Rose Simpson

Rose Simpson
Rose Simpson in 1970
Background information
Birth name	Rosemary Simpson
Born	(1946-11-22) 22 November 1946 (age 77)[1] Otley, Yorkshire, England
Occupation(s)	Singer, musician
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar, vocals, violin, percussion
Years active	1968–1971

Rose Simpson (born 22 November 1946) is an English former musician. Between 1968 and 1971, she was a member of the

Simpson was born in Otley, Yorkshire. By the mid-1960s, she was studying at the University of York, where she was president of the mountaineering club. She met Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in 1968 when the Incredible String Band were performing there, and travelled down to London with Williamson.^[2]

She soon began performing with the band. According to the band's producer Joe Boyd, "the day Robin proposed that Licorice join the group, Mike went out and bought Rose an electric bass. 'Learn this,' he said, 'you're in the group now, too.'"^[3] Later, Steve Winwood asked her to play bass on a track of his, but Boyd declined the invitation. "I wasn't a competent enough musician, and Joe knew it. Joe put him off, but I was grateful," she later said.^[4] She also sang and played violin and percussion.

She left the group in 1971, planning to take up sound engineering, but instead starting a family.

In 1994, as the partner of a Liberal Democrat councillor who was the Mayor, she took on the largely honorary role of Lady Mayoress of Aberystwyth in Wales, an event which received wide publicity.^[6] During that period of her life, she lived in the Welsh village of Llanon, in a house on the main A487 coast road.

She gained a

As of 2019, she lived in Totnes, Devon. Her memoir of her time in the Incredible String Band was published in 2020.^[8]

References