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James Hillier Blount (born 22 February 1974), better known by his stage name James Blunt,
is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer,
whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including
"You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005.
His repertoire can be best described as a mix of acoustic-tinged pop,
rock and folk. After recording on the independent American label
Custard Records, Blunt won two BRIT Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards,
and by 2006 was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The following year,
he released his second album All the Lost Souls (2007). Blunt's third
studio album, Some Kind of Trouble, was released in November 2010.
Worldwide, Blunt has sold over 15 million albums, and his debut album,
Back to Bedlam, is the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK. Blunt
was an officer in the Life Guards, a Cavalry regiment of the British
Army, and served under NATO in Kosovo during the conflict there in
1999. While posted to Kosovo, Blunt was introduced to the work of
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or "Doctors Without Borders"). Since
then, Blunt has supported MSF by holding meet-and-greet auctions at
many of his concerts. As of 4 October 2009 Blunt's primary residence is
on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
James Blunt was born at an army hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire,
England; the first child born to Jane A.F. (née Amos) and Charles
Blount. James 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. James Blunt has
two younger siblings. The Blount family has a long history of military
service, dating from the 10th century. His father instilled in him a
love of flying, and he earned his pilot's licence at age 16. He has a
keen interest in motorcycles after learning to ride when he was 16.
Blunt was educated at two independent schools: at the age of seven, he
was enrolled at Elstree School in Woolhampton in Berkshire, before
continuing to Harrow School in Harrow on the Hill in north-west London
(Elmfield House) on an army bursary. From Harrow School he gained an
army-sponsored place at the University of Bristol, where he first
studied Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering and then subsequently moved
on to the study of Sociology. He graduated with a BSc in Sociology in
1996. Because the British Army sponsored his university education,
Blunt was obliged to serve a minimum of four years in the armed forces.
James stated on an interview in his Back to Bedlam sessions that he
chose to join the military as "his Father was pushing for it, so that
Blunt could obtain a secure work placement and income". Blunt trained
at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the Life Guards, a unit of the Household Cavalry,
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
battalion was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army
in combat training exercises.
Blunt's second studio album, All the Lost Souls, was released on 17
September 2007 in the United Kingdom and one day later in North
America. It sold 65,000 units in its first week, and was certified gold
in the UK after only four days. By the end of January 2008, the album
had sold 600,000 copies in the UK, and 4.5 million copies
internationally. 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. While Blunt’s first album received
very little critical attention, critics from every major music
publication, and newspapers around the world, weighed in on All the
Lost Souls. The album maintains a 53/100 rating at Metacritic, which
the website describes as "mixed or average reviews." Eric Danton, of
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Hartford Courant wrote that the
album is "a collection so bland, it makes hardtack seem sumptuous",
while Rolling Stone said that the album contains "forgettable ballads
that make Coldplay seem like the Arctic Monkeys." Yet, in her review of
the album, Kerri Mason of Billboard said Blunt "shows the abandon and
confidence of a long-term artist, not just a one-hit wonder". And of
the album, Mason wrote, "there is not a misstep throughout". Equally
effusive, Liz Hoggard of The Observer wrote that "it’s impossible to
resist Blunt’s troubadour yearning.”
The first single from All the Lost Souls, "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 the Billboard
European Hot 100 Singles chart. D.J. Pete Tong remixed "1973" and
played the track during his set at Pacha over the summer of 2007. The
second single, "Same Mistake", was released in early December 2007 but
did not fare well in the UK charts, peaking at number 57. It was Number
1 in Brazil and a hit in many South American countries. The third
single from the album was "Carry You Home", released in March 2008,
peaking at number 20 in the U.K charts and bringing the album back into
the Top 10, six months after its release. The fourth and final single
from the original "All The Lost Souls" album was "I Really Want You".
Blunt collaborated twice during this album cycle. In the end of 2007,
he worked with French rapper Sinik. They released "Je Réalise", which
took elements of Blunt's song "I'll Take Everything", which hit the top
3 in France. On 14 November 2008, "Primavera in anticipo", Laura
Pausini new album, was released. The title track is a duet with Blunt.
The album reached the Number 1 in Italy.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, Blunt went on his second world tour,
including a performance in London's O2 Arena. On 24 November 2008, All
The Lost Souls was re-released as a deluxe edition, with new album
artwork, new single "Love, Love, Love" and the documentary James Blunt:
Return to Kosovo. James Blunt's third studio album titled Some Kind of
Trouble, was released on November 8, 2010. The album debuted at #4 in
the UK with over 100,000 copies sold in the first week. The album's
first single "Stay the Night" was released on October 27, 2010. The
single charted in the UK top 40 at number 37, and sat at Number 2 on
the European Airplay Chart for 5 consecutive weeks. The second single
from the album, "So Far Gone" was for released on the UK on January 3,
2011. Overall critical reception has been mixed and as of February
2011, worldwide sales stand at over one million copies, making it a
commercial success. The third single from the album, "If Time Is All I
Have" was released in the UK on April 4, 2011.
Official Site: www.jamesblunt.com
Some Kind of Trouble (Atlantic Records, 2010)