41 Facts About James Blunt

James Blunt was born on James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974 and is a British singer, songwriter, and musician.

Blunt was born James Hillier Blount on 22 February 1974 at Tidworth Camp military hospital in Hampshire, the first of three children born to Jane Ann Farran and Colonel Charles Blount.

James Blunt grew up primarily in St Mary Bourne, Hampshire, but moved every two years according to his father's military postings around England as well as Cyprus and Germany.

James Blunt spent time in Cley-next-the-Sea, where his father owned the Cley Windmill.

James Blunt was educated at Elstree School in Woolhampton and then Harrow School, Middlesex, gaining A-levels in physics, chemistry, and economics.

James Blunt then went up to the University of Bristol, where he read aerospace manufacturing engineering and sociology, graduating in 1996 with a BSc.

James Blunt developed a keen interest in motorbikes around this time.

James Blunt trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in intake 963, and was commissioned into the Life Guards, a reconnaissance regiment.

James Blunt was trained in British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada, where his regiment was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army in combat training exercises.

In 1999, James Blunt volunteered to join a Blues and Royals squadron deploying with NATO to Kosovo.

James Blunt has said that he would have refused to obey such an order if General Jackson had not blocked it.

James Blunt extended his military service in November 2000, and was posted to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in London, as a member of the Queen's Guard.

James Blunt stood guard at the coffin of HM The Queen Mother during her lying in state and was part of the funeral procession on 9 April 2002.

James Blunt left the army on 1 October 2002 having served six years.

James Blunt had piano and violin lessons as a child, but was introduced to the electric guitar aged 14 at Harrow by a fellow student.

James Blunt left the British Army in 2002 so that he could pursue his musical career.

James Blunt started using the stage name "James Blunt" in part to make it easier for others to spell; "Blount" is pronounced the same way, and remains his legal last name.

James Blunt made an offer to him the same night, and within a few days he signed a recording contract with her.

James Blunt recorded Back to Bedlam in 2003 with Rothrock as producer in Conway Recording Studios and Rothrock's home studio in Los Angeles, playing many instruments himself.

The debut album from the unknown James Blunt initially attracted little critical attention; there were no published reviews from major UK music journals.

James Blunt became the first British artist to top the American singles chart in nearly a decade when "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 1997".

James Blunt began 2006 celebrating five Brit Award nominations, and went on to win Best British male solo artist and Best pop act categories, having already started an 11-month world tour.

In late 2005, James Blunt made appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

James Blunt performed "You're Beautiful" at the 49th Grammy Awards in February 2007, dedicating the song to the late Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, but he did not win in any of the five categories for which he had received nominations.

In 2005, James Blunt performed 90 live shows, mainly across the UK and Europe, and supported Jason Mraz in a North American tour.

The re-release video for "High" features James Blunt running in a forest.

James Blunt appeared on an episode of Sesame Street which aired on 14 November 2007, singing about triangles to the tune of "You're Beautiful".

On 16 September 2014, James Blunt confirmed on his official Instagram account that "Moon Landing" would be re-released on 3 November 2014.

On 3 May 2015, James Blunt was confirmed to be replacing Ronan Keating on the seventh season of The X Factor Australia.

James Blunt was joined by American rock musician Chris Isaak and returning judges Guy Sebastian and Dannii Minogue.

In early 2016, James Blunt announced via his newsletter that he had started work on his fifth album.

In 2019, James Blunt collaborated with German DJ and producer Alle Farben to release "Walk Away" in the dance music genre.

James Blunt owns a chalet in the Swiss Alpine village of Verbier, where he has a ski lift named after him.

On 6 September 2014, James Blunt married Sofia Wellesley, the granddaughter of Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington.

James Blunt received the honorary degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Bristol in 2016.

James Blunt is an active user of Twitter with over two million followers and a feed notable for self-deprecating humour.

James Blunt is a patron of Help for Heroes, a charity that raises money to provide better facilities for wounded British servicemen, and has held benefit concerts for this charity.

James Blunt raises funds for the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

James Blunt first encountered the non-governmental organisation while on operations in Kosovo.

James Blunt screened the trailer for An Inconvenient Truth at his concerts, and for each advance sales concert ticket purchased through his designated website, a tree is planted.

James Blunt contributed to the charity single, "Everybody Hurts" in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake appeal.