Beck David Hansen (born July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer better known as Beck. In the early 1990s, he rose to prominence with his experimental and lo-fi style, and he became known for producing audio collages of various genres. He has incorporated folk, funk, soul, hip-hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia into his music. He has 14 studio albums (three of which were released on independent labels), as well as several non-album singles and a sheet music book.
In 1998, he released the country-influenced, twangy Mutations, and in 1999, he released the funk-infused Midnite Vultures. The soft-acoustic Sea Change, released in 2002, featured a more serious Beck, and Guero, released in 2005, returned to Odelay’s sample-based production. The Information, released in 2006, was inspired by electro-funk, hip hop, and psychedelia; Modern Guilt, released in 2008, was inspired by ’60s pop music; and Morning Phase, released in 2014, won Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy Awards. Colors, his 2017 album, won Best Alternative Album and Best Engineered Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Hyperspace, his fourteenth studio album, was released on November 22, 2019.
Beck has been hailed by critics and the public throughout his musical career as one of the most idiosyncratically creative musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock, with a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation, and sound effects. Odelay and Sea Change are two of Beck’s most successful and praised albums, both of which were named to Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Beck is a four-time platinum artist who has collaborated with several musicians and contributed to countless soundtracks.