Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band

Noise Addict Noise Addict (sometimes styled as Noiseaddict) was an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1993 by founding mainstay Ben Lee on lead vocals and guitar. He was joined in 1995 by Romy Hoffman on guitar before the group disbanded early in 19 ...

, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film '' The Rage in Placid Lake'' (2003). He has released eleven solo studio albums. '' Rolling Stone Australia'' said of his latest album, ''I'm Fun!'': "Self-described troublemaker Ben Lee is releasing one of the best albums of his career".

Career

Noise Addict

Lee's musical career began in 1993 with the band

, 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 Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of t ...

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

and

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...

Mike D Michael Louis Diamond (born November 20, 1965), better known as Mike D, is an American rapper, musician, and music producer. He is best known as a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Early life Diamond was born in New York City ...

, 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 album, 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 Gerling were an Australian electronica, alternative rock trio formed in 1993. From early 1997 the members were Darren Cross on guitar and lead vocals, Presser (real name Paul Towner) on drums and Burke Reid on guitar and vocals. Their second a ...

. In 2009, Lee recorded a new Noise Addict album, ''It Was Never About the Audience'', with a new lineup:

Lou Barlow Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock mu ...

and Lara Meyerratken.

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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

with producer Brad Wood. This was followed by the 1997 album, '' Something to Remember Me By'', also produced by Wood. An alternate version of his song "Burn to Shine", produced by

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

, played over the end credits of the film ''

Best Men ''Best Men'' is a 1997 American crime comedy film directed by Tamra Davis, and stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Luke Wilson, Andy Dick, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Ward, Drew Barrymore and Dean Cain. Plot Four groomsmen are preparing for a wedding ...

''. Lee was then featured on the '' There's Something About Mary'' soundtrack, with the song "How to Survive a Broken Heart". 1998's '' Breathing Tornados'', released on Pavlovic's new label

Modular Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a s ...

, marked a new direction for Lee as he introduced synthesisers and increased instrumentation into his sound. The album was a success in Australia, earning Lee

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

nominations for Best Male Artist and Album of the Year. The album's first single, "

Cigarettes Will Kill You "Cigarettes Will Kill You" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee from his third studio album, '' Breathing Tornados'' (1998). Produced by Ed Buller, the song became a breakout success for Lee. It was voted number two on the 1998 Tr ...

", was also nominated for Single of the Year and finished second in that year's

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the ...

. In 2001, Lee contributed a track ("Sweet Is the Night") to a Jeff Lynne tribute album '' Lynne Me Your Ears''. 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 The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

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 2003, he also contributed several songs to the Evan Dando solo album ''Baby I'm Bored''. In late 2004, Lee left Steve Pavlovic's Modular Recordings and started 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 The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(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 No. 2 on the 2005 Triple J Hottest 100. In addition, the song was featured on the soundtracks to the 2005 films '' Just Friends'' and '' Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo'', as well as the soundtracks to the television series, ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

'', '' Hidden Palms'' and '' Scrubs''. In 2006 it was used in a television commercial for

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

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 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

. The single for "We're All in This Together" was released on 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 (

Remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed 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). Lee released his sixth album, '' Ripe'', on 18 September 2007 with Benji Madden and

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

making appearances. Mandy Moore sung a light-hearted, '50s 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. "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, Lee performed a cover of

Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth memb ...

's " Our House" for Landmarks on The DL. In February 2009, Lee released his seventh studio album, ''

The Rebirth of Venus ''The Rebirth of Venus'' is the seventh studio album by Australian indie pop musician Ben Lee, released on 10 February 2009 by New West Records. A portion of the proceedings attained from the record are to be donated to FINCA International's v ...

'', which received mixed reviews. It featured guest performances from the likes of

Missy Higgins Melissa Morrison Higgins (born 19 August 1983), known professionally as Missy Higgins, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her Australian number-one albums are ''The Sound of White'' (2004), ''On a Clear Night'' (2007) and '' The O ...

and

Patience Hodgson The Grates were an Australian indie rock band that formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 2002. They were brought to national attention in 2004 when a demo of their single "Trampoline" received airplay on radio station Triple J. Their first two albu ...

, and peaked at No.21 on the

. Lee's eighth studio album, ''

Deeper into Dream ''Deeper into Dream'' is the eighth studio album by Australian indie pop musician Ben Lee, released on 11 October 2011 through Lojinx in Europe and Dangerbird Records in the United States. It is the first concept album in his catalogue, with ...

'', was released on 11 October 2011. It was Lee's first attempt at a concept album, basing the entire 12 tracks around the

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

state. Despite not charting, it was received fairly favourably by critics. In April 2013, Lee released his ninth and arguably his most experimental studio album entitled '' Ayahuasca: Welcome to the Work'', with collaboration from Jessica Chapnik. The album is based upon his personal experience with the psychoactive South American drug known as

Ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...

. Lee featured as the mentor for Joel Madden's team on the 2013 season of ''

The Voice Australia ''The Voice'' is an Australian singing competition television series. It premiered on the Nine Network on 14 April 2012, before moving to the Seven Network in 2021. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice '' ...

''. In June 2015, Lee released his 10th solo album, '' Love Is the Great Rebellion'', his first on a major label, Warner Bros. Records. According to

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...

's Geoff Wood, Lee invented the term "electro-yoga" to describe a new form of music dedicated to the practice of yoga. Lee has since followed up this release with an acoustically-oriented album, entitled '' Freedom, Love and The Recuperation of the Human Mind'', in 2016; as well as a children's album, called ''Ben Lee Sings Songs About

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

for the Whole Family'', in 2017. Together with former ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main c ...

'' star

Josh Radnor Joshua Thomas Radnor (born July 29, 1974) is an American actor, filmmaker, author, and musician. He is best known for portraying Ted Mosby on the popular and Emmy Award–winning CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother''. He made his writing and dire ...

, Lee formed an indie-folk duo called Radnor and Lee, and released their debut self-titled album in November 2017. 2018 saw the release of '' B Is for Beer'', a soundtrack to the musical based on the novel of the same name written by

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1932) is a best-selling and prolific American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy drama"), such as ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues''. Tom Robbins has lived in La Conner ...

. Lee and Robbins had collaborated for ten years to develop the musical. Funding for the album's development came via crowd-sourcing at Kickstarter. Lee released Quarter Century Classix in 2019, a collection of cover songs he was influenced by during his teenage years. In 2020, Radnor and Lee released their second collaborative album, ''Golden State''. In 2021, Lee competed in the third season of the Australian version of ''The Masked Singer'' as "Professor". He finished tenth after being eliminated in the third episode. In September 2021, The Music Network confirmed Lee had signed with

Warner Music Australia Warner Music Australia Pty Limited (WMA) is the Australian division of the Warner Music Group. WMA also distributes in New Zealand. History In 1969, Warner Bros. Records branched out and WEA was born. The first country in which it was estab ...

, who will release ''I'M FUN!'' in June 2022, preceded by single "Born for This Bullshit". The deal includes rights to his 19-album back catalogue.

Personal life

Lee was born in Sydney and was raised in a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

household, but did not consider himself religious as a child. Lee was educated at

Moriah College The Moriah War Memorial College (or more commonly, Moriah College) is an independent Modern Orthodox Jewish co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school, located in Queens Park, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, ...

located in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Lee dated

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, '' Time'' named her one of the 100 most influenti ...

for several years, but their relationship ended in 2003. He married actress

Ione Skye Ione Skye Lee ( ; Ione Skye Leitch; born September 4, 1970) is a British-born American actress and the daughter of singer Donovan. She made her film debut in the thriller '' River's Edge'' (1986) before gaining mainstream exposure for her sta ...

on 28 December 2008, in a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

wedding ceremony in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. They have one child. Lee stated that he follows a

pescatarian Pescetarianism (; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is the practice of incorporating seafood into an otherwise vegetarian diet. Pescetarians may or may not consume other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. Approximately 3% of adults ...

diet.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaboration albums

Soundtrack albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

Notes: *A The Australian peak for the "Into the Dark" EP is on the ARIA albums chart.

Promotional singles

Other appearances

* " Itchycoo Park" from '' I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1996) * "Make Your Move" (featuring

) from ''

Spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

'' (2007) * "Beautiful Flirt" (with Ione Skye and Jack Graddis) from ''

Bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...

'' (2011) * "We're All in This Together" (with Jack River and Lime Cordiale) from ''

Music from the Home Front Music from the Home Front was a concert held across Australia and New Zealand on 25 April 2020, to pay tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and workers at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic response. The concert was broadca ...

'' (2020)

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - , rowspan="2" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, ''Awake Is the New Sleep '' , Best Performing Independent Album , , rowspan="2" , , - , Ben Lee , Independent Artist of the Year , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions ...

. They commenced in 1987. Lee has won four awards. ! , - , rowspan="3",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, rowspan="2", ''Breathing Tornados'' , ARIA Award for Album of the Year , , rowspan="3", , - ,

ARIA Award for Best Male Artist The ARIA Music Award for Best Male Artist, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indust ...

, , - , "Cigarettes Will Kill You" , ARIA Award for Single of the Year , , - ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

, ''hey you. yes you.'' , Best Male Artist , , , - , rowspan="6",

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, "Catch My Disease" , Single of the Year , , rowspan="6", , - , rowspan="4", ''Awake Is the New Sleep'' , Best Male Artist , , - , ARIA Award for Best Independent Release , , - , Album of the Year , , - , ARIA Award for Best Pop Release , , - , ''Awake Is the New Sleep'' (Ben Lee, Lara Meyerratken, Dan Estabrook ) ,

ARIA Award for Best Cover Art The ARIA Music Award for Best Cover Art, is an award presented within the Artisan Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", and have been given by the Aus ...

, , - , rowspan="3",

, rowspan="2", ''Awake Is the New Sleep'' , Best Male Artist , , rowspan="3", , - , Best Independent Release , , - , ''Into the Dark'' , ARIA Award for Best Pop Release , , - , rowspan="2",

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, ''Ripe'' , Best Independent Release , , , - , ''The Square'' (with Jessica Chapnik) , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. ! , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Catch My Disease" , Song of the Year , , , - , Most Performed Australian Work , , , -

Australian Music Prize

The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. They commenced in 2005. ! , - , 2005 , ''Awake Is the New Sleep'' , Australian Music Prize , , , -

References

External links

*
Artist page on Dangerbird Records
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ben 1978 births Living people APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Australian child singers Australian indie pop musicians Australian indie rock musicians Australian Jews Australian male film actors Australian pop singers Australian singer-songwriters Jewish Australian male actors Jewish Australian musicians Lojinx artists Dew Process artists Male actors from Sydney New West Records artists 21st-century Australian male actors People educated at Moriah College 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian male singers The Bens members Gerling members Noise Addict members Radnor and Lee members Australian male singer-songwriters Dangerbird Records artists Modular Recordings artists