James Blunt to play anniversary tour for album ‘people actually bought’

James Blunt One Brit Wonder

James Blunt will play a 20th anniversary tour to celebrate his debut album Back To Bedlam, which he says fans “actually bought”.

The English singer-songwriter, 50, released the tracks Goodbye My Lover and High from the record in 2004, and soon became a household name.

The album received five Grammy nominations, including song of the year for You’re Beautiful and best new artist for Blunt, and two Ivor Novello Awards, including international hit of the year for the same song.

Blunt will play five dates across the UK, kicking off on February 11 at Belfast’s SSE Arena and finishing on February 16 at London’s O2 Arena.

The Old Harrovian and former member of the Household Cavalry said: “I’ve been touring now for 20 years, and really, it’s only Back To Bedlam that people want to hear… so on that album’s 20th anniversary, what better way to celebrate than to head out on the Back To Bedlam 20th Anniversary Tour.

“I’ll play all the songs from Back To Bedlam in full, from start to finish, and chuck in the better known songs from later albums to finish. It’s going to be, well, it pains me to say it… beautiful.”

Last year, he released his seventh studio album, Who We Used To Be, a documentary called James Blunt: One Brit Wonder and the book Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir.

Blunt said: “I’ve released seven studio albums, but Back To Bedlam was the one people actually bought.

“So on its 20th anniversary, the record label and I thought we should repackage it with some early demos, and milk it for all it’s worth.

“It was one of the biggest selling albums of the Noughties, so here’s hoping it makes a dent in the 20s.”

The record was named the UK’s second biggest debut album by the Official Charts Company in 2022.

Blunt is also playing at Leeds First Direct Arena on February 13, Glasgow’s Ovo Hydro Arena on February 14 and Manchester’s AO Arena on February 15.

Back To Bedlam has been remastered for 2024 with previously unreleased demos of the core songs and unreleased tracks.

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