Biography

James Michael Bay(born 4 September 1990) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has released a number of EPs and an album, Chaos and the Calm (2015). The album went to number one in the UK and number 15 in the United States. Bay’s single “Hold Back the River” peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Bay grew up in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, and attended Hitchin Boys’ School before studying at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. In 2015, Bay received the Brit Awards “Critics’ Choice” award.

Bay was brought up in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Aged 11, Bay was inspired to play classical guitar after hearing Eric Clapton’s Layla. When he moved to study in Brighton seven years later he gained a greater education from playing the city’s open mic nights, on which he said, “That taught me a lot about writing and performing on my own and trying to hold my own”.

Bay quit BIMM and caught the attention of a Republic Records A&R after a fan uploaded a video to YouTube of him performing at an open mic in London, and within a week he was signed to the label. His first EP, The Dark of the Morning, was released in 2013. Within a year he was selling out his first UK headline tour.