Blunt was educated at Elstree School, Woolhampton, then Harrow School (where he received his nickname 'Blunty'), and finally the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Before the release of his album, Blunt was a commissioned officer in the British Army, rose to the rank of Captain and served as a NATO peacekeeper in Kosovo. He was also on duty for the funeral of the Queen Mother on 9th April, 2002.

He is currently signed to Linda Perry's American label Custard, and became the first British artist to top the American singles chart in nearly a decade when his first single from Back to Bedlam, "You're Beautiful", reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. The last British artist to do so had been Elton John in 1997 with the song Candle in the Wind.

His second album, All The Lost Souls, was released on 17th September 2007.

James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is the stage name adopted by the Grammy Award-nominated English singer-songwriter whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005. His repertoire is a mix of acoustic-tinged pop, rock and folk. After recording on the independent American label Custard Records, Blunt won two BRIT Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, and by 2006 was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The following year, he released his second album All The Lost Souls, (2007). Blunt's third studio album, Some Kind of Trouble, is due to be released in November 2010.

Blunt was an officer in the Life Guards, a Cavalry regiment of the British Army, and served under NATO in Kosovo during the conflict there in 1999. While posted to Kosovo, Blunt was introduced to the work of Médecins Sans Frontières; (MSF or "Doctors Without Borders"). Since then, Blunt has supported MSF by holding meet-and-greet auctions at many of his concerts.

Blunt's primary residence is now on the Spanish island of Ibiza.