James Morrison Catchpole[1] (born 13 August 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist.

He rose to recognition for his 2006 debut single "You Give Me Something", which peaked within the top five on the UK Singles Chart, received platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and became a hit song in several European regions.

It was supported by the UK top ten singles "You Make It Real" and "Broken Strings" (featuring Nelly Furtado).

Outside of his recording career, Morrison has been credited with songwriting work for other artists including Demi Lovato, Olly Murs, Kelly Clarkson, and Clay Aiken.

In 2010, he wrote the single "Quello che dai" for Italian singer Marco Carta, which debuted at number one in Italy's chart.

Morrison was born in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, where he was surrounded by the influence of his parents' record collection; his mother was a fan of soul and his father enjoyed folk and country.

[citation needed] As a teenager he started busking when he lived in Porth, Newquay, Cornwall,[5] in a local pub called the Phoenix, Watergate Bay.

He attributes his distinctive voice to a severe bout of whooping cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby.

"[7] After the experience, his parents divorced when he was four years old, and he suffered from low self esteem at school, where he was ostracized for being involved in music rather than sports.

He finally gained confidence when he moved to Cornwall as a teenager, where people were more accepting of his musical inclinations.

The album received generally positive reviews, with The Sun[11] claiming, "There isn't a bad track on it".

[citation needed] An equally positive review by The Times stated that "Undiscovered may prove to be the least apposite album title for years".

After the release of Undiscovered, Morrison made his first appearance on national TV in the United States, on the Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In 2007 Morrison was nominated for three BRIT Awards and won the Best British Male Solo Artist category.

On 4 April 2007, he was awarded the title of an AOL Breaker artist,[14] a contest that was voted on by the British public.

Morrison performed alongside Rick Price and local singer Dayang Nurfaizah.

The album also features a duet with Nelly Furtado titled "Broken Strings," co-written with Fraser T Smith and Nina Woodford.

As part of the promotion, Morrison performed the single on GMTV, Radio 1's Live Lounge, and the BBC Children in Need charity appeal.

The song debuted at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Morrison his third top ten hit.

It entered the singles charts at number 73 and slowly rose for four weeks until, after a performance of the song with Girls Aloud on The Girls Aloud Party, it broke into the top ten at number 6, giving Morrison his fourth top ten hit.

On 30 April 2009, it was announced on Take That's official site that Morrison would be supporting the band at some venues and dates on their 2009 tour.

That same year, Morrison wrote a song, "Watch and Wait", for the German comedy film Men in the City.

In 2010 Morrison wrote a song called "Quello Che Dai" for Italian singer Marco Carta from his upcoming album "Il Cuore Muove".

On 25 June 2010, Morrison performed a cover of Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror live near the River Thames in London as part of CBS's The Early Show special remembrance event, titled "The King of Pop: One Year Later.

[19] On 11 July, he stated on Twitter that the new album was called "The Awakening" and was due to release on 26 September.

The album spawned 2 singles, "My Love Goes On", which features Joss Stone, and "Feels Like The First Time".