Simply Red

BIOGRAPHy

The British soul-pop band Simply Red was formed in 1984. The group released Picture Book (October 1985), which featured “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)” and “Holding Back the Years,” a Mick Hucknall original that topped the U.S. charts. Men and Women (March 1987), generated the Top 40 hit “The Right Thing.” Their third album, A New Flame (February 1989), went gold due to the cover of the 1972 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes hit “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” which hit number one and became a gold single. Their fourth album, Stars, was a major success, especially in the U.K., where it was the best-selling album of 1991, topping the charts for 19 weeks. Worldwide, it sold eight-and-a-half million copies by the second quarter of 1993. Simply Red’s fifth album, Life (October 1995), topped charts all over Europe, as did its lead-off single, “Fairground.” Blue followed in 1998, and a year later, Simply Red issued Love and the Russian Winter. After establishing their simplyred.com label, Home was released in 2003. Two years later, the band released Simplified, a collection of old tracks and new songs. The band’s tenth studio album, Stay, was released in 2007. More recently, in 2015, they released Big Love. Simply Red continues to tour the world.

Career Path

1985Debuted with 'Picture Book', which produced 'Money's Too Tight (To Mention)' and the Mick Hucknall-penned 'Holding Back the Years', a song that topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and announced the band as a transatlantic force.
1987Released 'Men and Women', generating the Top 40 hit 'The Right Thing' and consolidating the blue-eyed soul sound Hucknall had staked the band's identity on.
1989'If You Don't Know Me By Now', their cover of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes classic, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and went gold, driven by the 'A New Flame' album.
1991'Stars' topped the UK Albums Chart for 19 weeks, became the best-selling album in Britain for two consecutive years (1991 and 1992), and sold eight-and-a-half million copies worldwide by mid-1993, the first album to lead the UK chart in back-to-back years since Simon & Garfunkel.
1995'Fairground' became Simply Red's first UK number-one single, leading the 'Life' album to the top of charts across Europe.
2003Released 'Home' on their own simplyred.com label, becoming one of the first major acts to self-release a record that charted in the UK Top 5.
2019Released 'Blue Eyed Soul', their twelfth studio album, to strong fan and critical reception, setting up a comeback run that would follow after a touring pause.
2022Performed 73 shows to over 600,000 fans across Europe, their most extensive touring run in over a decade.
2023Released 'Time', their thirteenth studio album, accompanied by a run of European summer shows that kept the band's live profile firmly at arena level.
2025Launched their 40th Anniversary Tour across Europe, including sold-out nights at The O2 Arena in London with Soul II Soul as special guests, tracing the full arc from 'Picture Book' to 'Time'.

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