| Name |
The Proclaimers |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
Scottish |
| Date of Birth |
5-March-1962 |
| Place of Birth |
Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland |
| Famous for |
singing |
The Proclaimers are a Scottish duo composed of identical twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid. They are best known for the songs "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", "I'm On My Way" and "Letter from America". The band tours extensively throughout the world. They have released nine studio albums from 1987 until the present, as well as two compilation albums and a DVD.
In 2011, the band had a notable achievement in Scotland when two of their tracks, "Sunshine on Leith" and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", were featured on Scotland's Greatest Album (2011).
Craig Reid and Charlie Reid were born in Leith in 1962, and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty. When they stayed in Auchtermuchty they attended Bell Baxter High School. After several punk rock bands at school they formed The Proclaimers in 1983.
The pair came to public attention when an Inverness based fan sent their demo to the British band The Housemartins, who were impressed enough to invite The Proclaimers on their 1986 UK tour. The exposure of the tour won them a January 1987 appearance on the British pop music television programme The Tube on Channel Four; "Letter from America" peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, whilst the album this is the Story went gold. The follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and "I'm On My Way". They had a hit with their EP King of the Road, which reached number 9 in UK in 1990.
In March 2007 they recorded a new version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with television comedy characters Andy Pipkin (played by Matt Lucas) and Brian Potter (Peter Kay) for the Comic Relief charity. A long list of celebrities were featured in the music video for this new version, including David Bellamy, Rod, Jane and Freddy, Paul O'Grady, David Tennant, Frank Sidebottom and many more. This new version of the song reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
The band was one of The B-52s' touring partners on their Funplex tour in Australia and New Zealand in November 2009, alongside Mental as Anything.
In addition, they featured in VH1's 100 greatest one hit wonders ("I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" having been their only US hit single).
