James Blunt looks in the rearview mirror. On October 11, 2004, the English singer, a former soldier in the British army, made his musical debut with the album “Back to Bedlam”. If the first single “High” went unnoticed, the second, “You’re Beautiful”, teleported the then 30-year-old artist into orbit. Number one in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, ranked fifth in France, the romantic ballad melted the entire planet, selling nearly 5 million copies. James Blunt will receive five Grammy Award nominations thanks to this hit! The next single, “Goodbye My Lover”, also enjoyed similar success and the rest is history. With more than 12 million sales estimated worldwide, the album “Back to Bedlam” is quite simply the best-selling album of the 2000s in the United Kingdom.
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A feat that James Blunt never really sought to repeat. “ Is there pressure on the charts? To be high in the rankings? Is there pressure to sell as many copies as my previous albums? What that means to me is that we don’t care about the rest, the most important thing: how it sounds, if there’s emotion, if it’s successful… We rather wonder if I I’m going to sell more than anyone else the first week, if I’m going to do better than before. And that’s where we are, where the music industry is. I’m at a point in my life where I continue music also for the love of art » he explained in 2013 to Purecharts.
“The time flies…”
On October 11, “Back to Bedlam” will celebrate its 20th anniversary. And since this day falls on a Friday, James Blunt has decided to give his fans a nice birthday present: a collector’s reissue! “ Oh my god, how time flies » confides the British singer on his Instagram account, where he announces this re-release and the organization of a special tour in 2025 – between two jokes about botox. The box set, available on double CD and vinyl, will contain no less than 15 bonus tracks and demos in addition to the original album. Songs engraved in the collective memory which will come to life on stage during a series of concerts which will travel across the United Kingdom and Europe. Kick-off is scheduled for February 11 in Belfast. Good news, the interpreter of “No Bravery” is meeting the French public on February 20, 2025 for a date at the Adidas Arena, the new Parisian hall with a capacity of 8,000 seats which will be transformed for a evening in “ temple of love “.
Tickets for this concert will go on sale on Friday May 31 at 10 a.m. but a pre-sale is organized on Wednesday May 29 on the Adidas Arena website. During the concert, James Blunt will perform his first album “ in entirety » as well as some of his “ greatest classics “. Strongly!
Album tracklist
Disc 1
High
You’re Beautiful
Wisemen
Goodbye My Lover
Tears and Rain
Out of My Mind
So Long, Jimmy
Billy
Cry
No Bravery
Disc 2
High (demo)
You’re Beautiful (demo)
Wisemen (demo)
Goodbye My Lover (demo)
Tears and Rain (demo)
Out Of My Mind (demo)
So Long, Jimmy (demo)
Billy (demo)
Cry (demo)
No Bravery (demo)
Sugar-Coated (bonus b-side)
Butterfly (bonus demo)
Dancing Days (bonus demo)
Close Your Eyes (bonus demo)
Standing All Alone (bonus demo)
Vinyl edition
In front of
High
You’re Beautiful
Wisemen
Goodbye My Lover
Tears and Rain
Side B
Out of My Mind
So Long, Jimmy
Billy
Cry
No Bravery
