James Blunt is still recovering from coronavirus, which left him struggling to speak ahead of his stage return last Friday. 

The singer was booked to appear at London’s Royal Albert Hall on July 23, but his post-pandemic comeback was far from perfect after he contracted Covid-19 two weeks before the gig. 

He told the audience: “The only thing in my diary for a year and a half was the Royal Albert Hall.

“And two weeks before it I went and got Covid.

“I did quite well, I gave it to two of my band members. And two of the crew.

“And they were double jabbed and they got over it really well.

“I was only single jabbed and I thought I was going to be fine but actually it got into my lungs and I don’t know if you can hear, but my speaking voice is f**ked.”

He added:  “The Chinese are clever buggers, aren’t they? But I can still sing. So they did that wrong, didn’t they?”

James’ stage comeback comes ahead of his 2022 tour in support of greatest hits collection ‘The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021)’, featuring his best-loved singles from debut release ‘Back to Bedlam’ through to 2019’s ‘Once Upon a Mind’.

Also included are four new tracks (Love Under Pressure, Unstoppable, Adrenaline and I Came For Love), as well as four exclusive live performances.

‘The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021)’ is out November 19 and available to pre-order now.