Jamiroquai ( (listen)) are an English funk and acid jazz band from London, formed in 1992. Fronted by singer-songwriter Jay Kay, the band were a prominent component of the London-based funk/jazz movement of the 1990s. Influenced by black music of the 1970s, the group additionally drew from rock, electronica and Latin music and their lyrics have dealt with social and environmental idealism. On stage, they perform with several musicians in the band playing live. Over the years, Kay has consistently remained as the leader through several line-up changes.
The band debuted with "When You Gonna Learn" under Acid Jazz records, leading to Kay signing a record deal with Sony Soho2. While under this label, the group released a string of million-selling albums containing singles that have reached various charts worldwide, including the UK number 1 single "Deeper Underground" (1998). All eight of the band's albums have entered the UK top 10. Three of them, Emergency on Planet Earth (1993), Synkronized (1999), A Funk Odyssey (2001), along with their greatest hits compilation, charted at number 1. In America, the band found moderate success within the Dance charts and the Billboard 200.
Jamiroquai have sold more than 26 million albums worldwide as of 2017. Their third album, Travelling Without Moving (1996), received a Guinness World Record for the best-selling funk album in history. The music video for the album's lead single, "Virtual Insanity", was named Video of the Year at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. The group has won an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, as well as one Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, and two Billboard Music Awards. They have also received fifteen Brit Award nominations.
