So sure was he about what he wanted to do in life, Peter Grant wrote song lyrics along the perfectly-spaced lines of his GCSE English exam paper.
His religious education paper was filled with a letter to the examiner apologising for wasting his or her time but the music paper was finished in minutes — the A star he achieved inevitable.
“I think it's because I started singing so young,'' laughs Peter as we spoke of the confusion that comes trying to match up this regular 20-something to a voice so smooth, assured and stylish that it will have you turning the CD over in your hands to check you haven't put the wrong one in.
“I was brought up listening to jazz and I have never wanted to sing anything else,'' he added.
At just 20 years old, it is pure talent that propelled the lad's first two albums into the top 10 of the UK album charts. But it is passion and passion alone has kept him on the straight and narrow.
Smiling genuinly, Grant recalls how it all began and how it so easily could have been a very different story.
He said:"I was six when I first started singing. My father was a singer and to begin with I was ‘that cute kid' on stage with daddy, wearing matching waistcoats and dickey bows. I loved seeing my father on stage and soon craved the limelight too. He introduced me to all the old stuff and the Rat Pack-style songs and I was hooked.''
Going it alone
Still not old enough to vote or drive a car to his gigs, at just 12, Grant was already playing gigs in the working men's clubs in and around his home town of Leeds in the north of England.
Speaking ahead of his first concert in Dubai at this weekend's Picnic on the Park, he added:"It was only as I got older that I realised the music I listened to was not the ‘in' kind of style. My friends didn't think it was cool but I just didn't care — it was a passion I had no control over and would never be able to stop — for anyone.
“But when I started singing in venues around town I acquired a new-found ‘coolness' to many of them.''
There aren't many 20-year-old northern lads who spent their adolescence singing like Sinatra on their local club circuit.
But then again, Grant doesn't exactly fit into the same box as other 20-year-old potential pop stars.
Instead he combines a voice worthy of Tony Bennett and looks that wouldn't seem out of place in a Paul Smith ad campaign — and was never going to be anything short of individual.
Ironic then that Mr X-Factor turned down a spot in the UK's biggest talent search, X-Factor, in a desperate bid to go it alone.
Making the final stages after a gruelling selection process, Grant eventually walked away from the opportunity after reading the contract and its pages of small print.
"I just didn't want to be held to ransom that way,'' screwing up his boyish face as he recalled the decision made nearly five years ago.
He added:"They ask so much of you, place restrictions left, right and centre and I didn't want my music to become commercial that way. So I decided to say ‘thanks, but no thanks' and go it alone.
I don't want to be a pop star, I want to be a singer of great songs.''
Getting discovered
And just as he started to wonder if he'd made the right move, as he lugged his heavy equipment up six flights of stairs at what he calls a ‘bread and butter' gig, Grant found the break he so obviously deserved.
Playing at a casino 180 miles from his home in Leeds, Grant was heard by record producer Don Reedman and within two weeks was recording his first album in a studio next to Paul McCartney in Abbey Road.
He said:"It was like a dream come true and even then I didn't really believe it. The gig in the casino was just to pay the bills and it was one of my worst venues at the time. I had to drive three hours there, carry my equipment up what seemed like endless stairs and I was always sure nobody was even listening. They were either winning or losing money and didn't even applaud.''
His debut album was made, released and went straight to number eight in the UK album charts — something almost unheard of for a breakthrough artist, especially one singing jazz.
Ultra-cool
Grant uses an incredible voice to give an ultra-cool lounge makeover to songs like Barry White's My First, My Last, My Everything and Scott Walker's Joanna with under-appreciated classics like On Days Like These from The Italian Job and The Fool on the Hill slipped in between.
“I love these songs,'' says Peter, who also loves listening to singer-songwriters and soul through to hip-hop and free jazz.
Inspired by his dad, an old-school tenor of some repute, Grant, who is now working on this third album, having just finished his second theatre tour in the UK, says none of his success would have been possible without the amazing support from his mother and father.
He said:"When you are gigging at 12 years old you need the support from your parents. I was never interested at school and they were always great about that. I often needed days off to travel to gigs I have planned in the evenings and they never hassled me about anything. They drove me here, there and everywhere and spent all their money (which wasn't a lot) on equipment for me. I can remember days when they tried to encourage me to do other things like play rugby and football but I just lived for music.''
Four-hour practices in front of the piano were his first priority while his classmates were busy playing on games consoles and signing on to sixth form.
“I consider myself the luckiest man in the world right now.''
Peter Grant will headline at the third annual Picnic on the Park on Friday from 9pm at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club.
