Gerard Crosbie (born 1 October 1984), professionally known as Gerry Cinnamon, is a Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist. In 2020 his second album, ''

The Bonny ''The Bonny'' is the second studio album by the Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist Gerry Cinnamon. It was released on 17 April 2020 by Little Runaway Records. The album includes the singles "Canter", "Sun Queen", " Dark Days", " Th ...

'', reached number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and became the third biggest selling UK album released that year. He sings using Glaswegian dialect.A superstar? An enigma? Gerry Cinnamon is our next folk hero ready to leap
Big Issue, 20 February 2019

Career

Early life and bands

Crosbie was raised in The Valley, a residential area of the

Castlemilk Castlemilk () is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourhoods of Rutherglen#Sp ...

district of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He has stated that as a child he listened to his mother's music cassettes including albums by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. He has said that he was a fan of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment and

The La's The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single " There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike ...

. He has a particular admiration for the work of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. Having experienced problems in the local area and in school as a young teenager, he spent some time living in London with the father of a friend; finding himself with little to do "apart from watch cricket or play guitar", he became proficient in the instrument (as well as the harmonica). On returning to Scotland he began writing songs, with his growing interest in creating and performing music proving a distraction in his attempts to hold down jobs in various industries over several years. While performing a solo gig at a college he met aspiring producer Chris Marshall, a neighbour from Castlemilk. They began collaborating on a casual basis with Marshall arranging the songs and Crosbie the lyricist, and eventually formed a

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

band, The Cinnamons, along with Lori Duncan, Dave Bass and Gav Hunter; with Gerry as

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, they released a five-song EP in 2010. Crosbie subsequently adopted the Cinnamon name as a solo performer and his later catalogue contains some compositions from the era, such as "Sometimes". An

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

night in a bar on

Sauchiehall Street Sauchiehall Street () is one of the main shopping streets in the Glasgow city centre, city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, Glasgow, Argyle Street. Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sau ...

in central Glasgow gave him an opportunity to perform his songs, and the event became increasingly popular. In 2014, having sold-out gigs at small venues purely through

word of mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...

and

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, he was invited to write and perform a song at a rally event in

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence. The song, "Hope Over Fear", which was released as a single, introduced him to a wider audience – however he has stated that he had no desire to become a figurehead for the Yes campaign. In summer 2015, Cinnamon supported John Power on tour, released another single, "Kampfire Vampire", and performed to a large crowd on the T-Break Stage at

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

, fulfilling a long-held ambition to play at the festival. In July 2016, he again performed at T in the Park, this time at the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent stage as he had hoped to do a year earlier. Despite having one of the traditionally least popular time slots across the weekend (2pm on Friday), his performance was again well-attended. In October he was announced as 'Best Live Act' at the 2016 Scottish Alternative Music Awards. In November, without being signed to a record label, he headlined at Glasgow's

O2 ABC Glasgow The O2 ABC was a nightclub and music venue on Sauchiehall Street, in the centre of Glasgow. The building was constructed in 1875, renovated many times in its lifetime and also largely rebuilt in the 1920s. The building was used for numerous f ...

, the promotion of which had consisted of a single message on his Facebook profile; he later admitted he was so disorganised that he had not prepared a set list for the performance. In December, he supported

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) is an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums, including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 singles to d ...

in their show at the

SSE Hydro The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland. The arena was initially named The Scottish Hydro Arena after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro Electric. During construction, Scottish ...

2017: Debut album

In July 2017, Cinnamon appeared on the King Tut's stage at the

TRNSMT TRNSMT (pronounced as "Transmit") is a music festival staged at Glasgow Green in Glasgow, Scotland, organised by DF Concerts. History An early line-up for the first TRNSMT festival was revealed in January 2017, two months after the announceme ...

festival (a non-camping replacement for T in the Park) on

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

, again playing to a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd. In September, he released his first album '' Erratic Cinematic'', funded via the

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects, such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist pa ...

platform and produced by Chris Marshall, which rose to the number 1 spot in the UK

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

chart for singer-songwriters and 6th overall. On the back of the album's release, he announced a show at the

Barrowland Ballroom The Barrowland Ballroom (also known as ''Barrowland'' and ''The Barras'') is an entertainment venue, dance hall and music venue located in the Calton district in Glasgow, Scotland. A prominent feature of the music scene in Glasgow, the venue ...

to take place in December, followed a few days later by a second date. This achievement – a first for an unsigned artist – later earned him a place in the 'Barrowland Hall of Fame' alongside the likes of Glasgow son

Frankie Miller Francis John Miller (born 2 November 1949) is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter and actor. Miller wrote for and performed with many recording artists and is best known for his 1977 album ''Full House'', the singles "Be Good To Yourself", " D ...

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

. In October, he was presented with a "Great Scot Award" for entertainment, following previous winners of the category such as

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-u ...

and Kevin Bridges. In December it was confirmed he would be returning to TRNSMT in 2018, this time on the main stage. A few days before playing his Barrowland gigs, Cinnamon spoke out against operators of ticket scalping websites, after discovering they had purchased gig tickets at face value and then offered them for sale on their sites to desperate fans at hugely inflated prices. Following his main stage performance at TRNSMT 2018, his debut album entered the

Scottish Albums Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

, peaking at no. 7 in July 2018.

2018: Touring

The early months of 2018 were dominated by a sold-out Scottish tour, followed by several dates across the rest of Britain and Ireland, with some gigs moved to higher capacity venues due to the demand. During one performance in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, he briefly stopped playing to confront a member of the audience who had thrown a drink onto the stage. On 28 June 2018, two days before the event, the organisers of TRNSMT announced that Cinnamon's performance at the festival had been moved to a later, higher profile time slot (benefitting from

J Hus Momodou Lamin Jallow (born 26 October 1996) known professionally as J Hus, is a British rapper and singer who has been credited with pioneering the genre Afroswing. He is currently signed to Black Butter Records. He gained popularity in 2015 f ...

's cancellation). He was also booked to play at the RiZE Festival (the replacement of the long-running

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

) and the Tartan Heart Festival (Belladrum) during August 2018. A further four gigs were announced for the coming December in Glasgow, including on Christmas Eve; those also sold out. Some complained to Cinnamon via social media about the prices of tickets available on resale sites, leading him to respond publicly "If you think I want some corporate goon reselling my ticks for 10x the asking price you've lost it. If you think I'm somehow involved or can stop it when the biggest bands in the world can't do anything about it then you're misinformed at best". Further December 2018 shows in Dundee, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock were later announced. Following a run of arena shows supporting

The Courteeners Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 2006 by Liam Fray (lead guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel "Conan" Moores (rhythm guitar) and Mark Cuppello ...

, Cinnamon announced his own England and Ireland tour.

2019

Cinnamon headlined a stage at

Edinburgh's Hogmanay Edinburgh's Hogmanay is the celebration and observance of Hogmanay—the Scottish celebration of the New Year—held in the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh. The fireworks display at Edinburgh Castle are broadcast on television in Scotland, ...

2018/19 street party. In January 2019, he played two gigs in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In February, he was announced as one of the Friday main stage performers at the forthcoming TRNSMT event in July, and was also added to the bill for several other festivals in the summer season including

Benicàssim Benicàssim (; ); officially Benicasim / Benicàssim) is a municipality and beach resort located in the province of Castellón, on the Costa del Azahar in Spain. The Desert de les Palmes mountain range further inland shelters the town from ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

Kendal Calling Kendal Calling is a music and arts festival, held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria in the North West of England. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to a 40,000 capacity 4-day music festival. Kend ...

Y Not ''Y Not'' is the sixteenth studio album by English singer-songwriter Ringo Starr, released on 12 January 2010 on the UMe and Hip-O Records labels. the album features several guest musicians, including Paul McCartney, who sang backing vocals o ...

and

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. On 7 May 2019, it was announced that Cinnamon would support

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...

at his gig at Irish Independent Park in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

on 23 June 2019. On 12 July, it was announced that he would be performing at the new

P&J Live P&J Live (also known as The Event Complex Aberdeen) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Aberdeen, Scotland. Opened in August 2019, it offers a capacity for all types of shows and events from 5,000 to 15,000. Replacing the former Aberdeen Exhibiti ...

venue in Aberdeen on Saturday 23 November, which subsequently broke the record for highest attendance at a Scottish indoor event at 15,000 attendees, and two shows at the

in his hometown of Glasgow on Friday 20 December. The arena tour was further extended throughout venues in England and Ireland with all 125,000 tickets selling out in advance. In December, Cinnamon supported Liam Gallagher during his Australian tour as well as playing his own shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

2020

In November 2019, Cinnamon announced his second album named ''

'' would be released on 17 April 2020 on his own label Little Runaway. Alongside the album announcement, Cinnamon revealed that he will play the biggest show of his career at the 50,000+ capacity

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, becoming the first Scottish act to headline the national stadium. Tickets went on sale on 15 November 2019 and were sold out within hours. On 11 February 2020, it was announced that Gerry Cinnamon would perform the penultimate slot at Reading and Leeds festival in August 2020; the festivals were later rescheduled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Cinnamon went on to play the penultimate slot at Reading and Leeds Festival in August 2021. Gerry Cinnamon's second studio album, ''The Bonny'', released on 17 April 2020 debuted at number one on the UK and

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by t ...

s. The album was also the fastest-selling vinyl of the year and the third biggest-selling UK album released in 2020. Cinnamon was scheduled to tour the United States for the first time as well as join the

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

and Rancid as special guest on their May 2020 tour, pending the status of the COVID-19 outbreak there. On 21 May 2020, Cinnamon announced that due to the coronavirus pandemic, he had moved the dates for his UK and Ireland tour to May and June 2021.

2021-2022

Gerry spent 2021-2022 playing his biggest shows to date. His 350,000-capacity UK and Ireland tour, originally due to happen in 2020, included shows at Birmingham and Manchester Arenas, London's Alexandra Palace, the 25,000 capacity Malahide Castle, Dublin, and Musgrave Park Stadium, Cork. He also headlined at Swansea's Singleton Park, the second biggest show ever held in the Welsh city, and set the record as the first artist to sell out three headline shows at the Belsonic, Belfast, playing to over 60,000 fans. Cinnamon was due to play Shaky Knees Music Festival on 30 April 2022, but show organizers announced on April 18 that he would not be performing. No details were forthcoming. The tour concluded with two homecoming shows at

. With these shows, playing to over 100,000 people, Cinnamon was the first independent act and first Scot to sell out multiple nights at the national stadium.

Views on the music industry

He has encouraged aspiring artists to believe in themselves despite a lack of expensive backing, and expressed a scathing distaste for the nature of music industry marketing and excessive hyping artists, stating in 2016:

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Other certified songs

References

External links

Biography and discography
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cinnamon, Gerry 1985 births Living people People educated at Kings Park Secondary School 21st-century Scottish male singers Scottish rock guitarists Scottish rock singers Scottish male singer-songwriters Scottish singer-songwriters Singers from Glasgow 21st-century British guitarists British indie folk musicians