Musician. Born in Glasgow, Burchill joined fellow Scot and childhood friend Jim Kerr (b.1959), together with Tony Donald and Brian McGee in the punk group Johnny and the Self-Abusers, based in the city. They went on to form the internationally-successful rock band Simple Minds in 1978.
Burchill was principally a guitarist, but also played keyboards and the violin for the band. Simple Mind's albums include Life in a Day (1979), Empires and Dance (1980), Sister Feeling Call (1980), New Gold Dream (1982), Sparkle In The Rain (1984), Once Upon A Time (1985), Real Life (1991), Good News From The Next World (1995), Neapolis (1998) and Cry (2002). These albums have given rise to a number of chart-topping singles.
Today, Burchill lives in Dublin (Ireland).