James Blunt has said he hoped to come across as an “English musical version of Tom Cruise” in his new documentary but his portrayal is closer to comedy character Alan Partridge.
James Blunt: One Brit Wonder, filmed while the singer was on tour in 2022, showcases behind-the-scenes moments from his life on the road and explores his 20-year career in the music industry.
It also reflects on his family life, his time in the military, and how he rose to fame and then crashed following the release of his 2005 hit You’re Beautiful.
“I had kind of hoped to come across a bit like an English musical version of Tom Cruise and instead I just come across as Alan Partridge, but it’s just a moment of dawning and realisation”, he said.
“But it makes for fun viewing for other people.”
During the documentary, Blunt can be seen stranded on the Isle of Man during a storm, his drummer leaves him to work for singer Robbie Williams, and his crew speak about working with him for nearly 20 years.
Later on, it shows Blunt’s rise to superstardom in 2005 when his debut album Back To Bedlam became the biggest-selling album of the Noughties.
However, the tide turned on the singer and he received online abuse as some felt his ballad You’re Beautiful was overplayed while others criticised his personality and boarding school background.
Reflecting on this period, he said: “You can either dwell on that or count your lucky stars that you’ve got through it.
“Perhaps you reflect and go ‘OK, it was definitely a thing’ but I’ve been very, very lucky that I’ve had close friends and family to get me through, and if that’s a takeaway from the documentary, that’s the lessons learned in many ways.
“It’s almost like the things you can read about yourself online aren’t that relevant – it’s just strangers writing about you, and there’s the people in your life who matter more.”
Blunt advised other young artists who might be facing negativity online to “keep your family as close to you as you possibly can” because they are the ones who “keep you sane”.
The singer added: “Music is my passion. I’m so lucky to be in this job and, whilst you could talk about a backlash and any kind of negative, the positives outweigh that in their thousands.
“A negative article in a newspaper or a negative comment on a social media platform is outweighed by 10,000 people in a room who turn up to listen to the songs and sing along with us.”
Blunt has recently released a new album, Who We Used To Be, and will kick off a new tour next year.
He added: “I’ve seen the documentary by Robbie (Williams) and Lewis (Capaldi) and Ed (Sheeran) even, and obviously they struggle with certain aspects of what they’ve done, and I’m just really very, very lucky that actually I’m really having great fun on it.
“The job and the tour and everything that I’m involved in, it’s just been great fun, and perhaps that’s just a different angle on a documentary – a happy ending.”
– , James Blunt: One Brit Wonder, directed by Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama writer Chris Atkins, will be screened in cinemas across the UK and Ireland for one night only on Wednesday December 6, followed by a live performance by Blunt.
