Iain James Farquharson, more commonly known as Iain James or Sparx, is a British singer, songwriter and vocal producer from

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, but based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He started as part of the British

boyband A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many ...

Triple 8 in 2003 as their lead singer and known as Sparx. He left after the band had two Top 10 hits and was replaced by Stewart Macintosh in 2005. He has written a number of songs recorded by a great number of singing artists, plus writing many songs for reality television contestants from UK, Europe and Asia, and on three occasions for

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

songs, including co-writing the winning song for Azerbaijan " Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki in 2011.

Triple 8

He was the lead singer of UK boy band Triple 8 (888) signed to Polydor records. He was known by his nickname "Sparx". The group had two successful singles: "

Knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

" and "Give Me A Reason", which charted at numbers 8 and 9 respectively in the UK Singles Chart. The group parted company with their record label in 2004, leaving their album, ''Heavy W8'', unreleased. Iain James Farquharson left in 2004, to be replaced as lead singer in 2005 by a new member Stewart Macintosh. before breaking up by the end of 2005.

Writing and production

After Triple 8, he concentrated on music writing and production. He has written for artists as diverse as

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporar ...

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...

, Taio Cruz, The Vamps,

Anne-Marie Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer. She has attained charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's " Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm", " Ciao Adios", "Friends", "200 ...

, and Korean boyband

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

(aka Tohoshinki). He has also written for successful acts from reality television competitions, including

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British v ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom ...

and

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved natio ...

. He co-wrote British number one " Read All About It" by Professor Green featuring

, as well as Sandé's own version of the song which appears on her two million selling album '' Our Version of Events'', which broke a record set by the Beatles for longest unimpeded spell in the UK top 10. Very notably, he wrote several songs on the album of

, the first ever British girlgroup whose album went straight into the top 5 in the US, including the UK Number 1 "

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

" and the critically lauded third place song " DNA".He wrote songs on their second album

Salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...

, which did not match DNA commercially, but was a critical success, and followed its predecessor in charting in the UK top 5 and US top 10 (it would have repeated DNA's fourth placing if compilations were not included in the US albums chart). He wrote the album's song Little Me with Little Mix and TMS. For the group's third album Get Weird; Iain co-wrote the singles "

Love Me Like You "Love Me Like You" is a song by British girl group Little Mix. It was released through Syco Music and Columbia Records, as the second single from the group's third studio album, '' Get Weird'' (2015). It was produced by Steve Mac, who co-wro ...

" and "Hair" feat.

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles " Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

. The group's most successful album '' Glory Days'' features the single " Shout Out To My Ex", also co-written by James. He is also a vocal producer and has recorded many artists including

, Ella Henderson,

and

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ov ...

Eurovision

James co-wrote the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song " Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...

winning song " Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, who were the first male-female duo to win the song contest since 1963. They were also the first Azeris to win the contest, winning in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

in May 2011. James also co-wrote the Belgian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, " Love Kills" by

Roberto Bellarosa Roberto Bellarosa (born 23 August 1994) is a Belgian singer. Bellarosa came to fame for being the first winner of ''The Voice Belgique''. He also represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. He finished in 12th place with 71 point ...

, which placed 12th, and the British entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, " My Last Breath" by James Newman.

Personal life

He is married to

Kelli Young Kelli Young (born 7 April 1982) is an English pop singer. She was a member and lead singer of British pop group Liberty X from 2001 until they split in 2007 and again in 2012 when they reformed for a one-off reunion for an ITV2 series and perfor ...

, formerly of pop group

Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show '' Popstar ...

Discography

With Triple 8

References

External links

Discogs.com Iain James Farquharson page
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Iain Year of birth missing (living people) English pop singers Living people English songwriters Place of birth missing (living people) Eurovision Song Contest winners Singers from London Musicians from Bristol English people of Scottish descent