From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jim Kerr
Background information
Birth name	James Kerr
Born	9 July 1959 (1959-07-09) (age 50)
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland
Genres	Rock Folk New Wave Pop Pop rock
Occupations	Singer Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1978 - present
Associated acts	Simple Minds
Website	SimpleMinds.com

James "Jim" Kerr (born in Toryglen, Glasgow on 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, famous for his work with the band Simple Minds. They achieved five UK number one albums and a number one single "Ballad of the Streets EP".^[1]

Biography

Kerr attended Holyrood R.C. Secondary School in Glasgow. In 1977, he was one of the founder 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 successful Pop band Hue and Cry. The band only lasted 8 months, during which time Kerr emerged as one of the main songwriters. In November 1977 they changed their name to Simple Minds, and very quickly reduced to 4 members, then increased to 5, then 6, then back to 5 before a period of stability ensued.^[2]

Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, in 1984 (divorced, 1990). Together, they had a daughter named Yasmin Kerr (born 1985). He was subsequently married to actress Patsy Kensit in 1992 (divorced 1996) with whom he had a son, James Kerr (born in September 1993). Kerr is worth a reported £50 million.^{[citation needed]}

He continues to record and tour with Simple Minds, who released their latest album Graffiti Soul in May 2009. He currently lives in Taormina in Sicily, where he runs a hotel called Villa Angela. ^[3]

On 6 May 2008 Kerr announced that he had helped organize a 90th birthday party for former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, to be held at Wembley Stadium in London on 27 June.^{[citation needed]} The event comes 20 years after Kerr and Simple Minds played a leading role (releasing the single Mandela Day amongst other activities) in the 70th birthday concert (also at Wembley) which was held to demand Mandela's release. Mandela attended the 2008 event in person.

Jim Kerr is a lifelong Glasgow Celtic fan and active supporter of the club.^[4]

Jim Kerr will release his first-ever solo album on May 17, 2010 under the name Lostboy! AKA and is set to debut his new material — and dig into Simple Minds’ back catalog — with a trio of intimate U.K. club dates this spring before embarking on a full tour.^[5]

References

External links

• SimpleMinds.com Simple Minds official site
• 30 Frames a Second Italian fan site