"Been a while but absence makes the heart grow fonder,” says Jim Kerr. “Simple Minds are ecstatic at the prospect of touring so extensively in the US and Canada this coming Spring.”
Inimitable musical pioneers for nearly half a century, Simple Minds are among the most successful UK bands of all time, having achieved more than 1B global streams on Spotify alone (with over 8.3M monthly listeners on Spotify alone) and total worldwide sales in excess of 60M, including six #1 albums in the UK and chart-topping releases in countless other territories including Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.
Coalescing around childhood friends Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, Simple Minds emerged in 1978 with an immediately distinctive sound simultaneously rooted in punk, art-rock, and the electronic avant-garde. Over the next four decades, the band has pushed their open-armed approach to fashion a broad array of stylistic varieties – spanning pop, funk, gospel, soul, dance music, and more – into their own world-straddling brand of stadium-sized rock. Their continually evolving body of work is highlighted by such landmark LPs as 1982’s New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84), 1984’s Sparkle In The Rain, 1985’s Once Upon A Time, and 1989’s Street Fighting Years, along with a stunning canon of iconic global hit singles spanning “Love Song,” “Someone Somewhere (In Summertime),” “Glittering Prize,” “Promised You A Miracle,” “Up On The Catwalk,” “Speed Your Love To Me,” “Waterfront,” “Belfast Child,” and of course the timeless teen anthem, 1985’s US #1 classic, “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” the latter of course famously featured in the classic John Hughes film, The Breakfast Club.
The legendary UK band launches its biggest live run across the US and Canada in four decades May 16 at Ridgefield, WA's Cascades Amphitheater and continue through the June 22 finale at Noblesville, IN's Ruoff Music Center. Soft Cell and Modern English open in support for the entire tour. For complete details and ticket availability, visit www.simpleminds.com/tour.
Hear Dave Michaels chat with Jim Kerr about the tour and 40th anniversary of the band's landmark album, Once Upon A Time.
