Midge Ure

United Kingdom • b. 1953-10-10

Biography

James Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids, Visage, and as the second bandleader of Ultravox after John Foxx had left, carrying the band into high chart positions for the six following years before disbanding it. In 1984, he co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the supergroup Band Aid, which he organised with Bob Geldof. He acts as a trustee for the charity. The single sold 3.7 million copies in the UK at first release, has become a staple of Christmas songs compilations ever since, and is the second-highest-selling single in UK chart history. He also organised the events Live Aid and Live 8 with Geldof, and serves as an ambassador for Save the Children. Ure is the producer and writer of several synth-pop and new wave hit singles of the 1980s, including "Fade to Grey" (1980) by Visage and the Ultravox signature songs "Vienna" (1980), "Hymn" (1983) and "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" (1984). He achieved his first UK top 10 solo hit in 1982 with "No Regrets". In 1985, his solo debut studio album The Gift reached number two in the UK Albums Chart and yielded the UK singles chart number-one single "If I Was". He also co-wrote Phil Lynott's "Yellow Pearl", which served as the theme of Top of the Pops for much of the 1980s.

Bio from Wikipedia