Ben Abraham (musician)

Australian singer and songwriter (born 1985)

Ben Abraham

Born|  (1985-05-12) May 12, 1985 (age 40)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres|

* Folk
* indie

Years active| 2014–present
Labels| Inertia Recordings, Atlantic Records, Secretly Canadian
Website| benabrahammusic.com

Musical artist

Ben Abraham (born 12 May 1985) is an Australian folk singer and songwriter from Melbourne. Ben collaborated with artists including Kesha and Sara Bareilles. He co-wrote "Praying" by Kesha.[1]

## Career

[edit]

Abraham's parents were both musicians who played together in the Indonesian pop group Pahama.[2] His sister is Michaela Jayde, who appeared in 2023 on the twelfth season of The Voice and received a four-chair-turn in her audition.[citation needed] Abraham initially sought to become a screenwriter, and concurrently began songwriting while working in a hospital.

In 2014, he released his debut album, Sirens in Australia, which he described as "basically a roadmap of my awkward naïve insecure 20s".[3] In March 2016, the album was reissued by Secretly Canadian.[4] The album includes the track "This Is On Me", which features American vocalist Sara Bareilles,[5] as well as appearances by fellow Australian Gotye.[6]

In 2016 and 2017, Abraham also co-wrote with artists Wafia, Ta-ku and Wrabel on their respective singles "Heartburn", "Meet in the Middle", and "Bloodstain." Abraham's voice has been compared to Guy Garvey and Peter Gabriel.[7] CMJ's Eric Davidson calls Abraham's voice "delicate yet booming" and Sirens a "strong, electro-soul" record.[8]

At the APRA Music Awards of 2018, he won the Overseas Recognition Award and was nominated for Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year.[9][10][11]

In September 2021, Abraham announced the release of his forthcoming second studio album. On 1 October, the album's fifth single "I Am Here" was released, which is set to appear in the season premiere of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.[12]

He came out as queer in 2022. [13]

In 2023, Abraham was dropped by Atlantic Records.[14] This led to Abraham embracing the freedoms that come with being Independent.

## Discography

[edit]

### Albums

[edit]

List of albums, with selected details  Title  | Album details

|

Sirens |

* Released: November 2014
* Label: Inertia Recordings (IR5240CD)
* Format: CD, digital

Friendly Fire |

* Scheduled: 11 March 2022[15][12]
* Label: Atlantic Records (075678648762)
* Format: CD, digital

### Singles

[edit]

List of singles, with Australian chart positions  Title  | Year  | Peak chart positions  | Album

|
|
|

AUS

"Speak"[16] | 2014  | \-  | Sirens
"Home"[17] | 2015  | \-
"In My Head"
(Sak Pase featuring Ben Abraham)[18] | 2017  | \-  | —
"dear insecurity"
(gnash featuring Ben Abraham)[19] | 2018  | \-  | We
"Satellite"[20] | 2019  | \-  | —
"Nobody Wants To Hear Songs Anymore"[21] | \-
"In Your Eyes"[22] | 2020  | \-
"Like a Circle"[23] | 2021  | \-  | Friendly Fire
"War in Your Arms"[24] | \-
"Requiem"[25] | \-
"Runaway"[26] | \-
"I Am Here"[12] | \-
"If I Didn't Love You"[27] | 2022  | \-
"Another Falling Star"[28] | \-
"Never Been Better"  | 2023  | \-  | TBA
“Kidung”  | 2024  | \-  | \-
“I Don’t Want To Wait”
“Never Been Better Remix”
“War In Your Arms (Indonesian Version)”

## Other appearances

[edit]

List of other non-single song appearances  Title  | Year  | Album

|
|

"Wasn't It Good"
(Ainslie Wills and Ben Abraham)  | 2017  | Greatest Hits & Interpretations
"Run So Fast"
(Missy Higgins featuring Ben Abraham)  | 2018  | The Special Ones
"Eat Your Food"  | 2020  | At Home with the Kids
“Sometimes (with Ben Abraham) (Trousdale featuring Ben Abraham)  | 2024  | Out of My Mind (Deluxe)

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

### APRA Awards

[edit]

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.

Year  | Nominee / work  | Award  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2018 | Ben Abraham  | Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year  | Nominated  | [29]
Ben Abraham  | Overseas Recognition Award  | Won

### Berlin Music Video Awards

[edit]

The Berlin Music Video Awards is an international festival that promoted the art of music videos.

Year  | Nominee / work  | Award  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2023  | If I Didn t Love You  | Best Narrative  | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Kesha Previews First New Album in Five Years With Triumphant Song 'Praying'. Rolling Stone, 6 July 2017.
2. ^ Ben Abraham at Allmusic
3. ^ Ben Abraham's debut follows a long star-studded road. Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 2014.
4. ^ Review Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Rolling Stone Australia.
5. ^ Sirens review, Allmusic
6. ^ World Cafe Next: Ben Abraham. NPR, 29 February 2016.
7. ^ Review, Indie London
8. ^ Davidson, Eric. "Last Night This Morning...Friday at CMJ 2015". CMJ. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
9. ^ "Full List of Winners". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
10. ^ "Overseas Recognition Award". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
11. ^ "Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
12. ^ a b c "Ben Abrahams Unveils New Single "I Am Here"". www.milkymilkymilky.com. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
13. ^ "Singer Ben Abraham reveals moment he came out to longtime girlfriend before powerful announcement: 'It set the bomb off'". Metro.co.uk. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
14. ^ https://carols.visionaustralia.org/performers/ben-abraham
15. ^ "Friendly Fire by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
16. ^ "Speak by Ben Abraham". SoundCloud. August 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
17. ^ "Home - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
18. ^ "In My Head - Single by Sak Pase featuring Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
19. ^ "dear insecurity - Single by gnash featuring Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
20. ^ "Satellite - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
21. ^ "Nobody Wants To Hear Songs Anymore - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
22. ^ "In Your Eyes - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
23. ^ "Like a Circle - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
24. ^ "War in Your Arms - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
25. ^ "Requiem - Single by Ben Abraham". Apple Music. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
26. ^ "Ben Abraham releases "Runaway"". amnplify. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
27. ^ "Ben Abraham Releases New Track, "If I Didn't Love You"". prelude press. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
28. ^ "New Aus Music Playlist ADDITIONS – 11/03/22". Music Feeds. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
29. ^ "2018 APRA Awards nominations announced, with producer-songwriters leading the charge". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 15 March 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.

Authority control databases: Artists |

* MusicBrainz

|

*[TBA]: To be announced
*[Ref.]: Reference