Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee
(born 11 September 1978 in Sydney, Australia) is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake
(2003). To date, Lee has released seven solo studio albums.
|
BEN LEE TICKETS
|
Career
Noise Addict
Lee's musical career began in 1993 with the band
Noise Addict, who were signed to
Steve Pavlovic's independent label Fellaheen Records, on the strength of a self-produced and distributed four-track
demo recorded in Lee's bedroom. Pavlovic's connections brought the band to the attention of
Sonic Youth's
Thurston Moore and
Beastie Boys'
Mike D, both of whom released the band's material in the
US. The group put out several releases on the Beasties'
Grand Royal Records. These including the acoustic
Young and Jaded
EP in 1994, which contained Lee's
Evan Dando tribute, "I Wish I Was Him." In 1995, Grand Royal released the band's only full length, the
Brad Wood produced
Meet the Real You
. Noise Addict made a music video for the song "16", toured with
Sebadoh, but then broke up. Lee was also briefly a member of the alternative act
Gerling.
Solo career
Lee's solo career started at the age of 16, while he was still in Noise Addict. He began recording his first solo album,
Grandpaw Would
, in both
Sydney and
Chicago with producer
Brad Wood. This was followed by the 1997 album,
Something to Remember Me By
, also produced by Wood. Lee was then featured in 1998's Theres Something About Mary soundtrack, with the song
How To Survive A Broken Heart'. 1999's
Breathing Tornados'', released on Pavlovic's new label
Modular, marked a new direction for Lee as he introduced
synthesizers and increased instrumentation into his sound. The album was a success in Australia, earning Lee
ARIA Award nominations for Best Male Artist and Album Of The Year. The album's first single, "
Cigarettes Will Kill You", was also nominated for Single Of The Year and finished second in that year's
Triple J Hottest 100.
Lee's fourth album,
hey you. yes you.
, was released in 2002. The first single from the album, "Something Borrowed, Something Blue", reached number 67 on the
ARIA Charts and number 22 on the
2002's Triple J Hottest 100. The second single, "Running with Scissors", peaked at number 82 on the ARIA charts.
In late 2004, Lee left Steve Pavlovic's
Modular Recordings and started up his own record label, Ten Fingers. The first release on the label was the single, "
Gamble Everything for Love", followed by the album,
Awake Is the New Sleep
in February 2005, which went double platinum in
Australia. A defining release in his career, the album showcased a much brighter, positive side of Lee's personality, in contrast to his previous darker musings.
Awake Is the New Sleep
received several nominations for the 2005
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, and Lee won Best Male Artist, Best Independent Release, and Single Of The Year for "
Catch My Disease", which Lee wrote with Mcgowan Southworth. "Catch My Disease" also went to #2 on the
2005 Triple J Hottest 100. In addition, the song was featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 film,
Just Friends
and
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
, as well as the soundtrack to the television series,
Grey's Anatomy
,
Hidden Palms
and
Scrubs
. In 2006 it was used in a television commercial for
Dell Computers. On 26 March 2006 Lee performed "We're All in This Together" from
Awake Is the New Sleep
at the closing ceremony of the
2006 Commonwealth Games. The single for "We're All in This Together" was released on the 8 April 2006. The CD includes cover versions of the song by Pony Up, Holidays on Ice and Gelbison. "We're All in This Together" is being used in commercials for Kohl's (2008), Coca Cola (
Remixed Australian Summer Series Ads in 2007), the South Australian Government (2006), the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal (2007) and
Telus Mobility's "My Faves" (2007).
Ben Lee released his sixth album,
Ripe
, on 18 September 2007 with
Benji Madden and
Mandy Moore making appearances. Mandy Moore sung a light-hearted, 50's style duet with Lee called "Birds and Bees". "Mandy was very sweet and did her best Olivia Newton-John for me. I'm really psyched about this recording," Lee says. Madden helped out with some backing vocals, along with US band
Rooney and Sara Watkins from the band
Nickel Creek. Benmont Tench, keyboardist from
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers also contributed. The song "American Television" from the album was used in a VH1 advertisement for
Flavor of Love 3
and the song "Ripe" appeared in an episode of
One Tree Hill
(Season 5 Episode 2).
In 2007, Ben Lee did a cover of
Crosby, Stills & Nash's "
Our House" for Landmarks on
The DL.
[1]
On 6 February 2009, Lee released his seventh studio album,
The Rebirth of Venus
.
Personal life
Lee was educated at
Moriah College in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Lee was raised in a
Jewish household, however he does not consider himself religious.
Lee dated
Claire Danes for several years, but their relationship ended in 2003. Lee married actress
Ione Skye on December 28, 2008, in a Hindu wedding ceremony in India. They are expecting their first child in September, 2009.
[2] [3]
Lee was nominated as
PETA's World's Sexiest
Vegetarian.
[4]
Discography
Albums
- Grandpaw Would
(1995)
- Something to Remember Me By
(1997)
- Breathing Tornados
(1998) #13 Australia
- hey you. yes you.
(2002) #45 Australia
- Awake Is the New Sleep
(22 February 2005) #5 Australia (2x Platinum)
- Ripe
(18 September 2007) #11 Australia
- The Rebirth of Venus
(6 February 2009 Australia and 10 February 2009 US) #21 Australia
EPs and singles
- Pop Queen
(1994)
- Away with the Pixies
(1995)
- From Breathing Tornados
:
- *"Cigarettes Will Kill You" (1998) #46 Australia
- *"Ship My Body Home" (1998)
- *"Nothing Much Happens" (1999)
- *"Tornados" (1999)
- *"Freediving" (2000)
- From Dando Lee Petersson Schwartzman
:
- *"Dead or Anything" (2002)
- From hey you. yes you.
:
- *The Dirty Little Secret EP
(2002)
- *"Something Borrowed, Something Blue" (2002) #67 Australia
- *"Running with Scissors" (2003) #82 Australia
- From Awake Is the New Sleep
:
- *"Gamble Everything for Love" (2004) #39 Australia
- *"Catch My Disease" (2005) #27 Australia
- *Into the Dark EP
(2005) #97 Australia
- *"We're All in This Together" (2006) #59 Australia
- From This Bird Has Flown - Tribute to The Beatles' Rubber Soul
:
- *"In My Life" (2005)
- From Ripe
- *"Love Me Like the World Is Ending" (2007) #18 Australia
- *"Numb" (2007) #54 Australia
- *"American Television" (April 2008 - radio promo)
- From The Rebirth of Venus
- *"I Love Pop Music" (2009) #86 Australia
Awards and nominations
Awards
- 2005 ARIA Music Awards, Single Of The Year for Catch My Disease
- 2005 ARIA Music Awards, Best Male Artist for Awake Is the New Sleep
- 2005 ARIA Music Awards, Best Independent Release for Awake Is the New Sleep
- 2005 ARIA Music Awards, Best Cover Art for Awake Is the New Sleep
- 2006 APRA Music Awards, Song of the Year Catch My Disease
- 2006 APRA Music Awards, Most Performed Australian Work Catch My Disease
Nominations
- 2008 ARIA Music Awards, Best Independent Release for Ripe
- 2006 ARIA Music Awards, Best Male Artist for We're All In This Together
- 2006 ARIA Music Awards, Best Pop Release for Into the Dark
- 2006 ARIA Music Awards, Best Independent Release for We're All In This Together
- 2005 ARIA Music Awards, Album Of The Year for Awake Is the New Sleep
- 2005 ARIA Music Awards, Best Pop Release for Awake Is the New Sleep
- 2005 Australian Music Prize, for Awake Is the New Sleep
- 2003 ARIA Music Awards, Best Male Artist for hey you. yes you.
- 1999 ARIA Music Awards, Album Of The Year for Breathing Tornados
- 1999 ARIA Music Awards, Single Of The Year for Cigarettes Will Kill You
- 1999 ARIA Music Awards, Best Male Artist for Breathing Tornados
References
- The DL: Rock Landmarks Featuring Ben Lee
- The Sydney Sun Herald, "The many layers of Mr. Lee", 2 September 2007
- A Wedding in India for Actress Ione Skye People.com, 11 January 2009
- The 2008 World's Sexiest Vegetarians Areā¦ // Out There // peta2