Ben Harper extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Chase Harper
Born	October 28, 1969 (1969-10-28) (age 38) Claremont, California, USA
Occupation(s)	Musician, Singer-songwriter, Guitarist
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar, keyboards, Piano, Bass, Drums, percussion
Years active	1992 — present
Label(s)	Virgin/EMI Records
Associated acts	Vanessa da Mata
Website	benharper.net
Notable instrument(s)
Fender Telecaster

Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American musician.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Charity 5 Awards and nominations 6 Certifications 7 Discography 7.1 Albums 7.2 Virtual albums 7.3 Singles 8 Special appearances 9 DVDs 10 References 11 External links

Early life

Harper was born in Claremont, in California's Pomona Valley. He began playing guitar as a child.^[1] His maternal grandparents' music store The Folk Music Center and Museum laid a foundation of folk and blues for the artist, complemented by regular patrons of Leonard Cohen, Taj Mahal and David Lindley and quotes of William Shakespeare and Robert Frost made often by his grandfather.^[2] As a teen in the 80's, Harper began to play the slide guitar, mimicking the style of Robert Johnson, to contrast that of the then-popular heavy metal music. Next, Harper took up the Weissenborn to provide further distinction between his style and that of other blues musicians, including Johnson's.^[3] Harper broke out of the Inland Empire after being offered an invitation by Taj Mahal to tour with the artist. The 20 year-old Harper and the blues legend then recorded Follow the Drinking Ghour(d) and toured the fiftieth state.^[4]

Career

As a young man, Harper recorded the LP Pleasure and Pain with fellow Folk guitarist Tom Freund. After this limited edition record, Harper got a record deal with Virgin Records, which released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World (1994).

This was followed by Fight For Your Mind (1995) which became a college radio favorite and generated an abundance of songs which still fill his set list to this day.

In 1999 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Harper met Jack Johnson, who was unknown at the time and had not recorded. Harper obtained a demo tape of 12 of Johnson's songs that he forwarded to his producer, J.P. Plunier, with whom Johnson recorded his first album.^[5]

From early on in Harper's career, his music received more attention in Europe than it did in his home country. While he was a well-known and respected figure in the United States (his musicianship put him on the lineup of featured singers covering Motown hits by Marvin Gaye on the classic 2002 documentary, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," the story of the Funk Brothers) he was a star in countries like France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands, receiving a great deal of airplay and critical acclaim. His popularity in Europe is such that he was French Rolling Stone magazine's Artist of the Year (Artiste De L'Année) in 2003, and his tour that year for Diamonds on the Inside played to packed arenas across the continent.

In October 2004, Harper participated in the Vote for Change concert tour organised to benefit Moveon.org and encourage people in the swing states to vote during the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Also in October, Harper contributed a live recording of the song "Oppression" to For The Lady, a benefit album for jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Over the summer of 2005, when the Zooma tour scheduled with Trey Anastasio and various side stage performers was canceled, Harper engaged in a tour of more private clubs/venues such as the Avalon Ballroom in Boston, the Tabernacle in Atlanta, and a full-band acoustic performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. This series of concerts saw the debut of a number of new songs, such as "Get It Like You Like It" and "Dressed In Black."

In 2006, Harper released the double album Both Sides of the Gun which debuted at #7 on the Billboard charts.

Harper finished a worldwide tour in support of the album in 2006, with support from Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley on the North American leg.

Though uncredited, he appears briefly in the 2006 David Lynch film Inland Empire, alongside his wife Laura Dern.

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals recorded a new album, Lifeline, in Paris. It was released in 2007. He also covered John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" on the benefit CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.

Ben has achieved great success in Brazil and Portugal, because of his collaboration "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" with Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata, which peaked at #1 in the Portuguese charts.

Harper is part of the No Nukes group which is against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007 the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".^[6][7]

Personal life

Ben Harper is multi-ethnic. His father, Leonard, was of African-American and Cherokee Indian ancestry, and his mother, Ellen Chase-Verdries, was Jewish.^[8][9][10] His parents divorced when he was five. Harper has two brothers, Joel and Peter Harper.

From 1996 to 2001, Harper was married to Joanna. They have two children, son Charles James and daughter Harris.

On December 23, 2005 Harper married his girlfriend of five years, actress Laura Dern. They have two children together, son Ellery Walker Harper (August 21, 2001) and daughter Jaya (November 24, 2004).

Charity

In 2008 he participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet, which is an initiative to support Tibet, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and to underline the human rights situation in Tibet. The album was issued on August 5 via iTunes and on August 19 in music stores around the world.^[11]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award Show	Award/Nomination
2003	Rolling Stone (France)	Artist of the Year
2005	Grammy Award	Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
2005	Grammy Award	Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album

Certifications

Year	Album	Certification
1995	Fight for Your Mind	RIAA Gold-US
1999	Burn to Shine	RIAA Gold-US #67
2001	Live from Mars	RIAA Gold-US #70

Discography

Albums

Album information
Pleasure and Pain Released: , 1992
Welcome to the Cruel World Released: February 8, 1994
Fight for Your Mind Released: 1995 RIAA Certification: Gold
The Will to Live Released: June 17, 1997 The Billboard 200 #89, 1997
Burn to Shine Released: September 21, 1999 The Billboard 200 #67, 1999 RIAA Certification: Gold #67 U.S.
Live From Mars Released: 2001 RIAA Certification: Gold #70 U.S
Diamonds on the Inside Released: March 11, 2003 The Billboard 200 #19, 2003 Top Canadian Albums #8, 2003 Top Internet Albums #19, 2003
There Will Be a Light Released: September 21, 2004 The Billboard 200 #81, 2004 Top Gospel Albums #1, 2004 Top Internet Albums #113, 2004
Live at the Apollo Released: March 14, 2005 RIAA Certification: Gold #70 U.S
Both Sides of the Gun Released: March 21, 2006 The Billboard 200 #7, 2006 ARIA Weekly Top 100 #1. 2006
Lifeline Released: August 28, 2007 The Billboard 200 #9, 2007 European Top Albums #6, September 6, 2007
Live At Twist & Shout Released: December 4, 2007

Virtual albums

• iTunes Originals - Ben Harper

Singles

• "Like A King / Whipping Boy" (1994)
• "Ground on Down" (1995)
• "Excuse Me Mr." (1996)
• "Faded" (1997)
• "Jah Work" (1997)
• "Glory & Consequence" (1997)
• "Burn to Shine" (1999)
• "Please Bleed" (1999)
• "Steal My Kisses" (2000)
• "With My Own Two Hands" (2003)
• "Diamonds on the Inside" (2004)
• "Better Way" (2006)
• "Morning Yearning" (2006)
• "Fight Outta You" (2007)
• "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" (2007) (with Vanessa da Mata) (#1 Portugal)
• "In the Colors" (2007)
• "Fight Outta You" (2007) (Europe)

Special appearances

Harper played a slide guitar version of the Star-Spangled Banner prior to Game 3 of the 2007 NBA Finals on June 12 in Cleveland.

DVDs

• Pleasure and Pain (2002)
• Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2003)
• Live at the Apollo (2005)

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Myspace
• Official French website
• (English) (French) benharper.fr - news, videos, photos...
• Ben Harper Producer Profile on The 1 Second Film website
• Video: "11th Commandment" and "Well Well Well"
• Video: "Paris Sunrise #7" and "Lifeline"
• swer.net (a comprehensive fan site)
• (English) (French) benharperfrance.com - Forum (French fan forum)
• Ben Harper Live Blog rss news
• Ben Harper preview his next album Lifeline (live and acoustic)
• Ben Harper French Forum
• Exclusive Interview
• Ben Harper Interview on Stereo Warning