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| Birth Name(s) : Jason Kay |
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Full Jason Kay Biography
Jason "Jay" Kay (born Jason Cheetham on 30 December 1969 in Stretford, Manchester) is an English funk musician. He is the principal member, songwriter, and lead singer of the band Jamiroquai.
Kay was born into a Jewish family only with his mother Karen Kay, a cabaret singer and impressionist who performed around the world, and stepfather James Royal. He did not meet his biological father, a man of Portuguese origin, until 2003. He was educated firstly at Holmwood House (Colchester) and then at the independent Oakham School in Rutland, and spent six months in Thailand at the age of thirteen with his stepfather.
Upon returning home, he decided to change his life and began recording demos using his drum machine and some free studio time, and writing lyrics. During this time he coined the name Jamiroquai for his potential new band, based upon the name of a Native American tribe, the Iroquois, and "jam" from the word jamming, and also the distinctive Buffalo Man logo. His demos were soon spotted by the UK music label Acid Jazz, and Kay found himself signing a recording contract.
Kay initially formed Jamiroquai with original members Toby Smith (Keyboards), Stuart Zender (bass), Nick Van Gelder (drums), Wallis Buchanan (Didgeridoo) and Maurizio Ravelico on percussion, together with a guest appearance of Gavin Dodds (guitar) of The Brand New Heavies, both on the band's debut album, and on their first tour.
Jamiroquai has sold over twenty million albums, and has spent a collective 162 weeks on the UK singles chart in the 14 years since 1992 with Kay's personal wealth is said to be around £40,000,000. He appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004 at (joint) 950th. However, the Sunday Times Rich List 2007 starts at a minimum £70m so Kay's relative wealth is now unknown by the public.
On the production of his fourth album, a member of his band, Stuart Zender, departed from the band for reasons that were unclear. Some fans have speculated that Zender's employment was terminated by the band's record label. Consequently, Kay scrapped almost a complete album worth of work to eliminate the album of all traces of Stuart Zender's playing. Kay has many years in the business yet, as he recently expressed that he would like his band to continue writing music for another 15-20 years.
It was reported in February 2007 that Kay has quit music due to a loss of inspiration. This was denied on Jamiroquai's official website the day after.
Jay Kay's primary home is in Buckinghamshire, but also he owns homes in Westminster (London) and Gairloch.
Kay has had a hostile relationship with press photographers.
- He was charged in 2001 with assaulting a photographer and damaging his camera outside a nightclub (the charges were later dropped).
- In 2002, Kay was involved in a confrontation with another cameraman in a London street and was head-butted.
- On 12 September 2006, Jay Kay was involved in an incident with paparazzi outside a London club, punching two photographers.
Kay has a major interest in exotic cars and owns around 25 deluxe cars mostly sports cars. This love of motors was expressed with the release of the album "Travelling without Moving". The album's cover featured an adaptation of the "Buffalo Man" logo and the Ferrari crest (for which he received permission from Ferrari). Three of his cars appeared in the video for the song “Cosmic Girl.”
"I've had a few Ferraris," declares Kay. The truth is that he has four to his name at the moment, including his latest new acquisition, an Enzo. Jay has also had an F40 and F50.
"But the Enzo is the best car I have ever driven. It is like driving a slot car. It is so different from the F40. It is not so spartan and it's easier to drive. The F40 could really catch you out. What's more, this is the car of the moment.I love the fact that my music allows me to have all these fantastic cars. I couldn't choose between music and cars, but I am happiest in my cars," he says. A combination of cars and music is the song "Black Devil Car" on the album "Dynamite" which is a tribute to his black Ferrari Enzo.
Jay's love of fast cars has occasionally landed him in legal trouble.
- In May 1998, Kay was caught driving at 111 mph and his license was suspended for 42 days. He said in an interview, "I should count myself lucky. I've clocked up 175 mph on a public road. If I'd been caught doing that, it would have been a prison sentence."
- In September 2004, Jay was banned from the road for 6 months. He appeared at a court in Scotland to face charges for speeding after being clocked at 105 mph in a Mercedes-Benz G-Class from his holiday home in Perthshire, Scotland, on 26 February 2004. The speed limit for the road was 70 mph.
Jay Kay's fleet of cars are insured under a Policy with AON Brokers called "Jamiroquai LTD" and underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance.
Jay Kay participated in the 2007 Gumball 3000 rally as part of Team Adidas in a Maserati Quattroporte.
Jay Kay co-starred in an episode of the BBC series the Naked Chef alongside the chef Jamie Oliver. We get a glimpse at one of Jay's cars as the pair take his Bentley S3 Convertible to the local wine shop. Further in this episode we see Jay Kay's beautiful herb garden. He also has performed in BBC Strictly come dancing singing Canned Heat. He is now performing an Clarion ad in a car with the track 'Feels So Good'. |
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