James Blunt has promised to change his name to “whatever the public wants” on the condition that his debut album lands the Number One spot on the charts.
Released on October 11, 2004, the singer’s debut LP ‘Back To Bedlam’ will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next month, with a special reissue to mark the occasion. The album was a success after its third single ‘You’re Beautiful’ became a worldwide hit in 2005, and the record became the highest-selling album of that year, selling over 2.4 million copies.
While appearing as a guest on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, Blunt discussed how the album stayed at the top spot on the charts for a while and shared: “We are re-releasing it here, 20 years on, the new album, and in fact, the label are going to launch a campaign get it back to number one after 20 years. How do you do that? How do you get it back to number one at 20 years’ old? So, what they’ve made me sign up to do is if it reaches number one, I have signed up to changing my name to whatever the public want – they can change my name.”
The ‘Wisemen’ singer went on to explain that changing his name is not something he was doing as “an act of desperation” but rather “a genuine thing”. He continued: “I swear on my life and the life of my one fan – Brian from Glasgow – I will change my name should it hit number one.”
In December 2009, ‘Back to Bedlam’ was certified 10× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 3 million, making it the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK. According to BBC Radio 2, the album currently ranks as the 18th-best-selling album in UK chart history and the biggest-selling debut album by a British artist.
The ‘Back to Bedlam’ 20th anniversary reissue is set for release on October 11 and will feature a number of previously unreleased songs such as ‘Standing All Alone’, ‘Close Your Eyes’, ‘Butterfly’, ‘Dancing Days’ and B-side track ‘Sugar-Coated’, all of which were recorded during the ‘Bedlam’ era, as well as demo versions of the tracks seen on the original album. Visit here to pre-order.
Back in 2006 – two years after it dropped – ‘Back To Bedlam’ saw James Blunt receive NME’s award for Worst Album. After years of asking for the trophy, he was given the statue during an interview with NME last November.
“No way, Oh my God,” he said during the interview as he was presented with the award, over 15 years after his win.
“I’m so thrilled, I’m so thrilled. That’s the best thing ever. Really, genuinely…I’m deeply, deeply touched. Thank you so much. That’s going beside every other award in the world and probably be the one I’m most proud of. NME thank you so much.”
In other news, Blunt also announced an upcoming tour across the UK and Europe to mark the milestone. You can check out the full list of tour dates below and visit here to purchase tickets.
The ‘Back To Bedlam 20th Anniversary’ tour dates are:
FEBRUARY 2025
11 – Belfast, SSE Arena
13 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
14 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro Arena
15 – Manchester, Manchester AO Arena
16 – London, The O2 Arena
18 – Brussels, Forest National (Belgium)
20 – Paris, Adidas Arena (France)
22 – Bologna, Unipol Arena (Italy)
23 – Zurich, Hallenstadion (Switzerland)
