James Prime (3 November 196019 June 2025) was a Scottish musician, keyboardist and lecturer, who was best known as the keyboard player for rock band Deacon Blue which he joined in 1985, remaining a member until his death. He featured on all eleven of their studio albums, the most recent, '' The Great Western Road'' (2025), released three months prior to his death. The album achieved commercial success in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. Alongside his music career, he also lectured at the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...

. Prime died of cancer in June 2025.

Early life

Prime was born in the town of Kilmarnock in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

on 3 November 1960. Prime's career began as a session musician on an

Altered Images Altered Images is a Scottish New wave music, new wave/post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums ...

tour of the United States in 1980 with the band

Career

Deacon Blue (1985–2025)

In 1985, Prime joined the band Deacon Blue which was was formed in

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 ...

by Ricky Ross and comprised Prime on keyboards, Graeme Kelling on guitar, vocalist Lorraine McIntosh, bass guitarist Ewen Vernal and Dougie Vipond on drums. In 2013, their estimated album sales stood at six million, and by 2020 were estimated to have risen to in excess of seven million, with twelve UK top 40 singles, along with two number one albums in both the United Kingdom and their native Scotland. The band released their debut album, '' Raintown'' (1987) to critical and commercial success, with their second album, '' When the World Knows Your Name'' (1989), topping 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 ...

for two weeks. The single " Real Gone Kid" became their first top ten single in the UK Singles Chart and reached number one in Spain. Deacon Blue followed up the success of their first two albums with '' Fellow Hoodlums'' (1991) and '' Whatever You Say, Say Nothing'' (1993). The band split in 1994 until five years later, holding a reunion gig which led on to a new album, '' Walking Back Home'' (1999). The band released another album, '' Homesick'' (2001), the last to feature guitarist Graeme Kelling following his death from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

in 2004. In 2006, the band recorded three new songs for a '' Singles'' album – including the single " Bigger than Dynamite". Deacon Blue returned after a period of absence to release '' The Hipsters'' (2012), their first studio album since ''Homesick'' in 2001. The band released a further four albums following their reunion – '' A New House'', (2014), '' Believers'' (2016), '' City of Love'' (2020) and '' Riding on the Tide of Love'' (2021) to commercial success. In 2024, they released "Late 88" as the lead single from their eleventh studio album '' The Great Western Road'' (2025).

Other work

Prime went on to join a theatrical production of the experiences of a band of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

boys in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

entitled ''The Big Picnic'' (staged in the Harland & Wolff

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

in Glasgow). During that time Prime was also enlisted as Hammond organ player for

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

and departed to France for a two-year stint with Hallyday's band. The band, accompanied by various guests (including

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

, Mick Jones) played a continuous sold-out 19 nights at the capacity Bercy Arena in Paris. He then worked with Hallyday on '' Lorada'' (1995) in the Guillaume Tell studios in Paris. On his return, a call from Benny Gallagher led to Prime developing an idea to create a School of Music and Recording Technology (SMART). The University of Paisley (now the

) picked up on the idea, and now in its eleventh year, the Commercial Music course hosts 250 students. Lecturers include

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon, seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the NASA Astronaut ...

of The Pearlfishers, Paul McGeechan ( Love and Money) Alan McCusker Thompson (The Painted Word), Allan Dumbreck ( The Big Dish) and Jo Collinson-Scott (Jo Mango).

Death

Prime died on 19 June 2025 at the age of 64, following a short battle with cancer.

Discography

* '' Raintown'' (1987) * '' When the World Knows Your Name'' (1989) * '' Fellow Hoodlums'' (1991) * '' Whatever You Say, Say Nothing'' (1993) * '' Walking Back Home'' (1999) * '' Homesick'' (2001) * '' The Hipsters'' (2012) * '' A New House'' (2014) * '' Believers'' (2016) * '' City of Love'' (2020) * '' Riding on the Tide of Love'' (2021) * '' The Great Western Road'' (2025)

References

External Links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prime, James 1960 births 2025 deaths People educated at the Glasgow Academy Scottish keyboardists Academics of the University of the West of Scotland People from Kilmarnock Deacon Blue members