Photo: Dxede5x / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Richard Thompson is, to my ears, one of the great guitarists who never quite got the mainstream fame his playing deserves. Co-founding Fairport Convention in 1967 basically helped invent British folk rock, and his solo run starting with Henry the Human Fly in 1972 proved he had a singular songwriting voice to match the fretwork. The OBE and a 2012 Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting confirm what longtime listeners already knew. What I value most is his refusal to soften; he writes dark, literate songs and plays guitar like nobody else. He's a musician's musician, and I mean that as the highest compliment.
Overview
Richard Thompson (born 3 April 1949) is an English songwriter, musician (primarily a guitarist), singer and record producer. Thompson first gained prominence in the late 1960s as the lead guitarist and a songwriter for the folk rock group Fairport Convention, which he co-founded in 1967. After departing the group in 1971, Thompson released his debut solo album, Henry the Human Fly, in 1972.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Richard Thompson
- Name (Japanese)
- リチャード・トンプソン (音楽家)
- Reading
- りちゃーど・とんぷそん (音楽家)
- Born
- April 3, 1949 (age 77)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Ox
- Origin
- London, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- guitarist / mandolinist / songwriter / singer / singer-songwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire
- 2012 Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting
- MOJO Awards
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttps://www.richardthompson-music.com/
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/rthompsonmusic/
- Xhttps://x.com/RthompsonMusic
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%88%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3%20(%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3)
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7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.