James Bay
Artist
Since graduating from BIMM Music Institute Brighton with a BA (Hons) degree in Professional Musicianship, James has gone on to become a multi-award-winning artist and a household name. So far, James has been nominated for three Grammys and five Brit Awards and has toured with Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and The Rolling Stones.
James’ 2014 debut studio album, Chaos and the Calm, was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, with producer Jacquire King. It debuted at no.1 in the UK charts and has been certified 2x platinum, with his single ‘Hold Back the River’ peaking at no.2 in the UK charts and certified 3x platinum.
James was then voted one of the most exciting new artists by a panel of music industry experts in BBC Sounds of 2015 alongside Years and Years, Stormzy, Slaves and Wolf Alice.
In 2016, James Bay performed ‘Love Yourself’ at the Brit Awards alongside Justin Bieber whilst scooping up the Best British Male Solo Artist award.
He released his second studio album, Electric Light, on 18 May 2018, peaking at no.2 on the UK album charts and no.21 on the US Billboard 200, the third single on the album, ‘Us’ was released as a duet version, James performed it on The Voice UK alongside the legendary Alicia Keys.
Bay’s third studio album, Leap, soared to number four in the UK’s Official Album Charts. NME gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, with journalist Ali Shutler calling the album “a bold, self-assured collection of songs about satisfaction”, concluding that Leap is a “touching, delicate record that finally sees Bay entirely comfortable with who he is”.
