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Mick Ronson
English musician (1946–1993) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993)[1] was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musician who recorded five studio albums with Bowie followed by four with Ian Hunter, and also worked as a sideman in touring bands with Van Morrison and Bob Dylan.[2] A classically trained musician, Ronson was known for his melodic approach to guitar playing.
Mick Ronson | |
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![]() Ronson performing at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco on 26 October 1981 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Michael Ronson |
Also known as | Ronno |
Born | (1946-05-26)26 May 1946 Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England |
Died | 29 April 1993(1993-04-29) (aged 46) London, England |
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Years active | 1966–1993 |
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Ronson and Bowie produced Lou Reed's Transformer with Ronson playing lead guitar and piano and writing string arrangements, which brought mainstream recognition.[3] The album is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "Walk on the Wild Side".[4] The next decade, John Cougar Mellencamp credited Ronson for helping to arrange his most successful hit single, "Jack & Diane".
Ronson recorded five solo studio albums, the most popular being Slaughter on 10th Avenue, which reached No. 9 on the UK Albums Chart.[5] He played with various bands after his time with Bowie. He was named the 64th-greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003[6] and 41st in 2012 by the same magazine.[7]