SIMPLY RED - SIMPLY RED SPLIT UP

Pop band Simply Red will no longer perform together after 2009, bringing their 25 years as a group to a close.

Lead singer Mick Hucknall told Gold Radio that band members would go their separate ways after a final tour in two years. He also said the group would be releasing no new singles, making The World And You Tonight their last release.

The group - famed for the songs Something Got Me Started, Stars and It's Only Love - began working together in 1984 and have released 12 albums to date.

Speaking to the radio station, Hucknall said that a quarter of a century together was "long enough for anybody", adding that he had solo projects lined up for the future.

He said: "There will be an end to Simply Red. I've kind of decided that the 25 years is going to be enough, so I intend that the 2009 [show] will be the last Simply Red tour."

"I've just recorded an album that is a tribute to Bobby Bland, a blues and R'n'B artist. It's a solo project and I've really enjoyed it so much that I feel the time has come now to just put a book-end to the story and the album Stay will be the last Simply Red studio album."

The vocalist added that he was looking forward to developing a new style of music after the end of the band.

"I want to be more influenced by [the] R'n'B of the sixties and try my slant on it, and try to invent a new form of music.

"It's a big challenge but I can't do it under the name of Simply Red," he added.