James Taylor-Watts (born 27 October 1997),[1] better known as James TW, is an English singer-songwriter. His single "When You Love Someone" peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.
James TW | |
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Birth name | James Taylor-Watts |
Born | (1997-10-27) 27 October 1997 (age 25) Barford, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom |
Genres | Pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, Guitar, Drums |
Years active | 2014–present |
Labels | Island |
James was born in England, the son of Sarah and Richard Taylor-Watts.[2] He was named after James Taylor, one of his parents' favourite musicians.[3]
James' father, who plays guitar in a wedding band as a hobby, once found young James playing on the drum kit at home. Shortly thereafter, the band's drummer wasn't able to make it to a gig. So the band had a decision to make: either let 10 year-old James play or cancel the gig. James played that evening and has been performing on a regular basis ever since. He picked up guitar at 12 years old and started playing piano the following year. In 2010, James started his YouTube channel at 12 years old.[3][4]
In 2014, James self-released the EP Just a Number, which rose to number 6 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart.[5][6] In early 2015, Shawn Mendes, an artist discovered on social media, found James on YouTube and praised him on Twitter. Mendes' label, Island Records, then noticed James and he signed with them shortly thereafter.[7] On 30 October 2015, James released his debut single "Black & Blue". On 19 February 2016 James released a music video for his single, "When You Love Someone", through Universal Music. The song reached over 60 million Spotify streams[8][9] and peaked at No. 28 on Billboard's Adult Pop Songs chart.[10][11]
On 15 April 2016 James released his debut EP titled First Impressions, featuring 5 original songs as well as a cover of Torn by Natalie Imbruglia, which earned 17 million Spotify streams[9] and peaked at 15 on the Spotify Viral 50 chart.[12] James was the sole opening act on the sold out Shawn Mendes World Tour.[4][9] On 9 September 2016, he released a cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy".
On 23 January 2017, James TW performed "When You Love Someone" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[13] James released a new single "Ex" on 17 February 2017 while premiering the video via Billboard on the same day.[14] In February, he was named the opening act on the European leg of Shawn Mendes' Illuminate World Tour[15] with dates from April to June 2017.
James released a new single called "You & Me" on 18 January 2019:[16] the song, alongside "When You Love Someone", "Say Love" and "Soldier", was included in his debut album, Chapters, which was released the following April.[17]
James announced in March 2021 that he would be releasing the single Butterflies on 19 March 2021.[18] In September, he released the EP Heartbeat Changes (Part 1),[19] followed by his second full-length album Heartbeat Changes on 10 June 2022. The album comprises the songs from the EP and seven new tracks.[20]
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||
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BEL (FL) [21] |
NLD [22] |
NOR [23] |
SWE [24] | ||
Chapters |
|
113 | 77 | 18 | 33 |
Heartbeat Changes |
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— | — | — | — |
Title | Details |
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Just a Number |
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First Impressions |
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Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
NLD [22] |
NOR [26] |
NZ Hot [27] |
SWE [28] |
US Adult | ||||
2015 | "Black & Blue" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
2016 | "When You Love Someone" | 54 | 51 | — | — | 24 | 28 | First Impressions and Chapters | |
"Crazy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
2017 | "Ex" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Please Keep Loving Me"[33] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
2018 | "Say Love" | — | — | 26 | — | 30 | — | Chapters | |
"Last Christmas" | — | — | — | 22 | 38 | — | Non-album single | ||
"Soldier" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Chapters | ||
2019 | "You & Me" | — | — | — | — | 61 | — |
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2021 | "Butterflies" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Heartbeat Changes | |
"Hopeless Romantics" | — | — | — | — | —[upper-alpha 1] | — |
General | |
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National libraries | |
Other |
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