Exclusive! James Arthur: 'It Feels Like I've Got My Purpose Back Again'
Following a turbulent few years, James Arthur says he's "chuffed" to be back on top after nailing a No.1 single and No.1 album last year.
Back in September 'Say You Won't Let Go' spent three weeks at the top of the Official UK Singles Chartbefore his album'Back From The Edge' gave him his first No.1 LP. "Being back now... it feels like I've got my purpose back again," he revealed in our exclusive interview. "it feels like I'm doing what I should be doing and I'm just really chuffed to be back to work doing hard work, you know busy all day every day - that's what I like to be doing."
The 'Safe Inside' singer who has openly talked of suffering with anxiety also revealed how he copes with the condition: "Anxiety is a really crippling condition and I suffer with it myself and I feel for anyone who suffers from it. The way that I deal with it is try as much as possible to stay in the moment to not think about the past and not think about what's coming up in the future, to try and just seize the moment as much as possible."
More and more pop stars are revealing battles with anxiety and depression - James recently even reached out to his X Factor friend Jahmene Douglas who earlier this month posted a worrying social media post - so we also got his thoughts on whether there's too much pressure on our musical idols these days.
"There is a lot of pressure on pop stars and I think a lot of it is the pressure that we put on ourselves. In our minds we build up these huge, huge standards that we think people want from us and actually, when you break it down, people just want you to make music and perform to the best of your ability but anxiety can stop you from doing that."
Elsewhere in our exclusive interview, which you can watch below, James reveals he has a fan in Shawn Mendes, how he's doing after his nose operation and the weirdest thing a fan's said to him lately...