James Blake

Biography

James Blake Litherland (born 26 September 1988) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Known for his emotive, soulful light head voice and use of falsetto, he first gained recognition following the release of three extended plays in 2010: The Bells Sketch, CMYK and Klavierwerke. Blake subsequently signed with A&M Records to release his self-titled debut album (2011) the following year, which was met with critical praise and peaked within the top ten of the UK Albums Chart.

Blake departed A&M in favour of sister label Republic Records, on which he released his second album, Overgrown (2013), to further critical and commercial success; it likewise peaked within the chart's top ten and moderately entered the US Billboard 200. His third album, The Colour in Anything (2016), was followed by his 2018 single "King's Dead" (with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Future), which peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart and number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success foresaw the release of his fourth album, Assume Form (2019), which remains his highest-charting entry on both the UK Albums Chart and Billboard 200. His fifth, sixth, and seventh studio albums, Friends That Break Your Heart (2021), Playing Robots Into Heaven (2023), Trying Times (2026), followed thereafter. In 2024, Blake released the collaborative album Bad Cameo with American rapper Lil Yachty.

Blake has written and produced work for other artists, often doing so jointly with his partner Jameela Jamil. His credits include Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Frank Ocean. He has won a Mercury Prize from two nominations, two Grammy Awards from nine nominations, a Latin Grammy Award, and three Brit Award nominations.

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