Simply Red

Simply Red came out of Manchester in 1985 with a band that could glide from sophisti-pop polish to jazzy looseness without breaking a sweat, and a blue-eyed soul singer who made it all sound effortless. Picture Book was the debut that year, and "Holding Back the Years", a hushed, aching ballad, went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Mick Hucknall's voice was the draw, but the band was tight: Tony Bowers on bass, Chris Joyce on drums and percussion, Fritz McIntyre and Tim Kellett on keyboards, with Kellett doubling on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Ian Kirkham adding sax from 1986.

Men and Women followed in 1987 with "The Right Thing", and their version of "If You Don't Know Me by Now" gave them a second American number one and won songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff a Grammy for Best R&B Song. From there the albums kept topping the British charts: A New Flame, Stars, Life and Blue all reached number one, with Stars ranking among the best-selling albums the country has ever bought. They were named Best British Group at the Brits in 1992 and 1993.

Hucknall is the only original member left. The band broke up in 2010 and came back in 2015, and all told Simply Red have sold more than 50 million albums.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.