Ben Lummis (born Isileli Junior Brown on (1 June 1978) is a New Zealand R&B/Pop/Gospel recording artist who rose to musical fame as the winner of the First season of New Zealand Idol in 2004. He is of Māori (Ngati Porou) and Pākehā (European), Tongan & Samoan descent. He is very close to his family, and has five siblings
Lummis auditioned for the first season of New Zealand Idol in early 2004, and after passing through the theatre rounds, he qualified for the semi-finals, where the public voted him through to the Top 10. Lummis's first few weeks in the Top 10 were shaky, as he landed in the bottom 3 contestants on three separate occasions. However, from the top 6 onwards, he was never in the bottom three again, and on 10 May 2004, he was crowned as the first New Zealand Idol, defeating Michael Murphy, who had never been in the bottom three throughout the entire competition. Ben is one of only two Idol winners worldwide to land in the Bottom 3 in the first week of their season's finals. The other is 2005 Canadian IdolMelissa O'Neil.
Post Idol CareerEdit
2004–2005: One RoadEdit
Immediately after his victory, Lummis signed a recording contract with music giant Sony BMG and released his debut single "They Can't Take That Away", which debuted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart. It held the position for seven weeks and was certified 4xPlatinum, selling 40,000 copies. Lummis completed a nationwide New Zealand Idol Live! tour with his fellow finalists, and then on 15 June 2004, just four weeks after his Idol victory, Lummis released his debut album, One Road. The album sold 45,000 copies[2] and was certified 3xPlatinum. Paul Ellis, Ben's manager at the time and New Zealand Idol judge later described it as " worst-sounding album of my entire career" due to the short timeframe it was produced.[3]
Three months after the release of his album, Lummis suddenly left his record label Sony BMG under mutual disagreement.[4] Many music industry observers stated that the move was interesting, as Lummis had held the top spot on the albums and singles chart simultaneously for more than a week with strong sales, but was dropped by his label nevertheless.
2006–2007: Independent Music and Pop's Ultimate StarEdit
Having taken a career break following his debut album and departure from Sony BMG, Lummis released the single "Gotta Move" in 2006, independently and exclusively through his personal website. Although well received by fans, the single was unable to chart as its sales were online only and at the time, not tracked by the RIANZ.
After another short break, Lummis was announced as one of the ten contestants on Pop's Ultimate Star, a new New Zealand reality television show whose aim was to take contestants from past singing competitions and pit them against one another to discover the country's favourite reality show singing star. The show debuted on 29 May 2007, and after passing through the first four weeks without falling into the bottom two at all, Lummis made it to the final six. At this point he fell into the bottom two alongside Emily Williams, the runner-up from the third season of Australian Idol, and was voted off on 1 July after an elimination duel with Williams, finishing in sixth place. After this, he announced his intention to release more new music independently.[5]
2007–present: New AlbumEdit
Lummis announced in late 2007, that he had intentions on writing more of his own music, and releasing songs independently on a new album. Since then Lummis has been working on a new album, right throughout 2008. He has also appeared on the TVNZ morning show, Good Morning, where he made a live performance of one of his new tracks called, "Smooth Lady", the first song from the album. However, this album has not been released as of 2021.
DiscographyEdit
Ben Lummis discography
Studio albums
1
Music videos
3
Singles
2
B-sides
1
Other charted songs
1
Collaborations
1
Tours
1
The following article is a complete discography of the albums and singles released by New Zealand R&B/Pop singer/artist Ben Lummis.
^"Gold and platinum New Zealand albums to 2013". Te Ara. Encyclopedia of NZ. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
October 21, 2023
lummis, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sou. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Ben Lummis news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may be written from a fan s point of view rather than a neutral point of view Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality and to make it neutral in tone January 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Ben Lummis born Isileli Junior Brown on 1 June 1978 is a New Zealand R amp B Pop Gospel recording artist who rose to musical fame as the winner of the First season of New Zealand Idol in 2004 He is of Maori Ngati Porou and Pakeha European Tongan amp Samoan descent He is very close to his family and has five siblingsBen LummisBirth nameBenjamin LummisBorn 1978 06 01 1 June 1978 age 45 OriginWellington New ZealandGenresPop R amp BOccupation s Singer fitness instructorInstrument s SingingYears active2004 2007LabelsSony BMG 2004 Soul d Out 1 2007 present Websiteweb wbr archive wbr org wbr web wbr 20080308121327 wbr http wbr www wbr benlummismusic wbr com wbr Contents 1 Biography 1 1 New Zealand Idol 2004 2 Post Idol Career 2 1 2004 2005 One Road 2 2 2006 2007 Independent Music and Pop s Ultimate Star 2 3 2007 present New Album 3 Discography 3 1 Albums 3 2 Singles 3 3 Other Albums Singles 4 ReferencesBiography EditNew Zealand Idol 2004 Edit Lummis auditioned for the first season of New Zealand Idol in early 2004 and after passing through the theatre rounds he qualified for the semi finals where the public voted him through to the Top 10 Lummis s first few weeks in the Top 10 were shaky as he landed in the bottom 3 contestants on three separate occasions However from the top 6 onwards he was never in the bottom three again and on 10 May 2004 he was crowned as the first New Zealand Idol defeating Michael Murphy who had never been in the bottom three throughout the entire competition Ben is one of only two Idol winners worldwide to land in the Bottom 3 in the first week of their season s finals The other is 2005 Canadian Idol Melissa O Neil Post Idol Career Edit2004 2005 One Road Edit Immediately after his victory Lummis signed a recording contract with music giant Sony BMG and released his debut single They Can t Take That Away which debuted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart It held the position for seven weeks and was certified 4xPlatinum selling 40 000 copies Lummis completed a nationwide New Zealand Idol Live tour with his fellow finalists and then on 15 June 2004 just four weeks after his Idol victory Lummis released his debut album One Road The album sold 45 000 copies 2 and was certified 3xPlatinum Paul Ellis Ben s manager at the time and New Zealand Idol judge later described it as worst sounding album of my entire career due to the short timeframe it was produced 3 Three months after the release of his album Lummis suddenly left his record label Sony BMG under mutual disagreement 4 Many music industry observers stated that the move was interesting as Lummis had held the top spot on the albums and singles chart simultaneously for more than a week with strong sales but was dropped by his label nevertheless 2006 2007 Independent Music and Pop s Ultimate Star Edit Having taken a career break following his debut album and departure from Sony BMG Lummis released the single Gotta Move in 2006 independently and exclusively through his personal website Although well received by fans the single was unable to chart as its sales were online only and at the time not tracked by the RIANZ After another short break Lummis was announced as one of the ten contestants on Pop s Ultimate Star a new New Zealand reality television show whose aim was to take contestants from past singing competitions and pit them against one another to discover the country s favourite reality show singing star The show debuted on 29 May 2007 and after passing through the first four weeks without falling into the bottom two at all Lummis made it to the final six At this point he fell into the bottom two alongside Emily Williams the runner up from the third season of Australian Idol and was voted off on 1 July after an elimination duel with Williams finishing in sixth place After this he announced his intention to release more new music independently 5 2007 present New Album Edit Lummis announced in late 2007 that he had intentions on writing more of his own music and releasing songs independently on a new album Since then Lummis has been working on a new album right throughout 2008 He has also appeared on the TVNZ morning show Good Morning where he made a live performance of one of his new tracks called Smooth Lady the first song from the album However this album has not been released as of 2021 Discography EditBen Lummis discographyStudio albums1Music videos3Singles2B sides1Other charted songs1Collaborations1Tours1The following article is a complete discography of the albums and singles released by New Zealand R amp B Pop singer artist Ben Lummis Albums Edit Year Information New Zealand Certifications2004 One Road First studio album Released 16 June 2004 Label Sony BMG Format CD 1 NZ Platinum x2 6 Singles Edit Year Song New Zealand Certification Album2004 They Can t Take That Away 1 4xPlatinum One Road2006 Risen The Rising EPOther Albums Singles Edit Statistics SinglesHome Grown With the Top 10 of NZ Idol Released 21 April 2004 Label Sony BMG Peak chart positions 3 New Zealand New Zealand sales 7 500 RIANZ Certification Gold Yesterday Was Just The Beginning of My Life No 4 Gold With the Top 10 of NZ Idol Preceded byNone NZ Idol winnerSeason 1 2004 Succeeded byRosita VaiReferences Edit New Zealand Reality TV Ben Lummis Scores a Record Deal Entertainment picks The business of being a NZ Idol The New Zealand Herald 17 October 2005 Retrieved 19 September 2011 Trevett Claire Record giant scratches NZ Idol 1 June 2006 Retrieved 3 July 2007 Trevett Claire Idol split hits sour note with fans 25 May 2005 Retrieved 3 July 2007 TVNZ Bye Ben Retrieved 3 July 2007 Gold and platinum New Zealand albums to 2013 Te Ara Encyclopedia of NZ Retrieved 19 July 2015 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ben Lummis amp oldid 1167291303, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
