Jason "Jay" Kay
Jay Kay performing in December 2005
Background information
Birth name	Jason Cheetham
Born	December 30, 1969 (1969-12-30) (age 37)
Origin	United Kingdom
Genre(s)	Acid-jazz, Funk, Disco
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1992 - present

Jason "Jay" Kay (born Jason Cheetham on 30 December 1969 in Stretford, Manchester) is an English funk musician. He is the principal member, songwriter, and lead singer of the band Jamiroquai.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 3.1 Home 3.2 Confrontations with media 3.3 Cars 3.4 Gumball 3000 - 2007 3.5 TV Performances 3.6 Relationships 3.7 Headgear 4 Discography 5 Samples 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 8.1 Official 8.2 Unofficial

Early life

Kay was born into a Jewish family only with his mother Karen Kay, a cabaret singer and impressionist who performed around the world, and stepfather James Royal. He did not meet his biological father, a man of Portuguese origin, until 2003. He was educated at the independent Oakham School in Rutland, and spent six months in Thailand at the age of thirteen with his stepfather.

Kay learned as a schoolboy that he had a twin brother who died at six weeks, and had a father whom he never met. Not being a schoolboy type of person, Kay found himself in trouble at school regularly, and after turning 15 he left home.

To support himself, Kay resorted to committing petty thievery and doing odd jobs, as he often lived on the streets. In 1989, he found himself in an unused taxi depot, which he described as having holes in the roof and no electricity. During his accommodation there, Kay was involved in a fight in which he was gassed in the face and nearly stabbed, and was then accused and arrested for a robbery he was alleged to have committed.

Upon returning home, he decided to change his life and began recording demos using his drum machine and some free studio time, and writing lyrics. During this time he coined the name Jamiroquai for his potential new band, based upon the name of a Native American tribe, the Iroquois, and "jam" from the word jamming, and also the distinctive Buffalo Man logo. His demos were soon spotted by the UK music label Acid Jazz, and Kay found himself signing a recording contract.

Career

Kay initially formed Jamiroquai with original members Toby Smith (Keyboards), Stuart Zender (bass), Nick Van Gelder (drums), Wallis Buchanan (Didgeridoo) and Maurizio Ravelico on percussion, together with a guest appearance of Gavin Dodds (guitar) of The Brand New Heavies, both on the band's debut album, and on their first tour.

Jamiroquai has sold over twenty million albums, and has spent a collective 162 weeks on the UK singles chart in the 14 years after 1992 with Kay's personal wealth is said to be around £40,000,000. He appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004 at (joint) 950th. However, the Sunday Times Rich List 2007 stops at a minimum £70m so Kay's relative wealth is now unknown by the public.

After the huge success of his first single, "When You Gonna Learn," a $1.9 million, eight album deal was signed with Sony records. The band's first album Emergency on Planet Earth became a fast seller, and the unique nature of Jamiroquai soon became apparent. However, not everyone was attracted by the different style of music Jamiroquai presented.

The band's 3rd album Travelling Without Moving soon generated international attention with the ground breaking video of Virtual Insanity which earned Jamiroquai 4 MTV awards. Since then, their 4th album Synkronized has done just as well, which was recorded in Kay's home studio located in the garden of his 500 year old, 11 bedroom Buckinghamshire mansion. Although the press usually focus on Kay's passion for cars, his mansion and his love life, Jason Kay is environmentally aware and has donated a large quantity of his money to Greenpeace and Friends Of The Earth, as well as charities for the homeless. The main reason that his message is conveyed strongly through his music is because of his self-made nature, in the fact that all aspects of the band's work has to be approved by him, including artwork and credits.

On the production of his 4th album, a member of his band, Stuart Zender, departed from the band for reasons unclear (many suppose that the reason for departure was either Zender's lovelife, or unsettled payments. Some fans have speculated that Zender was fired by the band's record label, as he was an influential member of the band [1]). Consequently, Kay scrapped almost a complete album worth of work to eliminate the album of all traces of Stuart Zender's playing. Kay has many years in the business yet, as he recently expressed that he would like his band to continue writing music for another 15-20 years.

It was reported in February 2007 that Kay has quit music due to a loss of inspiration. This was denied on Jamiroquai's official website the day after.

Personal life

Home

Jay Kay's primary home is in Buckinghamsire, but also he owns homes in Westminster (London) and Gairloch.

Confrontations with media

Kay has had a hostile relationship with press photographers.

• He was charged in 2001 with assaulting a photographer and damaging his camera outside a nightclub (the charges were later dropped).
• In 2002, Kay was involved in a confrontation with another cameraman in a London street and was head-butted.
• On 12 September 2006, Jay Kay was involved in an incident with paparazzi outside a London club, punching two photographers.

Cars

Kay owns 25 cars which include a large collection of sports cars. This love of motors was expressed with the release of the album "Travelling without Moving". The album's cover featured an adaptation of the "Buffalo Man" logo and the Ferrari crest. Three of his cars appeared in the video for the song “Cosmic Girl.”

His collection includes:

• Aston Martin DB5
• Audi RS4
• Audi RS6
• Bentley Continental GT Flying Spur
• Ferrari 550
• Ferrari F355
• Ferrari Mondial
• Ferrari F40
• Ferrari F50
• Enzo Ferrari
• Fiat 1000 Abarth (sport version of Fiat 600)
• Hummer H2
• Lamborghini Diablo SE30
• Lamborghini Miura
• Maserati A6 GCS FRUA
• Mercedes-Benz G-Class
• Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100)
• Range Rover
• Rolls-Royce Phantom

"I've had a few Ferraris," declares Kay. The truth is that he has 4 to his name at the moment, including his latest new acquisition, an Enzo. Jay has also had an F40 and F50.

"But the Enzo is the best car I have ever driven. It is like driving a slot car. It is so different from the F40. It is not so spartan and it's easier to drive. The F40 could really catch you out. What's more, this is the car of the moment.I love the fact that my music allows me to have all these fantastic cars. I couldn't choose between music and cars, but I am happiest in my cars," he says. A combination of cars and music is the song "Black Devil Car" on the album "Dynamite" which is a tribute to his black Ferrari Enzo.

Jay's love of fast cars has occasionally landed him in legal trouble.

• In May 1998, Kay was caught driving at 111 mph and his license was suspended for 42 days. He said in an interview, "I should count myself lucky. I've clocked up 175 mph on a public road. If I'd been caught doing that, it would have been a prison sentence."
• In September 2004, Jay was banned from the road for 6 months. He appeared at a court in Scotland to face charges for speeding after being clocked at 105 mph in a Mercedes-Benz G-Class from his holiday home in Perthshire, Scotland, on 26 February 2004. The speed limit for the road was 70 mph.

Jay Kay's fleet of cars are insured under a Policy with AON Brokers called "Jamiroquai LTD" and underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance.

Gumball 3000 - 2007

Jay Kay participated in the 2007 Gumball 3000 rally as part of Team Adidas in a Maserati Quattroporte.

TV Performances

Jay Kay co-starred in an episode of the BBC series the Naked Chef alongside the chef Jamie Oliver. We get a glimpse at one of Jay's cars as the pair take his Bentley S3 Convertible to the local wine shop. Further in this episode we see Jay Kay's beautiful herb garden. He also has performed in BBC Strictly come dancing singing Canned Heat. He is now performing an Clarion ad in a car with the track 'Feels So Good'.

Relationships

Media reports about Kay often focus on his personal relationships. Kay has had a number of high-profile relationships, including Winona Ryder and Denise van Outen.

In November 2006, the tabloid press reported Kay was dating Emmerdale actress Amy Nuttall. [2]

Headgear

Kay is well known for his array of elaborate hats and headgear, which he often wears when appearing professionally (in concerts, interviews etc.). He has been referred to as "mad hatter" [3] and "the cat in the hat" for his love of headgear. It is said that he has over 50 different hats that he wears at concerts and in public. [4] He has stated publicly that some of them were made by his own mother.

Kay's most recognizable headgear is his mirrored "feather headdress" seen on the cover of High Times: Singles 1992-2006.

Discography

Main article: Jamiroquai discography

Samples