X Factor winner James Arthur is to change his name to get away from the “stigma” that surrounds him, after multiple rows over homophobic lyrics.

Arthur attracted criticism from comedian Matt Lucas last year, for referring to another singer as a ‘f***ing queer’ during a rap battle.

The controversy re-ignited earlier this year ago over his track ‘Follow The Leader’, which contains the lyrics: “Look at what you do to me / I’m crying over stupid s*** / you’re such a f***ing homophobe / wish I’d never let you in / to think that I was thinking maybe I should let you live / I’m gonna blow up your family like I’m a terrorist.”

He was quietly dropped by record label SyCo after the controversy.



Speaking on Twitter, this week, he suggested changing his stage name to just “Arthur”, to distance himself from the controversy.

He said: “How would the fans feel if the next record was released under the name “Arthur” and james was dropped going forward as I’m a new character?

“There’s stigma attached to the name james Arthur that im ashamed of. They can throw dirt at a triangle with Arthur beside it all day long for all I care.”

He added: “This will be my artist name and stage name.. Of course you guys know I’m james in real life”.