Jamiroquai

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From driving bans to Denise Van Outen, the public dramas of front man Jay Kay have often overshadowed the band's tremendous success. Jamiroquai talk about life in the spotlight.

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Jamiroquai
born: 30-12-1969
birth place: Stretford, Manchester, UK

Jason Kay was born 30 December 1969 in Stretford, Manchester. In his teens, he moved with his mother, jazz singer, Karen Kay, to east London. It was here that he developed an interest in hip hop, graffiti, and all the related street culture, displeasing his mother and causing many fights between them. Eventually his mum threw Jay out of her home, at age 15. He was forced to take on a variety of jobs to try to get by, including telemarketing and selling kilts.

Things weren’t going all that well. Kay was living in a squat in Ealing, west London and resorting to petty theft, often in trouble with the law. He finally reached the decision to stop this way of life and pursue his interest in music, after being attacked and stabbed in a near-death experience, and being arrested for a crime he did not commit.

The early 1990s acid jazz revolution was the perfect new start for the young Kay, in his unusual buffalo hat. After auditioning unsuccessfully as lead singer for The Brand New Heavies, he formed his own band, Jamiroquai. The original band members were Toby Smith (keyboards), Nick van Gelder (drums), Stuart Zender (bass), Wallis Buchanan (vibraphone) and Jay Kay (lead singer).

1992 was the year it all truly began. Jamiroquai’s debut single “When You Gonna Learn?” was played on Kiss FM and then released on record label Acid Jazz. Shortly after that, Kay signed an unprecedented £1 million, eight-album record deal, with Sony’s label “S2” (now known as Sony BMG Music Entertainment). It was a gamble for Sony, as at that stage, Kay was relatively unknown. It was a gamble, however, that paid off. To date, that deal has included sales of over twenty million albums and five world tours. Seven of the eight albums have been released, all of them huge successes.

Jamiroquai is recognised the world over and their music is undoubtedly danceable and their live act, electrifying. They’re not, however, all about funky visuals and good tunes, Kay always has an opinion about the world and mankind, and he isn’t afraid to share it. He gets the message across in his lyrics. The mercurial debut album, “Emergency on Planet Earth” (1993), full of soulful grooves and flowing jazz instrumentals, dealt with climate change, wars of power-hungry dictators, and world poverty.

“The Return of the Space Cowboy” (1994) followed, a raw and dark observation of inner-city life. The album that was to make Jamiroquai a global phenomenon, “Travelling Without Moving” (1996), also came with a warning about the dangers of biogenetic engineering. These concerns are today mirrored in the debate over cloning and donor babies. Strangely enough, the Grammy-winning single from the album, ‘Virtual Insanity’ (1996), was released on the day Dolly the Sheep was born. It won four awards at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, for Best Video, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography, and Breakthrough Video. ‘Cosmic Girl’ (1996) was another huge hit single from this album, which helped Jamiroquai establish a hold on the American market.

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