James McLeish Reid (born 29 December 1961) is a Scottish singer/songwriter and the lead singer for the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

, which he formed with his elder brother and guitarist William Reid in 1983.

Career

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Reid is the lead singer and founding member of the

band

. He formed the band with his brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

. They are recognized as key figures in the development of the

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

and

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegaz ...

subgenres. They released six studio albums before they split up in 1999. They reformed in March 2007 and are still active as of 2024, and Reid and his brother are the only constant members of the group.

Freeheat

Reid went on to form the band

Freeheat Freeheat are a British indie rock band formed by Jim Reid and Ben Lurie of The Jesus and Mary Chain and Romi Mori and Nick Sanderson (musician), Nick Sanderson of The Gun Club (band), The Gun Club. After releasing an Extended play, EP, ''Don't ...

with former Mary Chain drummer Nick Sanderson and guitarist Ben Lurie. Freeheat did several tours and released two EP's, ''Don't Worry Be Happy'' and ''Retox'', and released one studio album, ''Back on the Water'' (2006) The members went their separate ways in 2003.

Solo

Reid released his first solo single "Song for a Secret" in 2005 on the Transistor

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, and released a follow-up called "Dead End Kids" in July 2006 also on Transistor. Since April 2006 he has been playing with a new band that features Phil King (

Felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

, Lush, Jesus and Mary Chain) on lead guitar,

Loz Colbert Laurence John "Loz" Colbert (born 27 June 1970) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Ride and formerly of The Animalhouse, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass and Gaz Coombes. His drumming style has been characterized as fu ...

( Ride) on drums and Mark Crozer on bass. The band has performed his new material at several low key gigs including Whelans in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and, later, the Carling Bar Academy in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

Personal life

Reid was born in East Kilbride and attended Hunter High School. He now lives in Sidmouth, Devon with his wife Julie Reid and has two daughters.

Discography

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Freeheat

Extended Plays * "Don't Worry Be Happy" (2000) * "Retox" (2002) Studio albums * "Back on the Water" (2006)

Solo

* "Song for a Secret" – single (2005) * "Dead End Kids" – single (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Jim 1961 births Living people British alternative rock guitarists British alternative rock singers British alternative rock musicians Scottish baritones 21st-century Scottish male singers Scottish rock guitarists Scottish male guitarists Scottish rock singers The Jesus and Mary Chain members People from East Kilbride 20th-century Scottish male singers