Kemp wrote the lyrics and music for all 23 of Spandau Ballet's hit singles, including "To Cut a Long Story Short", "True", "Gold", "Chant No.

[9] Kemp played the lead role in the 1972 film Hide and Seek alongside Roy Dotrice[8] which was given a Royal premiere for the CFF's 21st anniversary, attended by the Duchess of Kent.

[8] Aged 14, Kemp played guitar with Islington-based The Same Band and future Spandau Ballet session keyboard player Ian 'Jess' Bailey.

[13] The band changed its name to The Cut then became power pop group The Makers,[14] favourably reviewed by New Musical Express in Dec 1977.

[15] Martin Kemp joined as bass player when they became Gentry in July 1978[16] before transforming into Spandau Ballet and playing live for the first time at Blitz on 5 December 1979.

[17] The band's early success was driven by London's burgeoning nightclubbing scene in which Gary Kemp identified Spandau's role: "We are making the most contemporary statement in fashion and music.

On 6 June 2018, Spandau Ballet played their first show with new singer Ross William Wild at London's Subterania[27][28] after Tony Hadley announced on social media that he had left the band.

[29] Spandau Ballet subsequently played six European shows in Rome, Milan, Padua, Utrecht and Tilburg with the last of those in London at Eventim Apollo Hammersmith on 29 October 2018.

The band made their live debut in May 2018 at Dingwalls in London[30] playing a selection of Pink Floyd material predating their 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon.

[34] Kemp performed "Through the Barricades" solo in December 1985 at London's Dominion Theatre for the Snowball Review, a fund raiser organised by Pete Townshend for a women's domestic violence charity.

He has written another musical, A Terrible Beauty, also with Pratt and Oscar nominated book writer Shane Connaughton (My Left Foot) based on the life of W. B. Yeats and Maud Gonne.

He released a second solo studio album, INSOLO, in 2021 on Columbia Records produced and mixed by Gary Kemp and keyboards player Toby Chapman.

[38] Kemp's first Hollywood movie was The Bodyguard, in 1992, with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, directed by Mick Jackson and written by Lawrence Kasdan.

He has continued acting on film, television and stage, taking the role of Serge in the West End production of Art in 2001, Pignight by Snoo Wilson at the Menier Theatre in May 2004 and as corrupt copper PC Collins in the revival of Lionel Bart's musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be[39] directed by Terry Johnson at Theatre Royal Stratford East with Jessie Wallace in 2014.

In 2014, Kemp co-wrote and presented the documentary Kick Out the Jams for ITV's Perspectives[43] about the arrival of Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the YBAs (Young British Artists).

In 2020, Kemp started "Rockonteurs", a podcast hosted with Guy Pratt, who has played as a session bass player with many bands including Pink Floyd.

On 1 August 2021, Kemp appeared on Johnnie Walker's BBC Radio 2 show Sounds of the 70s, choosing tracks which had inspired him, including David Bowie's cover of "See Emily Play" by Pink Floyd, "Debris" by Faces and "In The City" by the Jam.

[53] In 1986, Kemp performed in a show in support of the party at the Manchester Apollo with the collective of musicians Red Wedge, which included Billy Bragg, Johnny Marr and Paul Weller.