James Blunt promises to change his name to “whatever the public wants” if his debut album hits Number One

nme.com:

James Blunt has promised to change his name to “whatever the public wants” on the condition that his debut album lands the Number One spot on the charts.Released on October 11, 2004, the singer’s debut LP ‘Back To Bedlam’ will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next month, with a special reissue to mark the occasion.

The album was a success after its third single ‘You’re Beautiful’ became a worldwide hit in 2005, and the record became the highest-selling album of that year, selling over 2.4 million copies.While appearing as a guest on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, Blunt discussed how the album stayed at the top spot on the charts for a while and shared: “We are re-releasing it here, 20 years on, the new album, and in fact, the label are going to launch a campaign get it back to number one after 20 years.

How do you do that? How do you get it back to number one at 20 years’ old? So, what they’ve made me sign up to do is if it reaches number one, I have signed up to changing my name to whatever the public want – they can change my name.”The ‘Wisemen’ singer went on to explain that changing his name is not something he was doing as “an act of desperation” but rather “a genuine thing”.

He continued: “I swear on my life and the life of my one fan – Brian from Glasgow – I will change my name should it hit number one.”In December 2009, ‘Back to Bedlam’ was certified 10× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 3 million, making it the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.