Ben Howard

He was raised by musical parents who exposed him to their favourite records from singer-songwriter artists from the 1960s and 1970s at an early age, such as John Martyn, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel, by whom he was strongly influenced.

Howard began writing songs when he was eleven.

In an interview with American Songwriter, he stated that when he was a kid he started playing guitar because he liked to put words together and make stuff up.

"I was quite an imaginative little kid I guess. So your standard little love songs turned into your standard adolescent love songs. I think you start getting your own take on things when you're a late teen. That's when everything changes."

Besides playing the guitar, Howard also played other instruments as a kid.

He easily picked up the drums and contrabass, but after some time he decided to focus on the guitar.

After attending King Edward VI Community College and Torquay Boys' Grammar School he began studying Journalism at University College Falmouth.

Six months prior to completion of his course, Howard decided to focus on making music full-time, making melodic rootsy folk music, with progressively darker lyrics.

His reputation grew around Devon, and soon spread to other areas of the UK.

After a month of sold-out dates across Europe and the UK Howard was eventually asked to sign for Island Records.

Benjamin John Howard (born 1987 (age 27)) is an English singer songwriter, musician and composer.

Benjamin John Howard was born on 24 April 1987 in Richmond, south-west London, England, and moved near Totnes, Devon when he was about eight.

His self-released debut EP Games in the Dark (2008) was followed by two more EPs, These Waters (2009) and Old Pine (2010).

In 2008 he self-released his debut EP Games in the Dark.

His first major release was These Waters, an EP featuring six tracks, including "The Wolves".

In 2010, Ben Howard released the Old Pine EP, followed by a number of singles, such as "The Fear" and "Keep Your Head Up".

Howard now had enough material to release an album, Every Kingdom, which would feature a number of his previous singles.

One of the songs from this album, 'Promise' was used in the first episode of The 100.

In 2010, he also started supporting Angus & Julia Stone's concerts in Europe.

He also joined them for one live performance of Yellow Brick Road in Paris.

Signed to Island Records, his debut studio album came in 2011 titled Every Kingdom.

The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Howard later released two more EPs, Ben Howard Live (2011) and The Burgh Island E.P. (2012).

Howard signed to Island Records in 2011, due to the label's history of UK folk singers, including Nick Drake and John Martyn.

After singles "Old Pine" and "The Wolves" were released in 2011, Howard recorded his debut album entitled Every Kingdom, which was released on 3 October 2011.

He was nominated for the 2012 Mercury Prize.

Howard worked alongside India Bourne, Marcus Wright and Chris Bond to make Every Kingdom, with Bourne playing cello, keyboards, ukulele, bass and contributing vocals and percussion, Bond playing guitars, bass, double bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, accordion, contributing to vocals, and also producing the record, and additional modular-dynamic (MD) synthesisers provided by Wright.

He also toured with Bourne and Bond on his 2012 Every Kingdom tour, with support from Willy Mason.

In 2012, Howard launched his music in America with Every Kingdom being released on 3 April 2012, and appearances at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Texas and a US tour confirmed.

His song "Promise" was featured at the end of season 8, episode 12 of TV show House.

At the 2013 Brit Awards ceremony he received two awards: British Male Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough Act.

He performed at 2013 Glastonbury festival on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 29 June.

He released his second studio album, I Forget Where We Were, in October 2014, peaking at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Due to his association with the town, Howard was chosen in 2014 to appear on the 10 Totnes pound note.

Before signing to a record label, Howard had already released some material.

As of 2017, he is a member of the band A Blaze of Feather with India Bourne, Mickey Smith, Nat Wason, Rich Thomas and Kyle Keegan.

Howard's third studio album, Noonday Dream, was released in June 2018.

It debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart, and received favorable reviews from music critics.

His fourth album, Collections from the Whiteout, was released in March 2021.

He released his fifth album Is It? in June 2023.