Simon Lynge

Simon Lynge
Lynge on a glacier near Tasiilaq, southeastern Greenland:
Background information
Born	(1980-01-22) 22 January 1980 (age 38)
Origin	Holstebro, Denmark
Genres	pop music
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Lo-Max Records
Website	Simon Lynge Music

Simon Lynge (born 22 January 1980) is a singer-songwriter who was raised in Greenland.

Lynge is the first solo musical artist from Greenland to have an album released across the United Kingdom, and the first Greenlander to play the UK's Glastonbury Festival. Lynge has performed extensively across Europe and the United States, and he accompanied Emmylou Harris as support act on the American singer's 2011 tour of Europe.

Lynge's 2010 debut album, The Future, described by Rolling Stone magazine as "one of the most memorable and melodic debut albums of recent years", reached the top of the Amazon.com UK Rock Charts in the week of its release. Lynge's music has variously been compared by writers to that of Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Since 2008, Lynge has lived in Jefferson County, Washington.

Lynge was born Simon Overgaard Lynge in Holstebro, Denmark, but grew up in Qaqortoq, Greenland. His father was a theatrical performer and an accordionist who played with the Greenlandic musician Rasmus Lyberth. Lynge has said that he had no formal schooling as a child, but worked as a shepherd and hunter, living in a village of fewer than 40 residents that was an hour's boat ride from the nearest town.

As a teenager, Lynge worked as a delivery boy for a supermarket in Qaqortoq. Shortly afterwards he moved back to Denmark, where he enrolled in the Holstebro Music School to study opera, piano, drums and music theory. While in Denmark, he became part of the young Copenhagen music scene, performing his own compositions as a singer and guitarist at a range of venues. Around this time he also travelled to London, Nashville and Los Angeles to perform and write his own music.