Jim Kerr of Simple Minds on Live Aid, Celtic and playing in Ireland  

Now based in Sicily with his Japanese partner, the former resident of Dublin says U2 helped him find his house 

Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr of Simple Minds. Picture: Dean Chalkley

It’s a moment Jim Kerr won’t forget. Walking on stage to perform Don’t You Forget About Me and Promised You A Miracle during Simple Minds’ slot at Live Aid back in July 1985 at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. “We were on for 15 minutes and I spent 13 of them thinking about the fact that we’d just been introduced by Jack Nicholson,” he recalls.

Kerr was unaware he was going to be presented by the actor until the last minute. “I just kept thinking Jack Nicholson, I can’t f**king believe it, this is while we’re being broadcast to one of the biggest television audiences ever [1.9 billion]. He was everything you would want him to be, immensely warm and friendly, I’ve found that with all those guys, De Niro, Pacino, they might be movie actors but they are so real, that’s what’s appealing about them.”