Beck David Hansen – born Bek David Campbell and professionally known simply as Beck – was born in Los Angeles in 1970 to an established artistic heritage. Mother, Father and both grandfathers had all performed in different ways.
Beck grew up surrounded by a myriad of influences that seeped into his own late 80s output on a series of indie-label releases on cassette and then vinyl.
Legendary early live shows caused a clamour among major labels to secure his signature (all while he was still scraping by as a video-store clerk) but he eventually chose Geffen, a company that allowed him to continue releasing independent albums, as and when he felt like it.
His Geffen debutΒ Mellow GoldΒ (1994) contained the self-hating hitΒ Loser, and further success came with the Grammy-winning albumΒ OdelayΒ (1996) which he produced with the Dust Brothers. More hit singles followed in 1996.