James Arthur looks ahead to V Festival

James went straight to number one with his debut single, Impossible, after signing a deal with Simon Cowell’s Syco Records after winning the TV talent show. It sold 1.4 million copies, making it the most successful winner’s single in the show’s history. It also proved a hit around the world, selling a further 900,000 outside the UK.

But James struggled to cope with his fame and also found it difficult to deal with the pressures of the music industry.

He got caught up in controversy, lost his record deal, and stepped away from the spotlight so that he could regroup. For a while, he felt chewed up and spat out at that time, as though he’d lost his sense of purpose and become a joke.

He chronicled his struggles in his second album, Back From the Edge, which was released last autumn and surpassed his debut – hitting the top of the UK album chart and securing a gold disc. The record was also a hit around Europe.

James described the album as offering him redemption, calling the record an honest piece of work.

He considered it like a memoir of the two years leading up to its release. And in his songs he described the two years of hell that he went through, which prompted him to claw his way back.

The album was two years in the making and the idea for it was conceived shortly after he was dropped by his record label. Initially, James viewed the songs as a way to vent the frustrations that he felt about his situation. But as time went on, it evolved into a more positive piece of work.

He wanted to tell his fans that even when they felt down and out, there was still a reason to forge forward. He was determined to add a hopeful thread to what he was doing.