2013 in 1982 from
PRS for Music Formation and early releases: 1982–1987 James were formed in 1982 in
Whalley Range, Manchester, when Paul Gilbertson persuaded his friend
Jim Glennie to buy a bass guitar and form a band with him. Their line-up solidified when Gavan Whelan joined on drums. They played a string of gigs under the names Venereal and the Diseases and Volume Distortion before settling on the name of Model Team International, then shortened to Model Team. They performed mostly improvised material derived from
jam sessions, supporting
the Fall at an early gig at
Manchester Polytechnic. Vocalists and other musicians drifted rapidly in and out of their line-up until the band encountered
Tim Booth at a student disco. Gilbertson invited him to the band's
scout hut in
Withington to join the band as a dancer; he was soon promoted to lead singer. In August 1982, after a brief period under the name Tribal Outlook, the band renamed themselves James, after Glennie. As Glennie later said: "No one ever calls me James, so I don't associate it with my name in that respect. We couldn't use Tim because he's the singer and that would be weird. Our drummer was called Gavan, and we thought it sounded too 'heavy metal,' and the other one was Paul, so it was either James or Paul, so we went with James. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time we just thought, "Cool let's call the band 'James. On 17 November 1982, on the recommendation of
Mike Pickering, James played a gig at Manchester nightclub
the Haçienda with
New Order,
the Durutti Column,
Section 25 and others. The show was filmed and released on video in 1983 by
Factory Records as "A Factory Outing", but during the editing process at Factory's offices, it caught the attention of Factory's co-founder,
Tony Wilson. He offered James an album deal with Factory, but the band, by now a settled live act, were worried about tarnishing their material in the studio and settled instead for a three-track EP. The Smiths covered James's "What's The World" track during this tour. Although they were now being touted as the "next big thing", several complex issues slowed their progress. Gilbertson's drug problems presented the band with no choice but to ask him to leave. Booth and Glennie had joined a sect named Lifewave that imposed many restrictions on their lifestyle and threatened the band's stability. The band's second EP,
James II, was released over a year after the first and accompanied by a feature on the cover of the
NME, Gilbertson having been replaced by the band's guitar tutor
Larry Gott. The first two EPs would later be collected as
Village Fire.
Line-up changes and success: 1988–1992 In November 1988, drummer Whelan became involved in an on-stage fight with Booth and was asked to leave the band. He was replaced by
David Baynton-Power a few months later. During the following year James greatly expanded their line-up and sound palette by hiring three new members: guitarist-violinist-percussionist
Saul Davies (whom Gott recruited from an amateur blues night), keyboard player
Mark Hunter, and trumpeter/percussionist
Andy Diagram (the latter a noted avant-garde and pop musician who had played with The Diagram Brothers, Dislocation Dance, The Cotton Singers and
Pale Fountains). Determined to continue despite the setbacks, the band set up studio in Baynton-Power's house. Former
Sharkboy guitarist
Adrian Oxaal was drafted in to replace Gott on guitar, The first two James albums,
Stutter and
Strip-mine, were re-pressed in June 2007, but without any additional rarities. Booth continued as a solo artist in 2004 with the release of his solo album
Bone, co-written and produced by
Lee Muddy Baker. A new
compilation album,
The Collection was released in late 2004, and
Seven – The Live Concert (a DVD version of a previously released video) in 2005.
Reunion: 2007–present In January 2007 singer Tim Booth's personal website announced that "Tim will be rejoining James in early 2007 for a series of live shows to be announced very soon". At the same time, James's old website was replaced by a new domain holder at wearejames.com. The site confirmed the line-up as that which recorded the album
Laid: Booth, Gott, Glennie, Davies, Hunter and Baynton-Power. Booth confirmed in interviews that he became convinced to rejoin the band after meeting up with Glennie and Gott the previous November for a jamming session, out of which new songs were born. The initial five dates of the tour were expanded to seven on the day tickets went on sale (26 January) due to high demand; the whole tour had sold out by close of business. The tour took place during late April 2007, and was followed later in the year by more live shows, including festival appearances at
T in the Park and
V Festival. The band also appeared at
Summercase, Barcelona's top music concert in Spain during July 2007.
Andy Diagram also rejoined the band as trumpet player during the festival tour. April saw the release of a new compilation album,
Fresh as a Daisy — The Singles, accompanied by a DVD compilation of all the band's promo videos. The new album
Hey Ma was released on 7 April 2008, peaking at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, The band announced plans to release two mini-albums by April 2010.
The Night Before was released on 19 April, although its follow-up,
The Morning After, was released later than expected, on 2 August 2010. Following the release of
The Night Before, the band embarked on a UK tour, the Mirrorball Tour, premièring songs from the album. Another UK tour took place in December. Both this tour and the US release of both mini-albums together as a 2-CD set called
The Morning After The Night Before. A 19-date North American tour began in September to promote the combined album as well as showcase the songs before the UK tour. At the beginning of 2011, Tim Booth announced that he was working on some new solo material, although James remained active, participating in the
Lollapalooza festival in
Chile. The band appeared at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 13 and 20 April in
Indio, California and
Hard Rock Calling 2011 on 24 June in
Hyde Park, London, where they were joined by
Kaiser Chiefs and the headline act,
the Killers. Towards the end of 2011, James signalled a departure from their previous touring style, with the announcement of a series of dates in October and November of that year including an orchestra and a choir. This short, ten date tour saw James performing their back catalogue accompanied by the Orchestra of the Swan and the Manchester Consort Choir. They played at
Kendal Calling Festival 2012 and toured again in 2013. James's first new album in six years,
La Petite Mort, was released on 2 June 2014 along with a promo single "Moving On". In July 2014, the band headlined on the Castle Stage for Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle in Dorset and announced a ten date UK tour starting on 10 November, preceded by an 11 October headlining of the entertainment at the
Rugby league Super League grand final at
Old Trafford, performing a set before the game and in the half time show. They toured again in 2015, playing some shows without
Larry Gott, who was taking a break from touring:
Adrian Oxaal re-joined the band for the duration of the tour (with the former
Oceansize guitarist Mike Vennart covering for him for one show at Bingley Live), and would subsequently replace Gott in the active lineup. Keyboard technician Ron Yeadon, formerly of
Unkle Bob, also appeared on stage, singing backing vocals; he later joined the band as a backing vocalist. In 2016, the album
Girl at the End of the World was released, with an accompanying tour – building up to the band's planned appearance opening 2016's
Glastonbury Festival (the Other Stage) and later taking a top spot at the festival in September. In May 2018, James released a four-song EP,
Better Than That, that reached number 1 of the Vinyl Singles Chart, and embarked on a sold-out UK tour to promote it. During this tour, they also previewed a few songs from their following album,
Living in Extraordinary Times, released on 3 August 2018. Percussionist and backing vocalist Deborah Knox-Hewson joined the band during the tour, replacing Ron Yeadon. She left the band shortly after the album's release and was replaced by
Chloe Alper. The band's 16th studio album,
All the Colours of You, was released on 4 June 2021 on new label Virgin Music Label & Artists Services. The album has eleven tracks and was produced by
Jacknife Lee. In December 2022 the band announced a UK tour with a live orchestra for 2023 to coincide with their 40th anniversary. On 23 March 2023 the band announced the release of their 17th studio album,
Be Opened by the Wonderful, for 9 June 2023. The album is an all acoustic, orchestral re-working of hit singles plus the track "Love Make a Fool". On 29 September 2023, the band announced a UK tour in June 2024 in support of their 18th studio album, with
Razorlight supporting. On 15 January 2024, the band debuted their new single "Is This Love" from their 18th studio album,
Yummy, which was released on 12 April 2024. On 8 November 2024 a summer tour of the UK was announced, with support from
Happy Mondays,
Razorlight,
Shed Seven and others, as well as the forthcoming release of a new live album and DVD,
James, Live at the Acropolis. In 2025, James played their first headline tour in the United States in 15 years. The tour consists of 18 headline dates, plus festival appearances and runs from early September through early October. During each show, the band will play their entire "Laid" album plus other hits and rarities. In early shows, the band played the "Laid" album in order, but as the tour got started, they changed their plan and played all songs from the album "Laid" throughout the concert. Each show consisted of two sets, approximately one hour each, with a 20-minute break between sets. The tour received positive reviews from fans and critics, citing the nine-musician lineup and fantastic performance of frontman Tim Booth. On 7 October 2025 James announced the release of Nothing But Love, a 3 disc career-spanning boxset, along with a 2026 UK arena tour. On 8 October 2025
Wake Up Superman, a new song from the boxset was released. == Members ==