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September 3, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum
Midge Ure OBE.
Birth name James Ure
Born 10 October 1953 (age 64)
Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Genres
New wave synthpop post-punk art rock pop rock hard rock
Occupation(s) Musician, si...Midge Ure OBE.
Birth name James Ure
Born 10 October 1953 (age 64)
Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Genres
New wave synthpop post-punk art rock pop rock hard rock
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer
Years active 1972–present
Associated acts Slik, Rich Kids, Misfits, Visage, Thin Lizzy, Ultravox, Band Aid
Website midgeure.com
James "Midge" Ure OBE (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his given name.
Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and '80s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and most notably as frontman of Ultravox.
In 1984, Ure co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which has sold 3.7 million copies in the UK. The song is the second highest selling single in UK chart history.
Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. Ure acts as trustee for the charity, and serves as ambassador for Save the Children.
Ure is the producer and writer of several other synthpop/new wave hit singles of the 1980s, including "Fade to Grey" (1980) by Visage and the Ultravox signature songs "Vienna" (1980) and "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" (1984).
Ure achieved his first UK top 10 solo hit in 1982 with "No Regrets". In 1985, his solo debut album The Gift reached number two in the UK Albums Chart and yielded the UK number one single, "If I Was".
Ure also co-wrote Phil Lynott's "Yellow Pearl", which served as the theme of Top of the Pops for much of the 1980s.
Ultravox
In 1979 Ure and Billy Currie formed a close bond playing together in Visage. Rusty Egan persuaded Billy Currie to ask Ure if he was interested in joining a revived Ultravox.
Ultravox had been presumed defunct since guitarist Robin Simon quit and lead singer John Foxx had left to pursue a solo career.
In April 1979 Ure regrouped the band and assumed duties as singer, songwriter, guitarist and second keyboardist.
This second incarnation would become the classic line-up, with Currie (keyboards, violin), Chris Cross (bass) and Warren Cann (electronic drums).
Although Ure had spent the latter half of 1979 on tour with Thin Lizzy, Ultravox found time late in the year to tour in the USA. During this time the band wrote a number of songs which were included on their first album with Ure.
The album, Vienna, was recorded in 1980.
Personal life
Ure resides near Bath. He has been married twice: to actress and writer Annabel Giles (with whom he has one daughter, Molly, who found fame with The Faders) and to Sheridan Forbes (with whom he has three daughters, Kitty, Ruby and Flossie).
Ure's two main passions are music and cooking. He was able to indulge the second of these in the 2007 Celebrity MasterChef series, winning his heat and progressing to the final on 15 June, alongside Nadia Sawalha and Craig Revel Horwood.
Although all three competitors greatly impressed the judges, the trophy was won by Sawalha.
Ure is a recovering alcoholic, something he openly admits and discusses in his autobiography If I Was. In an interview with The Guardian in 2012 Ure said: "If my family hadn't supported me through my alcoholism, I don't know if I'd be here today."
He said that the turning point came when he was on a holiday and he went back to his car to get a bottle of alcohol. "As I turned round there was my then 11-year-old daughter looking at me and it was utterly heartbreaking and devastating to see the look on her face.
Ure was raised in a family who supported Scottish football club Rangers, but he has little interest in the sport and felt uncomfortable with the religious divide surrounding football in Glasgow.
full history on Wikipedia.
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