Iain James

Iain James Farquharson (born 20 February 1980), more commonly known as Iain James or Sparx, is a British singer, songwriter and vocal producer from Bristol, but based in London. He started as part of the British boyband Triple 8 in 2003 as their lead singer and known as Sparx. He left after the group had two Top 10 hits and was replaced by Stewart Macintosh in 2005.

He has written a number of songs recorded by a great number of singing artists, plus writing many songs for reality television contestants from UK, Europe and Asia, and on three occasions for Eurovision Song Contest songs, including co-writing the winning song for Azerbaijan "Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki in 2011.

Triple 8 James was the lead singer of UK boy band Triple 8 (888), who were originally signed to Polydor Records. He was known by his nickname, "Sparx". The group had two successful singles, "Knockout" and "Give Me A Reason", which charted at numbers 8 and 9, respectively, in the UK Singles Chart. The group parted company with their record label in 2004, leaving their album, Heavy W8, unreleased. James left in 2004, to be replaced as lead singer in 2005 by a new member, Stewart Macintosh, before the group broke up by the end of 2005.

Writing and production After Triple 8, James concentrated on music writing and production. He has written for artists as diverse as Westlife, Professor Green, One Direction, who were the first male-female duo to win the song contest since 1963. They were also the first Azeris to win the contest, winning in Düsseldorf in May 2011.

James also co-wrote the Belgian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, "Love Kills" by Roberto Bellarosa, which placed 12th, and the British entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, "My Last Breath" by James Newman.

Discography

With Triple 8 Year Single Chart positions UK2003 "Knockout" "Give Me a Reason"