Will James Blunt soon be called Blunty McBluntface?

London (UK) - James Blunt (50) is re-releasing his debut album "Back to Bedlam". If he makes it back to number 1 in the charts, he wants to change his name. He will let the net decide what it should be called.

It will soon be 20 years since James Blunt stormed the charts with his album "Back to Bedlam" and the single "You're Beautiful".

The album remained at the top of the British charts for ten weeks in 2005. Now the Brit wants to repeat this great success and is re-releasing the album.

To get more attention, he has come up with a marketing stunt that could backfire, to say the least: He promises to officially change his name to whatever social media users suggest and gets the most likes.

"My name is James Blunt and you have the chance to completely ruin my life," says the 50-year-old in a self-deprecating video that he shared on his social media appearances.

After around 20 hours, the most liked suggestion on both X and Instagram was "Blunty McBluntface". Users followed a pattern that has almost become a tradition in the UK when it comes to public calls for name suggestions.

Following a public call in 2016, the suggestion "Boaty McBoatface" received the most votes for a research vessel from the Natural Environment Research Council organization.

At the time, however, the organization reserved the final say on the name of the ship and ultimately chose the world-famous nature documentary filmmaker and environmentalist Sir David Attenborough as the namesake.

If James Blunt is to be believed, there will be no backing down. However, he emphasized: "I'll let the people decide. But if it doesn't end up at number 1, I won't change my name," said Blunt.

In the UK, name changes can be made via a so-called "deed poll" by declaration. The cost: 49.32 pounds (58.50 euros). There are only restrictions if copyright is infringed or the name could be offensive, for example if it is offensive or sexual in nature.

However, the step can also be reversed very easily.