James Arthur

The X-Factor winner and chart-topping artist

Middlesborough-born singer James Arthur started writing and recording songs when he was just 15. Between 2005 and 2011, he was active in bands such as Moonlight Drive, Cue The Drama, Save Arcade and Emerald Skye.

In the early ’10s, Arthur also started uploading his solo music to SoundCloud and YouTube including an album called Sins By The Sea.

He came to fame by winning the 2012 series of The X-Factor with knockout performances of songs like LMFAO’s Sexy And I Know It, Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You and Alicia Keys’ Fallin’.

Immediately after winning the show, Arthur released a cover version of Impossible by Barbadian singer Shontelle, which he’d sung in the final. It reached No.1 on the singles charts in the UK and Ireland, as well as broke into the top 10 in more than 20 other countries.