Duncan James

For those called Duncan, James, see James Duncan.

Duncan Matthew James Inglis (born 7 April 1978 in Salisbury, Wiltshire) is an English singer, actor and television presenter, of the popular UK boy band Blue.

Biography

James grew up an only child in Devon and was raised primarily by his mother and grandparents after his father abandoned his mother before he was born. He was educated at Dumpton School (where his grandfather worked as a music teacher), the Milldown School in Blandford Forum and Corfe Hills School in Corfe Mullen and Sidmouth College. At 15, he played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He also played Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes for Sidmouth Youth Theatre. James also worked for Haven Holidays as a Havenmate on the Isle Of Wight.

According to an interview he gave to Gabby Logan on BBC Radio 5 Live on the morning of 28 July 2007, he is a great-grandson of Herbert Chapman, the manager of the Arsenal football team of the 1930s.

Blue

Main article: Blue (boy band)

In early 2000, James, along with Antony Costa, convinced Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe to form the group Blue. Blue's R&B-influenced pop allowed the group to achieve commercial success in the United Kingdom and many other countries, including Portugal, Belgium, Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand. From May 2001, when the group released its first single, "All Rise", until 2004, when the band released its final chart-qualifying single, "Curtain Falls", Blue had achieved 11 Top 10 singles in the UK, three of which went to Number 1.

On 28 April 2009, Blue announced that they have reformed & will soon return to the stage this summer with a new album coming soon.

Solo career

In October 2004, James collaborated with Keedie to release the single "I Believe My Heart", which entered the UK singles chart at Number 2. He returned to the solo music scene in May 2006 with his single "Sooner or Later", releasing the video in early May and planning to release the single commercially on 5 June 2006. The video reached Number 2 on The Box and Number 5 on The Hits. However, the single was no commercial success and entered the UK charts at Number 35, before slipping down to Number 72 in its second week. "Can't Stop a River" was James's next single. Released on 21 August 2006, the track could only reach Number 59 in the UK, and Number 97 in Ireland. In Europe, where "Can't Stop a River" was released the day prior to the UK, it similarly proved unpopular, dropping out of the singles charts in many countries such as France, Germany, and Belgium.

James's album also fell short, selling less than 1,000 copies in the UK in its first week (and failing to reach the Top 50). The album sold a total of 412,350 copies around the world. Although his debut album didn't do as well as hoped (with the exception of Italy, where the album reached Number 2 on the chart and has been certified platinum for shipments of 80,000 copies), on 2 February 2007, music channel B4 premiered the video for "Amazed", his new single which was scheduled to be released 12 March 2007. However, there was once again a lack of interest. The release was cancelled and James was dropped from his recording contract. He has since announced he has quit music (or at least his solo career), which sparks rumours about a possible Blue reunion.

On 21 April 2009, it was announced the James will be playing "Warner" in the new West End production of Legally Blonde the musical.

Career outside of music

James has worked occasionally as a television presenter, having presented the 95.8 Capital FM's Party in the Park for the Prince's Trust (2003 and 2004), and ITV2's coverage of the TV series Soapstar Superstar, along with Jayne Middlemiss.

Other presenting work includes Pop City Live, Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2004, T4 Movie Special: Spiderman II, Record of the Year: Downloaded and GMTV's Entertainment Today.

He also took part on ITV1's Dancing on Ice in 2007, in which he made it to the grand final alongside rugby player Kyran Bracken and actress Clare Buckfield. He came third in the contest, although was unable to perform his Bolero performance (however, it can be seen on the DVD).

In 2007 James appeared in the pilot episode of Channel 4's Plus One, playing himself. A full series was broadcast in 2009, in which he played a broad caricature of himself called "Duncan from Blue".

He completed another 10 weeks in Chicago from the 10 December until 9 February.

He had his own radio show on Capital 95.8, every Sunday from 7-10pm.

James made an appearance on a new show for Sky One called 'Guinness World Records Smashed', which aired in November 2008.

He appeared in an episode of The Bill called The Morning After which aired on 1 January 2009. He played a character called Dan Colman.

It was confirmed in February 2009 that James had been chosen to replace Denise Van Outen as the presenter of Grease: The School Musical which is the sequel to Hairspray: The School Musical. Filming of the show commenced in early 2009.

In May 2009, James announced the UK's voting in the Eurovision Song Contest.

He currently presents Hannah-Oke on Disney Channel UK, a singing dancing contest based on the popular Disney TV series Hannah Montana.

In December 2009, James will appear as 'Warner Huntington III' in the West End production of 'Legally Blonde: The Musical'.

He also appeared on "celebrity Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old? (UK)" and raised 10,000 pounds for his charities.

James has been cast as one of the leads in the musical version of Legally Blonde as it transfers from Broadway to London's West End in December 2009. He will play opposite Sheridan Smith as Elle, and Aoife Mulholland as Brooke.

James appeared as the celebrity guest on the 14th August on Daily Cooks Challenge.

Personal life

James currently live in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, a small town just outside [[London[[. James has a 4 year-old daughter named Tianie-Finne with former girlfriend Claire Granger. Granger became pregnant after a brief rekindle of their romance and gave birth to their daughter in early 2005. James has stated in an interview that while he has ruled out the possibility of getting back together with the mother of his child, he 's going to lend her all the help he can give her to raise their daughter and has remained on good terms with her.

James currently live in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, a small town just outside [[London[[. James was raised a "strict Catholic". He came out as bisexual in an interview with the News of the World on 12 July 2009.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		UK	FRA	IRE	BEL	ITA
2006	Future Past Released: June 12, 2006 Label: Innocent Records Format: CD, LP	55	68	55	25	2

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions		Album
		UK Singles Chart	ITA
2004	"I Believe My Heart"	2	13	Future Past
2006	"Sooner Or Later"	35	2
	"Can't Stop A River"	59	23
	"Amazed"	—	—

References

• "What would you save if your house was burning down?" by Duncan James, "The Guardian", 26 February 2006, retrieved 17 May 2006
• AllMusic's description of Blue
• "Life of Ryan", "The Guardian", 3 July 2005, retrieved 17 May 2006
• "Duncan James slams ex-bandmates, "ContactMusic", 1 May 2006, retrieved 17 May 2006
• Everyhit.com--lists chart ranks for UK singles
• "James vows to be a good dad", "ContactMusic", 1 December 2004, retrieved 17 May 2006
• "When does the fun start?" by Zoe Williams, "The Guardian", 4 October 2003, retrieved 17 May 2006

External links

• Official website