James Blunt - ‘The Iraq war lost me my GRAMMYS’

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Sony Music

Society & Culture

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

TW: miscarriage and pregnancy loss You’ll probably have heard of James Blunt. And if you haven’t, you’ve almost definitely heard his most famous song, You’re Beautiful. There was a time in the early 2000s that it was EVERYWHERE. And that’s because James Blunt was absolutely huge. His debut 2004 album, Back To Bedlam, was the biggest-selling album of the decade in the UK, shifting over 12 million copies. I know!! TWELVE MILLION. He has released another six albums since then, every one of them a top 10 hit, winning two Brit Awards and two Ivor Novellos along the way. But Blunt faced an astonishing cultural backlash for his ubiquity - eventually choosing to fight back in his own words on Twitter, where he rapidly became known for his acerbic put-downs and self-deprecating humour. He joins me to talk about the ‘honour’ of being a ‘one-hit wonder’, his rejection by every single major record label and his failure to win any Grammys, despite being nominated for five in one night. We also talk about his friendship with the late Carrie Fisher, whether he bears a grudge against any of the musicians who slagged him off (looking at you, Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher), the absurdity of fame and - in a moving exchange - the male experience of miscarriage. At points, his humour was so dry it took me a couple of seconds to realise he’d made a joke. Listening back, I can confirm I find him utterly hilarious. Back To Bedlam is about to be released as a remastered 20th anniversary edition. Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Manager: Eric Ryan Studio and Mix Engineer: Matias Torres Sole and Josh Gibbs Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Carly Maile Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you heard about Bista Village, which sits beautifully in the heart of Oxfordshire?
0:06.4	It's an extraordinary shopping experience and has over 150 fashion and lifestyle boutiques.
0:12.4	I love it there. When I went recently I picked up two amazing silk shirts from
0:17.6	Jill Sander and I've now got my eye on a pair of Jimmy Chu Slingbacks that I'm going to pick up on my next visit very soon.
0:25.0	Well the big news is that you can.
0:28.0	Bista Village have launched a prize draw to win a 500-pound gift card to spend in their beautiful boutiques.
0:34.3	Only an hour from London on the train, it has some of my favourite boutiques from Jill
0:38.7	Sander, Anina Bing, Jimmy Chu, The White Company, and Astrid and Meu.
0:43.7	Enough to dress you from top to toe with savings of up to 40%.
0:48.4	There's also a great selection of restaurants like Ottelengi and Chaconis
0:52.0	for a pit stop from shopping.
0:54.0	Watch my full experience on the How to Fail YouTube channel and find out how you can win a 500-pound gift card to spend at Bista Village.
1:02.0	Tees and C's apply. Welcome to How to Fail, the podcast that flips the traditional interview format on its head and asks
1:20.0	its guests about three times things went wrong. Before we get to our guest today, I wanted to mention
1:26.4	our subscriber podcast failing with friends, where my guest and I answer your questions
1:31.7	and we offer advice on some of your failures too.
1:34.4	Here's a bit of agony uncle James Blunt.
1:37.2	So it's a failing of men to not be open and say can we talk about that it's not working for me because if we did
1:45.1	we'd smoothed it out much earlier I know I just absorb until I just
1:48.9	reached a so tipping point and then and then the tipping point is much more
1:52.4	dramatic than it probably ever needed to be.
1:55.0	Do join in by following the link in the podcast notes and you can send me an email or look out for my call
	...

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