Jim Diamond, the Glaswegian singer who topped the chart in 1984 with I Should Have Known Better, has died suddenly at his home in London. He was 64.
Although Diamond had been performing in various bands since the age of 14, he first came to national fame in 1982 as lead singer of PhD, whose single I Won’t Let You Down reached number 3. Failing to score any further hits, the band split and Diamond returned to a solo career. His first post-PhD single I Should Have Known Better spent a week at number 1 in late 1984; Diamond also reached the top ten in 1986 with Hi Ho Silver, the theme song from TV series Boon. Although these were his only top forty hits, Diamond scored a self-titled top twenty album in 1993 and had recently been performing with M People saxophonist Chris “Snake” Davis. Diamond’s final album City Of Soul, featuring contributions from Tommy Cunningham (Wet Wet Wet) and Greg Kane (Hue And Cry), was released in 2011.
Diamond is survived by his wife Chrissy and children Sara and Lawrence.
