Jamiroquai soloist Jay Kay: biography, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

British band Jamiroquai performs funk and has been pleasing fans of alternative pop music with their work for a quarter of a century. Critics call the style of this team retro-futuristic jazz. After Jamiroquai's lead singer JK showed off fantastic dancing in the "Virtual insanity" video, the band won four MTV awards for best music video.

Also, one of the band's songs was included in the OST of the movie "Godzilla". And in 1999, Jamiroquai received an invitation to the Woodstock '99 festival. They were one of the headliners of this event.

This is not a complete track record of JK. Read more about his life and career in this article.

Biography

Jay Kay was born in the English city of Stretford on December 30, 1969. His mother is a former cabaret singer and TV presenter, and his father is a guitarist. Parents broke up when the hero of the article was still a baby, and Jay Kay did not see his fatheruntil 2001. At 15, the boy left home. Sometimes he had to get his livelihood by petty theft. After being arrested one day on false charges, he made the decision to return home. It was then that he began to play music professionally. Soon the young man began performing in nightclubs.

The turning point in JK's creative biography was the creation of Jamiroquai in 1992. After the success of the first single, the band signed a lucrative contract with Sony Soho 2. The debut album Emergency On Planet Earth sold over 26 million copies worldwide. Almost immediately after its release, confusion began with the band's name. The fact is that many people call JK - Jamiroquai, considering him a solo artist.

Stage look

JK is known for his large collection of original hats and other headwear.

Love for this piece of clothing caused some journalists to call the singer a "crazy hatter".

UK Idol

By the beginning of the 21st century, interest in the work of Jamiroquai in the United States of America had significantly decreased. Nevertheless, during these years, Jay Kay and his band regularly recorded songs that became hits in the UK and Japan, and also gave concerts in huge stadiums around the world.

But, oddly enough, the American music press did not pay due attention to the work of the band. Manyemerging musicians of the time such as Pharrell Williams, Chance The Rapper and Tyler The Creator spoke of JK as a major influence on their work.

Today

In 2018, JK and Jamiroquai performed in America for the first time in 12 years. They took part in the Coachella festival. After the concert, numerous questions began to appear on the band's pages on social networks: fans wanted to know where the musicians were all this time. Indeed, the band has not recorded any albums for quite a long time (for 7 years).

However, last year the long-awaited new disc called Automaton came out. He was warmly received by fans.

Due to a spinal injury, the singer recently underwent two surgeries. In an interview, he admitted: "I think what happened to me is a classic case. I said:" And now, children, daddy will show you what he can do. I'll show you a back flip on a trampoline. "And I didn't quite succeed. At first everything was fine, then I felt tingling in my back, and then terrible pains began."

But now the singer feels great and full of creative plans. "There is a positive side to all of this. I have become less moving on stage, so I can breathe easier, which has a positive effect on singing. So I received a small bonus. Now I sing much better than 10 years ago," he says.

Personal life: JK, wife, kids

In some meansThe media recently reported that the hero of this article married his longtime girlfriend, with whom they are raising two children.

He himself said this about his personal life in an interview: "After recording the Rock Dust Light Star album, the band and I traveled around different countries on tour for a couple of years. And then I received the news that I would soon It took me a while to learn how to be a father. Once I got over that, I started working on a new album. So my schedule changed. But it's great! Recently, my oldest daughter saw a photo from one of our concerts. There were about 25,000 spectators. My daughter then asked if I had so many friends. I then thought to myself: "If only you knew the truth, my child…".