James Blunt

Born on February 22, 1974, in Tidworth, Hampshire, England, James Blunt had an unusual route to pop stardom. A champion skier educated at the exclusive Harrow School, he was a captain in the British Army and served in Kosovo before leaving in 2002 to embark on his music career. His upper-class breeding was seen by many as a stumbling block, but his melodic voice and finely crafted songs proved the critics wrong. His 2004 debut album Back To Bedlam—which included the smash hit single "You're Beautiful," a number 1 both in the UK and US—went on to sell over 11 million copies, making it the best-selling British album of the 2000s. Unsurprisingly, James Blunt failed to match it with his second album All the Lost Souls (2007) but, while becoming the butt of many jokes due to his smooth style and privileged upbringing, his popularity as a concert performer endured and he broadened his style in collaborations with French rapper Sinik and Italian singer-songwriter Laura Pausini. He continued to build on his reputation across another four albums: Some Kind of Trouble (2010), Moon Landing (2013), The Afterlove (2017), and Once Upon a Mind (2019), which peaked at number 3 in the UK. In November 2021, James Blunt released his first greatest hits album, The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004–2021). In 2023, he returned with his seventh studio album, Who We Used to Be, which included the singles “Beside You,” “All the Love That I Ever Needed,” and “The Girl That Never Was.” The album, which debuted in the Top 5 on the UK Albums chart, was released the same day as his book Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir.