It has been announced that all tickets for A Tribute to Chris SImpson and Magna Carta in Harrogate are now sold out.

The event at Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen on Wednesday, July 16 at 7.30pm is expected to see a rare public appearance by the Harrogate musician who has sold nine million records despite being an overlooked figure at home since his 1970s heyday.

Born in Harrogate in 1942, raised in the hills above rural Birstwith, Chris Simpson was educated at Harrogate Grammar School.

In 1969, he formed folk prog rock band Magna Carta in 1969 and became a major artist at home and, more particularly, internationally with bestselling albums such as Seasons, Songs From Wasties Orchard and Lord of the Ages.

Born in Harrogate in 1942, raised in the hills above rural Birstwith, lost Harrogate music legend Chris Simpson was educated at Harrogate Grammar School. (Picture contributed)

placeholder image — Born in Harrogate in 1942, raised in the hills above rural Birstwith, lost Harrogate music legend Chris Simpson was educated at Harrogate Grammar School. (Picture contributed)

Famously, Chris Simpson, who is now 83, played an early version of his epic 22-minute title track of Seasons on acoustic guitar in 1970 to David Bowie when he lived at Haddon Hall not long after the success of Space Oddity.

After years of obscurity in Britain, the name of the band he formed, Magna Carta, will once again be in the limelight in London as part of the Magna Carta 1225 exhibition at the home of the Royal Academy of Arts on Piccadilly in Mayfair.

Presented by Vinyl Sessions and Charm, the event will be hosted by Vinyl Sessions founder Colin Paine and the Harrogate Advertiser’s Graham Chalmers.

There will also be a Q&A with Chris Simpson, a video by Jim Dobbs and a prize raffle.