Biography
Scottish rock band Simple Minds have been on an extraordinary journey – from humble beginnings in post-punk 1970s Glasgow to becoming one of the UK’s most successful and pioneering bands – selling over 60 million records, achieving six number one albums, topping the American chart with ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’, and playing sold-out stadiums across the globe.
2022 saw the release of their eighteenth studio album, ‘Direction Of The Heart’, which reached #4 in the UK charts.
Simple Minds have achieved five No.1 albums as well hitting the top spot in countless other territories including Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that people say to me what Simple Minds are you talking about? The avant-garde, the art-rock, the pop, the ambient, the instrumental group, the political, the folk, the stadium band? We’ve been on one hell of a journey. To play all those different styles but at the same time be quintessentially Simple Minds is an amazing thing.” Jim Kerr.
Simple Minds have been musical pioneers for 40 glittering years. Catching the mood of the post-punk era, when the angry sounds of 1977 were splintering into a thousand different shapes. They went on to become one of the great bands of their generation, deploying rousing choruses and booming atmospherics to provide a soundtrack that has endured.
Topping the American chart with Don’t You (Forget About Me) and in the UK with Belfast Child and selling over 60 million records, they have seen three of their 20 studio albums reach number one in the UK – Sparkle In The Rain, Once Upon A Time and Street Fighting Years – a chart-topping feat equalled by their live album Live In The City Of Light and the compilation Glittering Prize. A spellbinding touring band, they have graced the world’s biggest stadiums, starring at Live Aid and playing three momentous London shows in honour of Nelson Mandela.
2022 saw the release of their eighteenth studio album, ‘Direction Of The Heart’, hitting #4 in the UK charts.
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‘Up On The Catwalk’ featured as one of James Dean Bradfield’s Golden Year picks on @greatesthitsuk.
"MAMMA, JUST KILLED A MAN."
The surrounding Welsh countryside had its attraction, but we were focused on ‘Changeling’ - a tune Simple Minds were creating at that moment in time.
Having arrived late on the night before, then woken early by the sound of farming ...machinery, the aim was for us to spend our time at Rockfield Studios taking a different path from the one we went on with our debut album.
We wanted to do better and felt confident, but failure doesn’t always lead to growth. Sometimes you fail and it just hurts. You don't grow, you don't find light.
Radiating cheer on arrival after the long drive down from Glasgow. Burchill and Forbes were thrilled to find out that the esoteric scribblings on the back of the grubby looking rehearsal room door were attributed to none other than the "Godfather of all guitar Gods’ - Jimmy Page.
Who knows where that door is now? No doubt it could command a tasty price should it ever turn up for sale on one of those 'Rock Memorabilia' sites.
Finding ourselves suddenly in the spot where the locals could proudly tell you about how Freddie Mercury had sat in an adjacent barn (Freezing his ass off?) while working on a song beginning with the line "Mamma, just killed a man."
Much more thrilling for me was the thought that a record I had bought and listened to endlessly, as a 13-year-old, was reportedly written within that courtyard complex.
I'm talking about 'Silver Machine' the iconic space - rock anthem, released by the British rock band Hawkwind and sung by bassist, Lemmy Kilmister, who we would come across decades later hanging around Sunset Strip.
Quaffing Jack Daniels and warbling on about his collection of wartime Nazi memorabilia, by then in a group called Motorhead. I recall some of 'our lot' suggesting "Dickhead’ would have been more appropriate, but I loved Hawkwind all the same.
In any case, we immediately started to feel at home thanks to the warmth of all who worked at Rockfield, a place we would return to repeatedly over the next few years.
Meanwhile Changeling, destined to be an electro dance floor hit, thanks to DJ Rusty Egan, was beginning to sound almost monumental coming out of the studio speakers.
JK
"MAMMA, JUST KILLED A MAN."
The surrounding Welsh countryside had its attraction, but we were focused on ‘Changeling’ - a tune Simple Minds were creating at that moment in time.
Having arrived late on the night before, then woken early by the sound of farming ...machinery, the aim was for us to spend our time at Rockfield Studios taking a different path from the one we went on with our debut album.
We wanted to do better and felt confident, but failure doesn’t always lead to growth. Sometimes you fail and it just hurts. You don't grow, you don't find light.
Radiating cheer on arrival after the long drive down from Glasgow. Burchill and Forbes were thrilled to find out that the esoteric scribblings on the back of the grubby looking rehearsal room door were attributed to none other than the "Godfather of all guitar Gods’ - Jimmy Page.
Who knows where that door is now? No doubt it could command a tasty price should it ever turn up for sale on one of those 'Rock Memorabilia' sites.
Finding ourselves suddenly in the spot where the locals could proudly tell you about how Freddie Mercury had sat in an adjacent barn (Freezing his ass off?) while working on a song beginning with the line "Mamma, just killed a man."
Much more thrilling for me was the thought that a record I had bought and listened to endlessly, as a 13-year-old, was reportedly written within that courtyard complex.
I'm talking about 'Silver Machine' the iconic space - rock anthem, released by the British rock band Hawkwind and sung by bassist, Lemmy Kilmister, who we would come across decades later hanging around Sunset Strip.
Quaffing Jack Daniels and warbling on about his collection of wartime Nazi memorabilia, by then in a group called Motorhead. I recall some of 'our lot' suggesting "Dickhead’ would have been more appropriate, but I loved Hawkwind all the same.
In any case, we immediately started to feel at home thanks to the warmth of all who worked at Rockfield, a place we would return to repeatedly over the next few years.
Meanwhile Changeling, destined to be an electro dance floor hit, thanks to DJ Rusty Egan, was beginning to sound almost monumental coming out of the studio speakers.
Jim Kerr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQYNLHbtzUg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfniG-AdSC4
Belfast Child - Live in Verona, 1989. #SimpleMinds #LiveMusic
Belfast Child - Live in Verona, 1989.
In the lead-up to the release of ‘Live in the City of Diamonds’, we’ve put together a new Spotify playlist featuring your favourite live Simple Minds performances - as chosen by you in the comments.
Listen now on @spotify
Belfast Child - Live in Verona, 1989.
In the lead-up to the release of 'Live in the City of Diamonds', we’ve put together a new Spotify playlist featuring your favourite live Simple Minds performances - as chosen by you in the comments.
Listen now: ...https://spoti.fi/3DNkBok
Don't You (Forget About Me) - Live at the @Billboard Music Awards 2015. #SimpleMinds
Simple Minds performing ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ live at the @billboard Music Awards 2015.
2025 marks 40 years since the release of this iconic record and the film it was written for, The Breakfast Club.
"We needed a song that we felt would be an event." #SimpleMinds #AliveAndKicking
BREAKING BREAD
How come?
It is always on those mornings that the bread made by the local baker suddenly tastes beyond delicious, like manna from heaven itself?
Why also is it at the... moment of departure that the sea from my bedroom window looks bluer than any blue, the air tastes sweeter, and already radiant flowers seem more alive and more vibrant than previous times?
It wasn't always this way while walking out the door of one life, into another way of life entirely.
Picking up the reins yet again from where last left off, returning to a life where for a couple of hours each night I get to become more 'me' than ever...Yet not 'me' at all.
Saying goodbye as you set sail for many months has never gotten easier and never will.
It explains why sitting silently in the back seat on the morning of leaving for a concert tour, I detest the 10-minute ride downhill from where our little town connects to the airport route. A ride of regret. And yet...Instinctively before home has disappeared from the rear-view mirror, I exhale and remind myself of the good fortune and great times that a life within music has brought.
Fact is. You can't stop running water, you can't kill the fire that burns inside.
Simple Minds love touring. Always have and always will.
Jim Kerr
SEE SIMPLE MINDS LIVE IN 2025!
Tickets for the 2025 Simple Minds summer shows in the UK & Ireland are on sale now!
See Simple Minds Live across North America this year.
Get tickets via link in bio.
Image: Wesual CLick - Unsplash
‘Up On The Catwalk’ featured as one of James Dean Bradfield’s Golden Year picks on @greatesthitsuk.
"MAMMA, JUST KILLED A MAN."
The surrounding Welsh countryside had its attraction, but we were focused on ‘Changeling’ - a tune Simple Minds were creating at that moment in ...time.
Having arrived late on the night before, then woken early by the sound of farming machinery, the aim was for us to spend our time at Rockfield Studios taking a different path from the one we went on with our debut album.
We wanted to do better and felt confident, but failure doesn’t always lead to growth. Sometimes you fail and it just hurts. You don't grow, you don't find light.
Radiating cheer on arrival after the long drive down from Glasgow. Burchill and Forbes were thrilled to find out that the esoteric scribblings on the back of the grubby looking rehearsal room door were attributed to none other than the "Godfather of all guitar Gods’ - Jimmy Page.
Who knows where that door is now? No doubt it could command a tasty price should it ever turn up for sale on one of those 'Rock Memorabilia' sites.
Finding ourselves suddenly in the spot where the locals could proudly tell you about how Freddie Mercury had sat in an adjacent barn (Freezing his ass off?) while working on a song beginning with the line "Mamma, just killed a man."
Much more thrilling for me was the thought that a record I had bought and listened to endlessly, as a 13-year-old, was reportedly written within that courtyard complex.
I'm talking about 'Silver Machine' the iconic space - rock anthem, released by the British rock band Hawkwind and sung by bassist, Lemmy Kilmister, who we would come across decades later hanging around Sunset Strip.
Quaffing Jack Daniels and warbling on about his collection of wartime Nazi memorabilia, by then in a group called Motorhead. I recall some of 'our lot' suggesting "Dickhead’ would have been more appropriate, but I loved Hawkwind all the same.
In any case, we immediately started to feel at home thanks to the warmth of all who worked at Rockfield, a place we would return to repeatedly over the next few years.
Meanwhile Changeling, destined to be an electro dance floor hit, thanks to DJ Rusty Egan, was beginning to sound almost monumental coming out of the studio speakers.
JK
Belfast Child - Live in Verona, 1989.
In the lead-up to the release of ‘Live in the City of Diamonds’, we’ve put together a new Spotify playlist featuring your favourite live Simple ...Minds performances - as chosen by you in the comments.
Listen now on @spotify
Simple Minds performing ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ live at the @billboard Music Awards 2015.
2025 marks 40 years since the release of this iconic record and the film it was written ...for, The Breakfast Club.
“We needed a song that we felt would be an event.”
Hear a brand new live version of ‘Alive and Kicking’, featured on the forthcoming Simple Minds album ‘Live in the City of ...Diamonds’.
Pre-order link in bio.
Once Upon A Time - Live in Rotterdam, 1985.
Featuring the unforgettable vocals of @theofficialrobinclark 🎤
Your favourite Simple Minds live recordings are in! We’ve compiled the most popular picks into the Simple Minds Live playlist on Spotify.
🎧 Link in bio.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey...”
Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Live in Verona, 1989.
I THANK THEM FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY TWISTED HEART!
"I used to travel all over Scotland when I was 14/15 to see them perform, a magical time it was.
£2.50 for a ticket to see the ...Minds was two weeks morning paper run money, I remember having to take on selling potatoes after school so I could buy the 45's and the Albums. He He!
Simple Minds created the soundtrack of my early teenage years, made those years much more tolerable than they could have been, I thank them from the bottom of my twisted heart.
I have made this music video to try and interpret what this epic Simple Minds track means to me.
'Pleasantly Disturbed' taken from Simple Minds' debut Studio Album 'Life in a Day' is a haunting track."
Mark Spiers on Facebook
ACOUSTIC GUITAR
John Lennon’s aunt Mimmi bought him his first guitar, it cost her seventeen pounds and in doing so she inadvertently contributed massively to the history of popular music ...culture.
I often think about the consequences of my life had Charlie Burchill's mother not provided 'young Charles' with his first guitar.
I also think about how all our parents helped out in the early days, despite the fact that they themselves had little extra finance, despite the fact that they were a bit wary of what seemed like a crazy dream - as we desired to dedicate our lives to the creation of a rock band.
We could never repay the kindness of all of those who helped us out in so many different ways.
Jim Kerr
SEE SIMPLE MINDS LIVE IN 2025!
Tickets for the 2025 Simple Minds summer shows in the UK & Ireland are on sale now!
See Simple Minds Live across North America this year.
Get tickets via link in bio.
Waterfront (Live in The City of Diamonds) - Out Now
The second track from Simple Minds’ upcoming live album is here! Pre-order ‘Live in The City of Diamonds’ on 2CD and vinyl, and ...listen to the track now.
The Pyramid Music mix of Simple Minds' latest single ‘Your Name in Lights’ is out now! Stream and download the new mix here: https://simpleminds.lnk.to/YNIL_PyramidMixTW
Simple Minds are now on Bluesky.
Follow them here: https://bsky.app/profile/simplemindsmusic.bsky.social
Simple Minds in LA 🎬 Last week, the band stopped by @JimmyKimmelLive and @TheSoCalSound to celebrate the launch of their Alive & Kicking Tour, coming to North America this ...year!
Tickets and more info: https://www.simpleminds.com/north-american-tour-alive-kicking-2025/
#AliveAndKickingTour
Jim Kerr joined @TheSoCalSound’s More Music In The Morning show to discuss Simple Minds' upcoming North American tour and the band's journey from their Glasgow beginnings to global ...success.
Watch the full interview: https://bit.ly/4aHWF1E
Tune into @JimmyKimmelLive this Wednesday at 11:35pm EST/10:35pm CST on ABC to watch Simple Minds perform 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' and discuss their upcoming North American Tour.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Simple Minds’ momentous 1985, a milestone year in their legendary career, Simple Minds today release a special 9-track digital edition of their album Once Upon ...A Time.
https://www.simpleminds.com/once-upon-a-time-40th-anniversary-ruby-edition/
Alive & Kicking Tour: North America 2025
We’re thrilled to announce that Simple Minds will bring their Alive & Kicking Tour to North America this year – joined by special guests ...@softcellhq and @M0DERNENGLISH!
Sign up for pre-sale: https://simpleminds.os.fan/north-american-sign-up
To celebrate the anniversary of their first live show at Glasgow’s Satellite City on 17th Jan 1978, Simple Minds have released the video for 'Your Name in Lights', the soundtrack to their... critically acclaimed documentary 'Everything Is Possible'.
https://simpleminds.lnk.to/YourNameInLightsVideoTW
40 years ago this month, Simple Minds performed a series of shows at Glasgow’s legendary Barrowland Ballroom.
Credit: Media Scotland
Join the Simple Minds mailing list to be the first to know what’s coming in 2025! Plus watch the video diary by @Cherissedrums, with a behind the scenes look at the 2024 Global Tour and interviews ...with the band.
Sign up here: https://simpleminds.os.fan/exclusive-simple-minds-content
Simple Minds are happy to announce that 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' has surpassed 1 billion streams on @Spotify! Thank you to everyone for a great year of streaming in 2024.
Belfast Child - Live in Verona, 1989. #SimpleMinds #LiveMusic
Don't You (Forget About Me) - Live at the @Billboard Music Awards 2015. #SimpleMinds
"We needed a song that we felt would be an event." #SimpleMinds #AliveAndKicking
Don't You (Forget About Me) - Live in Verona, 1989. #SimpleMinds
Waterfront (Live in The City of Diamonds) - Out Now #SimpleMinds
Simple Minds - Waterfront (Live in the City of Diamonds) (Official Audio)
Alive and Kicking- Live in Verona 1989 #SimpleMinds #LiveMusic
Live in The City of Diamonds - Out April 25 #SimpleMinds
Simple Minds – Don't You (Forget About Me) (Live in the City of Diamonds) (Official Audio)
Stay until your love is... #AliveAndKicking #SimpleMinds
