James Bay has got some Satisfaction..

START ME UP James with Mick Jagger at the ‘ No Filter’ tour in Twickenham on June 19, 2018

France, and sometimes California,” he said.

“It was music that instilled in me a sense of adventure and desire to travel as well.”

He credits his childhood sweetheart Lucy Smith f or giv i ng hi m t he much- needed proverbial kick up the backside to go out into the big bad world and play his music.

They were sitting at home late one night watching either Later… with Jools Holland or Glastonbury when a then 16- year- old James turned to Lucy and said, “I ’m going to do that.”

He told me: “And there was a moment that was so pivotal for me when she was rightly – she was cool; she wasn’t, like, kicking me – saying, ‘ But there’s a few pubs tonight that have an open mic night going on – shouldn’t you be doing that if you really want to get up there on those stages one day?’

ROCK ‘ N’ ROLL Performing with Ronnie Wood at the O2 Academy, Brixton in 2015

all of the rollercoaster of the last 10 years; we’ve been together longer than that,” he said.

“And I ’ve celebrated it – I ’ve celebrated her – I ’ve celebrated us. This music is a tribute in a very positive and very personal way. It’s a thank you.

“It’s been a rollercoaster for both of us and she has kept my feet on the ground. I’ve tried to keep my feet on the ground the best I can all on my own, but you need help with that sometimes. She has really done that.

“It’s a show of gratitude and it’s a thank- you, and I suppose it’s a ‘ Here’s to the next few year’ – to the future is another one of the things that I ’m saying in this music.”

Hear! Hear! To paraphrase the Timbuk 3 song: the future’s so bright, James Bay’s gotta wear shades…