James Kennedy (musician)

Last updated
James Kennedy
James Kennedy musician.jpg
Background information
Born (1980-03-15) 15 March 1980 (age 45)
Cardiff, Wales
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass
  • production
Years active2002–present
LabelsKonic Records
Member of
  • James Kennedy and The Underdogs
Formerly ofKyshera
Website jameskennedystuff.com

James Kennedy (born 15 March 1980) is a Welsh rock solo artist, author and podcaster. [1] He was formerly the singer and guitarist in the alternative rock band Kyshera [2] until they disbanded in 2018 [3] and now fronts the band James Kennedy & The Underdogs. [4] He is a multi-instrumentalist and often plays all of the instruments on his recordings. [5] He has released eight albums since 2010, including three with Kyshera and five solo releases [6] with his latest being Make Anger Great Again, released in 2020 by Konic Records. [7] Also in 2020, Kennedy's autobiography Noise Damage was published by Eye Lightning Books [8] which peaked at number one on Amazon. [9] His 2nd book, 'Loud Medicine: Dispatches From the Music Industry Underworld' was published in 2025. [10]

Contents

In 2022, Kennedy began hosting The James Kennedy Podcast, a weekly podcast where he interviews musicians, activists, politicians and authors. [11] Previous guests include Steven Donziger, Frank Turner, James Watt of Brewdog, Bob Roth, Rou Reynolds, Stella Assange, Nadia Whittome and George Monbiot among others.

Kennedy was included in a poll of the Top 50 Sexiest Men in Wales along with Tom Ellis, Kelly Jones and Jamie Roberts. [12]

Personal life

At the age of ten, Kennedy was diagnosed with advanced bilateral cholesteatoma, a destructive expanding growth in both of his middle ears which required three major ear operations. As a result of the surgery, he lost 40% of his hearing in both ears and developed constant white noise Tinnitus in his left ear. [13]

Kennedy frequently receives online trolling from people mistaking him for James Kennedy from the US reality show Vanderpump Rules . [14] He was one of several artists who gave evidence at a 2022 hearing at the House of Lords about the difficulties for UK artists to tour in Europe post-Brexit. [15] In November 2022, Kennedy alleged that he was physically assaulted by three plain-clothed police officers whilst sitting in his car, resulting in an ongoing investigation which the South Wales Police have said they are taking "extremely seriously". [16]

In 2013, he won a court case against the record label Rising Records over the release of the Kyshera album Made in China. [17]

Discography

With Kyshera
As James Kennedy
With James Kennedy and The Underdogs

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (September 23, 2022). "Brexit: UK government warned musicians and crew "could find themselves unemployed en masse"". NME .
  2. ↑ Team, Flavourmag (June 22, 2010). "Kyshera – Paradigm review".
  3. ↑ Roberts, Samuel (February 5, 2021). "James Kennedy on his love/hate relationship with life as an unsigned musician".
  4. ↑ "Touring and loneliness: Musicians discuss the impacts of a life on the road". www.prsformusic.com.
  5. ↑ https://madeinshoreditch.co.uk/2020/08/19/interview-exclusive-singer-and-author-james-kennedy-talks-about-his-latest-projects/
  6. ↑ "Konic Records". Discogs.
  7. ↑ "James Kennedy / 'Make Anger Great Again' is pretty relevant for right now | MetalTalk". September 23, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Noise Damage by James Kennedy | Eye Books". www.eye-books.com.
  9. ↑ "JAMES KENNEDY's "Noise Damage: My Life As A Rock 'N' Roll Underdog" Book Now Available In North America". bravewords.com. 19 January 2021.
  10. ↑ https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/loud-medicine-kennedy/
  11. ↑ "#1 - James Kennedy by The James Kennedy Podcast". Anchor.
  12. ↑ "Wales' sexiest men". Western Mail. 4 December 2010.
  13. ↑ "It's totally not cool - Plugem". plugem.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  14. ↑ "UK Singer James Kennedy Hilariously Begs 'Vanderpump Rules' Fans to Realize He's Not DJ James Kennedy, Doesn't Want His 'Hate Mail'". US Weekly. 12 December 2018.
  15. ↑ "Brexit: UK government warned musicians and crew "could find themselves unemployed en masse"". NME. 23 September 2022.
  16. ↑ "Singer claims police got into his car in Cardiff and punched him". Wales Online. December 2022.
  17. ↑ "The Unbelievable Story Of Threatin: Heavy Metal's Fyre Festival Moment". Kerrang!. 29 October 2019.
  18. ↑ "Loud Medicine | UWP".
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