'Beautiful' James Blunt content with his music

'Beautiful' James Blunt content with his music
DetNews.com - Detroit,MI,USA
The singer, who's been upgraded to the State Theatre for a show tonight, enjoys soaring stardom. D on't hate James Blunt because of "You're Beautiful.". ...
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The singer, who's been upgraded to the State Theatre for a show
tonight, enjoys soaring stardom.
Adam Graham / The Detroit News

Don't hate James Blunt because of "You're Beautiful."

The British singer-songwriter, who performs a sold-out concert tonight at
Detroit's State Theatre -- moved by popular demand from the smaller Majestic
Theatre -- says if you're tired of hearing his ubiquitous single, simply change
the station.

"If I heard it too many times, I'd always have the opportunity, intelligence
and clarity of mind to be able to switch radio stations," says Blunt, quite
dryly, while on the phone from a tour stop in Philadelphia. "I'm sure most other
human beings are perfectly capable of changing a radio channel, if they feel
something were being heard too many times."

But "You're Beautiful," which hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 earlier this
month (making Blunt the first Brit to top the chart since Elton John in 1997),
isn't simply impacting radio. The hunky former British Army captain, whose style
lies somewhere between Coldplay and David Gray, has performed the lovelorn song
on "Saturday Night Live" and "Oprah," the latter of which goosed his record
sales by an impressive 142 percent. Blunt's debut album "Back to Bedlam,"
released stateside in October, is currently No. 2 on Billboard's albums
chart.

Now, the sparse "You're Beautiful" is shaping up to be the prom and wedding
anthem of the season, even though it's chiefly a song about unrequited love that
ends on a down note, with Blunt singing, well, bluntly, "I will never be with
you."

But as long as people are enjoying his music, Blunt is fine with what becomes
of it.

"I'm really happy with it," says the 29-year-old. "I put it out
there, you know, for other people to listen to, and how they hear it and how
they use it is up to them. I don't mind. They're my words, but people will then
apply my words to their own understanding and imagination."

Blunt, who's not a big fan of hip-hop but calls Eminem's music "spot-on," is
capturing the understanding and imagination of many female fans, who've been
packing his recent shows. But he's not doing anything in particular to appeal to
the ladies, he says -- and besides, he can't help it if he's "Beautiful."

"I'm just writing songs. That's all I'm doing," says Blunt, who'll spend the
better part of the year touring the United States. "I'm writing songs because
it's a form of expression, and guys and girls seem to like it both at the same
time."

You can reach Adam Graham at (313) 222-2284 or agraham@detnews.com.