James Blunt

The British singer and songwriter James Blunt hardly needs an introduction these days. With his debut album "Back To Bedlam" and the lead single "You're Beautiful," he shot to the top of the charts in 2005 and has collected billions of streams with this song alone.

Some of these songs, which catapulted his career into orbit so early on, were written while he was still a professional soldier in the British Army - where he served as an officer in the KFOR troops in Kosovo, for example. Since then, James Blunt has been able to concentrate fully on music and has released numerous other single hits and albums. For example, the piano-heavy ballad "1973" from the 2007 album "All The Lost Souls", the folky "Bonfire Heart" from "Moon Landing" (2013) or the rather dark "Monsters" (2019), which can be found on "Once Upon A Mind".

His nasal, haunting voice and emphatic sound somewhere between folk and pop inspires millions of people - and at the same time strangely triggers numerous haters, although James Blunt is one of the most charming stage people you can imagine. But James Blunt can handle it himself: anyone who hates his music would stand in a stadium anytime James Blunt reads out his best tweets. After all, this is where his down-to-earth, delightfully dry, self-deprecating British sense of humor really shines.

On the release of his best-of compilation "The Stars Beneath My Feet," for example, he posted: "I solemnly swear I will never write, record or sing another song as long as I live if my new album (out tomorrow) hits #1." Luckily for his fans, the haters couldn't bring themselves to buy his album to end his career. In response to the nasty tweet asking if it was really possible that there would be a "best of" James Blunt, he replied by tweeting, "Yup, it's called 'Greatest Hit'." But back to the music - and it remains perfect pop music. On October 27, his new studio album "Who We Used To Be" will be released and the advance single already shows where the journey could go: "Beside You" is more upbeat and cheerful than much of what James Blunt released before. A danceable, rather electronic pop song, which for connoisseurs even carries the great film music composer Ennio Morricone in the credits due to a sample.

James Blunt himself says in anticipation of his tour, "I can't put into words how excited I am to be touring again in 2024. It's been incredibly fun writing and recording my new album, and some of the new songs will no doubt get you up on your feet and dancing again. I'm already looking forward to crowd surfing with you guys!"