Business booms for busy Ronson

BEATS:

MUSIC maestro Mark Ronson is hitting the road with his new posse The Business International.

They are staging a six-date jaunt — which calls at the Manchester Academy on Saturday — in support of Ronson’s new album, “Record Collection”.

A host of special guests will join Ronson on tour to churn out tracks such as new single “The Bike Song” and songs from his previous album, “Version”, which saw a host of stars do their favourite covers.

“Version” spawned three top 10 hits and won Ronson a BRIT Award for Best Male Artist in 2008.

He made a name for himself as a DJ on the New York club scene in the early 1990s and eventually moved on to producing.

His first album, “Here Comes The Fuzz”, released in 2003, featured vocals by Sean Paul, Rivers Cuomo and Jack White but failed to set the charts alight.

Ronson became one of the regular DJs at Justin Timberlake’s New York club, Suede, when it opened in 2003.

In 2004, Ronson formed Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG’s J Records, with his long-time manager Rich Kleiman.

Ronson released a cover of The Smiths’ track “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” featuring singer Daniel Merriweather in 2007, which reached number two in the UK.

In 2008, Ronson shared three Grammy Awards (for Producer of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Record of the Year) with Amy Winehouse for her “Back to Black” album which he produced.

He enjoyed a top 10 hit with his version of The Zutons’ “Valerie” with Amy Winehouse on vocals.

The same year, he performed three songs at the BRIT Awards after winning the Best Male Solo Artist category.