James Blunt

At 50 years old, James Blunt has this physical status:

James Hillier Blount (born 22 February 1974), better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, and former British Army officer. Blunt came to fame in 2004 with the debut of his debut album Back to Bedlam, gaining worldwide recognition for his singles "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover."

The album has sold more than 11 million copies around the world, notably topping the UK Albums Chart and peaking at number two in the United States.

"You're Beautiful" was the most popular song in the United Kingdom, the United States, and a dozen other countries.

Back to Bedlam was the best-selling album of the 2000s in the United Kingdom, and it is one of the UK's best-selling albums.

He has received several accolades, including two Brit Awards in 2006—winning Best British Male in 2006—two MTV Video Music Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards, as well as five Grammy Award nominations. Blunt, a reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards, a British Army cavalry regiment, and served under NATO in the Kosovo War in 1999.

The University of Bristol conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Music in 2016.

Early life

Blunt was born James Hillier Blount at an army hospital in Tidworth, Hampshire, the first of three children born to Jane Ann Farran (née Amos) and Colonel Charles Blount. In the French town of Méribel, his mother formed a ski chalet business, while his father was a cavalry officer in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and later a helicopter colonel of the Army Air Corps. The family has a long tradition of serving in the Middle East dating back to the arrival of their Danish ancestors in England in the 10th century.

Blunt grew up in St Mary Bourne, Hampshire, but migrated every two years as a result of his father's military service in England (Middle Wallop, Netheravon, and York), as well as Cyprus (Nicosia) and Germany (Soest). He also spent time in Cley, where his father owned the Cley Windmill. He was educated at Elstree School in Woolhampton and then Harrow School in the Harrow district of London, gaining A-levels in physics, chemistry, and economics. He went on to study aerospace engineering and sociology at the University of Bristol, graduating in 1996 with a BSc (Hons) in sociology. From A to Z', broadcast by Burst Radio, Bristol University's radio station, in March 2022. Blunt, like his father, is a pilot and obtained his winged private pilot licence at the age of 16. Around this time, he had a keen interest in motorcycles.

Personal life

Blunt resides on the Spanish island of Ibiza. He also owns a chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, where he has a ski lift named after him. In 2012, La Vache, a motorcycle racer and rugby player, began to dine with a restaurant at the top of the ski lift. He was a victim of the News International phone hacking scandal in the same year and filed for compensation in a civil lawsuit.

Blunt married Sofia Wellesley, the granddaughter of Valerian Wellesley, the 8th Duke of Wellington, on September 6, 2014, on September 6th. Both sons of Blunt and Wellesley have two sons; Ed Sheeran's godfather is their elder son, and Carrie Fisher was their godmother.

In 2016, Blunt received the University of Bristol's highest award, Doctor of Music.

Blunt is a Twitter fan with over two million followers and a feed that is known for self-deprecating humour. Constable's Compendium of His Tweets as a book called How to Be a Complete and Utter Blunt: A Reluctant Social Media Sensation.

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Music career

Blunt had piano and violin lessons as a child, but a fellow Harrow boy introduced him to the electric guitar at the age of 14. The Commodification of Image – The Production of a Pop Idol – was his dissertation at Bristol University. Simon Frith, a sociologists and rock critic and chair of the Mercury Music Prize jury's since 1992, was one of his sources, and later undertook a lecture tour titled "The unpopular and uncomfortable thoughts inspired by James Blunt's work."

Blunt would write songs on his off days while serving in the military. Todd Interland, Elton John's boss, was a backing singer and songwriting collaborator, with whom she used to share a house. Interland told HitQuarters that he listened to Blunt's demo while driving home and that, after hearing the song "Goodbye My Lover," he pulled over and called the phone number on the CD to schedule a meeting.

In 2002, Blunt left the British Army in order to pursue his musical career. In part, he started using the stage name "Blunt" to make it more understandable for others; "Blount" is pronounced the same way, and remains his legal name. He was signed to EMI music publishers and Twenty-First Artists' management just short of leaving the army. A new one remained elusive, with recording label executives referring to his omission as a wall in a class-divided world. When visiting London and soon after, Linda Perry, who was just beginning her own Custard Records label, heard Blunt's promotional tape, and soon after heard him perform live at the South by Southwest Music Festival. She made an invite to him the night before, and within a few days, she had signed a permanent deal with her. He travelled to Los Angeles a month later to speak with producer Tom Rothrock.

In 2003, Blunt released Back to Bedlam as the producer in Conway Recording Studios and Rothrock's home studio in Los Angeles, playing many instruments himself. He lodged with actress Carrie Fisher on camera, during which he appeared. Fisher was instrumental in the creation of the album, and she performed "Goodbye My Lover" in her bathroom. In October 2004, Bedlam was first introduced in the United Kingdom.

"High" was Blunt's debut in the United Kingdom (co-written with Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue). This song debutted below the top 100 of the UK Singles Chart, but after the success of "You're Beautiful" it climbed to the top 75 before being re-released, it made the Top 75. The song was chosen to appear in a Vodafone commercial in Italy, and it was a top ten hit in the region.

The debut album by the unknown Blunt attracted little critical notice; there were no published reviews from major UK music journals. His live performances, mainly in favor of well-known musicians, received generally favorable feedback. His lack of stage expertise and a skepticism with audiences was referred to, although his music was likened to that of Damien Rice and David Gray.

"Blunt's ascension is a dead certifier," Alex McCann of Designer Magazine said in March 2004, "it isn't that far removed from reality to say that a number one album, Brit Award, and a slew of accolades will be his for the taking." After the launch of the album, concert support slots for Elton John and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were available in late 2004 and early 2005, as did a band residency at London club 93 Feet East. "Wisemen" was his second single when it was announced in March 2005.

"You're Beautiful," Blunt's third single, was his breakout hit. The song debuted at number 12 in the United Kingdom and reached number one six weeks later. The song gained a lot of airplay in the United Kingdom, pushing Back to Bedlam to the top of the UK Albums Chart. Blunt and his co-writers were recognized with the Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work as a result of the extensive airplay.

The song's success in the United Kingdom swept to mainland Europe, becoming one of the continent's biggest hits of summer 2005. Despite not having been introduced to radio, "You're Beautiful" on WPLJ, a prominent radio station in New York City, made its debut in the United States in the summer of 2005, despite not having been brought to radio. In the fall of 2005, the song was introduced to radio stations, and it has risen to the top ten in three radio categories: Adult Contemporary Music, Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks, and Adult Alternatives.

Blunt became the first British artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 in nearly a decade when "You're Beautiful" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006; the only British artist to do so was Elton John, 1997, "Candle in the Wind 1997." In December 2005, "Goodbye My Lover" became the fourth UK single from the album and the second single in the United States. The songs "High" and "Wisemen" were subsequently re-released in 2006. Blunt began in 2006 with five Brit Award nominations and then went on to win Best British male solo artist and Best pop act categories, despite having just started an 11-month world tour. He received two awards at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, with "You're Beautiful" winning the award for Best Male Video on August 31, 2006.

Blunt appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in late 2005. Eight of the songs on the album were performed in television shows (The O.C., Grey's Anatomy, and many others), films (Undiscovered), and television advertisements (Hilton Hotels, Sprint Telecommunications) during 2005 and 2006. In February 2007, he performed "You're Beautiful" at the 49th Grammy Awards, dedicating the song to the late Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic Records, but he did not win in any of the five categories for which he had been nominated (including Best New Artist, which was won by Carrie Underwood).

The album reached 11.2 million copies and topped the charts in 16 countries around the world. It was sold in the United States and was classified 2nd platinum in the United States, achieving 2.6 million people. The album in the United Kingdom has sold over three million copies and has been awarded platinum by Guinness Book of World Records for the first selling album in one year.

Blunt appeared on 90 live shows in 2005, mainly across the United Kingdom and Europe, and he helped Jason Mraz with a North American tour. In January 2006, the "Back to Bedlam World Tour" began in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, as well as three separate headline tours in North America, which ended in November of this year. He appeared in over 140 live shows in 2006.

The videos for all of Blunt's singles from Back To Bedlam feature symbolism and dark imagery. He is buried in a desert in the first video for "High." In the first video for "Wisemen," he is kidnapped and taken hostage. He alludes to suicide by leaping off a cliff into the sea in a YouTube video for "You're Beautiful." He is the outsider in a love triangle, as portrayed by Kyle XY and Mischa Barton of The O.C.). Together, we'll be able to do it all. Blunt appears in the re-release video for "High" from the Internet. He's on fire, as shown by the re-release video for "Wisemen" and then walks through a wood while he is on fire.

Blunt appeared on an episode of Sesame Street, on November 14, 2007, performing triangles to the tune of "You're Beautiful." Weird Al Yankovic's "You're Beautiful" parody was released. He gave his personal permission for this parody to be on a Weird Al album, but his publisher, Atlantic Records, refused to promote the song for commercial use. Weird Al has since made the song available as a free MP3 download on his website. "Thanks for the email, but James and I will never allow this parody to be released on any label," Blunt's manager replied via email.

Back to Bedlam, BBC Radio 1's most popular album of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom, was released on December 28th.

All the Lost Souls, Blunt's second studio album, was released in the United Kingdom on September 17th and the following day in North America. Its first week, it produced 65,000 units in its first week and was designated gold in the United Kingdom after only four days. The album had sold 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 4.5 million worldwide by the end of January 2008. In the winter of 2006–2007, Blunt performed the album's songs at his Ibiza home. During his 2005–2006 tours, he performed five of the ten album tracks; lyrics, melodies, and harmonies were developed for the studio album, on which his touring band performed and Tom Rothrock worked as producer.

Although Blunt's first album received little critical attention, writers from every major music publication, and newspapers around the world all agreed on All the Lost Souls. The album received generally favorable feedback and Metacritic's Metacritic assigns it a score of 53/100. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Hartford Courant's Eric Danton said the album is "a series so dull, it makes impossibletack seem sptuous." Blunt, "shows the abandonment and admiration of a long-term artist, not simply a one-hit wonder," Billboard's Kerri Mason said, adding, "There is not a single mistake in the process." Liz Hoggard of The Observer wrote, "it's impossible to avoid Blunt's troubling yearning."

Blunt's nights out at Pacha, an Ibiza club, which opened in 1973, was inspired by his first single from All the Lost Souls, "1973." The album debuted as a number one on the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles chart, reaching number one. D.J. Pete Tong remixed "1973" and appeared on the track during his set at Pacha in 2007. In early December 2007, the second single, "Same Mistake," was released in early December 2007, but it did not do well in the UK charts, peaking at number 57. It was the one in Brazil and a hit in several South American countries. "Carry You Home," the album's third single, peaking at number 20 in the U.K charts and bringing the album back to the top ten, six months after its release, was released. "I Really Want You" was the fourth and final single from the original "All The Lost Souls" album's "All The Lost Souls" album.

During this album cycle, Blunt collaborated twice. He collaborated with French rapper Sinik in late 2007. They released "Je Réalise," which included elements of Blunt's "I'll Take Everything" and debuted in France at number three. "Primavera in anticipo," Laura Pausini's new album, was released on November 14, 2008. Blunt's title track is a duet. The album debuted at number one in Italy.

Blunt's second world tour appeared in London's O2 Arena between 2007 and 2008. He and Sheryl Crow, along with Toots and the Maytals, entertained her on a 25-date tour in July and August 2008. All The Lost Souls was re-released as a deluxe edition on November 24, 2008, with new album artwork, new single "Love, Love, Love," and the documentary James Blunt: Return to Kosovo.

Some Kind of Trouble, Blunt's third studio album, was released on November 8, 2010. In the first week, the album debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, with over 100,000 copies sold in the first week. On the 27th of October 2010, the album's first single, "Stay the Night," was released. The single did much better in Europe than the United Kingdom, placing at number two on the European Airplay Chart for five weeks in a row, but only at number 37 in the UK top 40. On January 3, 2011, the album's second single, "So Far Gone," was released in the United Kingdom. On April 4, 2011, the third single from the album "If Time Is All I Have" was released in the United Kingdom. Overall, critical reception has been mixed, with Allmusic advising that "Some Kind of Trouble" is a step forward for Blunt, a step toward love songs without pretension," though BBC Music said, "There's no suggestion that Blunt has changed, but there is no evidence that it will make a difference to his bottom line."

The worldwide sales figure for over a million copies as of February 2011 is up by more than a million copies.

Moon Landing, Blunt's fourth album, was announced on October 18, 2013. It was directed by Back to Bedlam producer Tom Rothrock. "Bonfire Heart," the lead single, debuted at number six before peaking at number four in the UK Singles Chart the following week. The single soared to the top of the Australian, German, Switzerland, and Austria, and was in the top ten in many other nations.

Blunt revealed on his official Instagram page on September 16th that "Moon Landing" would be re-released on October 3, 2014. The new album, Moon Landing – Apollo Edition, featured 19 tracks, as well as the three bonus tracks from the original disc ("When I Find Love Again," "Protection," and "Hollywood") and five new ones ("Working It Out"). After being seen on BBC's Radio 2 for the first time, the single "When I Find Love Again" was released as a single that day. On October 14, 2014, the official music video for "When I Find Love Again" was released. The latest edition of the Paléo Festival, Switzerland, also includes a 19-track live DVD made during Blunt's appearance in the 2014 edition of the Paléo Festival, Switzerland.

On the third season of The X Factor Australia, Blunt was announced on May 3rd, 2015. Chris Isaak of the United States and returning judges Guy Sebastian and Dannii Minogue were among him.

Blunt revealed that he had started working on his fifth album in early 2016. It was named The Afterlove when it was announced in March 2017. Blunt co-produced "Walk Away" in the dance music market in 2019.

Once Upon a Mind, Blunt's sixth album, was released on October 25, 2019. On August 29, he dropped "Cold" as the lead single.

On November 19, 2021, Beneath My Feet (2004–2021), his first hits album, "Love Under Pressure" and "Unstoppable" were two of four new songs, two of which were released as singles: "Love Under Pressure" and "Unstoppable." In February 2022, a 'Greatest Hits' tour is set to begin in the United Kingdom.

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