At the age of twelve, Harper played his first gig. During the 1980s, in his teen years, Harper began to play the
slide guitar, mimicking the style of
Robert Johnson. Harper refined his style, taking up the
Weissenborn slide guitar. In 1993, he toured venues in California and France with his band, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and performed with Taj Majal at
Austin City Limits. In 1994, Harper released his debut album,
Welcome to the Cruel World and toured the US and Canada with the Innocent Criminals. In November of the same year, he performed two solo shows in Spain. The same year, the band expanded their reach to Europe and performed in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Canada, and a handful of US dates. His music received a great deal of airplay and critical acclaim in Europe and was widely played in Australia (first on
Triple J radio). In 1999, at the
Santa Barbara Bowl, Harper met
Jack Johnson and sent a demo tape of Johnson's songs to his producer, J. P. Plunier, who then produced Johnson's first album,
Brushfire Fairytales, in December 2000. Jack Johnson became the opening act in late February 2001 for the last 23 cities of Ben Harper's "Innocent Criminals" tour of the United States. and
Jack Johnson. In 2002, Harper was one of the featured singers covering Motown hits by
Marvin Gaye in the documentary,
Standing in the Shadows of Motown (a history of
The Funk Brothers). Harper was featured on the album
True Love by
Toots and the Maytals, which won the
Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including
Willie Nelson,
Eric Clapton,
Jeff Beck,
Trey Anastasio,
Gwen Stefani /
No Doubt,
Bonnie Raitt,
Manu Chao,
The Roots,
Ryan Adams,
Keith Richards,
Toots Hibbert,
Paul Douglas, Jackie Jackson,
Ken Boothe, and
The Skatalites. In 2003, Harper was French
Rolling Stone magazine's Artist of the Year (''Artiste De L'Année
), and his Australian tour that year for Diamonds on the Inside was highly successful with record sales. On April 3, 2004, Harper and Jack Johnson performed with Toots and the Maytals on Saturday Night Live'' (season 29, episode 16), a show hosted by
Donald Trump. In October 2004, Harper participated in the
Vote for Change concert tour organized to benefit
Moveon.org and encourage people in the
swing states to vote during the
2004 U.S. presidential election. In the same month, Harper contributed a live recording of the song "Oppression" to
For The Lady, a benefit album for jailed
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese pro-democracy advocate
Aung San Suu Kyi. in
Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, 2008In 2006, Harper released the double album
Both Sides of the Gun which debuted at number 7 on the
Billboard 200. Though uncredited, he appears briefly in the 2006
David Lynch film
Inland Empire, alongside his wife
Laura Dern. Harper is part of the
No Nukes group, which is against the expansion of
nuclear power. In 2007, the group recorded a music video of a version of the
Buffalo Springfield song "
For What It's Worth". Harper's collaboration "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" with Brazilian singer
Vanessa da Mata peaked at No. 1 in Brazil and Portugal. In Brazil it also won a highly coveted
Prêmio Multishow for "Best Song" in 2008. Also in 2008, Harper participated in the benefit album
Songs for Tibet. '' in 2007 On August 27, 2010, it was reported that Harper had formed a band called
Fistful of Mercy with
Dhani Harrison and
Joseph Arthur. Fistful of Mercy released their debut record,
As I Call You Down, on October 5, 2010. On May 17, 2011, Harper's official site posted that his next album was released, entitled ''
Give Till It's Gone''. The album is a continuation of recording with Relentless7. On October 1, 2012, an album from Harper with
Charlie Musselwhite was announced titled
Get Up! on Stax Records / Concord Music Group. The official release date for the album was January 29, 2013.
Get Up! was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Harper. It is Harper's 12th studio album and first recording since 2011's ''Give Till It's Gone'' (Virgin). In December 2012, it was announced that Harper had co-produced lead vocalist
Natalie Maines of the
Dixie Chicks first solo rock album
Mother. It was released on May 7, 2013. In early 2015, it was announced that Harper and the Innocent Criminals would perform at the
Boston Calling Music Festival in May 2015. Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals performed at Rock Werchter Festival 2015 on June 28, 2015. On February 12, 2016, Harper released (as a YouTube video) the single "Call It What It Is", the first track taken from his studio album
Call It What It Is, released on April 8, 2016. On April 8, 2019, Harper performed as a guest artist on the seventeenth season of
American Idol during the second night of the "Top 20 Duets" episode. Harper sang with contestant
Alejandro Aranda, playing "
There Will Be a Light". At the 40th
Blues Music Awards ceremony, Harper's joint composition with
Charlie Musselwhite, "No Mercy In This Land", was named as 'Song of the Year'. The title track, which features Harper on vocals and in the music video, was released on May 15, 2019. In 2020, Harper released
Winter Is for Lovers, an album recorded with solo Monteleone lap steel songs. "It started out as an exploration of steel guitar," Harper told
Acoustic Guitar magazine in a 2020 interview, "
Winter Is for Lovers is written as one piece of music; let's define that in the way that the old classical guitarists would have, on a single guitar (the Monteleone lap steel)." On June 9, 2021, Harper's longtime bassist, collaborator, and Innocent Criminals member, Juan Nelson, died at the age 62. Harper paid tribute to him, stating on Twitter: "Beloved husband, father, musical genius, BHIC band member of 27 years, and the finest man I've ever known. It's near impossible for me to put words to this pain and loss. Rest in Glory our beloved Reverend Juan." No cause of death has been confirmed. On July 22, 2022, Harper released the album
Bloodline Maintenance. The album was dedicated to the memory of Juan Nelson. On June 2, 2023, Harper released his seventeenth album,
Wide Open Light. This is Harper's first album to feature mainly stripped-back acoustic songs with only one track featuring drums. On April 1, 2024, ex-Innocent Criminals guitarist, Michael Ward died at the age of 57 due to complications from diabetes. On May 1, 2025, Harper released new single, "Before The Rain Dried," in tribute to Ward. ==Personal life==