Music

He won a Golden Guitar Award for best new talent of 1987.

Blundell's eponymous first album, in 1989, followed up by "Hand It Down", which was released in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1990 following its success in Australia. Successive albums were This Road and Touch of Water. This Road included the hit Way Out West, with James Reyne

James Reyne

James Reyne is an Australian rock musician and singer/songwriter both as a member of the iconic 1980s band Australian Crawl and solo work.. He is a successful singer/ songwriter and prolific artist...

. Blundell's first works reflected his background as a jackaroo

Jackaroo (trainee)

A Jackaroo is a young man working on a sheep or cattle station, to gain practical experience in the skills needed to become an owner, overseer, manager, etc. The word originated in Queensland, Australia in the Nineteenth Century and is still in use in Australia and New Zealand in the twenty-first...

 and his love of that life.

In 2003 Blundell garnered media attention for his song "Postcards From Saigon" and speaking out against the war in Iraq.

Personal life

Blundell was born in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 town of Stanthorpe

Stanthorpe, Queensland

Stanthorpe is a town situated in south east Queensland, Australia. The town lies on the New England Highway near the New South Wales border 223 km from Brisbane via Warwick, 56 km north of Tenterfield and 811 m above sea level. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt...

 and was brought up on a sheep and cattle station near the town. As an adult he worked as a station hand across various locations in northern Australia. After a back injury sustained while working on a farm in Papua New Guinea he turned to music.

He created controversy in Australia on 26 August 2007, when his manager announced that he was leaving his second wife, to whom he was married for nine years, for "an Australian Idol

Australian Idol

Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...

competitor twenty years his junior." Blundell met Jesse Curran, at one of his concerts. On his MySpace page, Blundell says: "I heard Jesse singing at the Broken Hill races and she just floored me. You can find great talent in the most unexpected spots." Blundell has been married twice and has two sons from his second marriage.

In the lead-up to the Australian republic referendum

Australian republic referendum, 1999

The Australian republic referendum held on 6 November 1999 was a two-question referendum to amend the Constitution of Australia. The first question asked whether Australia should become a republic with a President appointed by Parliament following a bi-partisan appointment model which had...

in 1999 Blundell recorded the official song for the No campaign despite being in favour of a republic.

Albums

• Gidgee Bug Pub Song (single), 1987
• James Blundell, 1989
• Hand It Down, 1990
• This Road, 1992
• Touch of Water, 1993
• Earth & Sea, 1995
• Amsterdam Breakfast, 1999
• I Shall Be Released: The Very Best Of James Blundell, 2001
• Deluge, 2005
• Ring Around The Moon, 2007
• Portrait Of A Man, 2008

Singles

Year	Single	CAN Country	Album
1991	"Blue Heeler"	79	Hand It Down