Kevin Ian Simm (born 5 September 1980) is an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of Liberty X (2001–2007) and is the vocalist of

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits on the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of the Troggs' 1960s hit " Love Is All Around", which ...

. Simm also won ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

'' in 2016.

Career

2001–2007: Liberty X

In 2001, Simm auditioned for the ITV reality television music competition ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, '' Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gr ...

'', a show intended to form a new group from individual contestants, becoming one of the finalists. While the five winning contestants formed

Hear'Say Hear'Say were a British pop group. They were created through the ITV (TV network), ITV reality TV show ''Popstars (British TV series), Popstars'' in February 2001, the first UK series of the international ''Popstars'' Media franchise, franch ...

, the five runner-up contestants – Simm, Tony Lundon, Jessica Taylor, Kelli Young and Michelle Heaton – formed the group Liberty X and signed a multimillion-pound record contract with

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

and

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music and V2 Benelux; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007, sold to PIAS in 2013 and partially acquired by Universal in 2022 (as part of larger PIAS 49% ...

. Liberty X released three studio albums and enjoyed seven Top 10 singles from 2001 to 2005: Their biggest hit, " Just a Little", reached number one in May 2002; " Thinking It Over", " Got to Have Your Love", " Song 4 Lovers", and " Holding on for You" all reached the top 5 in the UK Singles Chart. They split up in 2007 after selling over 3 million records worldwide. During this time, Simm appeared on '' The Games'', in 2005, winning a silver medal.

2008–2015: ''Brand New'' and Liberty X return

In 2007 Simm signed with the independent label Jamdown Records and started recording his first solo work. On 3 October 2008 he released his debut studio album, '' Brand New'', first only in Japan and two years later in Europe. The title song was released as the lead single and had a music video directed by Fatty Soprano. From 2009 to 2012 Simm performed live at festivals and pubs. In 2013 Simm reunited with Liberty X for

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

's reality show ''

The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...

'', along with other pop groups of their time –

B*Witched B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002 ...

Honeyz The Honeyz are a British Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group currently composed of members Célena Cherry, Heavenli Abdi and Cherry's sister, Candace Cherry, as a touring member. The group had five UK top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, with "Final ...

911 911, 9/11 or Nine Eleven may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** The 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, commonly referred to as 9/11 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that ousted the ...

, Five and

Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten were an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose original lineup comprised Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon, and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey an ...

– to solve past problems and do a live performance at the London

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

on 26 February. Due to the success, Liberty X returned for a full tour between 2013 and 2014. In 2017, Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young reformed Liberty X again, but as a three-piece girl group, without Kevin and Tony.

2016–2017: ''The Voice UK'' and ''Recover''

In 2016, Simm auditioned for the fifth series of ''

'' singing a soulful version of Sia's "

Chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

". All four coaches –

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

, Ricky Wilson,

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

and

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

– turned their chairs for him and he chose to join Faith's team. Simm lost against Faith Nelson in the battle rounds and was nearly eliminated from the competition, but was stolen by Wilson, joining his team for the knockout rounds. He won the season of ''The Voice UK'' on 9 April. In the same month, Simm signed with Universal and released his new single as ''The Voice'' winner, " All You Good Friends"; the song peaked at number 24 in the UK and 3 in Scotland. On 28 October 2016 it was released his second studio album, '' Recover'', the first by Universal, and chosen "Wildfire" as single.

2018–present: Wet Wet Wet

On 25 September 2018, it was announced that Simm would join Scottish band

as the new lead singer, replacing original member

Marti Pellow Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 to his d ...

. He debuted with the band in November of that year. On 5 November 2021 they released their first album with Simm as vocalist, ''The Journey'', peaking at number 29 in UK.

Personal life

Simm married Laura Simm in June 2008, after 7 years of dating. They have two children: Charlie, born in October 2011, and Oliver, born in November 2013.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

;As main artist ;As featured artist

Songwriting credits

Filmography

Television

References

External links

Official website

Kevin Simm – Brand New , Amazon Japan

Kevin Simm – Brand New , HMV Japan

JamDown Music

Kevin Simm Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simm, Kevin English male singers English pop singers English soul singers English male songwriters Musicians from Lancashire People from Chorley 1980 births Living people Liberty X The Voice (franchise) winners The Voice UK contestants Wet Wet Wet members