James Blunt Biography

James Blunt (born James Hillier-Blount — February 22, 1977 in Tidworth, Wiltshire) is a British musician whose debut album, Back To Bedlam, and single releases — especially number one hit "You're Beautiful" — brought him to fame in 2005. His style is a mix of jazz, rock and soul, and comparisons have been made between him and early Elton John. Along with vocals Blunt plays a wide variety of instruments including the piano, organ and guitar
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Blunt was educated at Elstree School, Woolhampton, then Harrow School (where he received his nickname 'Blunty') and subsequently attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Before the release of his album, Blunt was a commissioned officer in the British Army, rose to the rank of Captain and served as a NATO peacekeeper in Kosovo. He was also on duty for the funeral of the Queen Mother on April 9, 2002, his duties included carrying her coffin. In a TV4 Nyhetsmorgon interview he has said that he had been shot at more times than 50 Cent. This would probably have been during his time in Kosovo.

James Blunt plays both the guitar and piano/organ and his debut single in the UK, "High", peaked below the Top 100 of the UK Singles Chart. However, the song was chosen to appear in a Vodafone commercial in Italy, and as a result ended up becoming a Top 10 hit in that country. Some people also suspect his song "High" as being a drug reference, which Blunt claims to be ridiculous. His second single "Wisemen" improved upon that position with a #44 peak.

However, it was the third single, "You're Beautiful", that became Blunt's breakout hit. The song debuted at #12 in the UK, and demonstrated a rare trend of upward mobility on the UK charts, rising all the way to the #1 position, six weeks after its debut. The song also received massive airplay in the UK which was able to propel Back To Bedlam to #1 on the 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 the biggest hits of summer 2005 across the continent.

In the USA, "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, the song climbed into to the Top 10 at three radio formats: Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Adult Alternative. "You're Beautiful" is also a Top 5 hit on the US Hot Digital Songs chart, published by Billboard Magazine.

The videos for three of Blunt's singles to date feature symbolism and dark imagery. In the video for "High", he is buried in a desert. In the video for "Wisemen", he is kidnapped and taken hostage. In the video for "You're Beautiful", he alludes to suicide.

His sudden rise to popularity has garnered resentment among musicians in Britain and in Ireland - his short-notice billing at a major summer festival, ousting Declan O' Rourke, led the latter to refer to him as "James Cucking Funt" live on-air nationally across Ireland. The nickname has stuck and Blunt is intensely despised by fans of O' Rourke and others.

In other parts of the UK, the name James Blunt has now become popularly used 'Cockney Rhyming Slang.' This could stem from two different things. it is either just that it by-chance rhymed, so was used randomly and caught on.

On December 3, 2005 he peformed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and the host was Dane Cook, and on December 9, 2005 NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

JAMES BLUNT PICTURES

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JAMES BLUNT BIOGRAPHY