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Kevin Simm

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For the English darts player, see Kevin Simm (darts player).

Kevin Simm
Birth nameKevin Ian Simm
Born (1980-09-05) 5 September 1980 (age 44)
Chorley, Lancashire, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
InstrumentVocals
Years active2000–present
Labels

Kevin Ian Simm (born 5 September 1980, Chorley, Lancashire, England) is an English pop singer. He won The Voice UK on 9 April 2016. Simm was in the group Liberty X from 2001 until their split in 2007 and is currently the lead singer of the group Wet Wet Wet.

Early life

Simm was born on 5 September 1980 in Chorley, Lancashire, England. He attended St Anne's Primary School then St. Mary's Catholic Technology College in Leyland between 1991 and 1996, where he showed promise as a junior footballer. In his last year in secondary school, he performed Elton John's "Daniel" in the school's annual show. Simm decided to concentrate on music and joined a local indie band called AnAlien where he began writing his own material. He applied to go on the ITV talent show, Stars in Their Eyes, where he appeared as Simon Fowler of Ocean Colour Scene. After a few years of writing and performing on the northern pubs and clubs circuit, as well as spending a summer season in a band called Force 5 with James Fox, Simm auditioned for the ITV reality TV show, Popstars.

History

2001–07: Popstars and Liberty X

While the five winning contestants of Popstars formed Hear'Say, the five runner-up contestants formed the group Liberty. The name Liberty was chosen to reflect the freedom the members experienced following their participation in Popstars. Amidst pejorative media commentary (including the term "Flopstars"), the act proceeded to sign a multimillion-pound record contract with Richard Branson's independent record label V2 records. Shortly after forming, Liberty received a legal challenge in the UK High Court from a funk R&B band, also called "Liberty", who achieved success in the 1990s, including being awarded Capital Radio Band of the Year, playing Wembley Arena, European tours and the release of albums in the US, Europe and UK. The original Liberty claimed that the newly formed Liberty was taking advantage of the goodwill that had been created by the former's success (known in English law as the "tort of passing off"). The final judgment was in favour of the funk R&B band and the ex-Popstars then asked readers of UK tabloid newspaper, The Sun to suggest a new name. The winning name was "X Liberty",[citation needed] but the group used the entry as the basis for the official title, "Liberty X".

Liberty X enjoyed seven Top 10 singles from 2001 to 2005. Their biggest hit, "Just a Little", reached Number 1 in May 2002. "Thinking It Over", "Got to Have Your Love", "Being Nobody", "Song 4 Lovers" and "Holding on for You" all reached the top 5 in the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album, Thinking It Over, reached Number 3 in June 2002. Liberty X released another 2 albums, Being Somebody and X, which reached Numbers 12 and 27, respectively. Liberty X won the Brit Award for Best British Single. The group split in 2007 following disappointing album and singles sales from their third studio album.

In 2005, Simm appeared on The Games, winning a Silver Medal and featuring with convicted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? cheat Charles Ingram, among other celebrities.[1][2][3]

2007–15: Solo career and reformation of Liberty X

Simm, focusing on his solo career, created his own Myspace music profile, uploading demo tracks for his fans to hear his progress as a solo artist. In a March 2008 interview with Gordon McCully, he stated, "I've been very busy in the studio recording new solo tracks which I'll hopefully be able to share with people very soon." Simm was signed to JamDown Music, where his track "Brand New" is featured on their official website's music player. On 3 October 2008, Simm's debut album, titled Brand New, was released in Japan. The album has since appeared for purchase on iTunes.

In October 2012, it was confirmed that the group would reform for a one off appearance at the Hammersmith Apollo and ITV2 series The Big Reunion which aired from 31 January 2013.

On 1 February 2014, Liberty X posted on their Facebook page that "We have an announcement coming tomorrow... ...but before that we've got some business at G-A-Y to attend to tonight, if you're coming we'll see you later!"[citation needed] The next day, following the performance at G-A-Y,[4] they announced that they had signed to 365 Artists Management "for our future creative and business affairs."[citation needed] The group subsequently performed at a series of sporadic gigs during the spring and summer of 2014.

In 2015, during his audition for The Voice UK, Simm revealed that he left Liberty X as he felt the group were officially over.

2016: The Voice UK

In 2016, Simm auditioned for the fifth series of The Voice UK singing a soulful version of Sia's "Chandelier".[5] All four coaches; will.i.am, Ricky Wilson, Boy George and Paloma Faith, turned their chairs for him and he chose to join Faith's team.[5] Simm lost against Faith Nelson in the battle rounds and was nearly eliminated from the competition, but was stolen by Wilson, joining his team for the knockout rounds. He won the knockouts and won the final of The Voice UK on 9 April.[6] Simm released his UK debut single "All You Good Friends" shortly afterwards.[citation needed]

Performances

Performed Song Original artist Result
Blind Audition "Chandelier" Sia All judges turned, joined team Paloma
Battle Rounds "Spotlight" (against Faith Nelson) Jennifer Hudson Lost, joined team Ricky
Knockout rounds "Wings" Birdy Fast pass
Quarter-final "I'm Kissing You" Des'ree Fast pass
Semi-final "The Power of Love" (as part of Team Ricky) Huey Lewis and the News Safe
"Rolling in the Deep" Adele
Live final "Stay" Rihanna Winner
"Mr. Brightside" (with Ricky Wilson) The Killers
"All You Good Friends" Original song

On 28 May 2016 Simm rejoined Liberty X performing at Birmingham Gay Pride performing hits "Got to Have Your Love", "Holding on for You", "Being Nobody", Song 4 Lovers and "Just a Little and the winner single "All You Good Friends".[7][8][9][10]

2018–present

On 25 September 2018, it was announced that Simm would join Scottish band Wet Wet Wet as the new lead singer, replacing former member Marti Pellow.[11] He started singing with the band at 2 shows, St Lukes in Calton, Glasgow and The Venue in London in November 2018.[12] Following on from their sold-out shows, they then started a nationwide 18 date tour.[13]

Discography

Albums

Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
 JAP
[14]
Brand New
  • Released: 3 October 2008
  • Label: Jamdown Ltd
  • Format: Digital download, CD
 — 12
Recover 114 —
"—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK JAP
[14]
"Brand New" 2008 — 25 Brand New
"It's About Us" — 96
"Hot Summer's Day" — —
"All You Good Friends" 2016 24 — Non-album single
"Wildfire" — — Recover
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Popstars Himself/Competitor Series 1; 2nd place
2002–03 Bo' Selecta Various role Episode 1; Series 1
Episode 6; Series 2
2003 Popworld Presenter "23 March 2003"
2005 The Games Himself/Competitor Series 3
2006 ITV2 Celebrity Daredevils Himself "Kevin Simm" (Episode 2; Series 1)
2013 The Big Reunion Himself "Kevin Simm" (Series 1)
2016 The Voice UK Contestant/Winner Series 5

References

  1. ^ "The Games". UK Game Shows. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  2. ^ Morgan, Clive (30 September 2016). "Kevin Simm premieres Wildfire music video". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  3. ^ Dahl, Jonathan (6 December 2016). "Simm-Ply Does It: An ode to Kevin Simm". Vada Magazine. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  4. ^ Webster, Samantha (2 February 2014). "Michelle Heaton gets rushed to hospital hours before Liberty X gig, still performs with bump on board". OK!. Northern & Shell. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b Walker, Danny; Cooper, Lorna (30 January 2016). "Can Kevin Simm WIN The Voice? Former Liberty X singer puts the coaches in a spin". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 13 April 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Copson, Josie (10 April 2016). "Liberty X's Kevin Simm has only gone and won The Voice". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Liberty X Interview Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Liberty X – Just a Little Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Liberty X – Song 4 Lovers Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Liberty X – Being Nobody Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  11. ^ Binding, Lucia (25 September 2018). "Wet Wet Wet announce Liberty X star Kevin Simm as new frontman". Sky News. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  12. ^ Kitchener, Shaun (25 September 2018). "Wet Wet Wet announce comeback WITHOUT Marti Pellow: Guess who's replaced him?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  13. ^ Cooper, Louise (4 December 2018). "Wet Wet Wet coming to Buxton Opera House in 2019". www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  14. ^ a b Driver, Pia. "Kevin Simm Konzert im Kölner E-Werk". Red Carpet Reports. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
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