James Blunt will release his greatest hits collection later this year.
The ‘You’re Beautiful’ hitmaker- who will also embark on a huge tour to celebrate the November 19 release – wanted to go for a tongue-in-cheek title for the collection before his record label made their feelings clear.
In a statement, he joked: “Amazingly, I’m releasing my Greatest Hits.
“I wanted to call it ‘Greatest Hit (& Songs I Wish You’d Heard)’, but the good people at Atlantic Records suggested I call it something more sensible, so it’s called ‘The Stars Beneath My Feet’.
“If you’d ever wished that James Blunt had only ever released one album – this is that album.
“It’s 30 awesome songs, including live performances from Glastonbury and elsewhere, and four new songs.
“To celebrate its release, I’ll be heading out to tour the world all next year. I can’t wait to see you then.”
The album will span his career from 2004 to 2021, including four new tracks – ‘Love Under Pressure’, ‘Unstoppable’, ‘Adrenaline’, and ‘I Came For Love’ – and four live performances from around the world.
James will kick off a UK arena tour early next year, starting the run at the Brighton Centre on February 3, before moving onto dates in Manchester, London, Cardiff, Hull and Birmingham.
He’ll continue the tour in Leeds on February 11, then to Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena the next night and round things off in Glasgow on the 13th.
The 47-year-old star – who will also play rescheduled dates later in the year – had been set to go tour before the pandemic caused the industry to be put on hold and he suggested it allowed him to take so much-needed time away from music.
James – who shares two sons with wife Sofia Wellesley – said: “I was supposed to be on tour for a year and I was sent home. And, you know, for me that was probably a very good thing because I haven’t spent time at home with my family, ever.
“I’ve been promising that I would take a year off from music at some stage, but I was lying, probably.
“And so this is very good – to spend time at home, do things that adults do and family people do. And so perhaps it has been a blessing in disguise for me.”
James Blunt UK arena tour dates – February 2022
February 2022
3rd – Brighton, Brighton Centre
4th – Manchester, AO Arena
5th – London, SSE Wembley Arena
7th – Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
8th – Hull, Bonus Arena
10th – Birmingham, Resort World
11th – Leeds, First Direct Arena
12th – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
13th – Glasgow, SEC Armadillo