Paul Simonon

Paul Gustave Simonon (/ˈsɪmənən/; born 15 December 1955)^{[citation needed]} is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for the Clash. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach in 2010, which saw Simonon reunite with the Clash guitarist Mick Jones and Blur frontman Damon Albarn – and which also led to Simonon becoming the live band's touring bassist for Gorillaz's Escape to Plastic Beach Tour. Simonon is also an established visual artist.

Simonon was born in Thornton Heath, Croydon, Surrey. His father, Gustave, was an amateur artist and his mother, Elaine, was a librarian. Simonon's paternal grandfather was a Belgian refugee who came to England during the First World War. Paul grew up in both the London areas of Brixton and Ladbroke Grove. Before joining the Clash, he had planned to become an artist. He studied at Byam Shaw School of Art (then based in Campden St, Kensington), which he attended on scholarship.

In 1976, Mick Jones of protopunk band London SS was putting together a new band, inspired by the arrival of the Sex Pistols. London SS manager Bernard Rhodes recommended hiring Simonon due to his attitude and looks, despite Simonon not knowing how to play an instrument. Jones attempted to teach Simonon the guitar but gave up in a matter of hours and asked him to play bass instead. Six months later, the Clash was formed when vocalist and guitarist Joe Strummer completed the lineup. Strummer has since remarked that Simonon learned to play bass by playing along to the Ramones first album.

Simonon is credited with coming up with the name of the band and was mainly responsible for the visual aspects such as clothing and stage backdrops. Simonon was depicted on the front cover of the band's double album London Calling in Pennie Smith's now iconic photograph of him smashing his Fender Precision Bass guitar during a 1979 concert in New York City, undoubtedly one of the signature images of the punk era.

Simonon played bass on almost all of the Clash's songs. Recordings that he did not play on include: "The Magnificent Seven" and "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)" on Sandinista! (played by Norman Watt-Roy), "Rock the Casbah" on Combat Rock (played by Topper Headon), and Cut the Crap (played by Norman Watt-Roy). Sandinista! featured bass played by Jones or Strummer, some but possibly not all of which Simonon later re-recorded once he rejoined the sessions after filming Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. Also, when performing "The Guns of Brixton" live he switched instruments with Joe Strummer, because it was easier for him to sing while playing guitar, instead of bass as he sings lead vocals on this track.

After the Clash dissolved in 1986, Simonon started a band called Havana 3am. He recorded one album with them. He also participated in a Bob Dylan session along with the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones that became part of the Dylan album Down in the Groove. Also, Simonon works as an artist – his first passion before joining the Clash. He has had several gallery shows, and designed the cover for Big Audio Dynamite's album, Tighten Up, Vol. 88, as well as the cover for "Herculean" from the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen, a project with Damon Albarn on which Simonon plays bass. Paul reunited with Damon Albarn and Mick Jones on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, and was also the bassist of the Gorillaz live band supporting Plastic Beach, along with Mick Jones on guitar. The band headlined the 2010 Coachella Festival, and took up residence at the Camden roundhouse for two nights in late April 2010.

In 2011, Simonon spent time aboard the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza incognito under the guise of "Paul the assistant cook" in response to Arctic oil drilling in Greenland by Cairn Oil. He joined other Greenpeace activists in illegally boarding one of Cairn's oil rigs; an action which earned him two weeks in a Greenland jail. His identity was revealed to other crew members after the voyage, and he joined Damon Albarn and the other members of the Good, the Bad & the Queen for a performance in London celebrating Greenpeace's 40th anniversary.

Actor Pete Morrow portrays Simonon in the 2016 film London Town. The film was met with mixed reviews.