Bryan Ferry ‘shocked and saddened’ after death of former wife on holiday in Ireland
SINGER Bryan Ferry yesterday paid tribute to Lucy Birley, his former wife, who has died alone and in unexplained circumstances while on holiday.
The Roxy Music frontman said he was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the socialite’s “tragic” death at the age of 58. The couple were married for 20 years and had four sons.
Ferry once credited Birley, a former model and society heiress, with saving him from a “distraught” time in his life.
Birley was married to Robin Birley, the nightclub owner. She died while on holiday in Ireland.
None of her family was with her and they have all been making their way over to Ireland over the past 24 hours, The Daily Telegraph understands.
It is not known where in Ireland Birley died, but her family has strong links with Connemara and Co Galway.
Her father, Patrick Helmore, a wealthy Lloyds underwriter, died in a devastating fire at the family’s picturesque fishery in Connemara in 1997, which was thought to have been caused by a faulty electric heater. The cover of Roxy Music’s Avalon album featured the lake adjoining the 100-year-old wooden lodge.
Birley had spoken of her fond memories of fishing on the lakes during family holidays with her three brothers. The eldest, Mark, 65, owns a popular B&B in Co Clare. Birley married Ferry in 1982 and they had four boys, Otis, Isaac, Tara and Merlin, before they “drifted apart” as she battled with alcohol addiction and he focused on his work.
In an interview in 2011, Birley explained how she had naturally shied away from the spotlight. “My family’s attitude to the press and publicity was very much that it was frowned upon,” she said.
“You only appeared in papers if you were born, married or had died.”
Her sons have had their own brushes with publicity. In 2004, Otis, the eldest, then 21, stormed the House of Commons to protest against the ban on fox-hunting. Three years later, he was briefly jailed after a scuffle with two women involved in a hunting protest.
In 2005, she married Robin Birley, the son of Lady Annabel Vane-tempest-stewart, who left her husband – Mark Birley, who founded Annabel’s nightclub – for Sir James Goldsmith.
Mr Birley and her four sons said in a statement they were “understandably devastated”, saying: “On Monday, Lucy Birley (née Helmore) passed away whilst on holiday in Ireland, surrounded by her beloved dogs, Daisy, Peg and Daphne.”