2001–2007: Liberty X In 2001, Simm auditioned for the
ITV reality television music competition
Popstars, a show intended to form a new group from individual contestants, becoming one of the finalists. While the five winning contestants formed
Hear'Say, the five runner-up contestants – Simm,
Tony Lundon,
Jessica Taylor,
Kelli Young and
Michelle Heaton – formed the group
Liberty X and signed a multimillion-pound record contract with
Richard Branson and
V2 Records. Liberty X released three studio albums and enjoyed seven Top 10 singles from 2001 to 2005: Their biggest hit, "
Just a Little", reached number one in May 2002; "
Thinking It Over", "
Got to Have Your Love", "
Song 4 Lovers", and "
Holding on for You" all reached the top 5 in the
UK Singles Chart. They split up in 2007 after selling over 3 million records worldwide. During this time, Simm appeared on
The Games, in 2005, winning a silver medal.
2008–2015: Brand New and Liberty X return In 2007 Simm signed with the independent label Jamdown Records and started recording his first solo work. On 3 October 2008 he released his debut studio album,
Brand New, first only in Japan and two years later in Europe. The title song was released as the lead single and had a music video directed by Fatty Soprano. From 2009 to 2012 Simm performed live at festivals and pubs. In 2013 Simm reunited with
Liberty X for
ITV2's reality show
The Big Reunion, along with other pop groups of their time –
B*Witched,
Honeyz,
911,
Five and
Atomic Kitten – to solve past problems and do a live performance at the London
Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February. Due to the success, Liberty X returned for a full tour between 2013 and 2014.
2016–2017: The Voice UK and Recover In 2016, Simm auditioned for the
fifth series of
The Voice UK singing a soulful version of
Sia's "
Chandelier". All four coaches –
will.i.am,
Ricky Wilson,
Boy George and
Paloma Faith – turned their chairs for him and he chose to join Faith's team. In the same month, Simm signed with
Universal and released his new single as
The Voice winner, "
All You Good Friends"; the song peaked at number 24 in the UK and 3 in Scotland.
2018–present: Wet Wet Wet On 25 September 2018, it was announced that Simm would join Scottish band
Wet Wet Wet as the new lead singer, replacing original member
Marti Pellow. He debuted with the band in November of that year. On 5 November 2021 they released their first album with Simm as vocalist,
The Journey, peaking at number 29 in UK. ==Personal life==