James Morrison

James Morrison Catchpole (born 13 August 1984) is an English singer. He rose to recognition for his 2006 debut single "You Give Me Something", which peaked within the top five on the UK Singles Chart, received platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and became a hit song in several European regions. Following its success, he signed with Polydor Records to release his debut studio album Undiscovered, which peaked atop the UK Albums Chart. At the Brit Awards 2007, Morrison won the Brit Award for Best British Male from three total nominations, namely British Breakthrough Act and Song of the Year for the aforementioned.

His second album, Songs for You, Truths for Me (2008) entered the top five of the UK Albums Chart and peaked the Irish Albums Chart. It was supported by the UK top ten singles "You Make It Real" and "Broken Strings" (featuring Nelly Furtado). After its release, he departed Polydor in favour of Island Records. His third album, The Awakening (2011) peaked atop the chart once more, while his fourth album, Higher Than Here (2015) peaked within the top ten.

Outside of his recording career, Morrison has been credited with songwriting work for other artists including Demi Lovato, Olly Murs, Kelly Clarkson, and Clay Aiken. He wrote Italian singer Marco Carta's 2010 single "Quello che dai", which debuted atop the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana, the country's native music chart.

Early life Morrison was born in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, where he was surrounded by the influence of his parents' record collection; his mother was a fan of soul and his father enjoyed folk and country. He began playing guitar when his uncle Joe showed him how to play a blues riff. As a teenager he started busking when he lived in Porth, Newquay, Cornwall, in a local pub called the Phoenix, Watergate Bay. He used to practise playing his guitar on the promenade looking over Porth beach. He took GCSE music at Treviglas Community College. After some years of covering other musicians' songs, he eventually started to write his own. He attributes his distinctive voice to a severe bout of whooping cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby.

Morrison has alluded to an unhappy childhood affected by poverty and illness; he said of his hometown, "The best thing is I've got memories of being a kid there, and the worst thing is I've got memories of being a kid there." He states that he "went blue and stopped breathing and [doctors] had to resuscitate me four times."

Working in Derby, Morrison found an Irish bar called Ryan's Bar & Scream, which runs an open mic night on Wednesdays and Sundays. Ben Wilson and Morrison became acquainted with Kevin Andrews, who produced Morrison's first demo tape and co-wrote the song "One Last Chance," which later was re-recorded and appeared on his debut studio album, Undiscovered. His demos were eventually picked up by Polydor Records.

Career

Breakthrough and Undiscovered

He achieved worldwide success with debut single "You Give Me Something", which reached No. 2 in the Netherlands and the No. 5 spot in the UK. He released his debut album Undiscovered on 31 July 2006. The album received generally positive reviews, with The Sun claiming, "There isn't a bad track on it". An equally positive review by The Times stated that "Undiscovered may prove to be the least apposite album title for years". It topped the UK Albums Chart on its first week of its release. The album sold over one million copies around the world by the end of 2006., making him the best-selling male solo artist of 2006 in the UK.

The album's second single was "Wonderful World", which broke into the top ten in the UK after its CD single release, peaking at No. 8. The song fared just as well in the Netherlands, where it peaked at No. 8. This was his second top ten single after the success of "You Give Me Something". On 18 December 2006 Morrison's third single, "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore," was released. It peaked at No. 30 in the UK. The fourth single from Undiscovered was the title song, "Undiscovered," which was released on 13 March 2007. "Undiscovered" peaked at No. 63. The song fared better in the Netherlands, where it peaked at No. 30.

Morrison was scheduled to play at the 2006 V Festival in one of the smaller tents. The audience was much larger than expected and could not fit into the tent allocated for him. As a result, he had a ten-minute set on the main stage before Hard-Fi came on (Weston Park). At the 2007 V Festival he played his full set on the main stage. He also performed "You Give Me Something" at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance before Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall. He appeared on Live from Abbey Road after his live recording session at Abbey Road Studios on 5 January 2007.

After the release of Undiscovered, Morrison made his first appearance on national TV in the United States, on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, in addition to appearing on NBC's Today Show on 16 March 2007, performing "You Give Me Something" with just guitar and Wurlitzer piano. The album debuted at No. 24 in the US, with 24,000 copies in its first week.

In 2007 Morrison was nominated for three BRIT Awards and won the Best British Male Solo Artist category. (Other nominations were for the Best British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single Shortlist.) On 4 April 2007, he was awarded the title of an AOL Breaker artist, a contest that was voted on by the British public.

At the Concert for Diana on 1 July 2007, he performed the songs "Wonderful World" and "You Give Me Something" in honour of Princess Diana. During the summer of 2007, Morrison headlined the Forestry Commission's Forest Tour. His fifth UK single, One Last Chance, was released on 2 July 2007 as a download only. The video was shown on The Hits, The Box and Smash Hits music channels. The video was shot in Canada in April 2007. On 29 November 2007, he performed in KL Convention Center for the Acoustic Live&Loud KL '07, a music festival in Malaysia. Morrison performed alongside Rick Price and local singer Dayang Nurfaizah.

Songs for You, Truths for Me

Morrison collaborated with Jason Mraz on the track "Details in the Fabric" on Mraz's studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., which was released on 13 May 2008.

On 29 September 2008, Morrison's second album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, was released. In writing this album he worked with Ryan Tedder, Dan Wilson, Martin Terefe, Martin Brammer, Chris Braide, and Steve Robson. The album also features a duet with Nelly Furtado titled "Broken Strings," co-written with Fraser T Smith and Nina Woodford. From October 2008 until the end of the year Morrison toured throughout Europe. The album performed well, debuting in the top three of the UK Albums Chart and spending 5 weeks in the top ten. When talking about the album, Morrison stated that the music had "moved on" a lot from the first album but not to the point where fans of his previous album wouldn't be able to "get it". The song was released as a single on iTunes on 24 June 2010 and in the November 2009 European double CD re-issue of Songs For You, Truths For Me. On 26 June 2010 he performed as part of the bill for the second day of Hard Rock Calling, which included Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamiroquai, and headliner Stevie Wonder, who was celebrating his 60th birthday that day.

The Awakening In 2010, Morrison announced that he had been working on his third studio album. In a June 2010 interview he stated, "I've sung too many love ballads. I want to go a bit deeper than that and find more substance. I still don't feel confident enough to write by myself, but that is my aim. I just keep convincing myself that I'm not good enough. There are plenty of good singers out there – it's writing that's the key thing. When I'm working with other people I've heard them say 'Let's try to write a James Morrison chorus.' I want to pretend that I haven't made any albums at all and start afresh."

In May he stated on his Facebook page that he had almost finished his album and would be releasing it very soon.

On 11 July, he stated on Twitter that the new album was called "The Awakening" and was due to release on 26 September. The first single was "I Won't Let You Go". The track list includes a duet with Jessie J on a track called "Up". Regarding the album's lyrics, Morrison has admitted that its themes draw on recent events in his personal life, which include becoming a father while losing his own father after the latter's long battle with alcoholism and depression.

To promote the album, he ran a competition in conjunction with NUS and MUZU TV to offer students across the UK the chance for him to play live in their living room.

Morrison worked on Demi Lovato's third album, Unbroken, released on 20 September 2011.

Higher Than Here

Morrison's fourth studio album, Higher Than Here, was released on 30 October 2015.

The lead single, "Demons," had its official music video premiere on 10 September 2015. The music video for second single, "Stay Like This," premiered on 23 October 2015. "I Need You Tonight", the third single, was released as a music video on 6 March 2016.

You're Stronger Than You Know Morrison's fifth studio album, You're Stronger Than You Know, was released on 8 March 2019. The album spawned 2 singles, "My Love Goes On", which features Joss Stone, and "Feels Like The First Time". He completed tours in South Africa, Australia, the UK and Europe in 2019 as well as playing festivals across the UK and Europe, including Glastonbury.

Personal life Morrison's partner Gill Catchpole took her own life on 5 January 2024 at the couple's home in Whitminster, Gloucestershire. The couple had two daughters. British Breakthrough Act

2009 2012

2007 Best International Newcomer

2012 Best International Male

2010 Most Performed Work "Broken Strings" (with Nelly Furtado)

2020 Song of the Year "My Love Goes On" (with Joss Stone)

2012 Top Male Singer Himself

2009 Record of the Year "Broken Strings" (with Nelly Furtado)

2007 Festival Pop Act Himself

2011 Hottest Male Himself

2007 Live Male Himself