James Allan
Background information
Birth name	James Allan
Born	21 September 1979 (1979-09-21) (age 30)
Origin	Dalmarnock, Scotland
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	Glasvegas

James Allan (born 21 September 1979^[1] in Dalmarnock, Glasgow) is the lead singer and guitarist of the Scottish rock band Glasvegas. He attended the city's St Mungo's Academy.^[2] He played professional football for various clubs including Falkirk, Stirling Albion^[3], East Fife, and Dumbarton (he enjoyed his best times as a footballer at Queen's Park, where he was nominated for Third Division player of the season) before he decided to write songs and form a band.^[4][5] After touring Scotland for several years Glasvegas released four singles, before eventually being signed to Columbia. His songs deal with social issues such as absentee fathers ("Daddy's Gone"), murder ("Flowers & Football Tops") and the challenges of social work ("Geraldine").^[6]

Allan's cousin is Glasvegas bandmate/guitarist Rab Allan. His sister Denise is the band's manager, who "rules over [the band] rather like Marlon Brando or Al Pacino in The Godfather."^[7]

On 8 September 2009, bandmates Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue announced that James Allan had been missing since the previous Friday, which resulted in a no-show at the Mercury Prize awards ceremony.^[8] However, he later appeared within a couple days in New York,^[9] where Glasvegas were about to embark upon their supporting US tour with Kings of Leon. It is thought that the lack of communication sourced from Allan being without a mobile phone for six months, according to fellow bandmates.^[10]

Allan cites Elvis Presley and Phil Spector as his main influences.^[11] He recently met up with Ian McCulloch, in his home city for a night out. Here, he described the Echo and the Bunnymen frontman as one of his inspirations.^[12]

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