Beck Biography
Born Beck Hansen on July 8, 1970 in Los Angeles, California USA, Beck
is undoubtly one of the most original and distinctive Alternative music
artists.
As a teenager inspired by Blues, he learned to play the guitar; quitting
the school at the age of 16; the young Hansen focused on his music career,
in 1988 self-released a cassette called "The Banjo Story" and
then relocated to New York where made his stage bones by gigging around
the city's Punk scene; the next year he returned to California and continued
to perform live frequently.
In early 1993, Beck issued his official debut single, "MTV Makes
Me Want To Smoke Crack", which was followed by the release of an
indie 12-inch titled "Loser", the track was well received on
L.A.'s Alternative radio stations and landed him an unusual contract with
Geffen Records. In fact, in February 1994 the artist released "Stereopathetic
Soulmanure" on Flipside, only a week later appeared "Mellow
Gold" on Geffen and in June another label, K Records, released his
third full-length disc, "One Foot In The Grave".
"Mellow Gold" was obviously the most successful LP; it peaked
at #13 on The Billboard Top 200 chart trailed by national release of the
now staple "Loser", the track quickly hit #1 on The Modern Rock
chart and later smashed into the top 10 of The Billboard Hot 100; the
second single cut, "Beercan", reached the #27 spot on The Modern
Rock chart.
The summer of 1995, after a promotional tour, saw Beck perform as part
of the traveling alt-Rock festival Lollapalooza.
The following year, he returned with "Odelay" which debuted
at #16 on The Billboard 200 Albums chart spawning an endless string of
Modern Rock charting singles: "Where It's At" shot to #5, "Devils
Haircut" hit the top 30, "The New Pollution" peaked at
#9 and "Jack-Ass" reached the #16 position propelling the album
to double-platinum status; in February of 1997 "Odelay" picked
up the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance and Beck took home
honor also for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Where It's At".
Before the year's end, he released the single "Dead Weight",
taken from the soundtrack of the film "A Life Less Ordinary";
the track hit #16 on The Modern Rock chart.
Released in November 1998, "Mutations", reached the top 20 on the U.S. Albums chart and cracked the top 10 in Canada; the record won Beck his third Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. "Mutations" contained the Brazilian-influenced track "Tropicalia" which rose to #21 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.
Almost exactly one year later, Beck issued the Soul-oriented "Midnite Vultures", this album didn't rise higher than #34 on The Billboard Top 200 list and both its two singles, "Sexx Laws" and "Mixed Bizness", failed to enter the top 20 of The Modern Rock Tracks chart.
In September of 2002 appeared his next album, "Sea Change", which crashed into the top 10 in the North American charts and also broke into the top 20 in Britain, but the main single, "Lost Cause", scraped the bottom of The Modern Rock top 40 chart; he supported the album with an extensive unusual tour: The Flaming Lips doubled as the opening act and as Beck's backing band.
n late March 2005 Beck released his eighth studio album, "Guero", which rose to #2 on The Billboard 200 list while the opening track, "E-Pro", climbed to the top slot on The Modern Rock chart; it was followed into the same chart by the second single, "Girl", which peaked at #8.
His next album, "The Information", arrived in October 2006
and quickly bulleted into the top 10 on both U.S. and Canada music charts;
the album had two Hot Modern Rock top 30 hit, "Nausea" peaked
at #13 and "Think I'm In Love" reached #22.
One yaer later Beck released online, on iTunes and elsewhere, a new single
titled "Timebomb", the song was nominated for a Grammy, making
it the first-ever iTunes-only release to snag that honor.
Beck issued his tenth studio full-length effort, "Modern Guilt", in July 2008; the album, produced by Danger Mouse, debuted at #4 in U.S. and Canada and inside the U.K. top 10. The first single off the CD, "Chemtrails" failed to dent the chart but its follow-up, "Gamma Ray", grabbed a #19 spot on The Hot Modern Rock Tracks.
In April 2012, the 42-year-old singer + songwriter, returned from a lengthy hiatus to deliver a new track tied to the release of Jason Segel's movie "Jeff Who Lives At Home"; the single, a Country-tinged tune, is titled "Looking For A Sign".
Latest News:
Beck's new album "Morning Phase" is set for release on February 25, 2014. It contains the single "Blue Moon".
