Paul Simonon (Brixton, London, 15 December 1955) is a British artist best known as the bassist of The Clash, although his training and much of his visual work also connect him to painting. Born and raised in Brixton, a area of south London with a large Jamaican immigrant population, he grew up under the influence of his father, a painter linked to the local Communist Party. As a young man he planned to pursue fine art, but he set that aside when he joined a new musical project that would become The Clash.
Within the band he handled the visual side throughout its existence, so design and imagery were a constant part of his contribution. His presence is fixed in the cover of London Calling, photographed by Pennie Smith, which shows him smashing his bass in one of the most recognisable images in rock history. After the band broke up in 1986 he returned to graphic work, designing among other covers one for an album by Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones's group, and another for The Good, the Bad and the Queen, the project he formed with Damon Albarn in 2006.
Since then he has devoted himself mainly to painting. Outside art, his name made headlines in 2011, when he was arrested while working undercover as a cook on Greenpeace's ship MV Esperanza, during a protest against an oil rig off Greenland.
His legacy is mainly tied to the visual identity of The Clash, in which his graphic work and the London Calling cover hold a prominent place. Information about his later painting, however, is limited.