Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collages of wide-ranging genres. He has musically encompassed folk, funk, soul, hip hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia. He has released 14 studio albums (three of which were released on indie labels), as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Beck grew towards hip-hop and folk in his teens and began to perform locally at coffeehouses and clubs. He moved to New York City in 1989 and became involved in the city's anti-folk movement. Returning to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he cut his breakthrough single "Loser", which became a worldwide hit in 1994, and released his first major album, Mellow Gold, the same year. Odelay, released in 1996, topped critic polls and won several awards. He released the country-influenced, twangy Mutations in 1998, and the funk-infused Midnite Vultures in 1999. The soft-acoustic Sea Change in 2002 showcased a more serious Beck, and 2005's Guero returned to Odelay's sample-based production. The Information in 2006 was inspired by electro-funk, hip hop, and psychedelia; 2008's Modern Guilt was inspired by '60s pop music; and 2014's folk-infused Morning Phase won Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy Awards. His 2017 album, Colors, won awards for Best Alternative Album and Best Engineered Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. His fourteenth studio album, Hyperspace, was released on November 22, 2019.
With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern 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 among the most idiosyncratically creative musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock. Two of Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings are Odelay and Sea Change, both of which were ranked on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Beck is a four-time platinum artist; he has collaborated with several artists and has made several contributions to soundtracks.
He appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest 7 times on the following dates:
- January 11, 1997, the tenth episode of Season 22, hosted by actor Kevin Spacey. Beck made his SNL debut, as well as the first musical guest stint. He performed "Where It's At" and "Devils Haircut".
- January 9, 1999, the tenth episode of Season 24, hosted by actor and filmmaker Bill Paxton, as he made his 2nd musical guest appearance on SNL. He performed "Nobody's Fault but My Own" and "Tropicalia".
- December 4, 1999, the seventh episode of Season 25, hosted by actress Christina Ricci. He made his 3rd musical guest appearance on SNL. He performs "Mixed Bizness" and "Sex Laws".
- February 15, 2003, the twelfth episode of Season 28, hosted by actress Jennifer Garner. He made his 4th musical guest appearance on SNL. He performs "Lost Cause" and "Guess I'm Doing Fine".
- April 16, 2005, the seventeenth episode of Season 30, hosted by football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) Tom Brady. He made his 5th musical guest appearance on SNL, thus making him a former five-time musical guest. He performed "E-Pro" and "Girl".
- October 28, 2006, the fourth episode of Season 32, hosted by English actor and comedian Hugh Laurie. He returned to Saturday Night Live for his 6th musical guest appearance. He performs "Nausea" and "Clap Hands".
- March 1, 2014, the fourteenth episode of Season 39, hosted by The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons; which coincidentally, was the first episode for current cast member and Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost. He returned to Saturday Night Live once again for his 7th musical guest appearance. He performs "Blue Moon" and "Wave".
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