About
James Kerr () (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, best known for being the frontman of the rock band Simple Minds. Commercially successful singles released by Simple Minds include "Glittering Prize" (1982), "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" (1982), "Waterfront" (1983), "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985, #1 U.S. and #1 Canada), and "Alive and Kicking" (1985), as well as the UK number one single "Belfast Child" (1989).
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With Kerr as their lead singer, Simple Minds have achieved five UK Albums chart number one albums, Sparkle in the Rain (1984), Once Upon a Time (1985), Live in the City of Light (1987), Street Fighting Years (1989) and Glittering Prize 81/92 (1992); they have sold more than 60 million albums. They were the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s. Simple Minds have also achieved considerable chart success in the United States, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.
Kerr released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on 27 May 2010. His voice has been described as "David Bowie's rich baritone melded with Bryan Ferry's velvety croon".
Member of
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Johnny & the Self Abusers synthesizer
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Simple Minds lead vocals
Discography
Albums
Singles
Links
Buy
Married
Sibling
Also known as
James Kerr · Lostboy · Pripton Weird
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- a0710c82-08af-45b7-a269-508581aaa2d3
- ISNI
- 0000000120255455
- IPI
- 00047034203
- IPI
- 00145648360
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 12 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.