James Righton Biography

James Righton was born on August 25, 1983, in England. He was exposed to music right from his childhood as his father was a musician, who encouraged him to work with several musical bands. Even before graduating high school, Righton had been associated with various bands, thanks to his father. Righton attended ‘Stratford-upon-Avon High School,’ where he met future band member, Simon Taylor-Davis. He became friends with Simon and even taught him to play the guitar. The two then met Jamie Reynolds in London, who after losing his job bought a studio kit using his redundancy money. Inspired by Filippo Marinetti’s ‘The Futurist Manifesto,’ the trio came up with a band name called ‘Klaxons.’ Thus began Righton’s mainstream music career as he started performing and recording songs along with Simon Taylor-Davis and Jamie Reynolds.

Following the success of Klaxons’ hit singles, ‘Golden Skans’ and ‘Magick,’ the band released its debut album, ‘Myths of the Near Future,’ in January 2007. The album won the 2007 ‘Nationwide Mercury Prize,’ which encouraged the band to come up with subsequent albums. While their second album, ‘Surfing the Void,’ was released on August 23, 2010, ‘Klaxons’ released its third album, ‘Love Frequency,’ on June 16, 2014. In October 2014, the band announced that their upcoming South America tour would be their last headline tour. ‘Klaxons’ was disbanded in 2015 post which Righton chose to focus on his career as an independent musician. In 2016, James Righton was signed by ‘Marathon Artists’ under the pseudonym ‘Shock Machine.’ Thereafter, he released his debut single, ‘Shock Machine,’ along with a music video, which was directed by Saam Farahmand. Following the success of his debut single, Righton came up with his debut Extended Play (EP), ‘Open Up The Sky,’ which had four tracks, including his hit single, ‘Shock Machine.’ In 2016, he appeared in a short musical film, ‘Something More,’ which was directed by Simon Amstell. On August 25, 2017, Righton released his debut album under the moniker ‘Shock Machine.’ In 2018, he got an opportunity to score music for a feature film titled ‘Benjamin.’ The film, which was directed by Simon Amstell, had Colin Morgan and Anna Chancellor playing important roles.

James Righton started dating British actress Keira Knightley in February 2011. After dating for a couple of years, Righton and Knightley decided to tie the knot on May 4, 2013. Their wedding, which was a close-knit ceremony, took place in a commune called ‘Mazan’ in France. The wedding reception took place in Knightley’s mother Sharman MacDonald’s home. The reception was attended by 50 guests, including the likes of Sienna Miller. Righton and Knightley were blessed with a daughter, Edie Righton, born in May 2015. Righton and Knightley seldom appear together in public as they are known for keeping their personal life away from the tabloids. In one of their rare public appearances, they were spotted attending the 2018 ‘Paris Fashion Week’ at ‘Le Grand Palais’ in Paris. They were seen along with other dignitaries, such as supermodel Lara Stone, singer-songwriter Lily Allen, actress Vanessa Paradis, and former First Lady of France Carla Bruni among others. James Righton is active on social media as well.