Ben Lummis

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Ben Lummis
Background information
Born June 1, 1978
Origin New Zealand
Genre(s) Pop
Years active 2004-present
Label(s) SonyBMG

Ben Lummis, (born Benjamin Lummis on June 1, 1978), was the winner in season one of NZ Idol in 2004.

On May 10 Ben won New Zealand Idol, despite being in the bottom 3 multiple times. After winning NZ idol he released his first hit single 'They Can't Take That Away', which debuted in the NZ Top 40 Chart at #1 where it remained for seven weeks, selling over 4x platinum in the process. On June 15 saw the release of his debut album, One Road. Paul Ellis, later described the album as "the worst-sounding album of my entire career" [1]. One Road debuted at number one on the Top 40 Album Charts and stayed there for two weeks, making him the first ever local act to hold the top spot on the albums and singles chart simultaneously for more than a week.

Lummis co-wrote one of the album's twelve tracks, O for Awesome. Included on the album is also one of his most moving performances from the New Zealand Idol programme, a cover of Spinal Tap's Sex Farm, which left most of the judges teary eyed. The album was recorded in just eleven hours and Lummis sang all the back-up vocals himself.

Music industry observers have commented that it is interesting how a performer can hold the top spot on the albums and singles chart simultaneously for more than a week and then be dumped by the record label less than three months later.

Ben is of Tongan, Samoan, Māori (Ngati Porou) and Pākehā descent and is close with his mother, father, stepfather and five siblings. He is also a devout Christian and belongs to the Breakthrough Church.

Three months after winning New Zealand Idol, Lummis' music label, Sony BMG dropped him, due to poor sales. Ironically, his runner-up, Michael Murphy gained a contract and is still going strong with his band Fivestar fallout.

Contents

[edit] Idol perfomances

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • (2004) Homegrown, with the finalists of NZ Idol - #3 (Gold; 7,500+)
  • (2004) One Road - #1 NZ (2 weeks) (2x Platinum; 30,000+)

[edit] Singles

  • (2004) Yesterday Was Just the Beginning of My Life, with the finalists of NZ Idol - #4 (Gold; 5,000+)
  • (2004) They Can't Take That Away - #1 (7 weeks) (4x Platinum; 40,000+)
  • (2004) I Love You, Love Me Love - Failed to Chart

[edit] External link

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