Ben Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American musician of the 1990s and 2000s.
As a boy, he began playing guitar in his hometown of Claremont (in California's Inland Empire) - eventually specializing in the acoustic slide guitar ( weissenborn guitars). As a young man, he recorded an LP ( Pleasure and Pain) with fellow folk guitarist Tom Freund, which spurred record label attention. After this limited edition record, Harper received a record deal from Virgin Records, releasing his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World ( 1994) to generally positive reviews.
His 1995 follow-up album, Fight for Your Mind was a more mature and more political effort, which introduced the Innocent Criminals, Juan Nelson (bass), Leon Mobley (percussion) and Oliver Charles (drums), Harper's back-up band. The Will to Live ( 1997), expanded his fan base at college and adult alternative radio audiences and featured a different lineup, including David Leach (percussion) and Dean Butterworth (drums). Over the course of the next two years, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals toured incessantly and played on records and live with R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Radiohead, A Tribe Called Quest, Gov't Mule, Beth Orton, The Fugees and John Lee Hooker. In 1999, Burn to Shine was released, which included "Steal My Kisses" and "Suzie Blue", two college radio favorites. 2001 saw the release of Live from Mars, a critically acclaimed double-LP featuring both electric and acoustic discs.
