Ben Harper

On Tour

415,828 listeners (8,576,570 plays)

Listening now: The_Finn, fdellier, coucoukiller

rock, singer-songwriter, folk, acoustic, blues… see all

Ben Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American Grammy-winner singer and songwriter. A native of California, he grew up listening to blues, folk, soul, rnb, and reggae. Harper’s blend of groove-laden funky soul and folky handcrafted acoustics helped him to gain cult status during the course of the 1990s and widespread attention toward the end of the decade. Harper combines elements of classic singer/songwriters, blues revivalists and jam bands and is embraced by critics and college kids alike. Harper’s body of work sells consistently and he tours constantly, building a solid, dedicated fan base.

Harper began playing guitar as a child in his hometown of Claremont (in California’s Inland Empire). He eventually specialized in the acoustic slide guitar (Weissenborn guitars). As a young man, he recorded an LP (Pleasure and Pain) with fellow folk guitarist Tom Freund. After this limited edition record, Harper got a record deal with Virgin Records, who released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World (1994).
This was followed by the incendiary 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. (ref)

1	Diamonds on the Inside	1,385
2	Burn One Down full track	1,363
3	Another Lonely Day full track	1,082
4	Waiting on an Angel full track	1,006
5	Walk Away full track	987
6	She's Only Happy in the Sun	920
7	Steal My Kisses	762
8	Forever full track	666
9	Morning yearning	614
10	When It's Good	602
11	Ground on Down full track	555
11	Amen Omen	555
13	When She Believes	552
14	Excuse me Mr. full track	537
15	Oppression full track	531

Top Albums

Diamonds on the Inside
Ben Harper
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Fight for Your Mind
Ben Harper
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Welcome to the Cruel World
Ben Harper
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Both Sides of the Gun
Ben Harper
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Shoutbox

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onebigholiday wrote:
yesterday morning

hey chillers, go buy the album and support this incredible artist. 5 bucks or so should get you a copy off ebay.

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whiskeynthejaro wrote:
Monday morning

"Two Hands of a Prayer" might just be the most beautiful song I've ever heard.

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VenusTreat wrote:
9 days ago

http://www.last.fm/group/The+Group+That+Carries+Music+Everywhere+They+Go%2C+Even+To+Places+They%27re+Not+Supposed+To

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Navesrising wrote:
9 days ago

I usually listen Rock & Metal bands and Ben's music is like an oasis made of calm in a desert of distorted guitars and gutural voices hehe

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musikforme wrote:
10 days ago

good sound and good voice

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bredfield wrote:
11 days ago

good sounds

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richardgwilt wrote:
18 days ago

Great sounds.

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CHILLER95 wrote:
18 days ago

can any one send me the album welcome to the cruel world in icq or e-mail my icq number is 409 131 189 and my e-mail adress schnorchel.blumenkohl@web.de thanks for help and i love his songs!!

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Eman82189 wrote:
19 days ago

ben harper is the man!!! with my own two hands is an amazing song

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JaneBaldwin wrote:
29 days ago

nice :)

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indie-eye wrote:
last month

Hi! here's on indie-eye, a photo-set by valentina cesarini dedicated to Ben Harper and Innocents criminals @ Play Art Arezzo Festival http://www.indie-eye.it/recensore/2008/07/29/livestatic-arezzo-play-art-festival-2008-1-ben-harper-the-innocents-criminals/

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pee-why wrote:
last month

vu à carhaix ce w-e... chiant comme la pluie, mais bon respect quand même...

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lunneborg wrote:
last month

LIFELINE!! :

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eran9000 wrote:
last month

Such versatility of sounds.

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miamigirlie wrote:
last month

nice but prefer Mishka anyday

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SinsWritter wrote:
last month

saw him yesterday in lisbon, and WOW, he's the best.

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swigz914 wrote:
last month

Lifeline is credited as being by Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals.

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pfloriana wrote:
last month

oops new album is lifeline, not loveline..

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pfloriana wrote:
last month

there is not even one track from new album loveline in the top tracks. actually I don't like it either, but it kind of makes me sad. Anyway I hope he doesn't play too much of it in Rome..even though, I think anything from him will be grat live..

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Speetz wrote:
last month

Saw him do an impromptu unplugged set at O2. The sound system messed up, so he jumped in the middle of us all and carried on. Legend. I was only 4 foot away!!!

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12…11 Next

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Events

Sep 26 About Us: Entretenimento a Favor da Sustentabilidade Praia do Tropical Hotel, Manaus, Brazil
7 shouts | 9 attendees
Sep 27 About Us: Entretenimento a Favor da Sustentabilidade Chácara do Jockey, São Paulo, Brazil
19 shouts | 54 attendees
Sep 30 Ben Harper Pepsi On Stage, Porto Alegre, Brazil
2 shouts | 11 attendees

Add event | See more

Recent Activity

plsj, PAIGES1, devananda and 1 other person added Ben Harper to their libraries. 56 minutes ago
Rhias tagged Ben Harper with ‘ben harper’. 5 hours ago
supermalumadre, Nico7as, billybobm and 26 other people added Ben Harper to their libraries. 5 hours ago
rider_of_storm tagged Ben Harper with ‘blues’ and ‘folk’. yesterday afternoon
defekatore, bodanc, ellievrem and 45 other people added Ben Harper to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
Pottczynski tagged Ben Harper with ‘rock’ and ‘folk’. 29 days ago
xuanxu, Ktbear82, weluvmle and 5 other people added Ben Harper to their libraries. 29 days ago
JolKeen tagged Ben Harper with ‘soft’. last month
musicmankoch and aylinao added Ben Harper to their libraries. last month