Derek Forbes (born 22 June 1956) is a Scottish bassist, vocalist, and occasional guitarist. He is mostly associated with the Scottish band Simple Minds, having joined in time to record their early demos in 1978 and stayed with the band during their rise to mainstream success and their first six albums, until leaving shortly after their 1985 hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (subsequently rejoining in a reduced role from 1995 to 1998). He has also played with Big Country, Propaganda, Oblivion Dust, Spear of Destiny (band), 10:51 and The Alarm, as well as leading his own projects.
A former member of the Scottish punk band Subs, Forbes replaced Tony Donald as bassist for Simple Minds in 1978, remaining in the band for seven years and six albums before being ousted in 1985. Despite this, he remained closely associated with Simple Minds and has described them as "the band I never left." He contributed overdubs to their post-Forbes live album Live in the City of Light and, having turned down a chance to rejoin the band in 1989, subsequently rejoined for a three-year period from 1995 to 1998 (before and during the recording of Néapolis). He and the band's erstwhile drummer Mel Gaynor also appeared at Scotland Rocks for Kosovo in 1999 performing Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", whilst a new version of Simple Minds also appeared on the bill (with Mark Kerr on drums and Eddie Duffy on bass).[citation needed] Forbes was also part of the abortive reunion of the original band in 2008. While still nominally being out of Simple Minds, he has assisted at selected rehearsals, writing and recording sessions, and played versions of the band's music with his own separate projects.
After Simple Minds, Forbes went on to play in a number of other bands, including Propaganda (Germany) and Oblivion Dust (Japan), Spear of Destiny, 10:51 and the Alarm. Forbes sang with David Bowie on the Iggy Pop album Soldier. He played bass on the Kirsty MacColl hit "A New England". Forbes has also performed onstage with Peter Gabriel.[citation needed]

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