Martin’s career set off in 1979, when he formed the new romantic band Spandau Ballet playing bass guitar. The group went on to tour the world and had a number of Top 20 hits in the 80’s. The single ‘True’ made the American Top 10.
By the late 80’s Martin had married Shirlie, one of the backing singers from Wham, and had started a family. He was then asked to star alongside his brother Gary in the film ‘The Krays’ which was a huge success. He then moved to Hollywood where he made several films! In 1998 he was offered the role of Steve Owen in the BBC’s Bafta Award winning drama series EastEnders. During that time Martin won numerous awards including Best Male Actor at the national TV Awards in both 2001.
Also, an established author, his book ‘True – An Autobiography of Martin Kemp’ was published in 2000 and spent several months in the Sunday Times best sellers list. He and Shirlie released their joint biography ‘A True Love Story’ in 2020, and since then, Martin has published Ticket to the World: My 80s Story (2022) and The Game (2023).
In the summer 2016 he covered Graham Norton on BBC Radio 2 Saturday morning show alongside Fearne Cotton and has recently joined The Hits radio station to host the ‘Greatest Hits’ show on Fridays and Saturdays. Along with radio, Martin has also performed in theatre as Billy Flynnin the West End performance of Chicago in 2018.
Martin has toured all over the UK with his popular ‘Audience With’ and now tours the country with his ‘Back to the 80’s’ DJ sets!
Martin appeared as a Judge on BBC’s entertainment show ‘Let it Shine’ and was a contestant on Celebrity’s The Island. He and Shirlie together, were part of a travel documentary, ‘The Road to Saigon’ and in 2019 released their first joint album ‘In The Swing of It’. More recently Martin and son Roman were part of the cast for Celebrity Gogglebox and hosted their morning ITV show ‘Weekend Best’. Together, they now co-host the podcast ‘FFS! My Dad is Martin Kemp!’
Martin currently has his own clothing collection with TU x Sainsbury’s and has worked with many brands including L’Oreal, Oreo, Jack Daniels, M&S and Vision Express.