Rock Legend Mick Hucknall's Fiery Onstage Rant Leaves Fans in Shock
Simply Red's Mick Hucknall Loses Cool on Stage, But Still Has a Few Tricks Up His Sleeve
The 65-year-old crooner has been charming audiences with his smooth vocals and debonair stage presence for decades, but it seems even the most iconic rockstars can have their moments of madness. During Simply Red's recent gig at the OVO Arena Wembley as part of their 40th-anniversary tour, Mick Hucknall was caught on camera losing his cool with a noisy fan.
The incident occurred when a enthusiastic audience member refused to quiet down during one of the band's hit performances. Mick, never one to mince words, pointed his finger at the culprit and barked "Shut it!" adding, "Put a sock in it! I'm sick of hearing it." He then apologized to the rest of the crowd, saying "You know, I can't concentrate – he's yelling so loud. You've come to hear me sing, not him, with the greatest respect."
But this isn't the first time Mick has clashed with fans or been in the headlines for his antics. With a career spanning four decades and countless sold-out tours under his belt, it's little wonder that Simply Red's frontman has developed a reputation as a lothario extraordinaire.
Mick's rogues' gallery of exes reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood beauties and supermodels, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ulrika Jonsson, Helena Christensen, Melanie Sykes, Lady Victoria Hervey, Steffi Graf, and even a brief romance with former 'EastEnders' star Martine McCutcheon in 1996. However, it's worth noting that Mick has denied the latter claim as a "sad little fantasy."
Not everyone was enamored with Mick's charm, though – one would-be conquest, Brigitte Nilsen, infamously described him as "not a very good-looking guy," but hinted at what many women have seen in him: his outrageous, friendly, and cool personality.
In fact, Mick's love life has been the subject of much speculation over the years. In 2010, he candidly confessed to sleeping with around three women every day during the height of his fame between 1985-1987, saying "This was what I wanted from being a pop star. I was living the dream and my only regret is that I hurt some really good girls."
The singer's penchant for partying has also been well-documented – he's admitted to trying every type of drug imaginable and has a confessed fondness for booze. A 2004 documentary, 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?', fueled further speculation about his sex life, claiming that Mick had slept with over 3,000 women.
In an interview with The Scholarly Note in 2006, Mick acknowledged the rumors: "No, I'm guilty. It's life's experience. I think it's searching for approval. Love me, admire me – something like that. In most cases, though, it usually had to do with being drunk... You go into any city centre on a Friday or Saturday night and you see it going on all over the world."
These days, however, Mick seems to have cleaned up his act – he lives with his wife Gabriella Wesberry, whom he married in 2005 at Forter Castle in Perthshire, Scotland, and their 17-year-old daughter Romy True.
The band's recent tour has been a huge success, with over 140,000 fans attending sold-out shows across Latin America. To commemorate the milestone, Simply Red have also released a new concert film titled 'Holding Back The Years: 40 Years of Simply Red', featuring footage from their spectacular performance at the Movistar Arena in Chile.
The movie comes complete with a trigger warning about "sexual" content due to lyrics referencing sex and drinking – but given Mick's checkered past, this hardly seems surprising.