James Blunt Quits Music Industry

James Blunt, the singer who was once voted the "fourth most annoying thing in the world, ever" has called it a day, according to a report from the NME. The singer has reportedly quit the music business to spend more time on his personal life:

"I just want to take some time out for myself. I haven’t got any plans to do more songwriting. I have been chilling out since I finished my world tour and I’ve spent a lot of time in Ibiza, where I have a villa."

The "You're Beautiful" singer hit headlines back in January after his mother defended him on BBC Radio 4 because of the criticism that he has received for being posh, accusing the music industry of snobbery:

"I was most interested to hear Pete Waterman's thoughts on public school rock stars… his attitude is reflected by most of the critics in the UK. My son James Blunt, who is hugely appreciated worldwide, receives harsh criticism here and we have, rather sadly, been aware that it is because of his background."

Blunt came fourth in a poll of "the most annoying things ever" back in 2006, being voted more annoying than UK celebrities Abi Titmuss and Carol Vorderman, as well as paper cuts, hangovers and traffic wardens. He was beaten to the top spot by cold callers.

01. Cold callers
02. Caravans
03. Queue jumpers
04. James Blunt
05. Traffic wardens
06. Tailgaters
07. Brown nosers
08. Chantelle and Preston (Celebrity Big Brother couple)
09. Ex-smokers
10. Noisy neighbours
11. Hangovers
12. Carol Vorderman
13. Loud mobile users
14. Men in flip-flops
15. Paper cuts
16. Bad hair days
17. Breaking wind
18. Abi Titmuss
19. Off milk
20. Being put on hold

Whether you’ll miss James Blunt or are glad not to have to be subject to another live rendition of "You're Beautiful", let us know in the comments.

Comments

[Mr Brownst0ne]

"Goodbye my lover...."

[withoutanyname]

No, just: 'Goodbye...'

[calger14]

Saw that one coming

[thewrongguy]

Best thing I've heard all day
his voice just drives me up the wall

[Galfadez]

He's become successful from writing his own songs so props to him.

[Superperfex]

I guess he had a bad day, and took one down. Hopefully he can just sing a sad song and this will turn around

[sideslick]

Where the hell is the "awesome" button!?

All I can find are pluses and minuses!

[breakingglass27]

Sorry, that song is by Daniel Powter, not James Blunt.

[Superperfex]

Thank you Captain Obvious. It was meant to be a joke

[breakingglass27]

Yeah, obviously you tried your best to make the joke have anything to do whatsoever with the topic. It's not your fault Limewire mislabeled the artist tag when you downloaded it, right?

[Superperfex]

I don't listen to either of them, but I was well aware of what I wrote, and why. You don't, however, and shouldn't assume you knew what I meant.

[TheNumber6]

im just posting this up here so people actually see it,

i think UG should have a user created poll of the most annoying things we see on this site day-to-day. THAT would be pretty amusing

[masterofpuppies]

Okay, i don't like his music, and I'm guessing not many on here do. But, fairplay to the guy, he's had success that none of us on UG have ever, and probably will ever have. He's also able to retire in his 30s with a stack of cash and everything set up for him.

Good luck to him, glad he gets to enjoy the fruit of his success.

[slash&angus]

You could say the same stuff about bieber.

[Matt_E_Man]

except beiber is young and stupid and would be likely to blow it all in a year like Soulja Boy did.

[masterofpuppies]

The difference with Bieber is that he's totally manufactured, he's a product, a very succesful one, but just a product designed for teenage girls.

Blunt is a singer songwriter who has had success because people like what he does. i'm not one of those people, I'm guessing it's lots of middle aged mums, but anyway, he's worked hard, he does what he does well for the audience he's aimed for, and he has made it in the etraditional way.

[gkex]

You think James Blunt isn't a product? Really?

[SocksAndTrees]

There aren't singing James Blunt dolls.

[6-String_Madman]

@SocksAndTrees. He is not Gene Simmons.

[Ottmeister]

He used to be in the British elite forces until he started writing songs. I'm a metal guy but i have total respect for that guy.

[Mouloudo]

wtf you're really naive if you think Blunt wasn't manufactured, he's a girl's man, and girls buy, just ask bieber, timberlake, robbie williams and friends... take a good looking guy, put an acoustic gutiar in his hands, write a three chords song for him, and sirupy love lyrics, and bam let the coins roll in

[Kueller917]

I'll probably get hate for this, but even though I despise his music, I can't really blame him for being successful. He worked to be a mainstream popstar and accomplished it. He'll be forgotten in a few years and move on with his life, as will I.

I can't bring myself to truly hate anyone for making music. His fans however...

[HigherThanAMile]

His previous military career also makes him a force to be reckoned with. Good for him.

Additionally, I noticed that the two people who presented the poll results listed themselves at #12 and #18. LOL

[breakingglass27]

Re-read the article, those are just 2 British celebrities which the article pointed out.

[goochmaster15]

Interviewer: So, is it true that you hate James Blunt?
Hater: Yeah, man. His music sucks!
Interviewer: Maybe you're just jealous that he gets all the bitches and stacks paper to the roof?
Hater:... Yeah...

I'm not giving an opinion either way, this comment reminded me of The Boondocks for some reason

[spiff-corgi]

He was also in the army before he became a musician and generally comes across as a funny, down to earth guy.

[Most_Triumphant]

I wanted to +1 this, but it has 69 likes.

[BlitzkriegAir]

Dude was also a commander of a Tank Battalion, so thats pretty badass.

[iommi600]

Good interview, what a blunt conversation.

[nboyjn]

*badum-tss*

[iommi600]

Haha, in all seriousness now, I like some of his tunes tbh. "High" is one of them. But I won't be losing any sleep because of his retirement...

[nboyjn]

yea i hear ya, i dont feel strongly about his music one way or another but im guessing in the UK hes like the equivalent of maroon 5 or something which is why he's the fourth most annoying thing.

[FoolOnThePlanet]

Maybe some UKer can clear up what a "cold caller" is for me? A caravan is easy enough to assume I suppose, and I only know what a queue is because of the Arctic Monkeys...

Need English(UK) to English(USA) dictionary.

[Kassidy]

That's funny, I thought that cold-call was a US term. It's an unsolicited sales call, generally by phone though for all intents and purposes house-calls would count as well. Phone-spam, if you will.

[FoolOnThePlanet]

Ah fair enough, I assumed it was a call that you answered and the line was dead or something, a prank if you will. But then I figured that unless there was a lot more prank calls in England than in the US, that's probably not the real meaning.
Thanks for clearing that up

[schirripar]

In the US we call it Telemarketing. UG Forums: breaking cultural barriers one post at a time

[tele-disaster]

cold callers are often salesmen but the term in the uk is more often applied to arseholes who tell old ladies their guttering or windows need replacing and then proceed to rip them off.

[Nitnatsnok]

Cold calling is what people who do it refer to it as.

Telemarketing is what people who receive it refer to it as.

[Nofootcanman]

You dont queue in america?

[RadioTape]

He is a really funny guy and at least pokes fun at himself so you have got to give him that

[bearmod]

At least he's got a decent reason unlike some people. I'm looking at you Patrick Stump

[Bad Brain]

There are worse pop singers in the world, but still I'm happy

[Xenophy]

At a dollar tree by my house they have all his albums for sale there

[Abacus11]

I thought he quit the music industry around 2007. Oh well, good for him. He made a ton of money on a HUGE hit single and now he can do whatever he wants and live a very comfortable life.

[pcb1992the2nd]

James Blunt has some pretty great songs which he wrote himself, unlike you know Bieber, Miley Cyrus and all the other solo artists that should have been on this list instead of someone that actually has talent. Oh and he's ex-army, shame on you poll voters.

[whywefight]

Who?

[tyler_j]

He might be frequently hated on, but 'Back To Bedlam' is a decent album. He had a fair amount of other songs too. Almost to the point that I don't understand the hate that he gets.

[pwninator123]

All The Lost Souls, his second album, is one of the best Pop albums I've ever heard.

The man really gets way too much hate.

[masterchief44]

I agree with these - I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've heard from the guy. It does sadden me that he's gotten all this hate - especially from his home country. Hope the time off is very relaxing for him.

[head-case]

Good looking people writing songs about good looking people and making millions on it. I would rip his ****ing throat out of his neck if I met him.

[HigherThanAMile]

Your screen name is appropriate.

You should also google "narcissism" as your journey through life will be far more difficult if you don't understand things about yourself.

[SkepsisMetal]

No, you really wouldn't

[tele-disaster]

he wrote a song about the horrors of the bosnian war, which he was involved in as a peacekeeping UN taskforce. as well as love songs. hes not a one trick pony hes a good songwriter.

[Vantage]

You might get your ass handed to you. :|

[Izzy-Sweet]

And thus, the music world rejoiced.

[K!!LsWiTcH]

well whether you like him or not he was a good singer. i have a recording of a great cover of where is my mind? of his and its really good. its a shame when anyone quits but at least hell be alright

[RichieJovie]

The power of positive thought does work.

[NightProwlerr]

So is this good news or..?

[master]

If I had a villa in Ibiza I probably wouldn't do shit all day either.

[scrymusic]

Not sure how act on this... First instinct is to laugh my ass off... I think I will go with first instinct.

[petergsongs]

he'll be back, he's only taking time out

[BjarnedeGraaf]

He never said he stopped for the rest of his life... nice title UG...

[jameshudson92]

I liked SOME of his songs,they were decent.

[21Days]

He's recording at the moment... UG, check your facts. Don't just steal headlines.

[zalant]

"Who smokes the blunts? We smoke the blunts!"

[hazeyhash]

Rollin' blunts and smokin' 'em!

[Danjo's Guitar]

I actually like his stuff. He's a really good songwriter. Even has some pretty good guitar lines if you listen for them.

[lamb of dog]

One of the underrated singer/songwriter of our modern times

[ctb]

Seems like a nice guy. Doesn't stand out from the crowd, but you know he's very talented.

[biga29]

Never really listened to much of his music, but from what I've seen of him away from the music scene he seems like a pretty cool guy. Hope it all goes well for him from here.

[Jasonbts]

His comment kind of sounds like a break..
In fact that's exactly what it says.. He has no plans and he wants time to himself. That doesn't mean he will never do anything ever again, or that he quits...

[soma1692]

This news is beautiful, it's beautiful, it's beautiful!
It's true.

[spiff-corgi]

Genesis and Phil Collins also got a lot of criticism for being "posh" and that's the thing about the Brit music scene. For some reason to be taken seriously in the charts you have to pretend to be from the streets. It's ridiculous. If you make decent music that's all you should be judged on. James Blunt has a couple of alright songs if you're into that sort of stuff.

[Alcofuel]

Yeah but people are stupid an think things are relevant that aren't.

[Tokai09]

He was hilarious when he hosted Never Mind The Buzzcocks! His music never bothered me, I liked a few of his songs. As someone mentioned, to retire in you 30's with a ton of money is very a good setup!

[Beedy10]

That list should have been called The Official List of First World Problems.

[Goosekill]

Good news!

[J.A.C.K.]

He is tallented, he is successfull, he is millionaire, he's song are listened all over the world by ladies who are from 10 to 50 years old, and you call him looser and annoying? He is the 4 annoying thing because people heard him EVERYWHERE and EVERYTIME! That was a real fame.

[baneofmorgoth]

You mean, like Oasis?

[Ronald-Raygun]

I'm not sure if I know any of his work, but being called Mr. Blunt would be pretty cool...

[motorizer]

Oh thank god ..

[Alpha_Wolf]

YESSS! This just made my day about 3 million times better.

[Alcofuel]

Why though?

[Alpha_Wolf]

They play a lot of his music where I work. I didn't like to to begin with, but now I ****ing hate it.

Anyway, he didn't really quit, so... yay for you.

[ljpfahey]

She thinks her son is a rock star?

[ffaf12]

I still dont understand all the hate for james if you remove your beautiful from the equation his first album was pretty solid, sure the guitar work was a bit flat but lyrically it was damn good, it was alot more intelligant than a large majority of so called musicians you hear today.

[Wayfærer]

It's just a way of saying: "All right, I have enough money to retire and do whatever I want. So long, suckers!"

[jerdboy]

People are forgetting he was a soldier (A captain of the household cavalry no less).
If he was an American, they would be kissing his ass for his service.
Shame.

[Danjams@10]

"Blunt came fourth in a poll"...What Poll?

[BuriedAlive7x]

finally...

[-xCaMRocKx-]

I'm not his biggest fan, but he does have quite a few songs that I don't mind, so let's clear this up.

He writes his own music. He plays his own instruments. He comes across as a nice guy, and he's obviously talented.

What's the issue? It's not his fault radio stations played You're Beautiful a thousand times a day when it came out. James Blunt gets a lot of unwarranted hate.

[Alcofuel]

He gets hate because people think it's edgy to hate any music that enters the top 40 charts.

[TimTheWizard]

all I have to say is: good for him. It's important not to lose yourself in life.

[TheSerb]

I strongly disliked his music, but let's be real.
He is still better than at least 90% of the popular music today. Not only is his music at least a bit listenable, but he also wrote it and performed it himself.

I'm not sad. I didn't like him.
I'm not happy. A place has opened for someone whose music can be even worse and whose voice will rape my ears whenever I have no control over the radio that is turned on.

[TheNumber6]

i think UG should have a user created poll of the most annoying things we see on this site day-to-day.

[didier_anelka]

James... who?

[DarfBobbyJim]

I didn't even know he got hate, I thought he was pretty respected. Anyway, I like him, well some of his stuff, he's my guilty pleasure artist.

[Reddaz]

I just saw a decent British singer songwriter with Marmite falsetto vocals akin to Justin Hawkins of The Darkness and Matt Bellemy from Muse.

Aside from that who hates Carol Vodermann? A bang tidy and intelligent cougar?

[Xplorer58]

Why are hipsters/indies not on that list

[fysix]

" because of his background."

this....surprised me...rich white boy discriminated against cos he from da Wiltshire?

[steve987]

Even if you dislike his music, you can't deny the fact he is an awesome guy

[leoggs]

Nothing better to cheer up a miserable rainy day than some good news.

[eekfek]

Guy served in the army, probably wrote all his cheesy tunes sitting on the tank. good luck to him

however ! they always come back though, don't they... always !

[Alpha_Wolf]

Yep. Shame it had to be two days later, though.

[hudsonstradlin]

Shame that he didn't quit on his own terms. As much as I loathe his music, it sucks that his spirit was broken down by critics. Also, he's hilarious, I love it when he's on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. good luck to him, but I'm glad there'll be no more music.