Kenneth Gordon (born 5 January 1982), better known by his stage name Tyler James, is an English singer and songwriter signed to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

. James's debut single, " Why Do I Do?", made an appearance on the UK Singles Chart in 2004, peaking at number 25. His debut studio album, '' The Unlikely Lad'', was released digitally through

on 29 August 2005. In 2012 James appeared as a contestant on the first series of '' The Voice UK'', making it through to the live final of the show, eventually finishing as the joint runner-up behind series winner Leanne Mitchell. Following his success on The Voice UK, James released his second album, '' A Place I Go'', which peaked at number 47 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

Music career

2001–2005: ''The Unlikely Lad''

After guesting house on the underground R&B track "Wilder" by

Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...

in 2001, which became a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

favourite in London, James got his first taste of celebrity. In 2002, after touring around the UK's bars, pubs and clubs; evolving his sound and performance, James had garnered enough reputation to be hailed as "The British answer to

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

" by '' The Face'' magazine, whilst ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' hailed him as "one to watch". Tyler James was signed to

in 2003 after they heard a demo tape featuring his future debut single, "Why Do I Do?". The

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

flavoured song made the 'A' playlist on BBC Radio 2, and entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 25. In early 2004, James toured the UK with best friend

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

. In early 2005, James toured with Natasha Bedingfield and in the spring of 2005, his second single "Foolish" was released, which reached No. 16 on the UK

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. The success of the song saw his first appearance on BBC Television's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. July 2005, James' third single was released. Originally a No. 1 hit for

White Town Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and record producer, producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song "Your Woman". Early life Jyoti Prakash Mishra was ...

in, James

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

" Your Woman". "Your Woman" reached No. 60, whilst his album '' The Unlikely Lad'' was released as a digital download in August 2005. The album includes three songs co-written with

, who also features on the track "Best for Me". In August 2005, James was supposed to perform at the

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

, but cancelled due to 'unforeseeable circumstances'. Later that year he toured with McFly, but due to the disappointing chart performance of "Your Woman", James was dropped by

and his debut album was only released digitally at the time. The album was later released on CD on 2 July 2012, following his success on ''The Voice''. The album later peaked at number 34 on the UK Album Downloads Chart in June 2012.

2012–: ''The Voice UK'', ''A Place I Go'' and ''My Amy: The Life We Shared''

In 2012, James auditioned for '' The Voice UK'', appearing in the third of four 'Blind Audition' shows. With coaches will.i.am, Jessie J, Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue, James initially performed the track " (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. The performance was met with a positive reception from both Jessie J and will.i.am, though it was the latter who opted to have James on his team. During the show's 'Battle Rounds', James was pitted against 25-year-old Heshima Thompson, winning the performance of " Yeah 3x" by

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

and advancing to the live shows. During the first live show, James performed the James Vincent McMorrow version of " Higher Love" by Stevie Winwood, and was saved by judge will.i.am. In the third live show, James performed

Terence Trent D'Arby Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard; March 15, 1962), who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, '' Introducing the Hard ...

's " Sign Your Name". The performance saw James land in the bottom three alongside Joelle Moses and Frances Wood, though his place in the semi-final was awarded by coach will.i.am. In the semi-final, James performed

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

's " Bohemian Rhapsody" – and was voted into the final by the public over fellow contestant Jaz Ellington; joining Bo Bruce, Leanne Mitchell and Vince Kidd from Team Danny, Team Tom and Team Jessie respectively. In the final, James performed three tracks: " I'll Be There" (

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

), " OMG" ( Usher) with will.i.am and "Higher Love" (James Vincent McMorrow) for a second time. Alongside singer Bo Bruce, James was announced as the series' runner-up behind Leanne Mitchell.

Performances

On Monday 10 December 2012 Tyler achieved a lifelong ambition by featuring on the Ken Bruce show on Radio 2. The segment of the show is "Tracks of My Years" where the guest is usually a legend of the popular music world and they choose two tracks each day of the show that have huge meaning to themselves. It was confirmed in July 2012 that James had signed a new joint record deal with

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

and had begun work on his second studio album. James then announced in August that the album's lead single, " Single Tear", would be released in the United Kingdom on 7 October; with the album '' A Place I Go'' following on 29 October. James confirmed he had worked with various producers and songwriters for ''A Place I Go'', including ''The Voice'' coach will.i.am, Fraser T Smith and

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, ...

who wrote and produced "Single Tear". The album charted at number 47 on the

. In 2015, James starred in the

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, '' Amy'' that was released in theatres on 3 July about his late friend

. In 2021, he published ''My Amy: The Life We Shared '', a memoir of his relationship with Winehouse.

Personal life

James grew up in the Canning Town area of London and moved to

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

with

in his late teens where they lived together until her death. James met Winehouse at the age of 13 when they both trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' The Unlikely Lad'' (2005) * '' A Place I Go'' (2012)

Filmography

*'' Amy'' (2015)

Bibliography

*''My Amy: The Life We Shared (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Tyler 1982 births Living people 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English memoirists English pop singers English contemporary R&B singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters People from Camden Town People from Canning Town The Voice UK contestants Singers from the London Borough of Camden Singers from the London Borough of Newham Amy Winehouse Island Records artists Polydor Records artists