Alex James was born in Bournemouth, Dorset in 1968.

He is a musician who lives on an organic farm in The Cotswolds, which he and his wife Claire bought on their honeymoon in 2003. They have five children
On the farm Alex writes books and newspaper columns, produces food and drink and hosts ‘Feastival' an annual food and music festival.
Alex first picked up the bass in 1984 and after meeting Graham Coxon at Goldsmiths College, became the bassist in Blur alongside Graham, Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn when the band formed in 1988.
The band’s nine studio albums all topped the charts in the UK, generating numerous hit singles along the way including Song 2, Beetlebum and Tender.
Blur’s 2015 return with the critically acclaimed #1 album The Magic Whip saw the band enjoy the widest international chart success of their career ahead of a sold-out world tour and a triumphant hometown show in London’s Hyde Park.


Most recently Blur released their ninth studio album The Ballad of Darren and completed European and South American Tours, including 2 nights at Wembley Stadium. The tour came to an end at Coachella, April 24’.
Alex has worked as a songwriter and producer with artists including Marianne Faithfull, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Florence and The Machine, KT Tunstall, Joe Strummer, Bernard Sumner and Kevin Rowland, as well as Stephen Duffy on Me Me Me and Fat Les on the massive 1998 hit Vindaloo.
A prolific writer and author, Alex James has published three books. 'A Bit Of A Blur' (2007) is the first instalment of his memoir with the second volume 'All Cheeses Great And Small' published in 2011. His third book ‘Over The Rainbow’ chronicles juggling farm and family life with the band’s reunion and was published for Christmas 2024. Alex contributes regularly to The Sun and has written weekly columns for The Spectator, The Observer, The Independent and The Sunday Telegraph

Alex’s passion for cheese is well-documented and his range of award-winning cheeses includes Blue Monday
2019 saw Alex launch Britpop, a sparkling medium dry cider. In 2023 Alex released his first British Sparkling wine ‘Britpop’ and he has since developed the Britpop range to include Britpop Rosé, Britpop Elderflower Wine Spritz, Britpop Brut and Britpop Cider Brandy in partnership with Laithwaites.
His sparkling brut and rosé garnered ninety and ninety four points respectively in Decanter Magazine putting them on a par with the world’s finest sparkling wines.
Alex has hosted The Big Feastival at home on his farm every August since 2011. With a capacity of 25,000 the festival has seen appearances from Lewis Capaldi, Elbow, Jess Glynne, Grandmaster Flash, Mark Ronson, Nile Rogers, Basement Jaxx, Clean Bandit and Paloma Faith. Chefs to have featured include Jamie Oliver, Marco Pierre White, Prue Leith, Raymond Blanc and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. This year’s headliners include The Streets and Bastille.
In 2025 Alex brought Feastival to a close with his new show ‘Britpop Classical’ which features a symphony orchestra, alongside a rock band, session singers and special guests banging out '90 minutes of hits from a golden age in British music'. The show was a big success and Britpop Classical continues to tour around the world.