James William Somerville is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and soulful countertenor/falsetto singing voice. He is openly gay; many of his songs, such as "Smalltown Boy", contain political commentary on gay-related issues.
Early life
Somerville grew up in Glasgow in the 1970s. In 1980, he moved to London where he lived in squats. He was able to enjoy the gay scene and also attend the London Gay Teenage Group.
Career
In 1983, Somerville co-founded the synthpop group Bronski Beat, which proceeded to have several hits in the British charts. Their biggest hit was "Smalltown Boy" which reached No. 3 in the UK charts. In the music video Somerville played the song's titular character who leaves his hostile hometown for the friendlier city, reflecting Somerville's own experiences when he moved to London. Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985 and formed The Communards with classically trained pianist Richard Coles. They had several hits, including a cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Don't Leave Me This Way", which spent four weeks at No. 1 in the UK charts and became the biggest-selling single of 1986 in the UK. He also sang backing vocals on the Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds", which was a UK Top 10 hit. The Communards split in 1988; Somerville began a solo career the following year. He released his debut solo albumRead My Lips in November 1989, which contained three UK Top 30 hits, including a hit cover of Sylvester's disco classic "You Make Me Feel " and a cover of "Comment te dire adieu?", a duet with June Miles-Kingston, which reached number 14 in the UK Singles chart. He also sang on the second Band Aid project at the end of 1989. In November 1990, Somerville's "greatest hits" album The Singles Collection 1984/1990 was released; it reached number 4 on the UK Album Chart. It included a cover of the Bee Gees' hit song "To Love Somebody", which also reached the UK Top 10. Also in 1990, Somerville contributed the song "From This Moment On" to the Cole Portertribute albumRed Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization, the proceeds from which benefited AIDS research. In 1991, Somerville provided backing vocals to a track called "Why Aren't You in Love With Me?" from the album Ripe by Communards offshoot band Banderas. The Banderas duo, Caroline Buckley and Sally Herbert, had previously been part of Somerville's backing band. After this, he disappeared from the limelight for several years. He returned in 1995 with the album Dare to Love, which included "Heartbeat", "Hurt So Good" and "By Your Side", though commercial success was now beginning to elude him and his contract with London Records to which he had been signed for over a decade came to an end. A new single, "Dark Sky", was released in 1997 and peaked at No. 66 in the UK. His third album, entitled Manage The Damage, was released in 1999 via Gut Records, though failed to chart. A companion remix album, Root Beer, came out in 2000. His dance-orientated fourth solo album, Home Again, was released in 2004, though again failed to chart. May 2009 saw the release of Somerville's Suddenly Last Summer album, which contained acoustic interpretations of other people's songs. The album was initially only available as a digital download but in May 2010 was made available in a limited edition CD/DVD in the UK. In late 2010, Somerville released a dance EP called Bright Thing. 2010's EP Bright Thing was the first of a series of three, with Somerville releasing Momentum in 2011 and Solent in 2012, with long term collaborator John Winfield. Somerville released a disco-inspired album called Homage in 2014. Singles were "Back to Me" followed by "Travesty". The emphasis on the recording of the new album has been on achieving the musical authenticity of original disco which Somerville grew up listening to. He stated 'I've finally made the disco album I always wanted to and never thought I could'. Jimmy Somerville has also had an acting career, appearing in Sally Potter's 1992 film of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, in Isaac Julien's 1989 Looking for Langston, and in an episode of the cultscience fiction television series Lexx.
