James Blunt

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James Blunt
Image:James Blunt at concert.jpg James Blunt performing in September 2007
Background information
Birth name	James Hillier Blount
Born	February 22 1974 (1974-02-22) (age 35)
Origin	Tidworth, Wiltshire, England
Genre(s)	Pop rock Soul rock Folk rock Folk pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals, multi-instrumentalist
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Warner/Atlantic/Custard
Website	www.JamesBlunt.com

James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, February 221974) is an English singer-songwriter whose debut album, Back to Bedlam, and single releases — especially the number one hit "You're Beautiful" — brought him to fame in 2005. His style is a mix of pop, folk and acoustic rock. Along with vocals, James Blunt plays a wide variety of instruments including the piano, guitar, organ, marimba and mellotron. He is signed to Linda Perry's American label Custard Records, and became the first British artist to top the American singles chart in nearly a decade when his song "You're Beautiful" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. The last British artist to do so had been Elton John in 1997 with the song "Candle in the Wind 1997". Blunt won two BRIT Awards and was nominated for five Grammy Awards in 2006.

Contents 1 Early life 1.1 Military career 2 Music career 2.1 Early career 2.2 Back to Bedlam 2.3 All the Lost Souls 3 Reactions to success 4 Philanthropy 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Hit singles 6 Awards 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Blunt was born at a military hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England, the eldest of three children of Charles and Jane Blount. Blunt spent his early childhood living in England, Cyprus, and Germany, where his father, a Colonel in the British Army Air Corps and military helicopter pilot, was posted at various times. His father instilled in his son a love of flying, and Blunt earned his pilot's license at age 16. The Blount family has a long history of military service, dating to the 10th century.^[1][2]

At age 7, Blunt was enrolled at Elstree School, Woolhampton, then attended Harrow School (Elmfield House) on an army bursary. From Harrow School he gained an army-sponsored place at Bristol University, where he first studied aerospace manufacturing engineering and then subsequently read sociology.^[1] He graduated with a BSc in Sociology in 1996.^[3] Blunt completed his education at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.^[1]

[edit] Military career

Much has been made of Blunt's military background, and questions about his assignments and activities have been raised in almost every interview since Blunt entered public life as a musician. As the British Army sponsored his university education, he was obliged to provide a minimum of four years of service. He was commissioned as an officer in the Life Guards regiment, a unit of the Household Cavalry of the British Army, where he rose to the rank of Captain. One of his first assignments was to British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada, where his squadron was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army in combat training exercises.^[4]

In 1999, he served as an armoured reconnaissance officer in the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Initially assigned to reconnaissance of the Macedonia-Kosovo border, Blunt and his unit worked ahead of the front lines directing forces and targeting Serb positions for the NATO bombing campaign. He led the first squadron of troops to enter Priština, and was the first British officer to enter the Kosovan capital. His unit was given the assignment of securing the Priština airport in advance of the 30,000-strong peacekeeping force; the Russian army had moved in and taken control of the airport before his unit's arrival. As the first officer on the scene, Blunt had the difficult task of addressing the potentially violent international incident.^[5] There were less intense moments during Blunt's Kosovo assignment, however. Blunt had brought along his guitar, strapped to the outside of his tank and, at some places, the peacekeepers would share a meal with hospitable locals, and Blunt would perform. It was while on duty there that he wrote the song "No Bravery".^[6]

Later assignments included captaincy of the Household Cavalry Alpine ski team, based in Verbier, Switzerland, with Blunt eventually becoming champion skier of the entire Royal Armoured Corps, and 26th in the Army Championships. Following this came a tour of duty with the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in London, England.^[2] During his London posting, Blunt was interviewed about his responsibilities on the television program "Girls on Top," a series highlighting unusual career choices.^[7][8] As part of the Mounted Regiment, he carried out many ceremonial duties. He stood guard at the coffin of the Queen Mother during the days of her lying in State and was part of the funeral procession on April 92002.^[9]

[edit] Music career

[edit] Early career

Blunt took piano and violin lessons as a child, but his first significant exposure to popular music was at Harrow School. There, he was introduced to the guitar by a fellow student, and started playing guitar and writing songs at age 14.^[10][2] At Bristol University, his graduate thesis was The Commodification of Image - Production of a Pop Idol; one of his main references for the thesis was Simon Frith, a sociologist and rock critic, and current chair of the Mercury Music Prize.^[11]

Blunt left the British Army in 2002 so that he could pursue his musical career.^[6] Shortly afterward, he was signed to EMI music publishers, and to Twenty-First Artists management. ^[12] A record contract remained elusive however, with recording label executives pointing to Blunt's "posh" speaking voice as a barrier.^[10] Linda Perry, who was just launching her own Custard Records label in early 2003, heard Blunt's promotional tape when visiting London, and shortly thereafter heard him perform live at the South by Southwest Music Festival. Within a few days, Blunt signed a recording contract with Perry, and one month later he was in Los Angeles working with producer Tom Rothrock.^[12][13]

[edit] Back to Bedlam

Blunt recorded Back to Bedlam in 2003 with producer Tom Rothrock at Rothrock's home studio, using session musicians and performing on many different instruments himself.^[10][14] While in Los Angeles, he lodged with actress Carrie Fisher, whom he had met through the family of a former girlfriend. Fisher was very supportive of Blunt's aspirations, suggesting the name of the album and providing use of a bathroom in her home for Blunt to record the song "Goodbye My Lover".^[2] Back to Bedlam was finally released in the UK in October 2004.

James Blunt's debut single in the UK, released without much fanfare, was "High" (co-written with Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue). This song peaked below the Top 100 of the UK Singles Chart.^[15] However, the song was chosen to appear in a Vodafone commercial in Italy, and was a Top 10 hit in that country.^[12] Support slots for Elton John and Katie Melua in late 2004 and early 2005 followed. His second single, "Wisemen" peaked at number forty two, and sent the album into the UK's Top 20 chart. Blunt's third single "You're Beautiful" was his breakout hit. The song debuted at number twelve in the UK, and demonstrated a rare trend of upward mobility on the UK charts, rising all the way to the number one position six weeks after its debut. The song also received massive airplay in the UK, which helped propel Back to Bedlam to number one on the UK Albums Chart, unseating the record-breaking album X&Y by Coldplay from the pole position. After the success of "You're Beautiful" in the UK, the song crossed over to mainland Europe, becoming one of the biggest hits of summer 2005 across the continent. In the U.S., "You're Beautiful" made its debut in the summer of 2005 on WPLJ, a prominent radio station in New York City, despite not having been released to radio yet. Once the song was released to radio stations in the fall of 2005, the song climbed into the Top ten at three radio formats: Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Adult Alternative, eventually climbing to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. There was extensive promotion in the United States starting in the fall of 2005, with Blunt making appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Eight of the songs on the album were featured in television shows (The O.C., Grey's Anatomy and many more), films (Undiscovered), and advertising campaigns (Hilton Hotels, Sprint telecommunications) throughout 2005 and 2006. ^[12]

The album eventually sold 11 million copies worldwide. It was certificated gold and/or platinum in 25 countries. It sold 2.6 million in the US and was certificated 2x platinum. In Britain the album was certificated 10x platinum and sold over 3 million copies. It was the best sold album in 2006 in the world.

In 2005, Blunt performed in ninety live shows, mainly across the UK and Europe, ending the year supporting Jason Mraz in a North American tour. The "Back to Bedlam World Tour" started off in January 2006, covering cities in Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, as well as three separate headline tours in North America, ending in November of that year.^[16] Not including promotional appearances, Blunt performed over 140 live shows in 2006. He enjoys the touring experience, saying in July 2006 that he and his band were having the time of their lives going to new places every day.^[5]

The videos for all of Blunt's singles released from Back To Bedlam feature symbolism and dark imagery. In the first video for "High", he is buried in a desert. In the first video for "Wisemen", he is kidnapped and taken hostage. In the video for "You're Beautiful", he alludes to suicide by jumping off a cliff into the sea. The re-release video for "High" then features Blunt running in a forest. The re-release video for "Wisemen" has Blunt burning identification papers, and then walking through a forest while he is on fire and in "Goodbye My Lover", he is the outsider in a love triangle, imagining the couple, a man and woman (played by Matt Dallas of Kyle XY and Mischa Barton of The O.C.) together.

[edit] All the Lost Souls

Blunt's second studio album, All the Lost Souls, was released on 18 September2007 in North America, one day after its release in the United Kingdom. It sold 650,000 units in its first week. Blunt completed the album's songs at his home in Ibiza in the winter of 2006–2007. He performed five of the ten album tracks during his 2005-2006 tours; lyrics, melodies, and harmonies were refined for the studio recording, on which his touring band played and Tom Rothrock worked as producer.^[10]

The album's first single, "1973", was inspired by Blunt's nights out at Pacha, an Ibiza club, which opened in that year. The song became another hit for Blunt reaching number-one in seven countries and reach the top in the European overall chart. It reached the top ten in twenty-nine countries. D.J. Pete Tong remixed "1973" and plays the track during his set at Pacha. The second single, Same Mistake, was released in early December 2007 but did not fare well in the charts, peaking at number 57 in the UK charts.

[edit] Reactions to success

Blunt's first album was extraordinarily popular with the general public. It was the top-selling album in the UK in 2005 and in the world in 2006; however, he was the subject of unusual level of derision from both the music media and fellow musicians. Blunt has generally taken the criticism with equanimity and good humour, discussing his favourite parodies with interviewers, and joking that "it would have been worse for You're Beautiful to come in second" to The Birdie Song and Macarena in a poll of irritating songs.^{[17] [18][11]} Blunt himself has found the degree of interest in his personal life to be bizarre, stating that "fame and celebrity is something that other people have constructed that I'm not really party to."^[18]

In 2006, the name James Blunt was entered into the Dictionary of Cockney rhyming slang (a 'right James Blunt') in reference to the word cunt. Blunt is said to have responded, "John F. Kennedy got an airport named after him - I got my favourite part of the female anatomy".^[19]

According to The Sun, "You're Beautiful" has eclipsed Robbie Williams' "Angels" as the wedding favourite in the United Kingdom.^[20]

[edit] Philanthropy

Blunt has raised funds for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors without Borders, by auctioning meet and greet opportunities at many of his concerts. He first encountered MSF medical care workers during his tour of duty in Kosovo, and was impressed with their work despite minimal support and limited security.^[10]

He also supports environmental causes, screening the trailer for An Inconvenient Truth at his concerts, and planting a tree for each advance sales concert ticket purchased through his designated website.^[21] On July 72007, Blunt performed at the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium, London.

[edit] Discography

Main article: James Blunt discography

[edit] Albums

• 2004: Back to Bedlam
• 2006: Chasing Time: The Bedlam Sessions (DVD/CD)
• 2007: All the Lost Souls

[edit] Hit singles

See also: James Blunt discography#Singles

The following singles reached the number-one in the World, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and/or Norway.