'Blunty McBluntface': Outcome of James Blunt's 'Back to Bedlam' name change stunt confirmed

Musician and self-deprecator James Blunt will not be legally changing his name to ‘Blunty McBluntface’ anytime soon, as the 20th anniversary re-release of his debut album Back to Bedlam failed to top the UK albums chart on Friday (18 October).

The “You’re Beautiful” singer announced the stunt on 2 October, telling fans they had “the power to absolutely f*** my life” if the record – released on 11 October – went to number one in the official charts a week later.

“What will I change it to? Well, that’s entirely up to you.

“I’ll let the people decide but if it doesn’t go to number one, I’m not changing my name. It’s safe to say this is the most important democratic moment of the year,” he said.

Not long after the album came out, Blunt confirmed the “clear” and “a little predictable” choice the public had made as to what he would have to change his name to if the stunt was a success: Blunty McBluntface.

Yep, it’s a reference to one of the most famous examples of why you shouldn’t let the public decide the name of something important – when the Natural Environment Research Council invited people to suggest names for its new research ship back in 2016 and the incredibly unserious ‘Boaty McBoatface’ was suggested and received the most votes.

Though in one of the most outrageous subversions of democracy ever seen, officials ignored the results of the poll and named the vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough (after the beloved broadcaster and naturalist), with ‘Boaty McBoatface’ being the name given to an autonomous underwater vehicle on the ship.

And rather than continue the trend with his own spin on the moniker, James Blunt will remain… well… just that: James Blunt.

The singer had to compete with the likes of Charli XCX’s brat and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet for the top spot, though it wasn’t looking good for the album when the midweek charts were released, placing Back to Bedlam fourth behind the two aforementioned artists and Paul Heaton’s The Mighty Several.

And come Friday, the re-release of Blunt's 2004 album slipped down to number seven, with Charli XCX topping both the official albums and official vinyl albums charts with brat - her second number one record.

Alongside the classic “You’re Beautiful”, Blunt’s Back to Bedlam features the hits “Goodbye My Lover” and “Wisemen”.

Probably not the wisest publicity stunt, though…

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