James Arthur

James Arthur is a British singer and musician from the United Kingdom. He wins the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012 and becomes known for a pop sound shaped by acoustic performance and influences from indie, rock, R&B, soul and hip hop.

Early work and bands

Arthur writes and records songs from the age of 15 and performs as an unsigned artist in a number of bands before his television breakthrough. He plays vocals and guitar in Moonlight Drive, a Cleveland-based progressive, experimental rock five-piece active from 2005 to 2008, with recordings including “Said You’d Be There”, “Hole in My Heart” and “Tear Me Apart”. He also sings in Cue the Drama, an alternative rock band from Marske-by-the-Sea active from 2005 to 2008, which records “On the Radio 98KUPD”, “It’s Killing Me”, “I Reach You” and “It Hurts”.

He later joins Save Arcade, a Middlesbrough alternative rock band with Josh Brown on keyboards and vocals, Matthew Green on guitar, Alex Beer on bass and vocals, Travis Shaw on guitar, percussion and vocals, and Karl Dowson on drums. In 2009 the band releases the three-track EP Truth, featuring “The Truth”, “Echoes” and “I Un-Proudly Present”, followed in June 2010 by the five-track EP Tonight We Dine in Hades, which includes the title track, “Superhero”, “You Always Want a Fight”, “Juliet Is Not Dead” and “She Aims to Please”. Both releases appear on 57 Records UK.

Arthur also forms Emerald Skye in March 2011, a four-piece indie pop and rock group based in Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea. The line-up is Arthur on guitar and vocals, Dean Harrison on piano and violin, Paul Gill on bass, and Matthew Green from Save Arcade on drums. He uploads original songs to SoundCloud and YouTube, including an album called Sins by the Sea.

Solo releases and X Factor

Before The X Factor, Arthur auditions for The Voice UK in 2011 and reaches the final 200 contestants. In early 2012 he records material and releases two EPs as The James Arthur Band, a project with Arthur on vocals and guitar, Jez Taylor on guitar, Chris Smalls on keyboards, Jordan Swain on drums and Rich Doney on bass. The project’s EP Collection CD appears in 2012 and gathers tracks from both EPs, with songs influenced by R&B, soul and hip hop.

He also releases the EP Hold On in August 2012 under The James Arthur Project, in collaboration with John McGough, who writes and arranges the tracks. Matt Wanstall mixes the recordings and Arthur provides the vocals.

Arthur auditions for The X Factor with an acoustic version of Tulisa Contostavlos’s “Young”. He speaks about time in care and periods spent on the streets after family break-ups. He is mentored by Nicole Scherzinger, reaches the live shows as one of three contestants in the Boys category, and recovers from an anxiety attack backstage during the second live show. After landing in the bottom two with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, he performs “Fallin’” in the sing-off against Ella Henderson and is saved by the public vote. He wins the final with 53.7% of the vote against Jahméne Douglas.

Breakthrough single

After the final, Arthur releases “Impossible”, which enters at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The single establishes him as a chart-topping solo artist following his television win.

Background

Arthur is born in Middlesbrough, England, to Shirley Ashworth and Neil Arthur. His father works as a delivery driver and also spends many years as a DJ and drummer. His parents separate when he is two, and later agree to attend his X Factor audition together after not speaking for more than twenty years. He attends Ings Farm Primary School in Redcar, later lives in Bahrain for four years with his mother and stepfather Ronald Rafferty, studies at the British School of Bahrain, and returns to the UK at 14 to live in Saltburn-by-the-Sea before continuing at Rye Hills School in Redcar. He has five siblings: an older brother Neil Arthur, an older sister Sian Arthur, and three younger sisters, Charlotte Arthur and Jasmin and Neve Rafferty.