John Simm was born in West Yorkshire but left at the age of 3 when his family moved to Lancashire. The eldest of three children, he grew up in Nelson, Lancashire; however, the family moved around a lot and lived in a variety of places around the north west, including Manchester, Colne, Burnley and Blackpool. His father, Ronald Simm, was a Mancunian musician who taught his son to play guitar. From the age of 12, Simm would join his father on stage in the working men’s clubs singing and eventually playing the guitar. He did this more and more frequently until they became a semi-professional double act, calling themselves 'Us2'. They were together for 5 years and Simm became an accomplished guitarist during this time.