Deacon Blue

Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow in 1985, currently consisting of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, drummer Dougie Vipond, guitarist Gregor Philp and bassist Lewis Gordon. In 2013, their estimated album sales stood at six million, and by 2020 were estimated to have risen to in excess of seven million, with twelve UK top 40 singles, along with two number one albums in both the United Kingdom and their native Scotland. The band released their debut album, Raintown (1987) to critical and commercial success, with their second album, When the World Knows Your Name (1989), topping the UK Albums Chart for two weeks. The single "Real Gone Kid" became their first top ten single in the UK Singles Chart and reached number one in Spain. Deacon Blue followed up the success of their first two albums with Fellow Hoodlums (1991) and Whatever You Say, Say Nothing (1993). The band split in 1994 until five years later, holding a reunion gig which led on to a new album, Walking Back Home (1999). The band released another album, Homesick (2001), the last to feature guitarist Graeme Kelling; he died from pancreatic cancer in 2004. In 2006, the band recorded three new songs for a Singles album – including the single "Bigger than Dynamite". Deacon Blue returned after a period of absence to release The Hipsters (2012), their first studio album since Homesick in 2001. The band released a further four albums following their reunion – A New House, (2014), Believers (2016), City of Love (2020) and Riding on the Tide of Love (2021) to commercial success. In 2024, they released "Late '88" as the lead single from their eleventh studio album The Great Western Road (2025).