James (musician)

This article is about the Bangladeshi musician. For the English band, see James (band). For other uses, see James (disambiguation).

James
জেমস
Born
Faruq Mahfuz Anam James

(1964-10-02) 2 October 1964 (age 60)[1]
Rajshahi, East Pakistan, Pakistan
(now Rajshahi, Bangladesh)
Other namesGuru
Occupations
Years active1978–present
Musical career
OriginRajshahi, Bangladesh
Genres
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass
  • vocals
  • keyboards
  • drums
  • saxophone
  • flute
Labels

Faruq Mahfuz Anam James (born 2 October 1964), known mononymously as James, is a Bangladeshi singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer, also known as a playback singer. He is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band Nagar Baul (previously Feelings). He is often referred by the name "Guru"[2] which means "Master" or "Teacher".

James was born and raised in Naogaon, but grew up in Chittagong city. James rose to mainstream fame in the 1990s as the frontman of Feelings, which is one of the "Big Three of Rock", who were responsible for developing and popularizing hard rock music in Bangladesh, along with LRB and Ark. Feelings is considered to be the pioneer of psychedelic rock in Bangladesh.

James has also led a successful solo career, with hit albums like Ananya (1989), Palabe Kothay (1995), Dukhini Dukkho Korona (1997), Thik Achhe Bondhu (1999). He sang in four Bollywood films, including Gangster (2006), Woh Lamhe (2006), Life in a... Metro (2007), Warning (2013).[3]

James won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer twice for his performance in the films of Desha: The Leader (2014) and Swatta (2017).[4][5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Even people in villages relate to my music: James". The Times of India. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  3. ^ "James & Nagar Baul' live in concert". Indian Week Ender. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. ^ "29 artistes get Nat'l Film Award 2014". The Daily Star. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  5. ^ "National Film Awards for 2017 and 2018 announced". The Daily Star. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.