American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Beck Hansen was born Bek David Campbell, 8 July 1970.

With his pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and post-modern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics and the public throughout his musical career as being amongst the most idiosyncratic artists of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.

He rose to underground popularity with his early works, which combined social criticism (as in "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" and "Deep Fried Love") with musical and lyrical experimentation. He first earned wider public attention for his breakthrough single 'Loser', a 1994 hit that, at the time, was described as a novelty song.

Beck has cited The Cars, Mantronix, Gary Wilson, Pussy Galore, Willie Dixon, Bill Broonzy, and Sonic Youth among his influences. Two of Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings 'Odelay' (1996) and 'Sea Change' (2002), are described as having polar opposite musical styles. 'Odelay' was awarded Album of the Year by the UK's NME and Mojo and US magazine Rolling Stone. 'Odelay' also received a Grammy nomination for Best Album.

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