Timothy John Booth (born 4 February 1960) is an English singer, dancer, and actor best known as the lead singer from the band James.
Booth was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England and attended Shrewsbury School. Whilst a student at Manchester University studying drama, Booth encountered Jim Glennie, Paul Gilbertson and Gavan Whelan in 1981 in the cellar bar of the University's student union. Impressed by Booth's distinctive dancing style, Gilbertson invited Booth to join their band as a dancer. Booth accepted the offer, and was soon promoted to lead singer and lyricist of James. (Maconie, 2000)
After a struggle for success and recognition throughout the 1980s, James finally achieved commercial success in the early 1990s with the rise of the Madchester music scene, and their single "Sit Down" reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
During 1995, Booth took a break from James and recorded an album with film composer Angelo Badalamenti, entitled Booth and the Bad Angel. He then returned to James to complete the recording of the album Whiplash, and stayed with the band until 2001 when he announced his departure to concentrate on other projects.
After leaving James, Booth spent time concentrating on teaching the dance practice known as The 5 Rhythms, a movement meditation practice. In 2004, together with record producer Lee Muddy Baker and songwriter KK (Kevin Kerrigan), he released his first solo album, Bone, to general critical acclaim, though he referred to it as a collaborative effort and preferred to credit the album to 'Tim Booth & the Individuals' as opposed to taking sole credit. He also began taking acting lessons during this time, and appeared in a small role as Mr. Zsasz in the 2005 film Batman Begins.
On 14 April 2006, Good Friday, he appeared as Judas in the Manchester Passion – a musical style show in the middle of Manchester, using music from the region to tell the story of Easter. Booth sang a version of The Smiths's "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", and although the James song "Sit Down" was used, it was not sung by Booth himself (he did, however, sing it in an encore after the cameras had stopped rolling).
Booth has also contributed to MTV's search for the greatest song lyrics in April 2006 as a critic.
In January 2007, it was announced that Booth would be rejoining James. The band played an eight date tour in April 2007 and made appearances at several music festivals throughout 2007. This was followed by a new James album, 'Hey Ma' in April 2008 which coincided with a UK tour.
He has also stated that, despite the reunion of James, he still plans to release further solo material .
Booth currently lives in Hove, near Brighton, with his wife Kate and children Ben and Luca Blue.
