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• Ben Harper is a Grammy winning folk-rock singer and songwriter from Claremont, California. Harper is the grandson of the founders of the Folk Music Center, a Claremont institution that functions both as a musical instrument shop and a sort of museum of exotic international instruments. Harper has maintained a unique career of low-key success as a favorite live act at colleges and music festivals.

  Harper and his band Relentless7 will perform at the Lollapalooza festival on August 8, 2009. They will also play the Bonnaroo festival on June 13, 2009.

• Fast Facts

  1. Name: Benjamin Chase Harper
  2. Born: October 28, 1969
  3. Ethnicity: African-American and Russian-Jewish descent
  4. Record Label: Virgin
  5. Married to the actress Laura Dern
  6. Grandson of the founders of the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California
  7. Grammy Awards: 2

• Sound

  Harper has been heavily influenced by a range of folk music, soul, funk, reggae, blues and rock. Artists to whom he has been compared include Taj Mahal and Bob Marley.

• Recognition

  Harper was named 2003 Artist of the Year by the French edition of Rolling Stone magazine. In 2005, he won two Grammy awards for There Will Be a Light, his collaborative album with The Blind Boys of Alabama: Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Jack Johnson | Bob Marley | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Laura Dern | The Beautiful Girls | The Blind Boys of Alabama | House Soundtrack

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