His life
James Hillier Blount, famous as
James Blunt, is an English singer, songwriter and musician, and former army officer. He was born on 22 February 1974 at an army hospital in
Tidworth,
Wiltshire, England. He spent his childhood living in England, Cyprus, and Germany, while his father, a Colonel in the British Army Air Corps, and military helicopter pilot, was posted at various times. James Blunt has two younger siblings. His father instilled in him a love of flying, and he earned his pilot's licence at age 16. The Blount family has a long history of military service, dating from the 10th century. He became an officer in the Life Guards, a Cavalry regiment of the British Army, and served under NATO in Kosovo during the conflict there in 1999. While posted to Kosovo, Blunt was introduced to the work of
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or "Doctors Without Borders"). Since then, Blunt has supported MSF by holding meet-and-greet auctions at many of his concerts. He also fights for environmental causes.
His career
James Blunt's debut album,
Back to Bedlam and single releases, including
You're Beautiful and
Goodbye My Lover, made him famous in 2005. His repertoire can be best described as a mix of acoustic-tinged pop, rock and folk. After recording on the independent
American label Custard Records, Blunt won two BRIT Awards (the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards), two Ivor Novello Awards (named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello- These are awards for songwriting and composing), and by 2006 was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The following year, he released his second album All the Lost Souls (2007). Blunt's third studio album, Some Kind of Trouble, was released in November 2010. Worldwide, Blunt has sold over 15 million albums.
