Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
The DEFINITE ARTICLE
We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions – and only accept THE definitive answer. This week it’s Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr
The treasured item you lost and wish you could have again…
All the time I wasted fretting about failing. Success and failure are inseparable.
The book that holds an everlasting resonance…
The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, a Russian novel about the devil appearing in the 1930s as a theatrical entertainer.
The priority activity if you were the Invisible Man for a day…
I’d read the Kremlin’s files on Russian leaders.
The unending quest that drives you on…
To make great music that gives people pleasure.
The pet hate that makes your hackles rise...
The lack of decorum in cinemas. I used to love going, but now you get people eating pizza and glued to their phones.
The poem that touches your soul…
My Heart’s In The Highlands by Rober t Burns. It’s so poignant.
Right: Duck Soup. Above right: cinema paraphernalia.
Far right: Santa Monica, California
The film you can watch time and time again…
The Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup (1933). I watched it with my mum Irene when I was six and roared with laughter.
The person who has influenced you most…
Charlie Burchill, my best pal and songwr it ing par tner. We’ve been mates since we were eight and have had amazing times – as well as big fights.
The misapprehension about yourself you wish you could erase…
That I must be linked to the Mafia because I own a hotel in Sicily. I built Villa Angela from scratch and it’s my most prized possession. Everyone told me I was mental because Sicily’s a nightmare for business, but it opened in 2004 and has been a success. And I’ve had as much experience of the Mafia as I have with the Loch Ness monster!
The piece of wisdom you would pass on to a child…
Embrace change.
The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity…
Hill walking. I like to take a wrong turn on a walk so I get lost. That’s how you find new things.
The figure from history for whom you’d most like to buy a pie and a pint…
Nelson Mandela. I met him three times and once he told me he wanted to go salmon fishing in the Highlands. I know nothing about fishing, but I’d love to have taken him.
The biggest regret you wish you could amend…
Losing touch with people who helped Simple Minds in the beginning. It’s been 40 years but we couldn’t have done it without them.
The event that altered the course of your life and character…
When we got a big record deal in 1978. As Glasgow lads, we thought we had as much chance of that happening as we did of becoming astronauts.
The song that means most to you…
Michael Row The Boat Ashore, which my mum taught me when I was three. It reminds me of her – she died aged 71 in 2010 from cancer.
The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with it…
I’d steal the keys to the world’s best art galleries so I could meditate in front of history’s greatest art.
The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions...
I love the morning light in Rome so I’d start with a stroll in the Villa Borghese gardens. I’d have breakfast at the Hotel d’Inghilterra. I’m a vegetarian, so I’d have an omelette. Then I’d walk into the wilds of Aberfoyle, Perthshire. Lunch would be at Min Jiang Chinese restaurant at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London, with my son James, 25 [from his marriage to Patsy Kensit], and twin grandsons Vincent and Jack, six [the children of his daughter Yasmin, from his marriage to Chrissie Hynde]. The boys support Arsenal – I’m Celtic – and we always eat there before a match. I’d watch the sunset on Santa Monica beach in California and then head home to Glasgow to see my dad, Jimmy, 80. He lives near me and is a hilarious comedian, so the day would end with a cup of tea and a few laughs.
The happiest moment you will cherish forever…
When Celtic won the European Cup in 1967. Our house was packed, with everyone screaming and on their knees. It was an incredible night.
The saddest time that shook your world…
The Aberfan disaster in 1966. I vividly remember watching the news.
The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you…
To speak French and Spanish fluently. I’ve cracked Italian, but no other languages.
The philosophy that underpins your life…
Be reliable, solid and dependable to your family and friends.
The order of service at your funeral…
I have a plot in a graveyard in Glasgow, not far from where I grew up. I want the song I Belong To Glasgow, which is funny so will raise the spirits. I’m tempted to have on my gravestone, ‘Don’t you forget about him!’
The way you want to be remembered…
He tried to punch above his weight.
The Plug…
Simple Minds’ new album Walk Between Worlds is released by BMG on 2 February and they tour the UK throughout the year. Visit simple minds. com. To book Hotel Villa Angela go to hotelvillaangela.com.
‘People think I’m linked to the Mafia because I own a hotel in Sicily, but I’ve had as much experience of them as I have with the Loch Ness monster’