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Ben Harper was born 28 October 1969 in Pomona, California USA, 50 miles
from Los Angeles; he grew up influenced by Blues, Reggae and Classic-Rock;
starting with his mother's guitar at age 6, he eventually developed a
distinctive style of his own.
By the time, Harper, began playing acoustic slide guitar, performing
live around Los Angeles area.
He collaborated with actor Morgan Freeman on the soundtrack "Follow
The Drinking Gourd" and after signed a deal with Virgin Records in
1992, the singer+guitarist & songwriter made his debut album with
"Welcome To The Cruel World", the record garnered critical attention
and good reviews from the press including the L.A. Times.
The second LP, "Fight For Your Mind", came out two years later
and Harper with his band, The Innocent Criminals, which consisted of bassist
Juan Nelson, drummer Dean Butterworth and percussionist David Leach, toured
around the globe to support the album, in the meantime, Harper, began
writing material for the follow-up, "The Will To Live", which
was released in 1997; it cracked The Billboard 200 Albums chart.
"Burn To Shine" followed two years later reaching the #67 in
the same chart and its single, "Steal My Kisses", peaked at
#15 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart; through constant touring, including
opening gigs for Dave Matthews Band,
the group continued to promote their music.
In the spring of 2001 was issued the double-CD set "Live From Mars",
which consist of 25 songs including covers of Led
Zeppelin, The Verve and more.
Two years later, Harper, released "Diamonds On The Inside",
his most successful album to date, it peaked at #19 on The Billboard Top
200 list and climbed into the top 10 of the Canadian Albums chart; the
fifth studio effort contained the single "Diamonds On The Inside"
which received strong airplay on radio stations with an alternative slant.
September 2004 saw the release of "There Will Be A Light", a
collaboration between Harper and the Blind Boys Of Alabama, the set topped
the Billboard Magazine's Top Gospel Albums chart thanks to an excellent
selection of traditional gospel tunes, covers and new songs.
In March 2005 Ben Harper unveiled 18 new songs spread across two discs
on his seventh studio album, "Both Sides Of The Gun"; it peaked
at #7 on The Billboard 200 chart and hit #5 in Canada.
Ben Harper returned in August 2007 with "Lifeline"; the prolific
artist and his band The Innocent Criminals went to Paris to record the
Virgin album after finishing the tour in support of "Both Sides Of
The Gun". Using only analogue equipment, they laid down 11 tracks
in seven days; the disc went straight into the top 10 of The Billboard
200 and hit the top 3 of the Top Canadian Albums charts; "In The
Colors" is the first U.S. radio single off "Lifeline" which
also includes the Hot Canadian Digital top 100 hit, "Fight Outta
You".
Ben Harper biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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