James Blunt has said that he has never received good reviews before, but he is starting to receive positive reviews thanks to the newly released Netflix documentary, James Blunt: One British Wonder.
The 90-minute documentary follows Blunt on his 2022 tour, with frequent flashbacks to chronicle his career. It’s honest, funny, and at times moving, as the self-deprecating pop star recalls how he suddenly became a national pariah. His recollection of just how unpopular he was is the only time in the film where Blunt seems lost for words and genuinely hurt.
James Blunt performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Who can blame him? Sure, his 2004 smash hit “You’re Beautiful” might not be to everyone’s taste, but in retrospect the reaction of the press and some pop stars has been brutal. Blunt commented: “I felt like I was being bullied back at school, but also like the whole country was bullying me.” Is it really so bad to be an upper-class singer who went to Harrow College?
Comedians mocked him, fellow musicians shunned him, and the tabloids ran wild with exposes about his private life. Indeed, one of the documentary’s funniest scenes involves his level-headed father leafing through a scrapbook of newspaper clippings he lovingly kept about his son. Referring to the sensationalist tabloid stories, he says, “There were quite a few sleazy stories in the early days… but it’s best to forget them.”
Blunt had musical dreams and achieved phenomenal success with his debut album Back to Bedlam, but those dreams quickly turned into a nightmare. It’s remarkable how popular his first album was; it sold over 3 million copies in the UK, making it the best-selling album of the 2000s. He also achieved success around the world, including in the US.
One of the great advantages of this documentary is that it includes all of Blunt’s very early footage. In fact, it’s as if James knew someone would make a documentary about his life. The most interesting footage is from his time in the military before he became a pop star. He jokes that he volunteered to go to Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping force in 1999 at the height of the Kosovo War to escape the damp training courses in Wales. James reminisces about the tense race with Russian troops to secure a key airport that could have led to World War III. He also talks about the horrors he saw and how he dealt with them. His military experience helped him to remember later in life that no matter how bad the backlash was, things could have been much worse.
James Blunt in 2005 (Image credit: Getty Images)
There’s also footage of James playing his second show in 2004 in support of Elton John at Ipswich’s football stadium, where he jokes with the crowd, “I know you’re not here to see me, but my grandma is here, so grandma, this song is called High, and it’s about sex and drugs.” One Ipswich kid watching was a young Ed Sheeran, and in the documentary, the self-described “huge fan” talks about how much of an influence James was.
Eventually, James dealt with the constant trolling on Twitter by fighting back with jokes. And it worked. Suddenly, people got to see a different side of James. Maybe he wasn’t the standoffish guy people had imagined him to be.
I promise I only started singing when the police had to evacuate people from the train. https://t.co/i73m5ifQSqDecember 8, 2023
If this doesn’t work, hit me up. @NZPolice https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMSFebruary 12, 2022
James Blunt: One British Wonder is currently streaming on Netflix.
