English singer/songwriter James Blunt wasted no time setting the record straight for a music critic who claimed Blunt's music "appeals to no one."
As a reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, Blunt served among 30,000 NATO troops during the 1999 Kosovo War.
In 2004, after leaving the military, Blunt achieved worldwide recognition after releasing his debut album Back to Bedlam, which spawned the hit singles "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover."
Recently at George Mason University's student-run radio station WGMU, a host began a thread discussing all the music they heard in 2023 "with a little blurb on my overall thoughts!"
The list of 100 artists in no particular order included the likes of Drake, Coldplay, Rihanna, and James Blunt.
And the host, Twitter user @Br0wn__, didn't have flattering words for Blunt.
They said:
"Back to Bedlam-James Blunt"
"Who is this for?"
"It’s too simple and safe for music fans, but too progressive (at the time) for an audience like minivan moms."
"It rides the middle and thus appeals to no one. Music itself isn’t terrible."
Blunt immediately shut down the radio host with a fact.
"Appeals to no one, but was the biggest selling album of the decade."
According to the UK Albums chart, Back to Bedlam was considered one of the best albums of the 2000s in the UK.
And another fun fact: Blunt recorded the album in Los Angeles in 2003 while lodging with late actress Carrie Fisher, who helped him come up with the album's name.
The song "Goodbye My Lover" was recorded in Fisher's bathroom.
The biggest single from the album, "You're Beautiful," reached number one both in the UK and in the US.
After Blunt pretty much said, "I'm just gonna leave this here," fans praised his clapback and also complimented his music.
Fans also critiqued the "pretentious" radio host with their own unfavorable reviews.
In a March 2008 interview with the Independent, Blunt touched on the criticism he's received versus his commercial success in the industry.
"I think I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect me in some way," he said at the time.
"But I just have to let it brush off me because, in the end, it's not really relevant."
"For me, the truth comes from the people who come to the shows and sing the words to the songs back to me."
"It's a great thrill when people say to me that a song of mine describes perfectly how they are feeling."
"It's not something I expected to happen."
Blunt, who continues to tour, released his sixth studio album, Once Upon a Mind, in 2019.
On June 26, 2020, he released a deluxe version of the album, the Time Suspended Edition, which featured two new demo songs and six acoustic tracks.
