Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for
his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several
continents.
His albums have been commercially successful in North America, Europe and Oceania. Harper
is a three-time Grammy Award winner as well, winning awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album, in 2005.
He also won a Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2014.
Early life Harper was born in Pomona, California.
His father, Leonard, was of African-American and Cherokee ancestry, and his mother, Ellen
Chase-Verdries, is Jewish.
His maternal great-grandmother was a Russian-Lithuanian Jew.
His parents divorced when he was five years old, and he grew up with his mother's family.
Harper has two brothers, Joel and Peter.
Harper began playing guitar as a child.
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 Leonard Cohen, Taj Mahal,
John Darnielle, and David Lindley and quotes of William Shakespeare and Robert Frost made
often by his grandfather.
In 1978, at the age of 9, Harper attended reggae superstar Bob Marley's performance
in Burbank, California, which was according to Harper an important influence.
At the age of 12, Harper played his first gig.
During the '80s, in his teen years, Harper began to play the slide guitar, mimicking
the style of Robert Johnson.
Harper refined his style, taking up the Weissenborn slide guitar.
Harper broke out of the Inland Empire after being offered an invitation by Taj Mahal to
tour with the artist.
They recorded Taj Mahal's album Follow the Drinking Gourd, released in November 1990,
and toured Hawaii.
Career
In 1992, Harper recorded the LP Pleasure and Pain with Folk multi-instrumentalist Tom Freund.
After this limited edition record, Harper secured a lifetime record deal with Virgin
Records, which released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World in 1994.
This allowed him to be invited at the Rencontres Trans Musicales of Rennes in France in December
1993 where he went up for the first time on a large stage.
The first album was followed by Fight For Your Mind in 1995, with Juan Nelson on bass,
which became a college radio favorite and included several songs that Harper still plays
live regularly.
In 1999, at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Harper met Jack Johnson and sent a demo tape of Johnson's
songs to his producer, J.P. Plunier, who then produced Johnson's his first album.
Early in Harper's career, his music received more attention in Europe and was widely played
in Australia.
Harper has made comments on a number of occasions that his career was kicked off in Australia.
While he was a well-known and respected figure in the United States, he was a star in countries
like Australia, New Zealand, 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 in 2003, and his Australian tour that year for Diamonds on the Inside was highly
successful.
In 2002, Harper was one of the featured singers covering Motown hits by Marvin Gaye in the
documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
In October 2004, Harper participated in the Vote for Change concert tour organized to
benefit Moveon.org and encourage people in the swing states to vote during the 2004 U.S.
presidential election.
In the same month, 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.
In 2006, Harper released the double album Both Sides of the Gun which debuted at #7
on the Billboard charts.
Though uncredited, he appears briefly in the 2006 David Lynch film Inland Empire, alongside
his wife Laura Dern. 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".
Harper's collaboration "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" with Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata peaked
at #1 in Brazil and Portugal.
In Brazil it also won a highly coveted Prêmio Multishow for "Best Song" in 2008.
Also in 2008, Harper participated in the benefit album Songs for Tibet.
On 27 August 2010, it was reported that Ben Harper had formed a band called Fistful of
Mercy with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur.
Fistful of Mercy released their debut record, As I Call You Down, on 5 October 2010.
On 17 May 2011, Ben Harper's official site posted that his next album was released, entitled
Give Till It's Gone.
The album is a continuation of recording with Relentless7.
On 1 October 2012, a new album from Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite was announced entitled
Get Up! on Stax Records / Concord Music Group.
The official release date for the album is January 29, 2013.
Get Up!
was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Ben Harper.
It is Ben's 12th studio album and first new recording since 2011's Give Till It's Gone.
In December 2012, it was announced that Ben Harper had co-produced lead vocalist Natalie
Maines of the Dixie Chicks first solo rock album Mother.
It was released on May 7, 2013.
Personal life
In 1996, Harper married his first wife, Joanna.
They have two children together, son Charles and daughter Harris.
Harper and Joanna separated in 2000, and were divorced in 2001.
Harper began dating actress Laura Dern after they met at one of his concerts in fall 2000.
Harper and Dern married on December 23, 2005 at their home in Los Angeles.
They have two children, son Ellery Walker and daughter Jaya.
In October 2010, Harper filed for divorce from Dern, citing irreconcilable differences.
They briefly reconciled and attended the 2012 Golden Globe Awards together, but Dern reactivated
the divorce by filing a legal response in July 2012.
The divorce was finalized in September 2013.
Philanthropy Harper supports Little Kids Rock, a national
nonprofit organization that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged
U.S. public schools.
In 2013, he donated items to their San Francisco Bay Area benefit concert.
Awards and nominations Discography
Studio albums Welcome to the Cruel World
Fight for Your Mind The Will to Live
Burn to Shine Diamonds On the Inside
There Will Be a Light Both Sides of the Gun
Lifeline White Lies for Dark Times
Give Till It's Gone Get Up!
Childhood Home Filmography
References
External links Official website
Official Ben Harper Shop Ben Harper Live for Earth Day on National
Geographic Ben Harper at RollingStone.com
Ben Harper on Twitter