With over 30M albums sold over a longstanding career, James are amongst the most commercially and artistically successful alt rock bands of their era. Having gathered a cult following around art rock gallops like “Johnny Yen” in the 80s, they broke through to mainstream success with their major label debut Gold Mother (1990) followed with a slew of euphoric anthems: “Come Home”, “Sit Down” and “Laid”. Their fifth album, Laid, saw them break the US charts, while Whiplash (1997), Millionaires (1999)and Pleased to Meet You (2001) cemented their standing as a classic 1990s act with “Tomorrow”, “She’s a Star” and“Just Like Fred Astaire”. James returned from a six year hiatus with 2008’s Hey Ma, followed by Girl at the End of the World (2016), Living in Extraordinary Times (2018) and All the Colours of You (2021)-returning to a sustained period in the upper echelons of the album chart. In 2023, James celebrated their 40th Anniversary with the release of Be Opened by the Wonderful a double album of orchestral reworkings of their biggest hits and rare cuts and received The PRS for Music Icon Award at the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards, a testament to their enduring influence and contribution to British song writing. In April 2024 James released their 18th album Yummy which reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, their first studio album to do so. One of their most prescient releases,Yummy deals with politics, AI and conspiracy theories, and documents the creative process of a band who continues to evolve and defy expectations. Best described by UK music bible MOJO: "after 18LPs and over four interrupted decades at the coalface, James are still re-inventing themselves”. The band played their largest UK Arena tour to date last year, selling out the 20,000-capacity Co Op Live arena in Manchester and The O2 in London, they followed this up with a Johnny Marr co-headline tour in the US and Canada.This year has seen the band play multiple shows across the globe including a huge concert on the streets of Penamacor, Portugal where they played to over 20,000 fans.
