Why the Final Roxy Music Recordings Will Never Be Heard

Roxy Music hasn’t released a new album in over 40 years. But they did get together in the studio in the early part of the 2000s to take a shot at making more music together.

As Phil Manzanera detailed in a recent conversation at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Dr. Jason Hanley, the organization’s Vice President of Education and Visitor Engagement, it’s unlikely that fans will ever hear the results of the recordings they put down.

Which is a shame on many levels, because notably, the sessions featured the return of the group’s elusive former bandmate and legendary producer, Brian Eno.

Manzanera previously, during a 2018 interview, indicated that bandmate Bryan Ferry was part of the reasons the project didn’t move forward. But during the Rock Hall chat, the guitarist revisited his memories of the experience and shared additional thoughts why he feels the music won’t be heard, which he says also connect back to Eno.

What Roxy Music Was Planning

The English art rock legends were conscious that it had been a long time since they’d done anything in the studio, even though they’d successfully brought the band back together for a reunion tour in 2001 to celebrate their 30th anniversary.

That and other events helped to stir up some additional thoughts. “We did eight albums and then there hasn’t been any more new Roxy tracks [since then],” Manzanera told Hanley. “[But] we did try.” Even better, what seemed like a potentially “crazy idea of getting everybody back together again” included having Eno on board.

How Brian Eno Got Involved

“I rang up Eno and said, ‘I know you don’t want to do this, but we’ll come and pick you up, make it easy and we’ll do some of your numbers too,'” he promised. Listening to Eno’s “great tracks and what he developed” as well as some of the “fantastic tracks” he’d done with Bryan Ferry within the Roxy singer’s solo work, he saw and realized there was an opportunity to add a further chapter that they shouldn’t pass on.

Luckily, Eno was open to the idea, though he’d later share that he had no interest in touring with the band. But the important thing was that he was willing to collaborate with his former bandmates again. “I got [longtime Roxy Music producer] Chris Thomas [to help produce and oversee the sessions] and all the [surviving] original members [as well].”

“Not the bass player, because [several] of them had died,” Manzanera adds. “[So] I got Guy Pratt, who was my fellow player with Dave Gilmour [in the Pink Floyd legend’s solo band]. I went with [Roxy drummer] Paul [Thompson] and we picked up Eno. I dropped them at the door and said, ‘Okay, you go in, I’ll just go through the car park.'”

Roxy Goes to Work

“We did some recording and had a break, [so] we went to the coffee shop. Eno said, ‘It’s incredible how everybody has reverted to exactly the same type as they were when we were last all together.'” So he thought, ‘I can’t do this.'”

In his telling, that’s one layer of what brought everything to an end.  “I have the whole bunch of tracks on my laptop,” he shared with the Rock Hall audience. “But it wasn’t any good. So that’s why no one will ever hear it. So don’t [expect for the music to come out]. Thank God, we didn’t finish it.”

“That’s interesting. In other words, for each of you, it didn’t seem like there was anything new that was going to come out of it?,” Hanley asked Manzanera, who joined the Rock Hall ranks when Roxy Music were inducted in 2019.

READ MORE: Roxy Music Inducted Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“No, sometimes there’s magic and sometimes there isn’t. You’ve got to recognize that and just move on, do something else,” he confirmed.

What is Phil Manzanera Doing in 2026?

He’s been quite busy. The songwriter and producer is currently in the midst of a tour celebrating his memoir, Revolucion to Roxy, which details his long career from his early days growing up to the Roxy era and beyond.

The latest leg of the trek launched in February with events in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and San Francisco. The current dates, in addition to the Cleveland appearance, will feature three more stops in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. It’s an engaging evening of “words and music,” as the events are being billed, with a number of surprises throughout the night.

In Cleveland, Manzanera opened the night by loaning his famous bug-eyed wraparound sunglasses to the Rock Hall, designed by fashion legend Antony Price. The iconic eyewear will be on display in the near future along with two jackets he also brought out — including one fans will recognize from the inside cover of Roxy’s For Your Pleasure album.

The guitarist also recently revealed that 1975’s Mainstream, the lone album he made with his progressive rock group Quiet Sun, has been freshly remixed and will be reissued on Sept. 11 in a number of configurations including a lavish double-disc CD/Blu-ray hardcover mediabook. The updated package will also feature a 60-page book and the album will be available on streaming services.

But he had an additional rabbit up his sleeve for fans. “Surprise, surprise, we have the followup album [as well], 51 years later,” Manzanera shared with the Rock Hall audience. “[It’s[ coming out in December, a brand new album. It’s kind of prog rock, but it sounds like nothing you’ve heard before.”

Listen to a New Remix From Quiet Sun’s ‘Mainstream’ Album

During a 2024 interview with UCR, Manzanera confirmed it is unlikely that Roxy Music will ever play live again. They last performed with each other during the group’s celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2022. “It was a good time” to say goodbye, he said then. “We might bring out a recording of that tour. I don’t think we’ll do any more live gigs, ever. I think that was it.”