If you were a pop or indie music-loving listener in the early 2000s, it’s very likely you encountered the dulcet tones of James Blunt. Not quite a one hit wonder, Blunt’s incredibly popular “You’re Beautiful” was a hit circa 2004, when his album Back To Bedlam was released. While plenty of teen girls latched onto his sad sack songs at the time (hello, I would listen to the entire album on repeat), back then, and even more so as time has passed, Blunt has become the butt of many jokes about how terrible his music is. He’s gone on record saying he thinks “You’re Beautiful” is super annoying, too, and has had a pretty good sense of humor about all the farce that can come along with being a pop star.
But today he’s decided to weigh in on something important with a self-deprecating joke about his own music. Since first Neil Young, and now Joni Mitchell, have pulled their music off Spotify in protest of the platform’s decision to enable Joe Rogan’s anti-vax misinformation, Blunt wants to do his part as well. But his threat has nothing to do with pulling his music — it’s releasing new music that he suspects will get the platform to change their minds about supporting Rogan.
If @spotify doesn’t immediately remove @joerogan, I will release new music onto the platform. #youwerebeautiful
— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) January 29, 2022
“If @spotify doesn’t immediately remove @joerogan, I will release new music onto the platform,” Blunt wrote on Twitter this morning, following it up with the pitch perfect hashtag: “#youwerebeautiful.”
Thank you, James, for doing your part. Now it’s time for me to revisit my 16-year-old self and stream Back To Bedlam all Saturday long…. on Apple Music.