Jim Kerr - wikipedia Jim Kerr For other people named Jim Kerr, see Jim Kerr ( disambiguation ). Jim Kerr Kerr performing with Simple Minds in November 2016. Background information Birth name James Kerr ( 1959 - 07 - 09 ) 9 July 1959 ( age 58 ) Origin Glasgow, Scotland Genres Rock, folk, punk rock, post-punk, new wave, pop rock, alternative rock Occupation ( s ) Singer - songwriter Instruments Vocals, guitar, dobro, keyboard, percussion, harmonica Years active 1977 -- present Associated acts Simple Minds Website SimpleMinds.com James Kerr ( born 9 July 1959 ) is a Scottish singer - songwriter and the lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds. He achieved five UK No. 1 albums with the band, including a No. 1 single in 1989 with `` Belfast Child ''. He released his first solo album, Lostboy ! AKA Jim Kerr, on 27 May 2010. Kerr 's voice has been described as `` David Bowie 's rich baritone melded with Bryan Ferry 's velvety croon ''. Contents 1 Early life and Simple Minds work 2 Solo career 2.1 Lostboy ! AKA Jim Kerr ( 2010 -- present ) 3 Other work 4 Personal life 5 Discography 5.1 Solo albums 5.2 Solo singles 6 References 7 External links Early life and Simple Minds work See also : Simple Minds Born in Toryglen, Glasgow with Irish ancestry, Kerr attended Holyrood R.C. Secondary School there. He had a stammer during childhood and in his early teens. In 1977, he was one of the founding members of the 6 - piece punk rock band Johnny and the Self Abusers. Calling himself Pripton Weird, he played keyboards and shared vocals with John Milarky. Allan McNeill was also involved with the band, and went on to be the manager of the pop band Hue and Cry. The band lasted 8 months, during which time Kerr emerged as one of the main songwriters. In November 1977, they changed their name to Simple Minds, quickly reduced to 4 members, then increased to 5, then 6, then back to 5 before a period of stability ensued. He continues to record and tour with Simple Minds, who released their latest album Big Music in October 2014 and are currently working on their 18th album. Kerr currently lives in Taormina, Sicily, where he runs a hotel, Villa Angela. Three UK club dates in the spring of 2010 featured both new material and Simple Minds ' back catalogue and a full European tour followed. Solo career Lostboy ! AKA Jim Kerr ( 2010 -- present ) `` Shadowland '' was released as the first single from the album. The album version of the song was made available to listen as an audio stream on 13 March 2010. A new remix, more suitable for radio airplay, was done by Cenzo Townshend whom Jim Kerr chose because of Townshends 's previous work with Simple Minds ' latest album Graffiti Soul. A promotional single with the new radio mixes of the song was shipped to radio stations on 4 April 2010. `` Shadowland '' was originally meant to be released as a commercial physical release, but it was eventually only released as a download single on 9 May 2010. The three tracks on the download single were the same three tracks previously available on the `` Shadowland '' radio promo single. The album version of `` Refugee '' was premiered on Billy Sloan 's show on 7 March 2010. A week later, the full album version of `` Refugee '' was made available as a download from the initial www.lostboyaka.com website. On 13 April 2010 `` Refugee '' was released as the lead track of the Welcome Gift 1 free download twin pack which was released as part of the main website launch of www.lostboyaka.com. In addition to the previously released album version of `` Refugee '', the free download twin pack included the track `` What Goes On '' ( Scary Monsters Mix ), which was exclusive to this release. The package also included the artwork and a text file requesting that the tracks not be uploaded to any other site. `` She Fell in Love With Silence '' was released as a single on 15 August 2010. The single was released in both digital and physical formats. Jim Kerr released his first solo album Lostboy ! AKA Jim Kerr on 17 May 2010 under the name `` Lostboy ! AKA ''. Explaining the project name and ethos, he commented `` I did n't want to start a new band. I like my band ( laughs )... and I did n't want a point blank Jim Kerr solo album either. '' The first Lostboy ! AKA 10 - date ( European ) tour occurred from 18 to 31 May 2010. In August 2010, Lostboy ! AKA embarked on a 12 - date `` Electroset Radio '' tour for various European / UK radio stations but the band played only 4 dates ( 3 in Germany and 1 in Spain ). A third Lostboy AKA ! tour, a new 25 - date `` Electroset '' ( European ) one ( featuring Simon Hayward and Sarah Brown ) was scheduled from 18 October to 3 December 2010 but the band played only 9 shows till the rest of the tour was cancelled after the performance on 13 November 2010 in Dublin, Ireland because of Jim 's mother Irene who had become ill with a recurrence of cancer. The second Lostboy ! album, The Return Of The Lostboy !, was first mentioned by Jim Kerr in February 2010 during the post-production work on the first album. Jim Kerr wrote, demoed or recorded up to 25 songs for the new album. Its release was planned after Simple Minds ' 2013 world tour but was indefinitely postponed. Other work Kerr helped organise a 90th birthday party for Nelson Mandela at Hyde Park, London on 27 June 2008. The event came 20 years after Kerr and Simple Minds played a role ( releasing the single Mandela Day amongst other activities ) in the 70th birthday concert at Wembley Stadium, which was held to demand Mandela 's release. Mandela attended the 2008 event in person. Personal life Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, in 1984 ( divorced in 1990 ). They had one daughter named Yasmin. He was subsequently married to actress Patsy Kensit in 1992 ( divorced in 1996 ) with whom he had a son named James ( born September 1993 ). Jim Kerr is a Celtic fan and an active supporter of the club. Mark Kerr, the vocalist 's brother, is also a musician, playing in groups such as the hard rock band Gun. Discography Main article : Jim Kerr discography See also : Simple Minds discography Solo albums Lostboy ! AKA Jim Kerr ( 2010 ) Solo singles `` Shadowland '' ( 2010 ) `` Refugee '' ( 2010 ) `` She Fell In Love With Silence '' ( 2010 ) References ^ Jump up to : Official Charts Archived 29 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Five number one albums and number one single ( retrieved 19 August 2007 ) Jump up ^ Sutton, Michael. `` Jim Kerr ''. AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2015. Jump up ^ Mcapozzolijr.com Jump up ^ `` February 26, 2016 ''. Facebook.com. Retrieved 29 February 2016. Jump up ^ `` Dream Giver Redux welcome ''. Simpleminds.org. Retrieved 1 September 2011. Jump up ^ Villa Angela : a dream come true Archived 26 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. ( retrieved 10 November 2012 ) Jump up ^ `` Lostboy ! AKA : Simple Minds ' Jim Kerr preps debut solo album, sets U.K. club dates ''. Slicing Up Eyeballs. Retrieved 21 March 2010. ^ Jump up to : dream giver redux discography lostboy ! aka : downloads shadowland Jump up ^ dream giver redux discography lostboy ! aka : downloads shadowland ( promo ) Jump up ^ Lostboy ! A.K.A Jim Kerr - Shadowland ( Radio Single - For Promotional Use Only Jump up ^ dream giver redux discography lostboy ! aka : downloads refugee ^ Jump up to : dream giver redux discography lostboy ! aka jim kerr downloads welcome gift 1 ( refugee ) Jump up ^ dream giver redux discography lostboy ! aka jim kerr singles she fell in love with silence download Jump up ^ dream giver redux discography lostboy ! aka jim kerr singles she fell in love with silence Jump up ^ `` pennyblackmusic.co.uk ''. pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2011. Jump up ^ `` Dream Giver Redux / Tours / Lostboy ! AKA Electroset Tour ''. simpleminds.org. Retrieved 1 September 2011. Jump up ^ Dream Giver Redux / The Return Of The Lostboy ! : information Jump up ^ `` Chrissie Hynde Marries Colombian Artist ''. Lewiston Morning Tribune. 18 July 1997. Retrieved 13 July 2011. Jump up ^ `` Homegrown Heroes ''. Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2011. Jump up ^ `` Keep Celtic alive and kicking : Kerr ''. BBC News. 25 May 1998. Jump up ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/swagger-mw0000822870 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jim Kerr. Penny Black Music Interview with Jim Kerr, May 2010 Simple Minds Jim Kerr Charlie Burchill Mel Gaynor Andy Gillespie Ged Grimes Brian McGee Tony Donald Duncan Barnwell Mick MacNeil Derek Forbes Kenny Hyslop Mike Ogletree John Giblin Eddy Duffy Albums Life in a Day Real to Real Cacophony Empires and Dance Sons and Fascination / Sister Feelings Call New Gold Dream ( 81 -- 82 -- 83 -- 84 ) Sparkle in the Rain Once Upon a Time Street Fighting Years Real Life Good News from the Next World Néapolis Our Secrets Are the Same Neon Lights Cry Black & White 050505 Graffiti Soul Big Music Acoustic Walk Between Worlds Live albums Live in the City of Light Real Live 91 Sunday Express -- Live ( Volumes 1 & 2 ) 5X5 Live Live -- Big Music Tour 2015 Acoustic In Concert Compilations Themes for Great Cities 79 / 81 Celebration Glittering Prize 81 / 92 The Promised The Best of Simple Minds Early Gold Silver Box Celebrate : The Greatest Hits Singles `` Love Song '' `` Promised You a Miracle '' `` Glittering Prize '' `` Someone Somewhere ( In Summertime ) '' `` Waterfront '' `` Speed Your Love to Me '' `` Up on the Catwalk '' `` Do n't You ( Forget About Me ) '' `` Alive and Kicking '' `` Sanctify Yourself '' `` All the Things She Said '' `` Ghost Dancing '' `` Belfast Child '' `` This Is Your Land '' `` Kick It In '' `` Let There Be Love '' `` Stand By Love '' Promo singles `` Mandela Day '' ( US ) Themes series Themes -- Volume 1 : March 79 -- April 82 Themes -- Volume 2 : August 82 -- April 85 Themes -- Volume 3 : September 85 -- June 87 Themes -- Volume 4 : February 89 -- May 90 Themes -- Volume 5 : March 91 -- September 92 Related articles Discography Lostboy ! AKA Jim Kerr Concert tours Simple Minds concert tours BIBSYS : 13066228 BNF : cb16229562v ( data ) GND : 134728459 ISNI : 0000 0001 2025 5455 MusicBrainz : 7d2d3544 - fe1d - 4dfd - 80fe - eafe92dc1356 VIAF : 50442298 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Kerr&oldid=840951277 '' Categories : 1959 births 20th - century Scottish singers Scottish male singers Scottish new wave musicians Scottish rock singers Scottish tenors Scottish people of Irish descent Simple Minds members Male new wave singers Musicians from Glasgow Living people People educated at Holyrood Secondary School Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links EngvarB from February 2014 Use dmy dates from February 2014 Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2008 Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Français Hrvatski Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Русский Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 13 May 2018, at 03 : 08. About Wikipedia

Question: who was the lead singer of simple minds
Answer: James Kerr