James Arthur

The heavily tatted, broad-shouldered young man brooding on the cover of James Arthur’s first two albums might look more like a bruiser than a crooner, but that combination of grit and sensitivity defines this British pop phenomenon’s soulful singing style. Before he conquered the UK, Arthur—who was born in Middlesbrough in 1988—sang for a series of rock bands from his mid teens into his early 20s, and in 2011 he began operating under his own name, blending pop, soul and hip-hop influences and releasing songs on YouTube and SoundCloud. Arthur’s life was forever altered the following year when he competed on Season 9 of The X Factor, winning with the Shontelle song “Impossible”. Shortly after, Simon Cowell’s Syco label released the single, which became a record-breaking blockbuster and transformed Arthur—24 at the time—into an instant pop star. Both Arthur’s second single, “You’re Nobody ’Til Somebody Loves You”, and his self-titled debut album blasted off to huge success, and it became obvious Arthur was sticking around. His 2013 follow-up, Back from the Edge, became an even bigger success than its predecessor. Arthur continues to expand his sound, evidenced on his third album, 2019’s You, which features visits from American hip-hop artist Ty Dolla $ign and members of Taking Back Sunday and Blink-182.