James Blunt: I don’t write about single men going to bars anymore!

On February 22, you celebrated your fiftieth birthday. Is this age a significant turning point for you? Do you see him that way?

No, not at all. The only thing that has changed is that now I write my new songs referring to where I am in my life. So now I’m not writing about a single guy going to bars and getting drunk… I’m trying to write about a little more mature stuff.

Early in your career, you were considered a “female pop singer” and you’ve mentioned in many interviews that you tried to break out of that box. Do you think you succeeded?

I sing about war, addiction, loneliness, love, life and death… in short, about human experiences and human feelings. For example, in some of my songs I write about my hopes and fears as a parent. For example, a song Glow relates to this very topic. I will definitely play it in Prague when I’m there on March 4.

A lot of artists get a little… fed up with their greatest hits. It also applies to you and your songs You”re Beautiful a Goodbye My Lover?

I’m not sure if that’s really the case, maybe they’re just bored. I personally am really lucky to have a job that I love. I play songs with my band to amazing audiences around the world. Of the twenty-one songs I play every night, this is one of them You’re Beautiful and another just now Goodbye My Lover. I don’t play them much more than Bonfire Heart or 1973. And the audience reaction? They are just great on all these songs. It’s fun to play them all the time.

Jare your female fans very fierce? Has something ever happened to you that was, as they say, over the line?

I’m lucky to have any female fans at all – so they can be as fierce as they want!

James Blunt is a big star with a lot of fans. But whose fan is James Blunt? Is there someone you would like to meet at some point in your life?

With David Attenborough (an important British naturalist, editor’s note), he always struck me as a very wise man. I would also like to meet Barack Obama. But if you mean the music world, The Weeknd’s music is amazing.

In the past, you dated the Czech model Petra Němcová. Did you visit the Czech Republic with her often?

I was very lucky to have visited the Czech Republic several times during that time, and I am very glad that I always had someone with me who showed me everything here. The Czech Republic is a beautiful country and I loved the time I spent here. I’m excited to come back here at least for a concert.

Did you learn any Czech words during that time?

Yes. And I even plan to test my limited knowledge of Czech on the audience when I’m on stage!