About Simply Red
Simply Red are an English soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. Band leader, singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall was the only original member left by the time Simply Red initially disbanded in 2010. They have released thirteen studio albums, from Picture Book through Time , all of which have peaked within the top ten on the UK Albums Chart; with the albums A New Flame , Stars , Life and Blue , along with their Greatest Hits album, reaching number one. Their 1991 album Stars is one of the best-selling albums in the United Kingdom.
The group released ten songs that have reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, including "Stars", the Fugees-assisted "Angel", "The Air That I Breathe" and "Sunrise", with the single "Fairground" peaking atop the UK Singles Chart. Their singles "Holding Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now" both reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
At the 1992 and 1993 Brit Awards, they received the award for Best British Group. They have received three Grammy Award nominations, including one for Best New Artist in 1987. Their version of "If You Don't Know Me by Now" won songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff the Grammy Award for the Best R&B Song. The band re-formed in 2015. Simply Red have sold over 50 million albums.
Hucknall was in a punk group called The Frantic Elevators, whose seven-year run produced limited releases on local labels and ended in 1984 upon critical acclaim for their final single, "Holding Back the Years".
After the demise of The Frantic Elevators, Hucknall linked up with manager Elliot Rashman. By early 1985, Hucknall and Rashman had assembled a band of local session musicians and begun to attract record-company attention. The group went under a number of names: "World Service", "Red And The Dancing Dead", "Just Red" but Hucknall decided it would sound better with the addition of the word 'Simply'. The band's name is also linked to Hucknall's allegiance to being a supporter of Manchester United, as the club's home shirt colour is red.
The initial Simply Red line-up consisted of Mick Hucknall , David Fryman , Tony Bowers , Fritz McIntyre , Tim Kellett and Chris Joyce . Bowers and Joyce had both previously been members of post-punk bands The Durutti Column and The Mothmen; Kellett had also been a member of The Durutti Column, though not at the same time as Bowers and Joyce.
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