James Blunt: Celebrity label a way to 'dehumanize'
By Kevin W. Smith
KSMITH@AZSTARNET.COM
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.14.2008
It might be difficult, but indulge James Blunt and his problems for a couple minutes.
Currently on a national tour opening for Sheryl Crow, the poppy English singer-songwriter was propelled to international stardom off the song "You're Beautiful." His 2005 major-label debut, "Back to Bedlam," went on to sell a cool 11 or so million copies.
Since then, he's been photographed on red carpets alongside some of the world's most beautiful women (Petra Nemcova) and hanging with them topless on yachts in tropical locations.
That the world knows he's been doing these things really eats at Blunt.
"We're better than dogs," he said. "We don't need to sniff each other."
In our phone interview from his tour bus in Green Bay, Wis., Blunt said "celebrity" is a label used to "dehumanize" artists and profit from their high-profile lifestyles.
We should focus on the greater troubles around us like war and disease, the 34-year-old said, instead of what's on the gossip pages.
Of course, there are lots of ways to feel dehumanized these days, like being a single parent who has to work three jobs or losing your home to foreclosure. But being photographed in public with supermodels . . . must rank a close second. One can only imagine.
Luckily for Tucson, Blunt seems to be a pretty captivating character onstage, or so say reviews of recent performances.
Last year, Blunt released his follow-up album, "All the Lost Souls," which has gone gold. It partly chronicles Blunt's success and struggles . . . like being photographed partying with naked models.
I read a recent interview where you said, "The real world is on tour." What did you mean by that?
"We often talk, within the media world, about the commercial side of the music industry: how many albums you sold, what chart places your CD is at around the world. But all of these things aren't really what music's about. It's actually about playing to people live and capturing the imagination and taking them on an emotional journey. And getting people together. People come and gather in the thousands to listen to someone like Sheryl Crow. And they sing and have smiles on their faces, and there aren't many things that do that in the world."
You spend a lot of time in Ibiza (Spain). Did you ever get into its whole rave culture back in the day?
"Yeah, I still do. I'm in their biggest clubs all the time. There's some great music down there."
You recently came down on tabloids, and I know some of the new album deals with your rise to become this public figure. How much of that do you feel comes with the territory and how much is crossing the line?
"I think pretty much all of it crosses the line. It's based around making money out of people who are more visible. But it does so at a cost, at a loss to all of us.
"You take an actor away from being an actor and instead dehumanize him and call him a celebrity. Whereas, it's not just his loss, it's us, too. Because you suddenly miss the art he's involved in and the culture he's in. It's the same with a musician....
"If I asked you how much you earned, you'd probably tell me it's none of my business. And if I asked you how your relationships are going at the moment, you'd say it's none of your business.
"And for me, that's why the celebrity world is an ugly one. Because it's one that oversteps the mark. It's none of our business.
"And our business, as humans, is to bring some expression into the world that draws people together, like music or art or culture. Or deal with the world's problems instead, like poverty, or disease, or global warming and climate change, or the wars that going on. These are the things we could achieve and can achieve if we spend our time and resources on those instead of sniffing each other like dogs."
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