Beck Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Born the name, Beck mononymously knows bek David Campbell. He was born on July 8th, 1970. His place of birth was in California, Los Angeles. His early career revolved around his performances at local coffeehouses.

This was back in the 90s. His first album Golden Feelings featured the hit single “Loser.” His third album came in 1994, Mellow Gold which was also a major hit. Other albums that he released, later on, included Odelay - 1996, Guero - 2005 and Morning Phase - 2014.

Childhood And Early Life

Beck is the son of David Campbell, his father, and Bibbe Hansen, his mother. His father was a famous musician during his era whereas his mother was a visual artist professional. The artistic profession runs in the family as his grandfather was also a Fluxus artist.

When young Beck clocked 10, his parents parted ways, and his mother raised him in Los Angeles. At 16 years of age, he owned a guitar and used it to play out there as a street musician. At first, he developed a liking for folk music before later switching to hip hop.

Early Career

Bong Load Custom Records discovered Beck’s talents in 1991. He wanted to bring in a new style of music by incorporating hip-hop beats into the rock music he was singing.

After a year of signing up with this label, he recorded with Calvin Johnson and Karl Stephenson on a single named “MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack” which was released in 1992.

Rise To Stardom

In 1993, Beck released the hit single “Loser” which was from his debut album Golden Feelings. The single became popular to the extent that it overwhelmed the Bong Load Custom Records in meeting the demanded number of print copies.

It did not take time before Beck came with his second album Stereopathetic Soulmanure in 1994. This time he had signed with Geffen Records but released songs independently. The same year, Beck released “Loser” nationally, and it hit the headlines.

Career

The first album that he released with his new record label, Geffen Records, was Mellow Gold. This album was a platinum hit. For his 4thproject, he released his fourth album in 1994 with K Records. This 4th album was titled One Foot in the Grave. After his fourth album, he took his tour in 1995.

A year later after his major tour, Beck worked with the Dust Brother, renowned producers in releasing his new album Odelay - 1996. The album had several hits including "Jack-Ass,” "Where It's At,” "The New Pollution" and "Devil's Haircut.” His new album earned him two Grammies. One of the awards was for the single “Where It's At,” and the other featured the entire Odelay album.

In 1998-1999, Beck released other albums Mutations - 1998 and Midnight Vultures - 1999 which did not perform as well as his previous albums. However, in 1999, Beck paired with the famed country music singer, Emmylou Harris and performed a duet.

In September 2002, Beck went on to release his 8th album Sea Change. This album also received positive reviews irrespective of the fact that it was based on simple lyrics as compared to his previous albums. Guero came in next in 2005. This was a commercial success with a high rating from Rolling Stone magazine.

Personal Life

In April 2004, Beck got married to Marissa Ribisi who is a professional actress. They have a son, Cosimo Henri and a daughter, Tuesday.

Major Awards

Beck received two Grammies in 1997. One was under the classification of Best Rock Vocal Performance for "Where It's At.” The other was under Best Alternative Music Performance - Odelay. Three years later, he received another Grammy for his album Mutations.