James Bay’s critically revered debut album, Chaos and the Calm [Republic Records] was released to international acclaim last week. The album debuted at #1 on the official charts in Bay’s native UK and also hit #1 in Ireland and Switzerland. In Ireland Bay has hit #1 on both the Irish album and singles chart, knocking Hozier off the top spot. He joins a select club who've hit the double #1 in Ireland over the past five years, including Eminem, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and Adele.

The album also reached #1 on iTunes in over 20 territories, including UK, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and more. Stateside, the album has reached #1 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart and also reached the Top 10 on the overall album chart. iTunes also premiered an exclusive documentary style interview and performance of “Let It Go” as Bay was one of the first artists to be featured on their global iTunes New Artist Spotlight. (iTunes.com/NewArtists).

Bay’s undeniable single “Hold Back The River” has earned double-platinum status in Australia, platinum in Holland, gold in Italy, and gold in New Zealand in addition to going gold and achieving #1 National Airplay in the UK.

“British singer-songwriter James Bay has hit on the formula that makes Grammy voters swoon and critics of a certain age take notice”—Newsday 

“…the variety of British singer-songwriters has grown to encompass soul crooners, folk howlers and modest whisperers. Somehow, James Bay is all of those things, and more.” – New York Times

“(James Bay) has breakout singer- songwriter’s rising star status….this is pure music magic”- Nylon

“…a likely heir to the Brit-folk-pop throne...” – Yahoo

2015 has already been a breakout year for the internationally acclaimed UK singer and songwriter. At the end of December, he hit the stage at Late Night with Seth Meyers for his first-ever stateside television performance and was recently on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the SXSW festival.  Bay has been profiled by tastemakers such as Spotify, Buzzfeed, Entertainment Weekly, BlackBook, Mashable, The Guardian and Q Magazines as an “Artist to Watch” in 2015 and herecently received the high honor of the BRIT Critics Choice Award, joining the ranks of past winners Sam Smith, Adele, Florence + the Machine, Jessie J, and more, and was also a finalist on BBC Sound of 2015.

In addition, James has been selected as VH1’s “You Oughta Know” Artist for April which has traditionally introduced predominant artists on the rise and served as a barometer for what’s hot in music today. Past “You Oughta Know” artists have included Ed Sheeran, Adele, Lorde, Sam Smith, and Mumford and Sons.

Bay hails from the tiny town of Hitchin, but he cut his teeth performing at London’s iconic venues including opening for The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, opening for two sold out tours with Kodaline, John Newman and Tom Odell. It was at one of these very performances that a fan filmed his set and shared the video on YouTube. The video quickly caught the attention of Republic Records who ended up flying Bay to New York and signing him on the spot. Last fall, he was selected to perform at the Burberry’s Prosum Spring/Summer Fashion Show and the iTunes Music Festival. BAY will soon be embarking on 3 sold out UK tours including 2 nights at London’s famous Shepherd’s Bush Empire.