Jay Kay

Jason "Jay" Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is a British singer and songwriter.

Jay Kay was born Jason Luís Cheetham in Stretford on 30 December 1969, to English cabaret singer Karen Kay and Portuguese guitarist Luís Saraiva.

His parents split up, and he did not meet his biological father until he was about 28.

Kay's identical twin, David, died of brain damage a few weeks after the two were born.

He co-founded the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai, formed in 1992, and serves as their lead vocalist.

Kay formed Jamiroquai in 1992.

Band members included Toby Smith (keyboards), Nick Van Gelder (drums, 1992–1993), Derrick McKenzie (drums 1994–present) and Wallis Buchanan (didgeridoo).

After the success of Jamiroquai's first single, "When You Gonna Learn", Kay signed a US$1 million record deal with Sony Soho2.

The band's first album was Emergency on Planet Earth.

In April 2001, Kay was charged with assaulting a photographer and damaging his camera outside the Attica nightclub in London's West End.

Kay pleaded not guilty, and the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

In May 2002, Kay was questioned by police after an altercation at a premiere party for Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, outside the St Martin's Lane Hotel, where it was alleged a photographer kicked his £70,000 Bentley after Kay had attempted to grab him as his car drove off.

On 24 May 2004, Kay appeared on Season 5, Episode 9 of Channel 5 series Fifth Gear.

He gave the presenters a tour around his property whilst showing off his collection of cars.

In 2005, it was announced that Kay, often referred to as "the cat in the hat", was launching a range of distinctive clothing, including his trademark hats, on his new "Quai" label.

The relationship with Sony ended in 2007.

The band has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide.

Kay is occasionally referred to as 'Jamiroquai' due to the misconception that the band is a solo artist.

Kay is well known for his array of elaborate hats and headgear.

Professional appearances for concerts, interviews and the like have prompted descriptions of Kay as "the mad hatter" for his love of headgear.

Kay won Top Gear's "John Sergeant Award" for the best dance after learning that his time on the Top Gear test track was the fastest lap time in 2008.

Kay said in a 2010 interview that his mother raised him largely alone, which gave him "an itinerant childhood", half of which he spent "living in rural Suffolk and rural Devon".

He moved to Manchester with his mother and step-father Mervyn Kay as a youngster from Blackburn.

He often accompanied his mother at her performances, and later attended Oakham School in Oakham.

At the age of 15, he was homeless and turned to small crimes to survive; he returned home after a false arrest and near-death experience, working as a break-dancer and soon pursuing a career in music.

It had been reported that he failed an audition to become a singer for the Brand New Heavies prior to forming his own band, though the Brand New Heavies denied the claim.

The Indian Country Media Network criticised him for wearing headdresses originating from Native American populations, including the feathered war bonnet (as seen in the music video and CD single artwork for "Corner of the Earth" as well as on the album artwork for 2010's Rock Dust Light Star).

As of 2017, the band sold more than 26 million copies worldwide.

Outside music, Kay has an interest in exotic cars, and made appearances in the shows Top Gear and Fifth Gear.

He also contributed to environmental causes.

Kay previously had a high-profile relationship with Denise van Outen.

On 9 October 2017, Kay received the BMI President's Award at the BMI London Awards.

That same year, he seriously injured his spine.

Requiring surgery, it led to Jamiroquai cancelling two shows in Tokyo for their Automaton Tour, which were rescheduled later that year.

Kay appeared in an episode of the BBC series The Naked Chef with chef Jamie Oliver, and he performed on the series Strictly Come Dancing singing "Canned Heat".

He has made many other TV guest appearances as either a singer, interviewee, or both, including on The Word, The Girlie Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Rove, and many others.

Kay has appeared on four episodes of the BBC car show Top Gear.

In series 1, episode 2, he set a lap time of 1:48.1 for the show's "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" using the Suzuki Liana, holding the fastest lap time for all of the first series and most of the second series.

In series 3, episode 4, Kay drove his Lamborghini Miura with Richard Hammond as a passenger.

His third appearance was in series 11, episode 6, where his lap time of 1:45.81 using the Chevrolet Lacetti beat the top time held by Simon Cowell by one-tenth of a second; this car's record remained unbeaten throughout the entire series' run despite there being 58 drivers in total for the Chevrolet Lacetti, with AC/DC's Brian Johnson coming in second place for this car with 1:45.85.