Duncan James - Biography

In a nutshell

Duncan from Blue (or, to give him his full title, Duncan James who used to be in Blue) is one of those rare talents. An all-round entertainer with endless charm and public appeal. Except, it seems, when it comes around to releasing a solo album.

Brought up by his mother and grandparents, Duncan first arrived in the spotlight with boyband Blue. They were edgy, they were pop, they were... not very good. They did alright, though, for a while and scored 11 top 10 singles. But after a few years the guys decided to go their separate ways. However, in 2009 there was an announcement which sent shockwaves through those who cared ? Blue were going to reform! Since then, nothing much has happened. What a letdown!

What does one do when their band breaks up? Get a solo career, of course! To give him credit, he did manage a number 2 single with 'I Believe My Heart', a duet with Keedie. But from that point on the only way was down. His first 'proper' solo single, 'Sooner or Later', charted at number 35 before tumbling straight out of the charts. Not to worry, the second single came along and hit the dizzy heights of number 59. It wasn't long until Duncan got dumped. From his record label, that is.

Luckily, in this multichannel age, there's always plenty of awful TV programmes looking for presenters and Duncan seized this golden opportunity. He presented ITV2's 'backstage' coverage of Soapstar Superstar, popped up on the National Lottery draws (mostly midweek) and has even appeared in one episode of The Bill.

In July 2009 James shocked the collective world by declaring himself as one of those bisexuals in an interview with the News of the World. After a few minutes taking in the news, the world resumed as normal.

At the moment Duncan has a starring role in the new West End musical, Legally Blonde. Yes, that's right. It exists. We're not sure how long into 2010 it'll survive for, but we're taking bets now...

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