Beck mixed folk, blues and hip-hop into a crowd-pleasing sound that made him one of the hotter pop musicians of the 1990s. His 1993 single Loser was an alternative radio hit, and a few years later he scored his first gold record with Odelay. That 1996 album won him a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance and also made him a big-time star; he soon won Best Artist awards from publications as diverse as Spin and Seventeen.
His album Midnight Vultures was nominated for a 2000 Grammy as Record of the Year. His other albums include Sea Change (2002), Guero (2005) and The Information (2006).
Beck's mother, Bibbe Hansen, was a crony of pop artist .
.. Beck took her last name of Hansen after his parents split up.
Snappy fun, with discography, lyrics, video clips and a lengthy FAQ
Biography with good detail on his early years, plus various links and news
Standard fan site, with lyrics, bio, photos (slow-loading) and lots of links
His surreal, free-associative lyrics were laced with warped imagery and a sardonic sense of humor that, while typical of the times, only rarely threatened the impact of his adventurous music. Beck appropriated freely from whatever genres he felt like, juxtaposing sounds that would never have co-existed organically (and his habitual irony made clear that he wasn't aiming for authenticity in the first place). If his musical style was impossible to pigeonhole, his true identity lay in that rootless, sprawling diversity, that determination to acknowledge no boundaries or conventions; everything he did bore the stamp of his distinctively skewed viewpoint.
Beck caught his big break when the bizarre Delta blues/white-boy-rap pastiche "Loser" spawned a national catch phrase in early 1994. His debut album, , became a hit, and the official follow-up, the -produced , was widely acclaimed as one of the decade's landmark records. Beck followed those touchstones with genre exercises in folk and funk that still managed to dazzle with their variety, solidifying one of the most creatively vital oeuvres in alternative rock -- or all of modern pop music, for that matter.
Beck David Campbell was born July 8, 1970, in Los Angeles, and came from strong creative stock. His father, David Campbell, was a conductor and string arranger (who later worked on his son's records); however, he left the family early on, and Beck adopted the last name of his mother Bibbe Hansen, a regular on 's Factory scene who appeared in the film Prison. Moreover, his grandfather Al Hansen was an important figure in the Fluxus art movement, best known for launching the career of .
The young Beck Hansen grew up mostly in Los Angeles, also spending some time with both sets of grandparents (Al Hansen in Europe, and his other grandfather -- a Presbyterian minister -- in the Kansas City area). He dropped out of school in tenth grade, and began playing acoustic blues and folk music as a street busker, as well as trying his hand in the poetry-slam scene; in 1988, he produced a cassette of home recordings called The Banjo Story. In 1989, he moved to New York and tried to break into the city's short-lived "anti-folk" scene, a punk-influenced movement of acoustic singer/songwriters that included and .
Finding the going tough, he returned to Los Angeles after about a year, and attempted to gain exposure at rock clubs by playing a few songs in between the regular sets.
In the summer of 1991, Beck was discovered separately by Bong Load label owners Tom Rothrock (at one of his club performances) and Rob Schnapf (at the Sunset Junction street fair). The two approached him about cutting some folk songs backed with hip-hop beats, and Beck agreed.
Gathering in the kitchen of up-and-coming hip-hop producer Karl Stephenson, Beck recorded "Loser" and a selection of other tracks. In 1992, Beck traveled to Olympia, WA, to record for 's K label, and also inked a publishing deal with BMG. At the beginning of 1993, Beck finally saw his first official releases: the single "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" on Flipside, and the full-length, cassette-only Golden Feelings on Sonic Enemy.
In September, Bong Load finally released "Loser" as a 12" single, and it became an instant smash on L.A.'s independent radio stations, so much so that Bong Load had trouble pressing enough copies to keep up with the demand.
Combining a funky drum-machine track and Beck's nonsense raps with bluesy slide guitar and a sample of 's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters," "Loser" sounded like nothing else. Word spread quickly, helped out by 's , who raved about Beck after seeing him perform at a backyard party. A major-label bidding war ensued, and Beck signed an innovative contract with Geffen that allowed him to continue releasing uncommercial material on smaller independent labels.
In the meantime, another indie album, the 10" record , was released in January 1994 by Fingerpaint.
Beck's major-label debut, , was released in March 1994, and Geffen also reissued "Loser" on a national level. Instantly labeled an anthem for the so-called slacker generation, the song was a sensation, climbing into the Top Ten and hitting number one on Billboard's modern rock chart.
was a hit, climbing into the Top 20 and eventually going platinum. Initial reviews were somewhat mixed; many critics raved over the album, but others were reluctant to lavish praise on an artist they weren't sure would ever be anything more than a one-hit novelty. Meanwhile, Beck immediately took advantage of his Geffen deal to release two more indie albums in 1994.
, issued on Flipside, consisted of lo-fi noise rock, while -- which included the material from Beck's 1992 session for K Records, fleshed out with new recordings -- was a bare-bones acoustic folk collection. Later that year, Bong Load released another indie single, "Steve Threw Up." Beck's low-budget body of work, especially his indie recordings, seemed to place him as part of the emerging lo-fi aesthetic, whose other adherents included , , and .
In the summer of 1995, Beck undertook his first major promotional tour, appearing as part of the fifth edition of Lollapalooza. For his second major-label album, he entered the studio with producers , who'd been a significant force behind ' groundbreaking masterpiece . was released in June 1996 to massive acclaim, and wound up topping many year-end critics' polls; it was commercially successful as well, reaching the Top 20, selling over two million copies, and spinning off a string of MTV hits that included "Where It's At," "Devil's Haircut," "Jack-Ass," and "The New Pollution.
" "Where It's At" went on to win a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal, and also won for Best Alternative Music Performance. Late in 1997, Beck contributed the single "Deadweight" to the soundtrack of the film A Life Less Ordinary, which starred Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. In the spring of 1998, Beck's artwork was featured in a joint show with that of his late grandfather.
Also in 1998, Beck began work on a new, folk-styled album -- in the vein of -- that was originally slated for release on Bong Load. However, excited by the results and the presence of producer Nigel Godrich, Geffen stepped in and released the album themselves that November. Titled , the record's quiet, gently trippy tone and relatively straightforward approach made it an unlikely progression from , and indeed both Beck and Geffen made it clear that the record was never intended as the official follow-up.
Although everything about was low-key, it still became Beck's third straight Top 20 major-label album. In early 1999, lawsuits between Geffen, Bong Load, and Beck began to fly over the abrupt release change of , but were eventually worked out in friendly fashion. That summer, Beck recorded a duet with on "Sin City," a track featured on the tribute album .
The official follow-up to took an exhausting total of 14 months to record. Released in November 1999, was designed as a party record, running the gamut of variations on funk and allowing Beck to play the roles of R B loverman and horny disciple. Reviews ranged from glowing to indifferent, and didn't sell quite as well as its predecessors.
won Beck another Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in early 2000, and he embarked on an extensive international tour in support of . In 2001, Beck recorded a cover of 's "Diamond Dogs" with cutting-edge hip-hop producer , and also contributed to French electronic popsters 's album.
His next project was another folk-styled album, titled , again recorded with producer Nigel Godrich and released by Geffen in September 2002.
Beck promoted with a brief acoustic tour beforehand, then announced that he had hired as his backing band for the more extensive official tour following its release. For the follow-up to , Beck re-enlisted as producers; the resulting album, titled , was released in March 2005. spawned hits like "E-Pro" and "Hell Yes" and was seen as a conscious return to the sound and feel of Beck's days.
, a remixed version of the album, appeared in December 2005. Godrich was back for 2006's , a hip-hop-influenced effort. The album came with a blank cover and a sheet of stickers that fans could use to make their own cover art.
~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide Beck. With his collage of musical styles, oblique, lyrics, and arrangements incorporating , , live instrumentation and sound effects, " Makes Me Wanna Smoke "). Indeed, many labeled his However, Beck was not easily categorized into a single genre.
Some likened his , were notable templates for his embrace of influences, and his later eclecticism sparked comparisons with . In several albums beginning in the late 1990s, Beck developed a slower, more melancholy sound, merging his trademark style with , , , and the music of icon and avant pop star . To most listeners, (1996) and (2002), Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings, represented polar opposites in style.
Despite his individualism, Beck's music has been seen as very much a product of the 1990s and the media age in general, with a notable touchstone in recent years being his open embrace of .
to , a Canadian musician, and , a visual artist. His paternal grandfather was a minister, while his maternal great-grandmother was ; Beck says he was raised partially in the Jewish religion, although both of his parents are .
During this period, he learned and developed his talent through the art of .
In , he spent time with his maternal grandfather, movement.
Beck returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade, destitute but motivated. To support himself, he took a variety of low-paying, dead-end jobs, and even lived in a shed, all the while continuing to develop his music.
During this time, Beck sought out (or snuck onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops and busking on the streets. This is performed on the streets as a duo for a while. In the spirit of an artist struggling to make a name for himself, his shows were memorable for their mix of humor and eccentricity.
Some of his earliest and most thought-provoking recordings were achieved by Lambert discovered Beck, signing him to their fledgling label. "Loser", a collaboration between hip hop nuance producer and Beck, created a sensation on alternative radio stations like that led to a furious bidding war between labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose independent albums while under contract.
It is also notable that of all the record labels to offer Beck a contract, Geffen offered him the least amount of money, but the greatest amount of creative freedom.
In , Geffen's official debut release of , culled from sessions with Rothrock, Schnapf, and Stephenson, made Beck a mainstream smash success.
At the same time, he released on worldwide tour, followed by a spot on the main stage of the 1995 tour.
Still, familiarity with "Loser," and their general disinterest in his other work only reinforced his image as such. When the time came to record his follow-up to Mellow Gold, he enlisted Rothrock and Schnapf as producers and began recording an album of moody, low-key acoustic numbers to showcase his songwriting. The songs were melancholy due to several close deaths in Beck's life, including one of his greatest inspirations, his grandfather.
Eventually, having an instinctive change of heart, Beck shelved the album and pursued a more upbeat approach. Beck was introduced to the , producers of the Beastie Boys' album , whose cut-and-paste, -heavy production suited Beck's vision of a more fun, accessible album.
What resulted, 's , would finally put the one-hit wonder label to rest.
The lead single, " ," received heavy airplay, and its video was in constant rotation on MTV. Within the year, Odelay had received perfect reviews in and magazines, having been listed industry awards, including two .
Odelay was followed in by .
Though the album was originally supposed to be released on Bong Load Records, Geffen record labels, and in turn the labels sued him for breach of contract. The litigation went on for years and it remains unclear to this day if it was ever completely resolved. Produced by Beck and of fame, it was intended as a stopgap measure before the next album proper.
Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced fourteen songs. Mutations was a departure from the electronic density of Odelay, and was filled with folk and influences. Songs on the album consisted of older tracks, some even dating back as far as 1994.
Track 10, "Sing It Again", was written for , but Beck never submitted it, considering it "rubbish." Cash would go on to record "Rowboat," a song that originally appeared on Beck's Stereopathetic Soulmanure.
During 1998, Beck's art collaborations with his grandfather Al Hansen were featured in an exhibition entitled and showcased solo and collaborative , assemblage, and poetry works.
The show toured from the to galleries in New York City and , . A catalogue of the show was published by Plug In Editions/Smart Art Press.
In , Geffen released the much-anticipated , an orgy of sexual and culinary innuendo supported by a world tour.
For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza. The live stage set included a red bed that brass section. Midnite Vultures was nominated for Best Album at the Grammys.
Beck has a number of and soundtrack-only songs as well, including "Midnite Vultures" (curiously, not on the album of the same name), a cover of ' "Everybody's After Midnite Vultures, Beck released ( ), another airy and emotional album with Godrich, which became Beck's first U.S. Top 10 album, reaching #8.
The album was also met with critical acclaim, earning five stars from Rolling Stone, the magazine's rarely 2002. Sea Change was conceptualized as an album with one unifying theme—the stages following the end of a relationship. Mutations.
Although some radio singles were released, no commercial singles were made available to the public. Beck several songs from the forthcoming album. The post-album release Sea Change electric tour featured as Beck's opening and backing band.
Since then , their lead singer, has criticized Beck for his behavior on the tour.
In 2004, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label album. The record, , was produced by the Dust Brothers and and features a collaboration with of ; it marked a return to Odelay-era sound.
The album was released in March 2005 and enjoyed critical acclaim from most mainstream press, earning four stars from and Rolling Stone, as well as a "Critic's Choice" recognition from . However, the by . Nonetheless, the album debuted at #2 on the charts, pushing 162,000 copies in the first week and giving Beck his best week ever in terms of commercial sales and chart position.
Since the release of Guero, the first single, "E-Pro", has been well received by the mainstream rock community, and has seen a large amount of play time. The second single, titled simply " ", is a bright, upbeat song appearing at first to be about summer love; however, a closer look at the lyrics reveals a darker side to the song. "Girl" received heavy airplay on various college radio stations.
The third, and final single, was "Hell Yes".
On February 1, , Beck released an EP featuring four remixes of songs from Guero by The EP, titled GameBoy Variations, featured "Ghettochip Malfunction" [Hell Yes] and "GameBoy/Homeboy" [Que' Onda Guero], both remixed by the band 8-Bit, and also had "Bad Cartidge" [E-Pro] and "Bit Rate Variation in B-Flat" [Girl], the last two being GameBoy, which is plugged into an like an electric guitar. This EP was featured in an issue of .
Also, a music video for "Gameboy/Homeboy" was also produced Beck plays at the Sasquatch Music Festival in George, Washington. The screens show puppets that emulated the band throughout the Beck performed at the music and arts festival in , on , . He performed many songs from his album Guero.
In addition to his band, Beck was accompanied onstage by a group of puppets, dressed as him and members of his band. Live video feed of the puppets' performance was broadcast on video screens to the audience. The puppets are part of his 2006 world tour.
to make and was described as "quasi hip-hop." It came with a sheet of , which are used to "make your own album cover. " The lead US single, "Nausea", officially went to radio on , 2006.
In the UK, the first single will be leaked onto the Internet in late September. On , 2006, Beck released a Music Unlimited exclusive track before the album was released, titled "Think I'm In Love." of which were on European versions of the disc.
Some US stores also included a bonus disc, featuring the track "O Menina," which was also included in the Japanese release, along with the other two bonus tracks. Some copies of the album include a bonus DVD of "homemade" (by Beck and Godrich) music videos for each song. Due to its inclusion of free stickers, The Information was disqualified by the Official third straight Top 10 studio album peak on the , reaching #7.
son, Cosimo Henri Hansen. Ribisi is pregnant with the couple's second child, due in April . Beck has been involved in for most of his life, but he has only recently publicly acknowledged this fact.
It is not clear what his involvement was during the 1990s, but he appears to have distanced himself from it to some degree. [ My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it." When questioned by the interviewer about Scientology's core beliefs, he replied, "What it actually is is just sort of, uh, you know, I think it's about philosophy and sort of, uh, all these kinds of, you know, ideals that are
In keeping with Beck's sense of humor, there is much self-deprecation ("'Odelay' is a word! Just look it up in the Becktionary!"; "Like when I wrote Devil's Haircut, I was feeling really.
.. what's that song about?
"). The Becktionary is subtitled "From Bzooty to Whiskeyclone", and a reference to a Rhyming Becktionary is also made.
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