Ben Lummis (born Isileli Junior Brown on (1 June 1978) is a New Zealand R&B/Pop/Gospel recording artist who rose to musical fame as the winner of the First season of ''

New Zealand Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series '' Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered ...

'' in 2004. He is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

( Ngati Porou) and

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

(European), Tongan & Samoan descent. He is very close to his family, and has five siblings

Biography

''New Zealand Idol'' 2004

Lummis auditioned for the first season of ''

'' in early 2004, and after passing through the theatre rounds, he qualified for the semi-finals, where the public voted him through to the Top 10. Lummis's first few weeks in the Top 10 were shaky, as he landed in the bottom 3 contestants on three separate occasions. However, from the top 6 onwards, he was never in the bottom three again, and on 10 May 2004, he was crowned as the first ''New Zealand Idol'', defeating

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer ...

, who had never been in the bottom three throughout the entire competition. Ben is one of only two Idol winners worldwide to land in the Bottom 3 in the first week of their season's finals. The other is 2005

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

Melissa O'Neil Melissa Crystal O'Neil (born July 12, 1988) is a Canadian actress and singer. In 2005, O'Neil won the third season of '' Canadian Idol'', the first Canadian female to have won. As an actress, she is known for her roles as Two / Rebecca / Portia ...

Post ''Idol'' Career

2004–2005: ''One Road''

Immediately after his victory, Lummis signed a recording contract with music giant

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

and released his debut single "

They Can't Take That Away "They Can’t Take That Away" is a single by New Zealand Idol season one winner, Benjamin Lummis, released in 2004. It went to number one in its first week, where it remained for seven weeks. "They Can't Take That Away" was 2004's New Zealand ...

", which debuted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart. It held the position for seven weeks and was certified 4xPlatinum, selling 40,000 copies. Lummis completed a nationwide ''New Zealand Idol Live!'' tour with his fellow finalists, and then on 15 June 2004, just four weeks after his ''Idol'' victory, Lummis released his debut album, '' One Road''. The album sold 45,000 copies and was certified 3xPlatinum. Paul Ellis, Ben's manager at the time and ''New Zealand Idol'' judge later described it as " worst-sounding album of my entire career" due to the short timeframe it was produced. Three months after the release of his album, Lummis suddenly left his record label

under mutual disagreement. Many music industry observers stated that the move was interesting, as Lummis had held the top spot on the albums and singles chart simultaneously for more than a week with strong sales, but was dropped by his label nevertheless.

2006–2007: Independent Music and ''Pop's Ultimate Star''

Having taken a career break following his debut album and departure from

, Lummis released the single "Gotta Move" in 2006, independently and exclusively through his personal website. Although well received by fans, the single was unable to chart as its sales were online only and at the time, not tracked by the

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

. After another short break, Lummis was announced as one of the ten contestants on '' Pop's Ultimate Star'', a new New Zealand reality television show whose aim was to take contestants from past singing competitions and pit them against one another to discover the country's favourite reality show singing star. The show debuted on 29 May 2007, and after passing through the first four weeks without falling into the bottom two at all, Lummis made it to the final six. At this point he fell into the bottom two alongside

Emily Williams Emily Williams (born 8 October 1984) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in 2005 on the third season of ''Australian Idol'' and became the runner-up of the competition. After ''Idol'', Williams signed with Sony B ...

, the runner-up from the third season of ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

'', and was voted off on 1 July after an elimination duel with Williams, finishing in sixth place. After this, he announced his intention to release more new music independently.TVNZ
Bye Ben!
Retrieved 3 July 2007.

2007–present: New Album

Lummis announced in late 2007, that he had intentions on writing more of his own music, and releasing songs independently on a new album. Since then Lummis has been working on a new album, right throughout 2008. He has also appeared on the

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

morning show,

Good Morning "Good morning" is a common greeting in the English language. It may also refer to: Television * ''Good Morning!!!'' (Australian show), a children's show * ''Good Morning'' (New Zealand show), a daytime talk show * ''Good Morning'' (Russian ...

, where he made a live performance of one of his new tracks called, "Smooth Lady", the first song from the album. However, this album has not been released as of 2021.

Discography

The following article is a complete discography of the albums and singles released by New Zealand R&B/Pop singer/artist Ben Lummis.

Albums

Singles

Other Albums/Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lummis, Ben 1978 births Living people New Zealand Idol participants Musicians from Wellington Idols (TV series) winners New Zealand Māori male singers People from Wellington City Ngāti Porou people 21st-century New Zealand male singers