James Blunt doesn't think he's ever been "cool" enough for the music industry.
The 50-year-old singer believes his experiences at boarding school and the army prepared him well for life on tour, but when it comes to recording and releasing music, he doesn't think he's ever been particularly "well-equipped".
He told The Times newspaper: “My tour manager is just like a sergeant major, my crew are like the non-commissioned officers, the grafters. Then there’s the vacant officer saying, ‘Come on chaps, let’s go here.’
"And then the tour manager says, ‘All right, sir. How exactly are we going to do that?’ He’s the one who has to make sense of the bad ideas and make them all work.
“With [the music industry], it’s all about worrying about what you’re going to write, whether it’s going to turn out well or badly, whether it’s going to sell. There’s something about Liam and Noel Gallagher that means they are very well-equipped for the industry.
"And there’s something about my upbringing that means I’m not. They’re just cooler people, aren’t they?”
Despite the huge success of James' breakthrough single 'You're Beautiful', the singer faced a huge amount of ridicule which left him in "shock" and he wishes he'd had a six-month grace period to enjoy his success without criticism.
He reflected: “Very quickly, very, very quickly, came the negativity from the media, and of course that hit hard. I was in shock. I didn’t expect the vitriol to be quite so personal.
“You know: ‘It’s just a song — if you don’t like it, turn it off!’ I’d just started to really enjoy myself and it felt like the attacks came a little too quickly.
"In hindsight, I would have said: ‘Hey guys, can I ask a favour? Will you just give me another six months of innocent pleasure before you sweep the rug from under my feet?’ "
However, the 'High' hitmaker also thinks there were benefits to the ridicule.
He said: “In many ways it’s probably a good thing to get a kicking, it’s grounding. Instead of thinking I’m great, I think I’m lucky, which is quite a different thing.”
