Midge Ure

Midge Ure OBE
Ure in 2005
Background information
Birth name	James Ure
Born	(1953-10-10) 10 October 1953 (age 70) Cambuslang, Scotland
Genres	New wave synth-pop post-punk art rock hard rock
Occupation(s)	Musician singer-songwriter record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar keyboards synthesizer
Years active	1969–present
Formerly of	Ultravox Visage Slik Rich Kids
Website	midgeure.com

James "Midge" Ure OBE (/jʊər/; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, a hypocorism of his given name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and as the second frontman of Ultravox. In 1984, he 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.^[1] Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He acts as a trustee for the charity and also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children.

Ure is the producer and writer of several other 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).^[2] 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.