Welsh born Singer-songwriter Jay James burst onto the music scene in the summer of 2012 having written & featured on the song “Fly” by Cinematic. Labelled as a ‘Summer Anthem’ and championed by Radio 1 DJ’s Annie Mac & Trevor Nelson the song was released on Black Butter Records (home to Rudimental, Clean Bandit & Jess Glyne).
His debut single ‘Long may they Roll’ hit the No2 spot in the Radio 1 RnB charts and featured remixes by Naughty boy, Gorgon City’s Matt ‘Rack N Ruin’ and Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran). The debut Album ‘Play it by Heart’ released on Decca Records, Universal featured written collaborations with the likes of John Legend, ’The Roots’ (James Poyser), super producer Malay (Sam Smith, Frank Ocean) and Soul Legend Booker T. Jones.
The foundations of a bright future in Soul music were furthered with a feature on ‘Broken Heart’ alongside friend and mentor, Booker T Jones (Grammy Lifetime Award Achiever) the song taken from the Album ‘Sound The Alarm’ which also featured the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Gary Clarke Jnr and Estelle ended up being the single and ‘Broken Heart’ went on to become Booker’s biggest UK radio hit since ‘Green Onions’ (Booker T & The MG’s) and hit the No1 spot on BBC Radio 2’s A-List and remained in the Top 20 UK Airplay charts for a twelve weeks.
Jay became wider and more commercially known following an appearance on the X Factor (Season 11). As Simon Cowell’s self confessed ‘favourite to win’ Jay went on to tour the UK & Ireland but with desires to make music and step away from the hungry lights of a short lived fame, It’s fair to say Jay would admit to feeling and always having felt more at home, creating and songwriting in late night studio sessions or ‘walking the dog’ rather than appearing and ‘walking down red carpets’ or attending celebrity parties.
Since that moment and during a long break to refocus on a music, Jay discovered a passion for broadcasting, and in reconnecting with his Military roots through Forces Radio, BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service) he did just that, once a former Royal Navy Warfare Specialist who had respectfully served 10 years, Jay now co-presents a Music Show 3 times a week to armed forces personnel, their families and forces fans to 27 Countries around the World.
From playing music out on air to regularly writing and creating, new music confirmed in 2018 alongside a UK tour as special guest to RnB Legend, Alexander O’Neal throughout April 2018.
