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James Morrison (singer)

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James Morrison

James Morrison (born James Morrison Catchpole on 13 August 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.

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 two million copies worldwide (as of March 24 2007).[1]

Morrison performed at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. He performed the songs "Wonderful World" and "You Give Me Something" in honour of Princess Diana.

Early life

At age 13, Morrison began to learn guitar when his uncle Joe showed him how to play a blues riff. He started busking when he lived in the village of Porth, near Newquay, Cornwall. 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 severe bout of whooping cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby.[3]

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. James also received massive support from BBC Radio 2 presenter Dermot O'Leary.

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).[4] 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). At the 2007 V Festival he played his full set on the main stage.

He also 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, which made it the lowest peak of all his singles until "Undiscovered", which peaked at #63, was released.

James Morrison appeared onLive From Abbey Road following his live recording session at Abbey Road Studios on January 5th 2007.

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. He still has yet to release a second single in the US.

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.

On April 4, 2007, he was awarded the title of an AOL Breaker artist[5], a contest that was voted by fans.

During the summer of 2007, Morrison headlined the Forestry Commission's Forest Tour.

His fifth UK single, One Last Chance was released on July 2, 2007 as a download only. The video is being shown on The Hits, The Box and Smash Hits music channels. The video was shot in Canada in April 2007.

Discography

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] Sales
UWC UK US AUS NL NZ NO DK IR GER ITA
2006 Undiscovered
13
1 (2)
24
17
5
4
14
6
13
13
16
US Sales: 85,000
UK Sales: 1,100,000+[7]
World Sales: 2,500,000 [8]

Singles

All released singles 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
UWC UK AUS NL NZ EUR
2006 "You Give Me Something" [9]
16
5
7
2
1
21
1,334,000
2006 "Wonderful World" [10]
--
8
--
8
16
39
2006 "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore" [11]
--
30
--
30
--
--
2007 "Undiscovered" [12]
--
63
--
30
--
--
2007 "One Last Chance"
--
--
--
--
--
--

B-sides

References

  1. ^ Worldwidealbums.tk
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Speaking on Channel 4 television show Richard and Judy on 13 February 2007.
  4. ^ a b [2]
  5. ^ AOL Breaker Winner: James Morrison
  6. ^ "James Morrison - Undiscovered Chart Positions". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ Worldwidealbums.tk
  9. ^ "James Morrison - You Give Me Something Chart Positions". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  10. ^ "James Morrison - Wonderful World Chart Positions". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  11. ^ "James Morrison - The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore Chart Positions". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  12. ^ "James Morrison - Undiscovered Chart Positions". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
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