About James Blake (musician)
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—The Bells Sketch, CMYK and Klavierwerke—in 2010. He 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 became 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 a collaborative album, Bad Cameo, with rapper Lil Yachty. Blake has written and produced work for other artists, often doing so with his partner Jameela Jamil and others including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Rosalía, Strick, JID, Travis Scott, Normani, Oneohtrix Point Never, Dominic Maker, and Justin Vernon. He has won a Mercury Prize from two nominations, two Grammy Awards from nine nominations, a Latin Grammy Award, and three Brit Award nominations. Blake began his music career by releasing his debut 12" record, Air & Lack Thereof in the United Kingdom during July 2009, while being persistent in recording songs in his bedroom.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.