Simple Minds Artistfacts

1977-
Jim KerrLead vocals1977-
Charlie BurchillGuitar, keys1977-
Ged GrimesBass2010-
Cherisse OseiDrums2017-
Mick MacNeilKeys1978-1990
John GiblinBass1985-1989
Eddy DuffyBass1999-2010
Mel GaynorDrums1982-2016
Andy GillespieKeys2002-2016
Catherine ADKeys2017-
Simple Minds took their name from the line "He's so simple minded he can't drive his module" in David Bowie's "The Jean Genie."
Frontman Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill have known each other since they were 8 years old. They are both founding members of Simple Minds and the band's chief songwriters.

Their friendship literally started in a Glasgow sandpit. Both families had just moved into the same housing project, and as Kerr recalled to CBS Mornings, "Charlie was the king of the castle." The two bonded that day, and, as Kerr says, "in some ways, we're still in that sandpit... albeit one that involves music." Decades later, they're still building castles, just now they're made of guitars and choruses instead of sand.
Jim Kerr married Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, in 1984 and, following their divorce in 1990, he wed actress Patsy Kensit in 1992. They divorced in 1996.
At the time of their hits "Waterfront" and Promised You a Miracle", Jim Kerr was still living in a council flat in a Glasgow high-rise.
Jim Kerr told us about his songwriting partnership with Charlie Burchill.

"Charlie and I can work anywhere. In the old days we'd go to the rehearsal room and knock things around and stuff. Now I can be on the other side of the world, Charlie will send me an MP3, and say, 'I was messing around with this last night.' And I can have something back to him from the other side of the world, and say, 'Actually, it made me think of this kind of melody.' That's happened.

But we still do it the old way, as well. We still get in a room together and he'll say, 'Yeah, I've got these.' Maybe we haven't seen each other for a couple of months. He'll say, 'I've got about a half dozen ideas.' Some of them might be fully formed, others will be a spark. And usually, I'll have a few things in my notebook that will match the atmosphere of what he's been doing."
Charlie Burchill's nephew Mark Burchill is a former professional football player who was capped six times for the Scotland national team.
In the documentary Simple Minds: Everything is Possible, Jim Kerr recounts a humbling experience from the early 1980s. While Simple Minds were building a solid following in the UK and Europe, they were still trying to crack the American market. Kerr describes playing a gig to a meager audience of just 30 people. Dejected, they approached the promoter after the show, only to be told things could be worse. The promoter revealed that the previous night's band had managed to pull in an even smaller crowd – a measly 25 people. That band? A then-unknown outfit called U2.

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