James Blunt is an English singer-songwriter from Tidworth, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, born in 1974. His work sits across pop, rock and folk, with the verified genre profile also placing him in acoustic rock, folk rock, piano rock, pop rock and rock.

He comes to prominence in 2005 with his debut album Back to Bedlam, especially the single “You’re Beautiful”, which reaches number one and gives him major international recognition. That song also makes him the first British artist in nearly a decade to top the US singles chart, following Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” in 1997.

Blunt is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a vocalist, and plays piano, guitar, organ, marimba and mellotron. His recorded output includes the albums Back to Bedlam, All the Lost Souls and Some Kind of Trouble. He is signed to Custard, the American label run by Linda Perry.

Before his music career, he serves as a commissioned officer in the British Army, reaches the rank of Captain, and works as a NATO peacekeeper in Kosovo. He is also on duty for the funeral of the Queen Mother in April 2002. He studies at Elstree School, Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he gets the nickname “Blunty”.