Simple Minds

Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill were childhood friends who formed their first punk band Johnny & The Self-Abusers in Glasgow in 1977. They made one single titled "Saints and Sinners" but split on the day of its release with Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill going on to form Simple Minds, naming themselves after an Iggy Pop lyric. Various line-ups of the band evolved around their songs before they decided to embrace a poppier sound for debut 1979 album Life in a Day. The 1982 album New Gold Dream signalled a richer, more commercial direction, resulting in their first US number one "Don't You (Forget About Me)," which was featured in the movie The Breakfast Club. The line-up changed but, developing a big sound and an explosive stage presence that drew comparisons with U2, they became one of the world's top arena attractions. Their star faded through the 1990s, but they returned with a new album, Graffiti Soul, in 2009. After taking on new bassist Ged Grimes they released Greatest Hits + in 2010 and returned to the studio to work on new material. Big Music was released in 2014 and the band embarked on a European tour. Later that same year they were awarded the Q Inspiration Award. After touring once again in Europe they received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection and announced their 18th studio album Walk Between Worlds. The album was released in 2018 along with the singles "Magic", "The Signal and the Noise" and "Sense of Discovery". The band's seventh live album, Live in the City of Angels, arrived in 2019 and they went back into the studio in 2022 to record new electro-rock album, Direction of the Heart (stylized as "DIRECTION > of > the > HEART").