James Blunt sold his sister on eBay to get her to a funeral in Cork... and 4 other stories

James Blunt attends the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2019. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

No pop star has navigated that fine line between love and hate as skillfully as James Blunt, and he has written about his experiences in a memoir —  How To Be A Complete and Utter Blunt: Diary of a Reluctant Social Media Sensation — out this month. There are myriad reasons why we love James Blunt, but here are five of the best. 

A star among mortals

Back in 2009, Blunt was known for his song You're Beautiful and not much else. In fact, in Chicago, during one of his shows, he stage dived into the crowd and was immediately pinned to the ground by bouncers who didn't recognise who he was. "I was screaming, I'm the f***ing singer, and eventually I was able to rise up and carry on — my band carried on playing in hysterics."

That didn't stop him stage diving

He told Graham Norton that stage diving is an ongoing issue for him. "I have learnt that you have to warn people you are going to do a stage dive. I once didn't give that warning and ran in, the crowd parted and I just smacked the ground in front of my friends."

He sold his sister on Ebay 

After his first big tour, James returned to the flat he shared with his sister to find her in floods of tears because she couldn't get to a funeral in Cork. Immediately, he came up with a solution — eBay! "I put her on eBay as a damsel in distress who needed to get to Cork and these men started bidding and bidding and eventually a man with a helicopter won and got her to the funeral." That man is now married to his sister, making James the ultimate matchmaker. 

He uses Twitter to take on the trolls

Well-known for his amazing Twitter comebacks, James Blunt is less prolific than we might think. In a recent interview, he explained that he logs on only about once a month to send a slew of replies. Piers Morgan is his current celebrity plaything, and we love it.

• Some of his other classic put-downs include: When a 'critic' said: "James Blunt just has an annoying face and a highly irritating voice." James responded: "And no mortgage"

• And when one non-fan noted: "Can we all take a moment and remember just how terrible James Blunt was." He was straight back with: "No Need. I have a new album coming soon.

• And this one's pure gold. One Twitter-user asked: "Who the f--- invited James Blunt to the Invictus Games?" So he devastatingly replied: "Prince Harry. By text. BOOM!"

He penned an emotional tribute to The Prodigy's Keith Flint

When Keith Flint passed away last year, James Blunt surprised us all with a beautiful tribute to the Firestarter singer. During a Q Magazine awards show, when other musicians were publically bashing Blunt, Keith Flint made it his business to give him a hug and tell him that he was delighted about his success.