The Proclaimers

The Proclaimers are a Scottish rock duo formed in 1983 by twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid (born 5 March 1962).

Craig Reid and Charles Reid were born in Leith on 5 March 1962 and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty.

When they lived in Auchtermuchty, they attended Bell Baxter High School.

First active from 1983 as an acoustic duo, the Proclaimers moved toward band-oriented rock in later works.

The Proclaimers' style draws from a diversity of influences, including country, folk and punk rock.

Their playing range has included roots rock, alternative rock and folk rock, and their music is typified by their Scottish accents.

Becoming aware of the potential of playing as a duo, the Reids established the Proclaimers as an acoustic duo in 1983.

Discussing their early sound, actor Peter Mullan said that the Proclaimers played "a mix of post-punk and folk".

During this time, the duo attracted a regional fan-base, with Inverness having an especially dedicated community of supporters.

Many of the duo's songs, such as "Letter from America" which was written in 1984 and reflected unemployment rates of the day, were written in this period.

The Proclaimers recorded a demo album with the assistance of Kevin Rowland of Dexys Midnight Runners.

The demo fell into the hands of English indie pop band the Housemartins, who invited the Proclaimers to support them on their 1986 tour.

They came to attention with their 1987 single "Letter from America", which reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and the 1988 single "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", which topped charts in Australia, Iceland and New Zealand.

The Proclaimers often tour internationally and have released 12 studio albums since 1987, the most recent being 2022's Dentures Out, as well as three compilation albums and a DVD.

First opening at the Hummingbird in Birmingham, the tour afforded the duo the opportunity to perform on Channel 4 pop programme The Tube in January 1987, and Chrysalis Records quickly signed the pair.

In 1987, the duo's John Williams-produced debut record This Is the Story was released through Chrysalis, and displayed a minimalist sound lauded by Timothy Monger as "sparse but spirited".

For release as a single, the album-track "Letter from America" was remixed by Gerry Rafferty, embellishing the song with a full-band sound.

The single peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, as the duo appeared on Top of the Pops for the first time on 12 December 1987, while the album This Is the Story went gold.

On their 1987 breakthrough, Neil McCormick of The Telegraph opined that the pair "stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs" amidst the "ersatz glamour of Eighties pop".

The duo's biggest album, Sunshine on Leith (1988) has been certified multi-Platinum in Australia and Canada, selling over 2 million copies worldwide, including around 700,000 in the United States.

The Proclaimers have sold over 5 million albums worldwide.

The 1988 follow-up album, Sunshine on Leith, featured a rock-driven sound as the Proclaimers worked with a band for the first time.

Ranging in lyrical-themes from familial joy to Scottish nationalism, the record featured the singles "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", which went to number one in Australia and New Zealand, and "I'm on My Way".

Alluding to the early careers of Craig and Charles Reid in 1989, Bill Wyman of Chicago Reader commented that the pair "got into music through punk".

After Craig received a beaten-up drum kit and Charlie a guitar, the pair played in punk rock bands named Black Flag, Hippy Hasslers and Reasons for Emotion.

The album was a particularly big hit in Australia in 1989, being that year's 12th biggest-seller, reaching No. 2, and attaining a 2× multi-platinum certification by the ARIA.

Craig Reid described this success as their "biggest ever".

The album was a critical success, with Rolling Stone in May 1989 lauding it "a wonderfully guileless treasure of an album".

Sunshine on Leith's following concert tour included a performance at the 1989 Glastonbury Festival, playing to an audience of over 65,000.

The Proclaimers had a hit with their EP King of the Road, which reached number nine in the UK in 1990.

The EP's titular song, a Roger Miller cover, was included in the 1990 film The Crossing.

The Proclaimers appeared on American singer-songwriter Chris Harford's 1992 album Be Headed, performing on the song "Sing, Breathe, and Be Merry".

"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" belatedly peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1993, after appearing in the movie Benny & Joon, becoming their only chart single in the United States.

This popularity saw the Proclaimers supporting American glam metal band Bon Jovi, alongside 10,000 Maniacs, at the Madison Square Garden concert on their I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Tour.

The Proclaimers' third studio album, Hit the Highway, was released in 1994.

Continuing in the band-oriented rock direction of Sunshine on Leith, Hit the Highway fell short of previous successes.

Irrespective, the record spawned the hit "Let's Get Married", charting in the United Kingdom, Canada and Austria.

Sunshine on Leith peaked at No. 31, shifting close to 700,000 units in the US by 2001.

Attaining certifications of 2× multi-platinum in Canada, at the time of June 2009 Sunshine on Leith had sold a worldwide total of 2 million copies.

Craig Reid, in a 2016 interview with Esquire Middle East, relayed that he loved punk acts such as The Clash, The Jam, the Sex Pistols, as well as "all the mid-60s stuff… The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks".