He’s sold 18?million albums worldwide and has been playing to packed audiences during a year-long world tour, but James Blunt has revealed he plans to retire from the music industry.

The 38-year-old, who served as an officer in the Life Guards cavalry regiment and saw action in Kosovo before embarking on a hugely successful singing career, wants to settle down and enjoy the fruits of his labour.

‘I just want to take some time out for myself,’ James told me at the relaunch of nightclub Barbarella in Fulham, West London.

‘I haven’t got any plans to do more songwriting. I have been chilling out since I finished my world tour and I’ve spent a lot of time in Ibiza, where I have a villa.’

James, who was in town with his girlfriend of nine months, model Sofia Wellesley – the couple are pictured right – said he had really enjoyed his first summer off in seven years.

‘Sofia and I had a great time hanging out with friends on my yacht but we partied as well,’ he added.

‘I do like a good night out and that is why it’s great fun to hang out at Barbarella. London needs more nightclubs like this.’

After quitting the Army in 2002, the singer rose to fame three years later with his ballad You’re Beautiful, which stayed at the top of the UK charts for five weeks. His debut album, Back To Bedlam, sold six million copies.

Since then James has won two Brit Awards and received five Grammy nominations.

His final performance in Britain was a concert at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in February – a gig which was attended by his entire family.

滬江娛樂(lè)快訊：據(jù)英國(guó)媒體報(bào)道，著名流行歌手James Blunt（詹姆斯-布朗特）日前宣布，自己將終止音樂(lè)生涯，“想多花些時(shí)間在自己身上”。自去年全球巡演過(guò)后，James Blunt就與模特女友Sofia Wellesley前往西班牙小島伊比薩，在那里度過(guò)了他出道七年以來(lái)最放松的時(shí)光。

James Blunt現(xiàn)年38歲，目前為止共發(fā)行了11張專(zhuān)輯。2004年10月11日發(fā)行首張個(gè)人專(zhuān)輯《Back to Bedlam》（不安于室），憑借單曲《You're Beautiful》（美麗的你）一舉成名，有雜志評(píng)價(jià)他的聲音為“墮落的天使”，由于《You're Beautiful》熱播，《Back to Bedlam》在全世界流行開(kāi)來(lái)，相繼在英國(guó)、愛(ài)爾蘭、澳大利亞、新西蘭、加拿大、德國(guó)、瑞士、瑞典、丹麥、希臘、比利時(shí)及奧地利等國(guó)獲得冠軍專(zhuān)輯，全球銷(xiāo)量達(dá)850萬(wàn)張。

Blunt的家族從10世紀(jì)開(kāi)始就服務(wù)于國(guó)家軍隊(duì)，而他也曾于1999年于北約布置在科索沃的裝甲偵察部隊(duì)任軍官。James Blunt表示自己沒(méi)有興趣繼續(xù)下去音樂(lè)事業(yè)了，他在不久前接受《每日郵報(bào)》的采訪時(shí)稱(chēng)，未來(lái)他沒(méi)有音樂(lè)方面的計(jì)劃，“我只是想多花些時(shí)間在我自己身上，我沒(méi)有計(jì)劃去繼續(xù)創(chuàng)作歌曲。自從我的世界巡演結(jié)束后我一直在放松，我在伊比薩帶了很多時(shí)間，在那里我有一棟別墅?！?/p>

《You're Beautiful》經(jīng)典重現(xiàn)：