Blue May

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Blue May
Born1986 (age 39–40)
Occupations
  • Producer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • mixer
  • programmer
  • creative director
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass
  • piano
  • keyboards
  • drums
PublishersBMG Music Publishing
Awards

Blue May (born 1986) is a British music producer, songwriter, musician, mixing engineer, programmer and creative director. Based in Los Angeles, he has collaborated with artists including Lily Allen, Kano, Joy Crookes, Suki Waterhouse, and Jorja Smith.

In 2016 May received the MOBO Award for Best Album for Kano's Made in the Manor, which was also nominated for the Mercury Prize. He was again shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2020 (for Kano's Hoodies All Summer); 2022 (for the Crookes album, Skin); and 2024 (for the Ghetts album On Purpose, with Purpose).

Early life and education

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May was born in Wales and raised in London. He was exposed to a wide range of music as a child and grew up listening to David Bowie, Gipsy Kings, Al Green, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, Nirvana, and Prince, among others. He began playing the guitar when he was 10.[1][2] He attended the BRIT School, where he played with Tawiah and Jodi Milliner, who later became frequent collaborators.[3][4]

Career

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May began his career in production in his early 20s and produced his first major label artist in 2009. In a 2025 interview with Variety he said "I didn’t know how to hold the pressure of A&R people and the manager and still represent the artist. it was a complete failure."[5] He subsequently discovered the importance of "shutting out the noise of the music industry"[6] and in part designed XXVII, his first large studio, to do so. He won the MOBO Award for Best Album and received four Mercury Prize nominations between 2016 and 2024.[7]

May first worked with Lily Allen as the creative director for her 2018 tour. In December 2024, Allen and May began working on Allen's fifth album, West End Girl, with a team of writers, producers, and players that May and co-executive producer Kito put together.[6] [8] It was written and recorded in 16 days at his home studio in the Hollywood Hills. May co-executive produced, produced, mixed and co-wrote all of West End Girl's 14 songs. Released in October 2025, the album, which documents the collapse of Allen's marriage, received widespread critical acclaim. [9] [10]A five-star review by Hannah Ewens in The Independent was headlined ''West End Girl: A Brutal, Tell-all Masterpiece"; [11]Chris Willman described it as "deliriously brilliant pop" in Variety;[5] and The Guardian's Alexis Petridis praised "the striking prettiness of its tunes" and the "boldness and quality of its songwriting." [12]

Personal life

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May lives in the Hollywood Hills. He has a pitbull, Moobi. [1]

Selected discography

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Year Artist Title Album/EP Song(s) Songwriter Credit Notes
2014 Otherness Kindness checkY Engineer, mixer
2016 Claire Maguire Stranger Things Have Happened checkY checkY Executive producer, producer, mixer
2016 Kano Made in the Manor checkY checkY Producer, mixer Mercury Prize nomination; Best Album [13]

MOBO, Best Album [14]

2017 Suki Waterhouse "Brutally" checkY checkY Producer, mixer Waterhouse's first release [15]
2018 Leon Vynehall Nothing Is Still checkY Engineer, mixer
2019 Kano Hoodies All Summer checkY checkY Executive producer, producer, mixer Mercury Prize nomination [16]
2019 Africa Express Egoli checkY checkY Producer, mixer Non-profit South African music collective founded by Damon Albarn; Egoli features Moonchild Sanelly and Radio 123 [17]
2020 Yellow Days "A Day in a Yellow Beat" checkY Producer, Mixer
2021 Joy Crookes Skin checkY Executive producer, producer, mixer Mercury Prize nomination, Album of the Year [18][19]
2022 Sudan Archives Natural Brown Prom Queen checkY Mixer
2022 Suki Waterhouse Milk Teeth checkY checkY Producer, mixer EP
2023 Jorja Smith "What If My Heart Beats Faster?" checkY checkY Producer
2024 Ghetts On Purpose, with Purpose checkY Mixer Mercury Prize nomination
2024 Suki Waterhouse Memoir of a Sparklemuffin checkY checkY Producer, mixer
2025 Joy Crookes Juniper checkY checkY Executive producer, producer, mixer
2025 Lily Allen West End Girl checkY checkY Executive producer, producer, mixer

References

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  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ (2007, Oct 13), "British Breakthrough Talent", Music Week, p. 18
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Blue May on Instagram

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