James blake autobiography
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Blake makes music of multiple genres such as Electronic, R&B, UK bassoul post-dubstep, pop and experimental. But, his biggest challenges came within months of each other. You might say that pro athletes live with three certainties looming over them: Death, taxes, and retirement. Come January, those of us who aren't nursing injuries will flock to Australia, or one of a handful of other destinations, for the first tournaments of the New Year.
A rising tennis star and People magazine's Sexiest Male Athlete of 2002, he was leading a charmed life and loving every minute of it. He first received recognition for his EPs (CMYK and Klavierwerke) in 2010, then gained critical praise for his self-titled debut album in 2011. By the time he entereed his sophomore year at Harvard University, Blake had seen mixed success on the professional circut.
Shortly after his father's death, Blake was dealt a third blow when he contracted zoster, a rare virus that paralyzed half of his face and threatened to end his already jeopardized career.
In Breaking Back, Blake provides a remarkable account of how he came back from this terrible heartbreak and self-doubt to become one of the top tennis players in the world.
He remains a founding member of the 1-800 Dinosaur label collective and earlier this year hosted a successful BBC Radio 1 residency. What if it's the beginning of the long, slow slide to oblivion? What if I get injured next year and it all comes screeching to a halt?
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Breaking Back - by James Blake (Paperback)
About the Book
Tracing the rising tennis star's life in the wake of three cataclysmic events, "Breaking Back" tells how Blake used the lessons from these heartbreaks to become one of the best tennis players in the world.
But all that ended in May 2004, when Blake fractured his neck in an on-court freak accident. As well as the Mercury Prize he was awarded a Grammy Award from five nominations and three Brit Award nominations in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Biography
Following his three critically acclaimed albums, 2010’s ‘James Blake’, 2013’s Mercury Prize winning ‘Overgrown’ and 2016’s ‘The Colour in Anything’, James Blake has established himself as one of the worlds most talented and influential musicians.
Since 2010 he’s won an Ivor Novello award for best contemporary song for Retrograde, received his first Grammy Nomination (Best New Artist) and has played sold-out live shows in some of the most prestigious venues in the world including The Sydney Opera House, Radio City Music Hall and Glastonbury Festival.
In the back of your mind, you know that no matter how good you are, what you've got is either fleeting or finite-at some point it's going to end, either by choice or because your body will simply give out.
So, much as we welcome our downtime in December, we must also contend with the what-ifs that it brings: What if I just had the best year I'm capable of?
His third and fourth albums, “The Colour in Anything” and “Assume Form”, would also go on to receive massive traction and positive reviews with his fourth album entering him onto the US Billboard 200 at number 21.
Before his rise to fame he released his first record in 2009 and became a Radio 1 favourite. Then he ran into a steel post during a practice game in Rome and fractured the vertebrae in his neck.
From there, we will continue to travel and play on and off for the better part of the next eleven months.
Success in professional sports is a funny thing.
Book Excerpt: 'Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life '
July 30, 2007 — -- James Blake has seen triumph and tragegy on and off the court.
In 2013 he went on to be awarded the Mercury Prize and international attention with his Album “Overgrown”. All of this was before he was diagnosed with paralyzing shingles.
The book serves as his memoir and tells his tell of roaring back to become the top-ranked American player in the world.
For an excerpt of "Breaking Back" see below.
Chapter One
For professional tennis players, December is an annual abyss.
The year's competition is done, and everyone on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour scatters around the planet to relax for the only month of our sport's notoriously stingy off-season.
His constant thirst for change and ability to move the musical dialogue onwards has meant that he has become one of the most essential and anticipated modern artists. In 2016 he contributed songs and production to ‘Lemonade’ by Beyonce and Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ and followed up in 2017 with production and writing on Jay Z’s ‘4:44’ LP, all the while teasing his growing audience with quintessential new material in the form of ‘Don’t Miss It’ and “The Car Beside You Moves Ahead”.
16-page photo insert.
From the Back Cover
James Blake's life was getting better every day.
What if this slump I'm in isn't really a slump?