James Arthur und Gavin James

Born to a former fashion model and a former DJ and drummer, James Arthur was raised in Redcar, North Yorkshire until the age of nine. Alongside his mother and step-father, Arthur then moved to Bahrain and studied at the local British School of Bahrain before moving back to Redcar when he was 14. Prior to auditioning for a slot on the X Factor James Arthur played in a number of alternative and indie bands including the progressive Moonlight Drive from 2005, the alternative-rock groups Cue the Drama and Save Arcade, and the indie pop/rock band Emerald Skye. Arthur had also uploaded a stream of songs to his SoundCloud page in a collection entitled “Sins by the Sea”, as well as performing in The James Arthur Band, which incorporated R&B, soul and hip-hop influences.

At his X Factor audition in Newcastle, UK, the young musician sung judge Tulisa Contostavlos’ single “Young” and was put through to the bootcamp stage, mentored by Nicole Scherzinger. After singing Take That’s “A Million Love Songs” and Bonnie Hathaway’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, Arthur advanced to the live shows, where he ultimately won the final with 53% of the vote. James’ winner’s song, Shontelle’s “Impossible”, became the fastest-selling winner’s single to date and topped the UK Singles Chart in its first week. The singer’s subsequent single “You’re Nobody ’til Somebody Loves You” was released in August 2013, debuted at No. 2 behind Lorde’s single “Royals”, and was taken from Arthur’s debut self-titled album.

“James Arthur”, released in November 2013, debuted at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart, aided by the further singles “Get Down” and “Recovery”. After promoting his debut with the James Arthur Tour, a 37-date tour across Europe, the singer released a the mixtape “All the World’s a Stage”, and performed at 2014's V Festival.