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<\/p>\nHE sparked one of the great Christmas number one shocks 20 years ago, beating the likes of Sugababes, Atomic Kitten and even Sir Cliff Richard to the top spot.<\/p>\n
But today Gary Jules, who bagged the prestigious honour with his cover of Tears For Fears' Mad World, reveals why he turned his back on fame at the height of his success.<\/p>\n
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The 54-year-old and his pal Michael Andrews found themselves at the centre of an unexpected chart battle after record bosses released the record in December 2003 -two years after it first appeared in the cult movie Donnie Darko.<\/p>\n
Bookies had expected The Darkness\u2019 Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) to bag the top spot in a race with Bo Selecta's Proper Crim-Bo, Westlife\u2019 Mandy, Atomic Kitten\u2019s Ladies Night and Sir Cliff\u2019s Santa's List.<\/p>\n
Instead it was little-known Californian songwriter Gary who suddenly found himself thrust into the spotlight, sharing a sofa with the likes of Victoria Beckham and Sir Ian McKellen to talk about his surprise victory.<\/p>\n
Gary tells The Sun: \u201cI\u2019m glad the success didn't happen when I was 23. I'd probably be dead or something.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hear stories of people are confronted with a little bit of fame who self-destruct or transform."<\/p>\n In fact, at the height of his success, Gary's newlywed wife Greta Townsend showed him a positive pregnancy test after a sell-out London show, which changed his view on fame and fortune.<\/p>\n The mayhem of the Mad World tour and strain it had on his self-confidence led him to take a step back from stardom to focus on being a dad to kids Gus and Edie.<\/p>\n For years, he virtually disappeared off the radar, swapping the hills of Hollywood for a sleepy mountain town in North Carolina. <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n He says: \u201cI had a bigger idea of the temporal nature of things and to not think that because this thing was a big deal, that I was a big deal personally.<\/p>\n \u201cI also knew that to try to keep it at that level would've been very dangerous.<\/p>\n \u201c I also didn't want to stay on the treadmill and have to do sh***y things and just be only that.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter my son was born, my wife and I moved to a small college town in North Carolina, in the mountains, and that's where we've raised our children.<\/p>\n \u201cThey grew up very much around very kind of normal people and fairly normal circumstances.\u201c<\/p>\n Today California-raised Gary looks back on his \u201csurreal\u201d experience of landing clueless in the middle of the chart wars – and how the record\u2019s depressing and dark image is false.<\/p>\n He revealed his pride in being one of a handful of US stars to top the UK Christmas charts – a feat Elvis, Madonna, Frank Sinatra and Taylor Swift have not achieved.<\/p>\n The singer-songwriter laughed at how he lived in fear of The Darkness\u2019 Justin Hawkins pulling a stunt or embarrassing him to win sales in their battle.<\/p>\n Gary recalled: \u201cBeing from the US I had no idea about this \u2018war\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we were very much a long shot and we were not the usual thing sent up the flagpole to challenge for that time. But I was aware, the holidays are very, very difficult for a lot of people.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was probably the most exciting time of my professional life.<\/p>\n And while his ballad, originally recorded for the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Donnie Darko, crept up the charts, The Darkness\u2019s Hawkins was on a media mission.<\/p>\n Gary said: "I don't know what I would've done being made fun of by a man in a**less nylon pants – it could have really done a number on me.<\/p>\n \u201cLuckily he didn\u2019t. I couldn't possibly compete or protect myself if Justin had come after me, not in any weird way. Nobody wants to be embarrassed 6,000 miles from home on the biggest stage you've ever been in.\u201d<\/p>\n A few months later, Gary, Michael and Justin met in Scandinavia.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was hugely sweet, super bright and charismatic with an incredibly big heart," he says.<\/p>\n Another memorable moment came when Gary and Michael joined Posh Spice, Sir Ian McKellen and comic Johnny Vegas on the Jonathan Ross show.<\/p>\n Gary found himself bamboozled by Vegas\u2019s antics and stunned by Victoria\u2019s kindness.<\/p>\n \u201cVictoria was just incredibly nice and spoke in a very kind of more familiar tone with me.<\/p>\n \u201cI was probably very honest about just feeling like a fish out of water and she was kind and caring, really more worried about me than she was about herself, dress, publicist or appearance.<\/p>\n \u201cShe treated me like a human being, which at that time meant everything.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn't have any preconceived ideas about her at all. But I found her to be very funny, eloquent, personable, and a real music fan. She seemed excited about the things that she had done, and talking about being a musician, not about being famous. Not everybody gets to hear that from her."<\/p>\n Posh was gunning for Gary to match her success as a Spice Girl, with the act having scored three Christmas number ones.<\/p>\n \u201cShe mentioned that and I tried to bet her that I wouldn't have another one. But she never took the bet.<\/p>\n \u201dI may have also asked her if we could put all of our money in a pile and split it. She's got a great sense of humour.\u201d<\/p>\n Gary insists that critics of Mad World are wrong to call the song \u201cdepressing\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople perceive it generally as a sad song. It's an incredibly inspiring song, because it's not about the world around us or all of the terrible things that are going on, but I felt like it's a very powerful personal piece because it draws attention to that sentiment, to the personal experience of living in a chaotic world where you have no agency over the things that happen to you.<\/p>\n "It became like a mantra almost for me. And if anything, I felt like I was leading the mantra for those who understood that feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd anytime there's something like that that brings everybody together around a single thing, there are those who feel left out. And I feel like it's very… it was a harbinger of things that were coming.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GM_20-12_JODIE-MARSH_COMP.jpg\")
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