An Officer, Gentleman And Singer

For 29-year-old British import James Blunt singing is the easy part.

"It is a magical moment when you hear how, how songs have become part of other peoples' lives in that way. And they -- how they do know all the words. It's really incredible," Blunt tells CBS Sunday Morning contributor Tracy Smith.

As he stands center stage singing his heartbreaking lyrics to sold out audiences, his ability to set his private feelings to music has made Blunt one of hottest acts in the country. Talking about his feelings, well, that's another matter.

"Being British, I am emotionally stunted," Blunt laughs. "And find it very difficult to express myself and talk about certain, certain strange subjects like emotions. And, and so yeah, it was very strange to record those and then actually have to play them in public.

Blunt thinks that it is easier, however, to share his private feelings with thousands of strangers.

"The greater the number of people, the, the less intimidating it is because the less concentrated -- it can-- it can feel," Blunt says. "Whereas, if I was to get a guitar right now and play to you, it would be kind of an intense moment. I guess because all that focus would just be on you and me. And that kind of contact and connection in that time. And I think that's, that can be quite intense."

Blunt though demurs when pressed on the label that he is "the most sensitive rock star."

"I don't think any of my ex-girlfriends would describe me as particularly sensitive," he quips. "But, but maybe I shouldn't, shouldn't deny that, and pretend that I am."

Superstar music producer Linda Perry signed Blunt to her label Custard Records.

"James has such a gifted way of telling a story. Because, it's not too complicated, it's very real, it's very honest. His voice, like I want to cry every time I hear his voice," Perry says. "This guy is gonna be around a really long time. This is a classic artist."

His debut album, "Back to Bedlam" has sold over two million copies in the United States since its October release and over nine million copies worldwide.

And its Blunt's slow burn ballad "Your Beautiful" that recently became the first single in nearly a decade by a British artist to reach the top of the U.S. charts. He wrote it after seeing an ex-girlfriend on a London subway with her new boyfriend, but it feels like he's singing it to you.

The quickness with which fame has engulfed Blunt leaves him conflicted.
"I definitely am surprised by it. It's definitely not what I had expected, I imagine, when I started doing music. At the same time, it doesn't really feel like it's very sudden for me. I've been doing music all my life really, so it's been a long journey for me," Blunt explains.

The boarding school-educated Blunt was born into a military family in Hampshire, England and began playing guitar as a teen after studying and then rejecting both violin and piano.

"I had been doing music for a long, long time forcibly by my mother, making me take up different musical instruments. And I loathed it. The violin and the piano and repetitive lessons, playing Beethoven's 'Sonata in F Sharp Minor.' I really wasn't impressing my friends," he says.

Blunt knew he wanted a career in music, but it would have to wait.

In true family tradition, Blunt joined the army, training at the prestigious Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and less than a year later Lieutenant Blunt, guitar in tow, was leading a cavalry regiment bound for Pristina, Kosovo.

Blunt served six months as a commander in the NATO peacekeeping force.

"I was there actually during the bombing campaign in, in 1999. And then I stayed on towards the end, when we signed the peace accord. And stayed with the peacekeepers as well," Blunt explains.

"It's an eye opening moment. I'd gone from a safe country such as Britain and such as America as well, where we can take things like food and shelter and life itself pretty much for granted. So when you go a place where all of those are up in the air, and people are struggling for survival, and, and there is destruction on a large level, it is a good education, I think," Blunt says.

His album's closing track, the song "No Bravery," is a haunting description of what Blunt witnessed during his time serving in Kosovo.

He admits that the emotions captured in the song rage from despair to anger.

"It's, it's about seeing a kind of murder and genocide. And I didn't write it on a political level of any sort. I just really described what I saw. I think any soldier could probably write that song very easily," Blunt says.

But there other memories.

"You may wear a uniform, but you're still a human being with your own hobbies and interests. And so, I, so I took my guitar wherever I was. And I wrote songs whenever I could," he says.

Blunt got to choose his next assignment and completed his military career dressed in full ceremonial regalia as a guard to the queen.

"It's a bit like going into 'Top Gun' you know" Blunt says of the assignment.

Discharged in 2002, Blunt began his career in earnest.

And the rest, as they say, is hysteria.