Blunt was born in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England in 1974 and educated at Elstree School, Woolhampton, then Harrow School (Elmfield House). From Harrow School he gained an army sponsored place at Bristol University, before finally completing his education at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Blunt's father was a Colonel in the British Army Air Corps, and his family has a long history of military service. The Blount family (Blunt is the performer's stage name) is also known to have owned and restored Cley windmill.
Blunt was then a commissioned officer in The
Life Guards regiment, a unit of the Householl Cavalry of the British Army. He rose to the rank of Captain and served as an armoured reconnaissance officer in the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo. He was put in charge of leading 30,000 troops into Priština as the first British officer to enter the Kosovan capital. It was while on duty in Kosovo that he wrote the song "No Bravery". He also 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 9, 2002.
Music career
Within a year of leaving the army, Blunt signed to EMI Music Publishing as a singer/songwriter. He soon caught the eye of former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry, who had written and produced songs for Pink, Courtney Love and Christina Aguilera.
Within a year of leaving the army, Blunt signed to EMI Music Publishing as a singer/songwriter. He soon caught the eye of former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry, who had written and produced songs for Pink, Courtney Love and Christina Aguilera.
Perry signed him to her new US-based Custard Records label, and Blunt recorded his album, Back to Bedlam, in Los Angeles with producer Tom Rothrock at Rothrock's home studio, Embassy studios while lodging with actress Carrie Fisher.
James Blunt's debut single, by "soft release" in the
Blunt's third single "You're Beautifull" was his 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 helped 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 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 Autumn of 2005, the song climbed into the Top 10 at three radio formats: Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Adult Alternative, eventually climbing to number one on the U.S. Hot 100.
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, forced to imagine the couple, a man and woman (played by Matt Dallas of Kyle XY and Mischa Barton of The O.C.) together.
He was interviewed and performed "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover" on the Oprah Winfrey Show on March 8, 2006 (taped on February 21, 2006).
In 2005, he performed ninety live shows, mainly across the UK and Europe, ending the year supporting
In April, Blunt performed several dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan before returning to North America for May, and then starting another UK/European tour in June and July. October and November saw the return of Blunt to North America.
In addition to the songs from the Back to Bedlam album, Blunt has included several cover songs, including "Where Is My Mind?" and "Breakfast in America". Blunt has also performed several unrecorded original works in live performances.
On 7 July 2007, Blunt performed at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. He performed two of his own songs, "Wisemen" (from Back to Bedlam) and "Same Mistake" (to be on All The Lost Souls). Additionally, he covered Cat Stevens' "Wild World".
On 7 July 2007, Blunt performed at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. He performed two of his own songs, "Wisemen" (from Back to Bedlam) and "Same Mistake" (to be on All The Lost Souls). Additionally, he covered Cat Stevens' "Wild World".
