Singer John Newman has opened up about his decision to avoid putting any duets on his chart-topping debut studio album, 'Tribute'. 

The offering shot straight in at No.1 on the UK Top 40, but has now dipped slightly to No.3 during today's (October 23) midweek update.

He explained to Britain's Daily Star newspaper that as a relatively new artist it's important to make a name for himself on his own musical merit so he chose not to feature any collaborations on the album:

"If I had big names on my album I'd worry that I'd only succeeded because of them. If 'Tribute' sells well I won't be so against working with other people on my next record because I'll know by then that people respect me in my own right."

Earlier this month, Newman confessed that in order to write he needs to have drama going on in his life as he draws on that genuine experience: "I can’t write songs for the sake of it. I need them to be about something. After my success with Rudimental, I recovered from a brain tumour so I was feeling really happy."

“But then I split with my girlfriend and started writing songs anyone could identify with. I’ll need something like that to slam me in the face again before I can write more.”