Gary Kemp was the creative force behind Spandau Ballet, writing hit tracks such as Gold and True (Image: Guitarist Magazine/Future via Getty Images)
When brothers Gary and Martin Kemp formed Spandau Ballet in the Eighties, they became superstars in one of the most successful pop bands in history. Across 20 years, including a decade-long reunion from 2009 to 2019, the New Romantic five-piece sold 25 million albums and became part of the synth-pop Second British Invasion.
And as guitarist and songwriter, Gary was Spandau Ballet’s creative force – penning global hits, such as Gold and True.
His success also translated to . In 1990, he and Martin co-starred in the gangster biopic The Krays. Then came The Bodyguard, alongside Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, which became one of the top ten highest-grossing films of all time following its 1992 release.
Despite all this, Gary – who releases his third solo album, the reflective This Destination, next Friday – reveals he still struggles to acknowledge his talent.
“When I was young, a lot of time was wasted thinking I was an imposter and shouldn’t really be there. Always. For a long time. Not now so much, no, but you do occasionally feel that,” he admits.
Those doubts persist to this day when he is being complimented on his songwriting.
“It gives me a warm feeling but also then part of me thinks, ‘Really? Is it true?’” he smiles. “In many ways, I wish I’d trusted myself and done more than three albums. Now, I would tell my younger self to work harder, as life is too short.
“Don’t take time deliberating on whether you are good enough. Just do it.”
Eighties legend Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet performs on stage at London’s O2 in 2015 (Image: Redferns via Getty Images)
The modest musician says he’s proud to have been part of the Eighties music phenomenon.
“We had no computers to smarten things up. People were good at what they did. The young kids were in charge and no older A&R men were telling us what to do,” he tells me.
“It was a great generation and globally what happened was incredible, whether it was us, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Sade or Paul Weller. All of us are still going, pretty much.”
Still, he would like to achieve more.
“When I look back on my life, I think I haven’t done enough,” he says.
Career-wise, he has done theatre acting, films, written musicals and launched the music podcast Rockonteurs alongside co-host and friend Guy Pratt. Guy is the bassist in Gary’s other band project, Saucerful of Secrets, formed in 2018.
The group play the early psychedelic music of Pink Floyd with the band’s original member 80-year-old Nick Mason on drums and Gary taking Syd Barrett’s lead guitar and singing role. Last year they toured the UK and Europe.
But right now, Gary’s focus is centred on This Destination, which he describes as his most personal album yet – with some storytelling tracks and other semi autobiographical songs exploring his thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future.
In the track Work, he pays tribute to his parents Eileen, a former school helper, and Frank, a factory printer – and indeed to all devoted, hard-working post-war parents.
The couple died within four days of each other in 2009 in a devastating double blow.
John Keeble, Gary Kemp, Tony Hadley, Martin Kemp and Steve Norman in 1983 (Image: Dave Hogan)
“It’s about the tools for life that both my mum and dad gave me and a song I’m really proud of.” But he is unsure yet if he will tour the album. “I don’t know what my audience is, I don’t know how big it is. I’d like to do some small gigs and I’m prepping for that. I’ll see how that goes,” he explains.
“I have some shows later this year with Nick Mason. I get to play all that wonderful early Pink Floyd stuff. That’s been great for building my own confidence as a performer.”
Gary recently spoke about going into therapy last year for anxiety and insomnia.
Was it a breakdown? He shakes his head. “No. I wasn’t that much of a mess.
“We had a few tragic things happen in the family which I can’t really speak about, but I did have a strange period last year. I’ve always been quite a confident person and suddenly I felt very insecure. I was worrying about health, worrying about everything. It was anxiety.”
He is still unsure what triggered it. “Maybe it was lockdown or doom-scrolling; I’m terrible for scrolling the news. Or getting to a certain age. That might have had a lot to do with it, and starting to feel vulnerable.
“I think, as well, I hadn’t grieved my mum and dad dying at the same time.
“In my therapy, I think I grieved for the first time for them. I had to deal with it.”
Today, he appears happy and relaxed in the loft space of his central London home, and he agrees that he is. “I feel like I went through a little bit of a thing last year (with my mental health), but now I’m really, really good.
“I think the process of making the album helped, creativity keeps me excited. There’s nothing better than the minute you finish writing a song.”
Martin Kemp, left, and Gary Kemp, right as British gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray in the 1990 film (Image: Getty Images)
These days, Gary splits his time between his beautiful six-bedroom home and his countryside retreat in the Cotswolds – a far cry from his modest upbringing, a few miles away in north London, where he and younger brother Martin lived with their parents on the middle floor of a three-story terraced home.
While being a musician and artist has given him success, he believes fatherhood is his proudest achievement. “I’m a dad and a husband before I’m anything else. I’m a hands-on dad for sure, I do the school run, I’ve been doing the school run for 30 years. I love it.
“My eldest is 34 and my youngest is about to turn 13. I judge my parenting by my parents standards and they were fantastic. I berate myself for not coming up to scratch, for being away from home.”
He has four sons – his eldest Finlay by his seven-year marriage to actress and producer Sadie Frost, and Milo, 20, Kit, 15, and Rex, 12, from his relationship with costume designer wife Lauren Barber. He also has a new granddaughter.
“Finlay and his wife Charlotte had a baby who was born just before Christmas. She’s absolutely gorgeous.” He laughs with self-deprecation. “Something else to worry about!”
Central to his happiness appears to be his wife Lauren. When I humorously ask who is the head of the house, he replies: “My wife. She’s well in charge! She’s my life; she’s a rock. We phone each other every half an hour. She’s the first person I want to talk to about everything.”
They married in September 2003 but in May will have been together for 25 years after meeting at a charity auction.
He seems more private than his younger brother, but he scoffs at Martin’s recent declaration on son Roman’s podcast that he thinks he only has 10 years to live.
“I think he was just having a bit of a laugh with Roman. Though when you think about it, my mum died at 76 and I’m 65 now. But that generation was so unhealthy.
“Me and Martin are both fitness fanatics. I go to the gym every single day. Fitness is everything. Especially on tour. I do a two-and-a-half hour show with Nick Mason.
“Also my wife is 17 years younger than me so I’ve got to keep up! We never think about our age difference, apart from that I need to stay healthy. And having kids helps you stay young.
“I’m still having a lot of fun, so you just want it to keep going. At least I’m still here. There’s quite a few people who I’ve loved, hung out and worked with, who aren’t here anymore, like George [Michael]. We should be lucky to be growing old.”
Would Spandau ever reunite?
Their story, complete with break-ups and reunions, has run for over 40 years. The band split in 1990 after a decade as kings of the New Romantic era before reuniting in 2009 for a greatest hits world tour. In 2017, the five-piece became four when the band’s singer Tony Hadley left – for the second time.
Some of the conflict surrounded the distribution of royalties, which have been primarily earned by Gary as the band’s songwriter. He muses: “I really enjoy being a solo artist, I love it, I have autonomy and it fits into my lifestyle. Would I reunite? As a solo artist I can’t come close to the kind of venues I play with Spandau Ballet. That’s not an incentive for me though.”
He continues: “What is an incentive, if there is any, is that we all made such a huge difference to each other’s lives that without all of us, none of us would be in the situation we’re in, or enjoy the privileges we do. We still live off those songs, that spirit and energy that we all created in those days and from that success.
“It would be nice to grasp the nettle, and almost say, ‘Can we listen to how we feel about doing it again? And to play to all those people that also got that buzz when the music was released?’
“I don’t rule it out. I sometimes think it’s never going to happen, because the idea of all of us wanting to do it is unlikely, but yeah, I’d definitely take the meeting.”
He pauses for a moment, before breaking into a smile. “I want to die with no enemies, right? So if me and Tony can just be happy in each other’s company or happy for each other – and I think we are that.”
While he is not in touch with Tony, he concedes: “But then again I was never in touch with everybody in the band. When you’re in a band, it’s workmates. You don’t stay in touch with all your old workmates.
“I wish him well. He gets up and sings Spandau Ballet songs every night and that’s fantastic. I love it, he’s got a great voice.”
Did he watch Tony on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Me in 2015? “No. The only one of those sort of programmes that I remotely like is The Traitors,” he says. “I can’t stand anything with celebrities in it. But I love watching Martin and Roman on Gogglebox.
“I wouldn’t mind doing that. Martin and I speak a lot. We talk about football. We’re both massive Arsenal fans. Roman’s obsessed too, so that bonds us. It’s part of the tribe I grew up in.”
The brothers appeared in BBC2’s spoof mockumentary The Kemps: All Gold in 2023, a sly send-up of the music industry. “I think it was really funny and (comedian and producer) Rhys Thomas who starred in it too, wants to do another one,” laughs Gary.
“It’s something we’d like to do. I just think it sticks a pin in all the pomposity of pop music and the seriousness of being a celebrity. We have to laugh about ourselves. And we need to.”
A Q&A and album playback with Gary Kemp and Martin Kemp will take place at Pryzm, Kingston, on February 4. Buy tickets at banquetrecords.com This Destination is released on January 31