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James Blunt (born '''James Hillier Blount''', February 22 1974 ) is an English Singer-songwriter whose Debut Album , '' Back To Bedlam '', and Single releases — especially the number one Hit " You're Beautiful " — brought him to fame in 2005. His style is a mix of Pop Rock and Acoustic Rock . Along with Vocals , James Blunt plays a wide variety of Instruments including the Piano , Guitar , Organ , Marimba , and Mellotron . He is signed to Linda Perry 's American label Custard , and became the first British Artist To Top The American Singles Chart in nearly a decade when his song "You're Beautiful" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. The last British artist to do so had been Elton John in 1997 with the song " Candle In The Wind ". Blunt won two BRIT Awards and was nominated for five Grammy Awards in 2006. EARLY LIFE 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 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 . bbc.co.uk Blunt was then a ". 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 . news.bbc.co.uk news.bbc.co.uk MUSIC CAREER Back to Bedlam Within a year of leaving the army, Blunt signed to EMI Music Publishing as a singer/songwriter. He soon caught the eye of former . bbc.co.uk James Blunt's debut single, by "soft release" in the , Adult Top 40 , and Adult Alternative , eventually climbing to number 1 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. On December 3 , 2005 , James Blunt was the musical guest on '' Saturday Night Live ''. His music has been featured on television programmes throughout the world. He made his acting debut on the (US) ABC Family Channel programme ''Wildfire'', first aired on January 30 2006 . He also appeared in episode 103 of the CBS comedy Love Monkey (original air date February 7 , 2006 ). 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 90 live shows, mainly across the UK and Europe, ending the year supporting " 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 ". All The Lost Souls James Blunt releases his second studio album on September 17 , 2007 throughout the world, and a day later in North America. Blunt completed the songs for the album at his home in Ibiza through the winter of 2006-07. Five of the ten songs on the album have been performed during his 2005-06 tours; however, lyrics, melodies and harmonies were refined for the studio recording. The album was recorded with his touring band, and Tom Rothrock returned as producer. The first single from ''All The Lost Souls'' is called " 1973 " and was inspired by Blunt's nights out in a club called Pacha , in Ibiza , which opened that year. The DJ Pete Tong , remixed "1973" and plays the track during his set in Pacha. REACTIONS TO SUCCESS Blunt initially had little investment from both the independent record label he was signed to, Custard Records , or from his distributors Atlantic Records . Although trading standards authorities forced him to add an explicit lyrics warning to the packaging of his debut album, critics of Blunt have cited 'inoffensive' songs and vast marketing investment as reason to see him more in the mould of a commercial act rather than a genuine singer-songwriter. In 2006, the name James Blunt was entered into the Dictionary of Cockney Rhyming Slang (a 'right James Blunt') in reference to the word Cunt . Blunt is said to have responded, "John F. Kennedy got an airport named after him - I got my favourite part of the female anatomy". slate.com According to '' The Sun '', "You're Beautiful" has eclipsed Robbie Williams ' " Angels " as the wedding favourite in the United Kingdom . canada.com DISCOGRAPHY See Also: James Blunt discography Albums
Hit singles See Also: James Blunt discography#Singles The following singles reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom and/or Australia . Their peak positions are shown, along with the peak positions for Ireland , Mexico , Italy , the United States , The Netherlands , Germany and Canada . AWARDS ''2005''
''2006''
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