James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961)[1] is a Scottish singer who rose to prominence in the 1980s with the synth-pop groups Bronski Beat and the Communards.

With Bronski Beat, Somerville achieved commercial success with the 1984 single "Smalltown Boy" which reached the top spot in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and the US Hot Dance Club Play.

Additionally, it reached the top five in the United Kingdom, West Germany, Ireland and New Zealand as well as charting within the US Billboard Hot 100.

[2][3][4][5][6] Bronski Beat's debut album The Age of Consent (1984) was the only release Somerville contributed to as lead vocalist before leaving the band in 1985 and joining The Communards.

Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985 and formed The Communards with classically-trained pianist Richard Coles, who became a Church of England vicar and broadcaster.

[19] They had several hits, including a cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Don't Leave Me This Way",[1] which spent four weeks at No.

He also sang backing vocals on Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds", which was a UK Top 10 hit.

And that is far more important than gold-selling records" In 1991, Somerville provided backing vocals to a track called "Why Aren't You in Love With Me?"

1 hit on the US dance chart), "Hurt So Good" and "By Your Side", though commercial success was now beginning to elude him and his contract with London Records to which he had been signed for over a decade came to an end.

In the same year he provided vocals on "The Number One Song in Heaven" for the Sparks album Plagiarism with production by Tony Visconti.

2010's EP Bright Thing was the first of a series of three, with Somerville releasing Momentum in 2011 and Solent in 2012, with long-term collaborator John Winfield.

"[22] He has also had an acting career, appearing in Sally Potter's 1992 film of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, in Isaac Julien's 1989 Looking for Langston, and in an episode of the cult science fiction television series Lexx ("Girltown").

[23][unreliable source] In February 2021, Somerville teamed up with producer Sally Herbert (formerly of 1990s duo Banderas and also part of The Communards' backing band) to record a cover of "Everything Must Change" by Benard Ighner as a charity record for End Youth Homelessness, a network of projects which includes Centrepoint in London and a number of other homeless charity organisations around the UK.