Gary Kemp looks to the future – one just as bright as his past.
You’d imagine Gary Kemp would be brimming with confidence given his impressive CV. As well as being guitarist and singer in Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, Kemp has sold more than 25 million records with Spandau Ballet, starred in blockbusters including The Krays and The Bodyguard, and hosts Rockonteurs, the UK’s number one music podcast, with his bandmate and best mate Guy Pratt. You would imagine he’d be confident, but you’d be wrong.
“I’m not,” he protests, his forehead crumpling into a frown as he sits across a conference table from Prog in his publicist’s office. Sixty-five-year-old Kemp –whose new album This Destination was released at the end of January –is smartly attired in button-up black shirt and charcoal gilet, the very picture of health, but mention of the ‘c’ word brings on a sudden bout of diffidence. His third solo studio album is an impressive testament to his songwriting capabilities (he won an Ivor Novello for Outstanding Song Collection in 2012 and a BMI Icon Award in 2023), though it started from a place of doubt.