Biography
Mick Hucknall has long been established as one of the great vocalists of contemporary music after penning his first hit ‘Holding Back The Years’, aged 17. His soul and pop band Simply Red, formed in Manchester in 1985, were rapidly propelled into superstardom.
Their 1991 classic album ‘Stars’ was the best-selling album for two years running in Britain and Europe, every Simply Red studio album has been a UK top ten (with five reaching #1), they have achieved 13 Brit Award nominations & 3 wins, and have had multiple US chart topping singles. It is no wonder the band continue to enjoy global success today.
Hucknall was a Manchester art student when he saw the Sex Pistols at the city’s Free Trade Hall in 1976, one of the few people who can legitimately claim to have been at the concert that gave birth to the Manchester punk rock scene. It was Hucknall’s own punk band, the Frantic Elevators, that recorded the original version of Holding Back The Years, but Hucknall was too much of a melody-loving soul to be a three-chord wonder for long, and in 1985 Simply Red were born.
“For me, music has to be instinctive,” says Hucknall, on the soulful direction his band took. “It’s why I rejected the academia of being an art student: I knew that I had to make something that gets to people without their knowing why. Above all I have an obsession with melody, which I inherited through my love of the Beatles. All I’ve ever really wanted to do is to create melodies that are simple but refined. I’m evangelical about it: music takes you to a place that nothing else can take you to and it’s my job to contribute to that.”
It’s the reason why Simply Red, despite their longevity, despite a following that has seen them sell 60 million albums, have never fitted in or been defined by a trend or movement. It has helped give the music a timeless quality that has seen the band have top ten hits through the 80s, 90s and 2000s.
Early success with their first single ‘Money’s Too Tight To Mention’ and Brit Award-nominated album ‘Picture Book’ (the first of 13 nominations, and 3 Brit Award wins) propelled the band into decades of superstardom. Their 1991 classic ‘Stars’ was the best-selling album for two years running in Britain and Europe, and every Simply Red studio album, including their latest 2019 release ‘Blue Eyed Soul’, has been a UK Top Ten. Their live show is renowned for its high quality, with Hucknall long-established as one of the great vocalists of contemporary music, and the band continue to sell out tours across the globe.
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Stars 🌟 #SimplyRed #90sMusic #Pop
Simply Red - Something Got Me Started (Top of The Pops 1991)
14 yrs of ‘Conservative’ Britain- #ToriesCostLives
Ratty Sunak really is an unseemly piece of work isn’t he? He might wish to look up the meaning of compassion, and learn.
‘His lawyers are really struggling with the smell’ 😂 when growing up in the North West, giggly kids used the word ‘trump’ as a verb to fart 🤢 funny how, like farts, dictators come and ...(eventually) go
Simply Red - Stars (Montreux Jazz Festival 2023)
Once again Labour Lords have voted against inhumanity.
#BritainIsBetterThanTheTories
Mad? No. Consistently, irrefutably BAD! 👺🤑🤮
#ToriesOutNOW !!! #SaveTheUK
Something Got Me Started - Live at Old Trafford, 1996 #SimplyRed #90sMusic #Pop
Seek help Danny boy. You’re pathetic.
The Stars 25th Anniversary Edition remastered vinyl is now available from the Simply Red store: https://simplyred.tmstor.es/
First released in 2016, this special edition features the ...original album track listing in a gatefold sleeve with rare photos of Mick from the Stars era.
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We had a blast in Nantes at the Zénith Nantes last night. I have always loved touring France, it’s such a beautiful country and you are always such great audiences. Tomorrow we are in Paris for a ...sold out show which is really exciting. Who’s coming along?
Photo by Paula Smith
We wanted to let Simple Minds fans know that at the @NYFestivals International Radio Awards last night in NYC 'Jim Kerr on Jim Morrison' was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Documentary in ...the Culture & The Arts category.
#NewYorkFestivals #StorytellersGala
Thank you to everyone who came out to see Simple Minds on tour in Europe this month. The band play their final shows of the month in France and Italy this week before heading to California in May for... their appearance at @cruelworldfest .
Photos by @hapevv
Waterfront - Live in Dortmund, 1984
Simple Minds return to Germany tonight with a show at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg. The last remaining tickets for all upcoming shows can be found at ...https://www.simpleminds.com/tour/
'Don't You (Forget About Me)' was released in the UK on this day in 1985 and has remained a live performance highlight ever since. Over the years and including the band's 2024 ...Global Tour, which track has blown you away when played live?
The signed print is limited to 250 copies that are all individually numbered and available from Simple Minds' new Global Tour 2024 store now.
Jim and Charlie have signed a new limited edition print of a photograph taken at one of their first ever shows in Glasgow in 1978.
...https://shop.simpleminds.com/products/limited-edition-signed-litho
Photo by Laurie Evans
GRAD will be joining Simple Minds in Croatia on 3rd July at the Pula Arena.
Remaining tickets for the show and the band's Global Tour can be found here: ...https://www.simpleminds.com/tour/
Simple Minds are set to return to their hometown of Glasgow with shows at the @OVOHydro this Friday and Saturday. How many times have you seen the band in Glasgow over the years?
Photo by ...Manus McFadden
Many thanks to @allontheboard for displaying this Simple Minds poem at North Greenwich station yesterday, just before the band took to the stage at @TheO2.
Thank you #Belfast 🙏🏽 You were a sensational audience. Belfast Child was an emotional moment and it felt extra special playing it for you ✨♥️
We’ve flown to London to play the ...#O2Arena tomorrow. Any London peeps coming along?
📸 - Gig pic - Tremaine Gregg
#SimpleMinds
"Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill preside over an energetic set that thrills fans of their chart reign and their post-punk era."
The @guardian's review of the first UK show of ...the Simple Minds Global Tour can be read here: https://bit.ly/43rzBRc
Stars 🌟 #SimplyRed #90sMusic #Pop
Simply Red - Something Got Me Started (Top of The Pops 1991)
Simply Red - Stars (Montreux Jazz Festival 2023)
Something Got Me Started - Live at Old Trafford, 1996 #SimplyRed #90sMusic #Pop
"I don't believe in many things, but in you I do" ❤️ #SimplyRed #ForYourBabies
Stars - @MontreuxJazzFest, 2023 ✨ #SimplyRed #Stars
At the 1993 BRIT Awards, Simply Red took home the award for Best British Group 🏆 #SimplyRed
The ultimate song to get you started for the day 🙌 #SimplyRed #90sMusic
⭐️ #SimplyRed #Stars
The Story of Simply Red: A New Flame #SimplyRed40
Simply Red - If You Don't Know Me By Now (Symphonica In Rosso)
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Symphonica In Rosso #SimplyRed