Duncan James

Born in Dorset April 7th 1978, at 13 he moved to Devon where he was raised by his mother and his grandparents. Music always played a central role in Duncan’s life with his grandfather being a music teacher and his mother’s love of musical theatre, they often travelled to London’s West End together. He studied A level Drama and received great reviews for his amateur dramatic performances. After taking a GNVQ in Leisure and Tourism, he took a job with Haven Holidays, who recognised his talents and soon he became the lead male vocalist for nightly shows at several of their locations around the UK. Whilst on the audition circuit, Duncan encountered Lee Ryan, Simon Webbe and Antony Costa, discovering their shared musical tastes and compatibilities the logical step was to create music and a style that suited the guys talents. Blue was born and was immediately signed to Innocent Records.
Blue was an instant success, the timing was perfect. They exploded on to the scene in May 2001 with the unforgettable All Rise debuting at #4, and follow up single Too Close going straight to the top of the charts. It was a meteoric rise to fame for the foursome becoming the hottest new act to emerge in the UK in years with their unmistakable sound of R&B influence pop and melodious ballads. Blue has amassed huge commercial success, racking up 40 No. 1 singles worldwide, 3 No.1 UK albums and sales of over 13 million records.

There have been many highlights for Duncan during his partnership with Blue, however, dueting with Stevie Wonder on his classic Signed Sealed Delivered and Sir Elton John on Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word , rank in his top ten along with acknowledgement from the industry receiving two BRIT awards for Best Newcomer 2002 and Best Pop Act 2003.
The guys decided to take a break from the band to pursue other interests .Duncan was asked by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to record a duet with Pop Opera sensation Keedie I believe my Heart from A Woman in White it reached No.2

In addition to pursuing his music talents, Duncan is a regular host of The National Lottery and has presented on Soapstar Superstar, Capital FM’s Party in the Park, City Hospital, T4, The Clothes Show , GMTV’s Entertainment Today and on Capital Radio where he hosted Duncan's JukeBox

In 2007 Duncan took up the challenge of competing in ITV’s Dancing on Ice where he became a finalist and participated in the following sell out tour in arenas across the UK.

Duncan was thrilled to be offered the part of Billy Flynn in the hit musical Chicago, which he starred in during summer 07, reprising the role for an additional 10 week run from December to February 08.

Posted especially for DreamingDan