James Morrison (singer)
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| James Morrison | ||
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 James Morrison
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| Background information | ||
| Born | 10 July 1984 Rugby, England |
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| Genre(s) | Pop/Rock, Adult Contemporary, Pop, Jazz, Soul, Alternative | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | Singing, Guitar | |
| Years active | 2006–present | |
| Label(s) | Polydor | |
| Website | JamesMorrisonMusic.com | |
James Morrison (born James Morrison Catchpole on July 10, 1984) is an English singer/songwriter born in Rugby, Warwickshire.
In 2006 he debuted with the single "You Give Me Something" which became a huge hit around Europe, Australia and Japan. His debut album, Undiscovered, went straight to number one in the UK and has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide (as of March 24, 2007).[1]
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[edit] Early life
At age 13, Morrison began to learn guitar when his uncle showed him how to play a blues riff. He started busking when he lived in the village of Porth, near Newquay. After years of playing other musicians' songs, he eventually started to compose his own. His favourite artists are: Otis Redding, Al Green, Cat Stevens, The Kinks and Van Morrison.[2] He puts his distinctive, husky voice down to a bout of whooping cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby.[3]
[edit] Music career
Polydor Productions took the chance and signed him. He became the supporting artist for Corinne Bailey Rae on her tour supporting her debut album.
He got his worldwide success with début single "You Give Me Something" which reached the #2 spot in Holland and the #5 spot in the UK. He released his debut album Undiscovered on July 31, 2006. He got great reviews from different papers. "There isn't a bad track on it" (The Sun),[4] "Undiscovered may prove to be the least apposite album title for years" (The Times).[5] It topped the UK album chart in its first week of its release. The album has sold over 1 million copies around the world (as of December 24, 2006).
The second single released from the album is "Wonderful World", which has already been a top 10 hit in the UK reaching the #8 spot, also in the Netherlands it reached that spot.
He also performed at the 2006 V Festival. He was due to only play one of the smaller tents but, due to the amount of people wanting to get into the tent, he had a ten-minute set on the main stage before HARD-Fi came on (Weston Park). He performed "You Give Me Something" at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance in front of Prince Charles and The Duchess Of Cornwall.
On December 18, 2006 James Morrison's third single, "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore" was released. It peaked at #30 in the UK, making it the lowest peak of all his singles.
His album's U.S. release, which he is currently promoting, was March 13, 2007. He made his first appearance on national TV at the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. He also appeared on NBC Today show on March 16, 2007, performing "You Give Me Something" with just guitar and Wurlitzer piano. The album debuted at #24 in the US with 24,000 copies in its first week.
In 2007, Morrison was nominated for 3 Brit Awards and won the Best British Male Solo Artist category. (Other nominations were for the Best British Breakthrough Act, Best British Single Shortlist). His fourth single in the UK was "Undiscovered". It was released on March 12, 2007, a day before his American album debut. The song peaked at #63 but it is still in the charts.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
All released albums and their chart positions in the United World Chart (UWC), United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AUS), the Netherlands (NL), New-Zealand (NZ), Norway (NO), Denmark (DK), Ireland (IR) and Germany (GER).
| Year | Album | Chart positions[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | Sales | |||||||||
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| UWC | UK | US | AUS | NL | NZ | NO | DK | IR | GER | |||
| 2006 | Undiscovered |
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US Sales: 24,000 UK Sales: 1,000,000+[13] World Sales: 2,008,000 [14] |
[edit] Singles
All released albums and their chart positions in the United World Chart (UWC), United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AUS), the Netherlands (NL) and Norway (NO).
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Sales | ||||
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| UWC | UK | AUS | NL | NZ | |||
| 2006 | "You Give Me Something"
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| 2006 | "Wonderful World"
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| 2006 | "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"
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| 2007 | "Undiscovered"
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[edit] B-sides
- From "You Give Me Something"
- "Is Anybody Home"
- "Burns Like Summer Sun"
- From "Wonderful World"
- "My Uprising"
- From "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"
- "Don't Close Your Eyes"
[edit] References
- ^ Worldwidealbums.tk
- ^ [1]
- ^ Speaking on Channel 4 television show Richard and Judy on 13 February 2007.
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ United World Album Chart. officialukcharts.uk.co. Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
- ^ UK Official Album chart. Official UK charts. Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
- ^ Ducth Megacharts singles/albums. Megacharts.nl. Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
- ^ Swedish Album chart. Sr.se. Retrieved on 2006-9-31.
- ^ Norway Album Top 40. lista.no. Retrieved on 2006-10-25.
- ^ Denmark Album Top 40. hit-listen.dk. Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
- ^ Irelands Top 100. Irma.ir. Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
- ^ [4]
- ^ Worldwidealbums.tk
