James Blunt Biography

James Blunt is the eldest child of Jane and Charles Blount, a colonel in the British Army Air Corps and military pilot.

He was a very active teenager and by the age of sixteen, he acquired his pilot's license and learned to ride motorcycles. He attended Elstree School, Berkshire, and the prestigious Harrow School in London.

He was admitted to the University of Bristol on an army-sponsored seat where he pursued aerospace engineering and later switched to sociology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1996.

As his education was sponsored by the Army, James Blunt was legally bound to join the defense forces for a minimum of four years. Commissioned in the Life Guards, he soon ascended the ladder and was made the Captain.

In 1999, he became part of the NATO deployment in Kosovo as an armored reconnaissance officer. An enthusiastic skier, he eventually became the best skier of the entire ‘Royal Armored Corps’.

When he was still serving in the armed forces, he recorded a demo. One of his friends asked him to forward the demo to Todd Interland who was Elton John's manager. The track 'Goodbye My Lover’ impressed Interland.

After six years of service, he resigned from the British Army in 2002 to accomplish his musical dreams and adopted an easier-to-spell stage name, Blunt. Though he was signed with EMI music publishers, he was struggling to earn himself a record contract.

In 2003, he grabbed the attention of the American musician, Linda Perry, through his promotional tape when she was touring London. This brought about a much expected turn in Blunt’s career and he soon signed a recording contract with Linda.

The year 2003, proved significant to Blunt’s career and he came out with his debut album ‘Back to Bedlam’. Produced in association with Tom Rothrock, the album was recorded at Rothrock's Los Angeles home studio.

His most successful single release to date, ‘You're Beautiful’, which catapulted him to the limelight was part of the ‘Back to Bedlam’ album. It peaked at no. 1 on pop charts in several countries including Britain, the United States, Spain, Canada, and the Netherlands.

In 2007, he released the album, ‘All the Lost Souls’ which helped him develop a fan base and included the hit singles ‘1973’, ‘Same Mistake’, ‘Carry You Home’, ‘I Really Want You’, ‘Love, Love, Love’ and ‘It Is My Song".

‘Some Kind of Trouble’, his third studio album, released in 2010, however, failed to reiterate his previous grand success and received mixed reviews from the music critics. It debuted at no. 4 on the UK Albums Chart and at no. 11 on the Billboard 200. The album included singles such as, ’Stay the Night’ and ‘If Time Is All I Have’. It was praised as “a move toward love songs free of pretension” by ‘Allmusic’.

His album ‘Moon Landing’ was released in 2013. Its first single ‘Bonfire Heart’ reached no. 4 in the UK Singles Chart within a couple of weeks of its release. It was also featured on the music charts of several countries all over the world.

In March 2017, he put out his second album ‘The Afterlove.’ It received mixed to positive reviews from critics and peaked at number 6 on the UK Albums Charts. Blunt also announced ‘The Afterlove World Tour’ to promote the album.

He released his sixth studio album ‘Once Upon a Mind’ in October 2019. The album comprised songs like “How It Feels to Be Alive,” “Monsters,” “5 Miles,” “Halfway,” and “Stop the Clock.”

In October 2023, he released his seventh studio album under the name ‘Who We Used to Be.’ The album received praise from critics and peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart. Around the same time, he also put out his “non-memoir kind of memoir,” ‘Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir.’

James Blunt’s debut album, ‘Back to Bedlam’, was certified 10 platinum. With its highly popular hit singles such as, ‘You're Beautiful’, ‘Goodbye My Lover’, and ‘High’, the album is the 16th best-selling album in UK chart history.

His 2007 released album, ‘All the Lost Souls’ received Platinum certification in Australia and Germany. It reached no. 1 on the album charts in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Britain.

In 2006, James Blunt was nominated in five categories for the Brit Award. He won two of them in the categories, ‘Best British Male Solo Artist’ and ‘Best Pop Act’.

For his hit single, ‘You’re Beautiful’, he won the 'MTV Australia Video Music Award' (Song of the Year Award) in 2006.

He won two Ivor Novello Awards in the categories, ‘PRS Most Performed Work’ and ‘International Hit of the Year’ for ‘You're Beautiful’. He shared the awards with songwriters Amanda Ghost and Sacha Skarbek.

James Blunt got engaged to Sofia Wellesley in 2013. An Edinburgh University graduate, she is employed as a legal consultant in London.

He shares a strong bond with his family and his father manages his finances. He has stated that ‘fame and celebrity is something that other people have constructed that I'm not really party to’.

He was impressed with the work done by the medical charity ‘Medecins Sans Frontieres’ and has been helping in raising funds for the organization through benefit concerts.

He has been associated with environmental causes and screened the trailer for ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ at one of his concerts. In 2007, he also performed at the ‘Live Earth’ concert at Wembley Stadium, London.

James Blunt served in the British Army before pursuing a career in music, reaching the rank of Captain in the Life Guards regiment.

He once performed a surprise concert for passengers on a delayed Eurostar train, showcasing his spontaneity and dedication to his fans.

James Blunt is known for his witty and self-deprecating sense of humor on social media, often responding to critics and trolls in a light-hearted manner.

He holds the record for the fastest-selling debut album by a British male solo artist in the UK, demonstrating his early success in the music industry.

In addition to his musical talents, James Blunt is a skilled skier and has competed in various skiing events, showcasing his athleticism outside of the music world.