Simon Tong

Simon Tong
Simon Tong at the Eurockéennes of 2007
Background information
Born	(1972-07-09) 9 July 1972 (age 44) Farnworth, Lancashire, England
Genres	Alternative rock, Britpop, shoegazing, neo-psychedelia
Occupation(s)	Musician, producer
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, zither, vocals
Associated acts	The Verve, The Shining, Blur, Gorillaz, Erland and the Carnival, Transmission, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, The Magnetic North

Simon Tong (born 9 July 1972) is an English guitarist and keyboardist who was a member of The Verve between 1996 and 1999 and is currently a member of Erland and the Carnival and Transmission. He has also played on tour with Blur, Gorillaz and the unnamed supergroup responsible for The Good, the Bad & the Queen. He ranks in BBC's "The Axe Factor" as the 40th greatest guitarist of the latest 30 years.

Tong grew up in Transcendentalist English town Skelmersdale, the subject of his most recent release, Prospect of Skelmersdale with his project The Magnetic North.

From 1996 to 1999, Simon was a guitarist and keyboardist for The Verve. He was brought in to replace lead guitarist Nick McCabe after the band's first short-lived split, but remained with them when McCabe returned. Their third album was 1997's highly acclaimed Urban Hymns. He played on many of their hits from that time such as The Drugs Don't Work, Bittersweet Symphony and Sonnet. The Verve disbanded in 1999 and later reformed in 2007, this time without Tong. By 2009 they had disbanded again.

After The Verve disbanded, Tong and Simon Jones (The Verve) were members of short lived band The Shining from 2002 to 2003.

Following Graham Coxon's departure from Blur in 2002, Tong was recruited as guitarist for some of the band's live performances. He continued the relationship formed with frontman Damon Albarn by contributing guitar to Gorillaz' 2005 album Demon Days. Tong also contributed Guitar to Gorillaz' 2010 album Plastic Beach.