John Giblin

British musician (1952–2023)
the American politician

John Giblin (26 February 1952 – 14 May 2023) was a Scottish musician who worked as an acoustic and electric bass player spanning jazz, classical, rock, folk, and avant garde music. He was a member of Simple Minds from 1985 to 1988, and worked as a session musician for a variety of artists including Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Kate Bush.

Giblin was a member of jazz fusion band Brand X in 1979. Although his time with the group was brief, he was involved in the recording of three of their albums during that year Product, Do They Hurt? and Is There Anything About? whose releases were spread between 1979 and 1982. Phil Collins was Brand X's drummer at the time, and Giblin would go on to contribute to some of Collins' subsequent solo albums and tours. Giblin was also a touring and session player for Collins' former Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel during the early 1980s. He replaced Derek Forbes in rock/pop band Simple Minds in 1985, making his first appearance with them at Live Aid. He was with the band for the album Once Upon a Time later that year and the subsequent tour, from which the live album Live in the City of Light was released in 1987. Giblin left the band in 1988 during the recording of the follow up album Street Fighting Years. A prolific studio musician, Giblin also contributed to film scores and contemporary music. As well as Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, Giblin also recorded and played live with John Martyn, Elkie Brooks, Annie Lennox, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Empire (featuring Peter Banks) and Fish. He also recorded frequently with Kate Bush, Jon Anderson and Scott Walker. Later in life, Giblin moved further into the direction of acoustic bass, with projects involving drummer Peter Erskine (of Weather Report), and pianist Alan Pasqua (of Tony Williams Lifetime).

Giblin died from sepsis on 14 May 2023, at the age of 71. Following his death, Kate Bush released a statement, saying: " I loved John so very much. He was one of my very dearest and closest friends for over forty years. We were always there for each other. He was very special. I loved working with him, not just because he was such an extraordinary musician but because he was always huge amounts of fun. We would often laugh so much that we had to just give in to it and sit and roar with laughter for a while. He loved to be pushed in a musical context, and it was really exciting to feel him cross that line and find incredibly gorgeous musical phrases that were only there for him. He would really sing. It was such a joy and an inspiration to see where he could take it. We’ve all lost a great man, an unmatchable musician and I’ve lost my very special friend. My world will never be the same again without him."