The Blount family has a long history of military service, dating back to the arrival of their Danish ancestors in England in the 10th century.
His mother started up a ski chalet company in the French town of Méribel. His father was a cavalry officer in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and then a helicopter pilot and colonel of the Army Air Corps. James Hillier Blount was born on 22 February 1974 at an army hospital in Tidworth, Hampshire, the first of three children born to Jane Ann Farran (née Amos) and Colonel Charles Blount. He has received several awards, including two Brit Awards-winning Best British Male in 2006-two MTV Video Music Awards, and two Ivor Novello Awards, as well as receiving five Grammy Award nominations and an Honorary Doctorate for Music in 2016 by the University of Bristol. Blunt has since sold over 20 million records worldwide. Back to Bedlam was the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK, and is one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history. "You're Beautiful" was number one in the UK, the US and a dozen other countries. After leaving the military, he rose to fame in 2004 with the release of his debut album Back to Bedlam, achieving worldwide fame with the singles " You're Beautiful" and " Goodbye My Lover".īlunt's first album has sold over 11 million copies worldwide, topping the UK Albums Chart and peaking at number two in the US. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. James Hillier Blount (born 22 February 1974), better known as James Blunt, is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer.