[7] Unlike Albarn, Coxon and Rowntree, James has not released any solo material, although he has been involved in other collaborative side projects.

In 1998, James formed Fat Les with actor Keith Allen and artist Damien Hirst, releasing the unofficial theme song (excluding three others) "Vindaloo" for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

The band consists of New Order lead singer Bernard Sumner and guitarist Phil Cunningham, along with Jake Evans of Rambo And Leroy.

[14] James published a follow-up entitled All Cheeses Great and Small: A Life Less Blurry in September 2011, charting his transformation from rock star to cheesemaker as he moves to a farm in Oxfordshire.

James represented The Idler on BBC Two's University Challenge: The Professionals in 2005 with John Moore of Black Box Recorder.

As the documentary progresses, James – who admits to having used cocaine extensively during Blur's Britpop heyday – learns about Colombia's violent drug export trade.

[18] In October 2009, James presented an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and, in January 2010, he participated in the ITV1 reality television programme Popstar to Operastar.

[27] He has also contributed to the show's accompanying memorabilia, writing the foreword to both the book and CD box set, published by Reader's Digest in 2010.

[33] Tim Chester, writing in The Guardian, described James's cheese as "bizarre flavour mash-ups in sliced, processed, plasticky form".

The event had a shaky start when Big Wheel Promotions went bankrupt leaving the ticketing company out of pocket and stallholders and performers unpaid.

[39] Since 2012, James, along with Jamie Oliver, has hosted The Big Feastival, an annual food and music festival, on his Oxfordshire farm.

On joining forces with James, Oliver said "The Big Feastival was a great success in South London last year and I cannot wait to take this celebration of the greatest chefs, the best local produce and suppliers and some fantastic entertainment to a more rural location at Alex's.

"[40] Along with live musical performances from Paloma Faith, Gaz Coombes, The Cuban Brothers, Noisettes, Razorlight, Texas, and Sahand,[41] there were cooking demonstrations, masterclasses, Q&As and book signings with well-known chefs, as well as family entertainment from Peppa Pig, Slow Food Kids' Taste Adventure and Chipping Norton Theatre.

[42] The Big Feastival returned to James's farm on 31 August and 1 September 2013 with a line-up including KT Tunstall, The Feeling, Rizzle Kicks and Basement Jaxx.

[43] On 19 June 2019, James visited Bledington Primary School and invited the children to submit a fun, colourful, festival-inspired design.

Food stages and stalls hosted chefs including Raymond Blanc, Andi and Miquita Oliver, Max La Manna and Cherish Finden.

The family live near Kingham in Oxfordshire on a 200-acre (0.81 km2) cheese farm; James is considered by the press to be a member of the Chipping Norton set.

To celebrate his birthday in São Paulo one year, he got the tour manager to find him a balthazar of champagne, which he shared with the five prettiest groupies who were at the hotel door.