tour, replaced with [[Korg_Wavestation|Korg Wavestations]] and [[List_of_Korg_products|T-series keyboards]]. A further Ultravox album featuring this line-up, "Ingenuity", was released in 1994. Both albums were commercially unsuccessful.

Since 2001 Billy Currie has released several solo albums on his own label. These include ''Unearthed'', completed in 1998, and ''Keys and the Fiddle'', which includes Curries soundtrack to the short film ''The Fragile Skin'' (1999), new material and a previously unreleased 1983 collaboration with Steve Howe and [[Hazel O'Connor]].

In 2009 and 2010, the "classic" Ultravox line-up from the 1980s (Currie, Ure, Chris Cross, and Warren Cann) reformed for two successful tours – their first together in over twenty years. In 2016 Currie announced his retirement from Ultravox. In May 2016 he released his 10th solo album ''Doppel''.