Damien Rice (born December 7, 1973) is an Irish folk rock singer, famous for his two albums O and 9. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, to George and Maureen Rice and was raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.Rice was originally a member of Juniper, a rock band which released the singles "The World Is Dead" and "Weatherman". On the eve of recording their first full album for Polygram in 1999, Rice became disenchanted with the commercial label and quit. His Juniper band mates became Bell X1. He moved to rural Italy where he played acoustic guitar, wrote songs, and busked around Europe until he was able to form a band and get coffee shop gigs in the Dublin area. Exploiting a lucky connection to David Arnold, his second cousin, Rice was able to record O, for which he won the Shortlist Music Prize in 2003.
Rice recorded an old Juniper track, "Crosseyed Bear" (originally titled "Jewellery Box"), for the new War Child album. He spent 2004 and 2005 recording the follow-up to O. His latest album, 9, was released in November 2006.
Rice's songs have been featured several times on popular films and television shows. "The Blower's Daughter" and "Cold Water" featured prominently in the 2004 film Closer. "Cold Water" was also featured in the 2003 film I am David, the HBO film The Girl in the Café, and on the NBC dramas ER and The Black Donnellys. "Cannonball" also featured in The Black Donnellys and the 2004 film In Good Company. "Delicate" was featured on the ABC dramas Alias, Lost, and the Fox drama House. "Older Chests" was featured on the NBC drama Crossing Jordan and in CBS science-fiction drama Jericho. His song "9 Crimes" was featured during the episode "From a Whisper to a Scream" on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. "Grey Room" was featured on One Tree Hill, in an episode of Criminal Minds, and on an episode of House. Most recently, "The Blower's Daughter" could be heard in the Fox criminal drama Bones and segments of his single 9 Crimes were featured in the major motion picture Shrek the Third.
Rice recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios in October 2006 for Live From Abbey Road. His performance was screened in an episode alongside those of Jamiroquai and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Rice played on the Friday night at the Glastonbury Festival 2007, in the Acoustic Tent. On 7 July 2007 Rice performed with David Gray at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. Rice played the backing rhythm to Gray's "Babylon" before Rice played "Blower's Daughter" (Gray now doing the rhythm). The pair then finished with a cover of "Que Sera Sera". On 8 July Rice played at the T in the Park music event in Scotland. He also headlined Latitude Festival in Suffolk on 12 July.
Rice is also scheduled to play the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas on 15 September 2007.
Rootless Tree
Dogs
9 Crimes
Cannonball
I Remember
The Professor
Woman Like a Man
