Twenty years after his hit You’re Beautiful turned him into an overnight star, the British singer and songwriter takes his music – and his haters – to task. Twenty years ago this month, James Blunt was an unknown singer releasing his first album. The song that rapidly elevated him out of obscurity was You’re Beautiful , a lovelorn rhapsody about falling for a stranger on the subway while high on drugs, which hit No 1 in 15 countries, including the United States.
The smash helped turn his 2004 LP Back to Bedlam into a triple-platinum success. As Blunt moved from unknown to highly known, there was a surprise reveal: The slight, diminutive man who wrote You’re Beautiful had been a captain in the British army, and served in Kosovo. Interviewers soon learned he also had an acid tongue and a quick wit.
And in recent years, with evident zest, he’s turned it on people who troll him on social media; his retorts make him sound like a skilled stand-up comic who specialises in crowd work. (When someone posted on the social platform X, “My mom hates James Blunt,” he retorted, “Because I won’t pay the child support?” At this point, only masochists post @ Blunt.) Blunt has released seven studio albums; the most recent, Who We Used to Be , arrived in 2023.
Later this year, he’s touring Australia, Asia and Europe, with a return to the United States planned for June 2025. An irreverent documentary about him, One Brit Wonder , premiered on Netflix UK in June and is avail.
