The band became best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

Other commercially successful singles include "Promised You a Miracle" (1982), "Glittering Prize" (1982), "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" (1982), "Waterfront" (1983), "Alive and Kicking" (1985), "Sanctify Yourself" (1986), "Let There Be Love" (1991), "She's a River" (1995), and the UK number one single "Belfast Child" (1989).

Simple Minds have achieved 24 top 40 singles on the UK Singles Chart, and 23 top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart,[1] including five number one albums:[2] Sparkle in the Rain (1984), Once Upon a Time (1985), Live in the City of Light (1987), Street Fighting Years (1989), and Glittering Prize 81/92 (1992).

[1] They have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide,[3] and were the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s.

[4] Simple Minds have had chart success in the United States, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.