| James Fox |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
James Mullett |
| Born |
April 6, 1976 |
| Origin |
Cardiff  Wales |
| Genre(s) |
Pop Rock |
| Years active |
1991 - present |
| Label(s) |
Sony (2004) |
James Fox, real name James Mullett, (born April 6, 1976 in Cardiff, South
Wales) is a pop
music singer,
songwriter,
pianist
and guitarist.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Professional
career
- 1.2 Eurovision
- 1.3 Musical
theatre
- 2 Live
performances
- 2.1 Festival
of Remembrance
- 3 References
and external links
- 3.1 Video
clips
- 3.2 Fan
sites
|
Biography
Fox grew up in the Welsh village of Gilfach. Music
was his passion from an early age inspired by Sting
and Billy
Joel. At the age of seven he started piano lessons, and later learned
to play the guitar and drums.
Professional career
Hold Onto Your Love single
After leaving Heolddu Comprehensive School, James worked for
twelve years, (both under his real name and the name "Nick James") as a
singer on cruise ships and in pubs and clubs. James joined up with Kevin
Simm and they formed the band Force 5, working mainly on Blackpool's Golden
Mile. Kevin went on to join Liberty X (via Popstars) and
recommended James to their management company Hyperactive. He was
signed up as a solo artist, also becoming a professional backing and
support singer for other acts such as Liberty X, Ultra
and Wet
Wet Wet. He was also a popular entertainer with the UK armed
forces in Bosnia, Afghanistan
and the Falkland Islands.
In 2003,
he took part in the BBC
Fame
Academy reality
television programme in the United Kingdom which offered a record
contract to the winner. The students attempted to convince viewers to
vote to keep them in each week — he didn't win the show, but in coming
a respectable 5th it raised his profile and presented him with new
career opportunities.
Eurovision
His first notable solo achievement as a musical artist was
representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest
2004 with the song Hold on to Our Love which
reached number 13 in the UK charts. He did not win, finishing just 16th
out of 24 finalists with 29 points. However, in contrast to Jemini's
near-legendary meltdown on stage in the previous year's contest, James
had in fact performed strongly. Familiar hackles were thus raised in
the UK about apparent 'block voting' by certain countries, which this
time seemed more blatant than ever. James himself alluded to this point
in interviews after the contest, remarking that his own favourite
example was Monaco's
awarding of maximum points to France. He did not mention, however, that
Ireland scored all of its points from its closest neighbour, the UK.
Musical theatre
In 2004
James went on to play Judas in the Bill
Kenwright touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar to
good reviews. While in the show, Tim Rice saw him in the role and
was so impressed by his performance he recommended him for the role of
the 'Piano Player' in the Billy Joel musical Movin'
Out in America. James was successful in his audition, his return flight
cancelled as he went straight in to rehearsals with Billy Joel's band.
James made his debut in the show on Broadway
6 April
2005, by
coincidence his birthday, and received a vocal standing ovation at all
three shows he did there. He joined the touring production in Houston
to similar acclaim, before setting off to the Falklands to entertain
the British troops. From July 2005 James re-joined the touring
production of Movin' Out, to take up the role of the 'Piano Player'
once more, before heading on with the show to Toronto, Canada in
December 2005.
In March 2006, James returned to his native UK the take up the
same role of the "Piano Man" in the European premiere of Movin' Out
at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre.
After taking a break from musical theatre to write and record his own
new material, he rejoined the American tour in October 2006.
Live performances
On December 31, 2003 he performed live at the Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff,
singing a cover of 500 Miles by The
Proclaimers
In Spring 2004 he supported Lulu
and Wet Wet Wet on tour.
In April 2004, James was invited by Caerphilly
MP, Wayne
David, to sing Britain's Eurovision entry live at the House of Commons, and also
to perform at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Meet the
Neighbours Festival before the Minister of State for
Europe, Denis McShane. He was also invited to
sing live at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff. He
performed "Hold On to Our Love" live on Top
of the Pops on 30 April.
In summer 2004 he performed at a number of festivals including
Mardi Gras at Loseley Park in Guildford, Big Buzz at Swansea and Pop
into the Park 2004 at Swansea. Later that year he also appeared at
the NEC
Arena Birmingham
and Wembley
Arena supporting Wet Wet Wet.
In July 2005 he co-presented the Big Buzz concert at Rhyl for BBC
Radio Wales, appeared at Music Mayhem in Bristol and supported Natasha Bedingfield at
an open air concert in Sandwich.
He performed at the annual BBC Wales Children
in Need charity concerts, both singing and presenting, in 2004 in Merthyr
Tydfil, and in 2005 in Wrexham.
Throughout 2004 - 2006 James continued to perform live to
British troops on active service in Afghanistan, Bosnia, The
Falkland Islands and Iraq.
He so impressed the audiences in the Falklands that he was offered the
once in a lifetime opportunity to fly in a Tornado F3.
After completing his tour of the US and Canada with "Movin'
Out", James Fox returned to the UK permanently in early 2007 to resume
his solo singing career, performing live at Tony
Moore's Regal Room in London, and showcasing several of his own new
compositions. His debut album is due to be released later in 2007.
Festival of Remembrance
In November 2004, in recognition of the work he had done with
the Combined
Services Entertainment organisation, he was invited to perform at the Royal
British Legion Remembrance day Festival at the Royal
Albert Hall, both in the afternoon and in the evening in the presence
of The Queen. He
performed "Don't Look Back in Anger",
accompanying himself on the piano. The whole Festival was broadcast on
both national radio and television.
In November 2006 he was invited to perform at the Remembrance
Festival at the Royal Albert Hall for the second time. He opened the
entertainment section of the festival with the emotional "Anthem" from
the musical "Chess", where he was joined by the
Welsh soprano,
Katherine Jenkins, for the last
verse. He also accompanied Chris de Burgh's version of the hymn Abide
With Me on electric guitar.
References and external links
Video clips
Fan sites
Preceded by
Jemini |
UK in the
Eurovision Song Contest
2004 |
Succeeded by
Javine |
