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Ben Harper (born Benjamin Chase Harper on October 28, 1969 in Claremont, California, USA) is an American musician.

Harper began playing guitar as a child in his hometown of Claremont(in California's Pomona Valley He eventually specialized in the acoustic slide guitar (Weissenborn guitars). As a young man, he recorded an LP (Pleasure and Pain with fellow folk guitarist Tom Freund. After this limited edition record, Harper got a record deal with Virgin Records, who released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World (1994).

This was followed by the incendiary Fight For Your Mind (1995) which became a college radio favorite and generated an abundance of songs which still fill his set list to this day.

In 1999 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Harper met Jack Johnson, who was unknown at the time and had not recorded. Harper obtained a demo tape of 12 of Johnson's songs that he forwarded to his producer, J.P. Plunier, with whom Johnson recorded his first album.

From early on in his career, his music received more attention in Europe than it did in his home country. While he was a well-known and respected figure in the States, in countries like France, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands he was a star, receiving a great deal of airplay and critical acclaim. His popularity in Europe is such that he was French Rolling Stone Magazine's "Artist of the Year" (Artiste De L'Année) in 2003, and his tour that year for Diamonds on the Inside played to packed arenas across the continent.

In 2006, Harper released the double album Both Sides of the Gun which debuted at #7 on the Billboard charts.

Harper has just finished his worldwide tour, with support from Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley on the North American leg.

Though uncredited, he appears briefly in the 2006 David Lynch film INLAND EMPIRE, alongside his wife Laura Den.

Harper has recorded a new album in Paris, called Lifeline which will be released on August 28, 2007 and he has also covered John Lennon's Beautiful Boy on the benefit CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.

He has become a big success in Brazil, because of his collaboration "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" with Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata, which has so far peaked at #2 in the Brazilian top 100, and is still in the top ten.

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