Paul Gustave Simonon (; born 15 December 1955) is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz album '' Plastic Beach'' in 2010, which saw Simonon reunite with The Clash guitarist Mick Jones and Blur frontman Damon Albarn – and which also led to Simonon becoming the live band's touring bassist for Gorillaz's Escape to Plastic Beach Tour. Simonon is also an established visual artist.

Early life

Simonon was born in Thornton Heath,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. His father, Gustave, was an amateur artist and his mother, Elaine, was a librarian. Simonon's paternal grandfather was a Belgian who moved to England during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He grew up in both the South London area of Brixton and

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also a name given to ...

in West London, spending around a year in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

and Rome, Italy with his mother and stepfather. Before joining the Clash, he had planned to become an artist. He studied at Byam Shaw School of Art (then based in Campden St, Kensington), which he attended on scholarship.

Career

Paul Simonon The Clash September 20 1979 Palladium NYC

He met Mick Jones in 1976, and six months later the Clash was formed when

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, f ...

joined, with Jones on lead guitar. Simonon learned his bass parts by rote from Jones in the early days of The Clash and still did not know how to play the bass when the group first recorded. He is credited with coming up with the name of the band and was mainly responsible for the visual aspects such as clothing and stage backdrops. Simonon was shown on the front cover of the band's double album ''

London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. Th ...

'': Pennie Smith's image of him smashing his Fender Precision Bass guitar during a 1979 concert in New York City; the image has become one of the iconic pictures of the punk era.Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". '' Uncut''. October 2004. p.70. Simonon played bass on almost all of the Clash's songs. Recordings that he did not play on include: "The Magnificent Seven" and "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)" on ''

Sandinista! ''Sandinista!'' is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, ...

'' (played by Norman Watt-Roy), "

Rock the Casbah "Rock the Casbah" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash, released in 1982. The song was released as the second single from their fifth album, '' Combat Rock''. It reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the US ( ...

" on '' Combat Rock'' (played by Topper Headon), and ''

Cut the Crap ''Cut the Crap'' is the sixth and final studio album by English punk band the Clash, released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records. It was recorded in early 1985 at Weryton Studios, Munich, following a turbulent period: co-founder, lead guita ...

'' (played by Norman Watt-Roy). ''

'' featured bass played by Jones or Strummer, some but possibly not all of which Simonon later re-recorded once he rejoined the sessions after filming '' Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains''. Also, when performing " The Guns of Brixton" live he switched instruments with Joe Strummer, because it was easier for him to sing while playing guitar, instead of bass as he sings lead vocals on this track. Simonon's

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

/ ska-influenced lines set him apart from the bulk of other punk rock bassists of the era in their complexity and the role of the bass guitar within the band. Paul- Simonon

After the Clash dissolved in 1986, Simonon started a band called Havana 3am. He recorded one album with them. He also participated in a

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

session along with the Sex Pistols'

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist * Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

that became part of the Dylan album ''

Down in the Groove ''Down in the Groove'' is the 25th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 30, 1988 by Columbia Records. A highly collaborative effort, it was Dylan's second consecutive album to receive almost unanimously negative r ...

''. Also, Simonon works as an artist – his first passion before joining the Clash. He has had several gallery shows, and designed the cover for

Big Audio Dynamite Big Audio Dynamite (later known as Big Audio Dynamite II and Big Audio, and often abbreviated BAD) were an English band, formed in London in 1984 by Mick Jones, former lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. The band mixed various mu ...

's album, '' Tighten Up, Vol. 88'', as well as the cover for " Herculean" from the album '' The Good, the Bad & the Queen'', a project with Damon Albarn on which Simonon plays bass. Paul reunited with Damon Albarn and Mick Jones on the Gorillaz album '' Plastic Beach'', and was also the bassist of the Gorillaz live band supporting ''Plastic Beach'', along with Mick Jones on guitar. The band headlined the 2010

Coachella Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It ...

, and took up residence at the Camden roundhouse for two nights in late April 2010. In 2011, Simonon spent time aboard the

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

vessel ''Esperanza'' incognito under the guise of "Paul the assistant cook" in response to Arctic oil drilling in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

by Cairn Oil. He joined other Greenpeace activists in illegally boarding one of Cairn's oil rigs; an action which earned him two weeks in a Greenland jail. His identity was revealed to other crew members after the voyage, and he joined Damon Albarn and the other members of the Good, the Bad & the Queen for a performance in London celebrating Greenpeace's 40th anniversary. Actor Pete Morrow portrays Simonon in the 2016 film '' London Town''. The film was met with mixed reviews.

Discography

;With the Clash * ''

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

'' (1977) * '' Give 'Em Enough Rope'' (1978) * ''

'' (1979) * ''

'' (1980) * '' Combat Rock'' (1982) * ''

'' (1985) ;With Havana 3 am * '' Havana 3 am'' (1991) ;With The Good, the Bad & the Queen * '' The Good, the Bad & the Queen'' (2007) * '' Merrie Land'' (2018) ;With Gorillaz * '' Plastic Beach'' (2010)
Simonon reunites with Clash guitarist Mick Jones on the album's title track.

Art

Selected solo exhibitions

* ''From Hammersmith to Greenwich'' (2002) * ''Paul Simonon Recent Paintings'' (2008) * ''Wot no Bike'', ICA Nash and Brandon Rooms (2015). To accompany the exhibition, Simonon published a limited edition hardback publication also titled ''Wot no Bike''. Featuring 24 of the paintings, it includes an introduction by David Lancaster, a writer on classic bikes and culture and an interview between Simonon and Tim Marlow, Director of Artistic Programmes at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Selected group exhibitions

* John Martin Gallery (1996) * ''Eyes of a Child'' (1998) * ''Crusaid'' Edinburgh Art Centre (1998) * ''Art Tube Exhibition'' London Underground (2001) * ''Notting Hill Arts Exhibition'' (2001) * ''Colony Room Show'' (2001)

Early life

Career

Discography

Art

Selected solo exhibitions

Selected group exhibitions

References

Further reading

External links