Jim Kerr
- Born in Glasgow on 9 July 1959 (age 63 years)
- He is a Scottish singer-songwriter
- He got a job in a supermarket paying £5 a week and spent it on records and concert tickets – paying 60p to see David Bowie and another 60p for Genesis! If his friends didn’t have any money he’d take them too.
- His voice has been described as “David Bowie’s rich baritone melded with Bryan Ferry’s velvety croon”
- His brother Mark is also a musician, playing in groups such as the hard rock band Gun
- In 1977, he was one of the founding members of punk rock band Johnny and the Self Abusers. Calling himself Pripton Weird, he played keyboards and sang vocals. After 8 months they changed their name – Simple Minds
- He was lead singer of the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s, selling more than 60 million albums. Simple Minds
- He has recorded 21 studio albums, eleven live albums, ten compilation albums, fourteen box sets, 68 singles, and five video albums.
- The band are still making music 40 years on.
- His hit “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was featured on the film soundtrack The Breakfast Club
- He married Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, in 1984 with whom he has a daughter and then married actress Patsy Kensit in 1992 – they have a son together
- He helped organise a 90th birthday party for Nelson Mandela at Hyde Park in 2008 – this came 20 years after he campaigned for his release with their song Mandela Day
- He currently lives in Sicily, where he runs a hotel.
- His hits include: “Belfast Child”, “Glittering Prize”, “Someone Somewhere in Summertime” “Waterfront”, “Belfast Child” and “Alive and Kicking”
