Jay Kay of Jamiroquai

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Jay Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is a Grammy Award-winning English musician, best known as the lead singer of the acid jazz band Jamiroquai. He is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Jamiroquai, with a misconception existing that the band is actually a solo artist.

Kay was born in Stretford, Lancashire, England. Kay's mother, Karen Kay (born Adrianne Judith Pringle), is a former cabaret singer and television personality. Kay's biological father is Luís Saraiva, a Portuguese former professional guitarist, whom Kay did not meet until 2001.
After Jay Kay's identical twin, David, died some weeks after they were born, Karen brought Kay up largely alone, which gave him "an itinerant childhood, half of it living in 'rural Suffolk and rural Devon’", according to his 2010 The Daily Telegraph interview and his 1994/1999 television interviews. It is stated in the 1997 Lancashire Evening Telegraph article that Kay "moved with his mother and step-father Mervyn Kay to Manchester as a youngster." James Royal, often misidentified as Kay's stepfather, is Karen Kay's former manager whom she had a relationship with some time during Kay's childhood years. Royal had stated in his 2002 interview in News of the World about 13-year-old Kay's six-month stay in Thailand that he never married Karen Kay, but "still regards" Kay as his "stepson".
Kay attended Oakham School in Rutland.

Kay is well known for his array of elaborate hats and headgear. When appearing professionally (in concerts, interviews etc.) he has been referred to as "the mad hatter" for his love of headgear.It is said that he has many different hats that he wears at concerts and in public. He has stated publicly that some of them were made by his own mother.[citation needed]
Kay's most recognizable headgear is his mirrored "feather headdress" seen on the cover of High Times: Singles 1992–2006.

Kay appeared in an episode of the BBC series The Naked Chef alongside chef Jamie Oliver. He has also performed on the series Strictly Come Dancing singing Canned Heat. He also appeared four times in the BBC car show Top Gear. The first appearance was in Series 1 episode 2, where he set a lap time of 1:48.1 for the show's "Star in a reasonably priced car", becoming the leading highscorer for the rest of the current and most of the next series. His second appearance was in Series 3 episode 4, where he drove his Lamborghini Miura with Richard Hammond as passenger. The third appearance was in Series 11 episode 6, where he came in to beat the top time held by Simon Cowell. He succeeded with a lap time of 1:45.8. Jay Kay won Top Gear's "John Sergeant Award" for the best dance after learning his time on the Top Gear test track and the fastest lap time in 2008.
The day before Jamiroquai performed their new single, White Knuckle Ride, on The X Factor on 31 October 2010, Kay was quoted by The Sun as saying of the show's judges Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue: "What are they going to tell me about fucking music? ... When have you ever done anything? You're useless. The pair of you. I mean you look great and I'd like to fucking shag you but that's all." During his performance on the show, the pair talked continuously and refused to applaud at the end. Notably, neither of the other two judges stood up either.

In 2001, Kay was charged with assaulting a photographer and damaging his camera outside a nightclub. Kay pleaded not guilty and the charges were later dropped. On 12 September 2006, Kay was cautioned by police over an incident outside a London nightclub. He allegedly assaulted two photographers.

Kay is anti-religious.
From 1998 to 2001, Kay dated Denise Van Outen. They were engaged and reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001; Jamiroquai's album A Funk Odyssey is mostly about their breakup.
In a 2010 interview, Kay indicated that at one time he had a "substantial" cocaine habit. He has however been free of drugs since 2003.
Kay continues to support the Burma Campaign UK and the need for democracy in Burma. He is also a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and exotic pet trade. He has spoken out against animal exploitation for entertainment.

Kay has a strong interest in exotic cars and has owned over 60 luxury cars, mainly sports cars.
A combination of cars and music is also evident in the song Black Devil Car on the album Dynamite which is a tribute to his black Ferrari Enzo. The Enzo suffered damage to the windows after an altercation with hotel chef Aaron Billington at the Brudenell Hotel in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.