Mel Gaynor

In 2007 Gaynor has kicked off his solo project with a version of "Play That Funky Music" and his new solo album was released at end of 2016 Gaynor's first single is the re recording of Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love released 12 September 2016.

After leaving Samson (in which he played alongside Bruce Dickinson), Gaynor joined Simple Minds in 1982 as a session drummer for the New Gold Dream album (as a recommendation by record producer Pete Walsh), playing on six of the nine tracks. He later joined the band permanently for the New Gold Dream tour, as a replacement for Mike Ogletree. Except for a period (1992–97) away from the band after the Real Life tour of 1991–92 and remained the Simple Minds drummer until 2017.

Gaynor has played a variety of drum sets over the years, including and currently Natal drums, and uses Remo drumheads. He has played a variety of cymbals as well, including at first Paiste during at the start of his career, but then switched to Zildjian in the early 1980s upon joining Simple Minds, which he played for much of the duration of his career. He has also endorsed Anatolian, UFIP, and also Meinl cymbals at various other stages in his career. In 2011, Paiste announced him as an official endorser again, but at the end of 2018 he became an endorser with Italian company Vulcan Cymbals.

Mel George Gaynor (born 29 May 1959 in Balham, London, England) is an English musician. He is best known as the longtime drummer for the rock band Simple Minds. Gaynor was born to a Jamaican father and an Afro-Brazilian mother.

Gaynor is a Freemason. He and his Simple Minds colleague Derek Forbes are members of Lodge Shalom 1600 on the Roll of The Grand Lodge of Scotland.