Jimmy Somerville Essentials

Jimmy Somerville Essentials

Throughout the ‘80s, Jimmy Somerville cemented his status as a gay club icon with disco-tinged earworms that fused anthemic hooks with intimate storytelling. Born in Glasgow in 1961, he relocated to London at 19 and formed synth-pop band Bronski Beat shortly after. Its 1984 breakout hit, “Smalltown Boy,” delved into Somerville's longing for a gay community he couldn't quite find in his hometown—but that wholeheartedly embraced him in London's urban sprawl. A string of hit disco covers with his next band, The Communards, anointed him a dance-music god—a motif he would later revisit on his 2015 solo album, Homage.

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