Who are Spandau Ballet stars Martin and Gary Kemp? Their relationships, wives, children explained

Gary Kemp has defended the use of artificial intelligence in his music video, saying that record companies “aren’t going to pay for big videos”.

The Spandau Ballet star, 65, released the video for the track This Destination which features fake London commuters generated using AI in a rainy city landscape earlier today (Friday January 31)

While speaking to BBC One morning show BBC Breakfast about his new album This Destination, Kemp said “there’s no actors” in the footage, and it has been created using the lyrics in the song.

He also said: “I wouldn’t have been able to make a video because people just want backstage, behind the scenes and record companies aren’t going to pay for big videos, so just seemed a good opportunity to explore that.”

Kemp said that he would “draw the line”, and “would never dream of writing lyrics with AI or writing music with AI”. He added: “Art, especially words . . . we listen to it and because we read it, because we don’t want to feel alone. We want to feel there’s someone else out there who has the same issues that we have and has encapsulated it in a poem or in lyric or in book, if it’s a machine.”

So, who is Gary Kemp, and his younger brother Martin? Keep reading to find out all you need to know.

Who is Gary Kemp?

Gary Kemp is the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for Spandau Ballet.

He wrote the lyrics and music for all 23 of Spandau Ballet's hit singles, including "To Cut a Long Story Short", "True", "Gold", "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)", "Through the Barricades" and "Only When You Leave".

How old is Gary Kemp?

He is 65 years old.

Who is Gary Kemp’s wife?

In 2003, Gary married costume designer Lauren Barber. He has previously been married to actress Sadie Frost. They married in 1988, but after five years they separated, finally divorcing in 1995.

Who are Gary Kemp’s children?

Gary has four children. He has one son with Sadie Frost, Finlay, who was born in 1990. He also has three sons with Lauren Barber; Milo Wolf, born in 2004, Kit, born in 2009, and Rex, born in 2012).

Who is Martin Kemp?

Martin Kemp best known as the bassist in Spandau Ballet and as an actor. He played Steve Owen in BBC soap EastEnders between 1998 and 2002.

How old is Martin Kemp?

He is 63 years old.

Who is Martin Kemp’s wife?

Martin Kemp has been married to Shirlie Holliman since 1988. She is a former backing singer of the group Wham! and one half of the 1980s pop duo, Pepsi & Shirlie.

Who are Martin Kemp’s children?

Martin has two children with his wife; one daughter called Harley Moon, born in 1989, and a son called Roman, born in 1993. Roman is a radio host and television personality.

What happened to Spandau Ballet?

Spandau Ballet were formed in London in 1979. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums and have sold 25 million albums worldwide. They’ve also had 23 hit singles.

In 1984, they received a Brit Award for technical excellence and were the first act to be approached by Bob Geldof to join the original Band Aid lineup. The band took a long hiatus in 1990 so that the members could pursue other acting and musical solo projects.

The band's classic lineup featured Gary Kemp on guitar, synthesiser and backing vocals; his brother, Martin Kemp, on bass; vocalist Tony Hadley; saxophonist Steve Norman; and drummer John Keeble.

In the 1990s, the band split up after a disagreement about royalties. Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful court case against Gary Kemp for a share of Kemp's songwriting royalties from his work with Spandau Ballet.

After 19 years away, the band then got back together in 2009 for The Reformation Tour, a sell-out "greatest hits" world tour.

In 2017, Hadley left the band. A year later, singer and actor Ross William Wild became their new frontman for a series of European live dates. Then, in 2019, Wild also left the band.

Wild was subsequently arrested in March 2021 and charged under his real name, Ross Davidson with a series of sex offences dating back to 2013. He was convicted in 2024 of voyeurism, raping a woman and sexually assaulting two others.

Spandau Ballet have not performed together since 2019.