This year has so far been a whirlwind for Ben Lummis. At the beginning of 2004 he was a teacher’s aide at Arohanui Special School, and in the space of just five months he has become one of New Zealand’s most recognised celebrities.
In January he lined up with thousands of other hopefuls at the NZ Idol auditions, sang and danced his way into the judge’s and the public’s hearts. He was crowned New Zealand’s first Idol on May 10th.
The following day his debut single ‘They Can’t Take That Away’ was released. It debuted in the National Singles Chart at #1 where it remained for seven weeks, selling over 4 x platinum in the process.
Then Ben set to work recording his debut album ‘One Road’ which was released on June 15th. The album contains 12 tracks and includes contributions from songwriters who have worked with Christina Aguilera, Jamelia, Atomic Kitten, Westlife, Britney Spears, Blue and Kylie Minogue. Ben co-wrote one of the tracks – ‘It’s All Good’. One of his standout performances from the NZ Idol programme, a cover of Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose’, is also included on the album. The album was recorded in just eleven days and Ben sang all the back-up vocals himself as well!
‘One Road’ debuted at #1 and stayed there for two weeks, making Ben the first ever local act to hold the top spot on the albums and singles chart simultaneously for more than a week!
All of this success could rather easily go to a young man’s head – but not Ben. He remains as humble and grounded as ever – leaning on his family and his religion for support. Ben is of Tongan, Samoan, Maori (Ngati Porou) and Pakeha descent and is close with his mother, father, stepfather and five siblings.
At 26 he has a maturity and serenity rarely found in someone his age and it is no secret that Ben’s Christian beliefs are important to him. He became a Christian at the age of 19, and now belongs to Auckland’s Breakthrough Church. The belief that if God gives you a talent you should get out there and use it resonates particularly strongly with him – he thinks that this is why there are so many successful Christian musicians in the NZ scene at the moment.
Ben is a devoted R&B and Gospel fan (his favourite artists include Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye and Fred Hammond) and acknowledges that a whole new world of musical styles has been opened up to him through the NZ Idol process and the recording of ‘One Road’. He is on a huge learning curve and loving every minute of it!
‘One Road’ certainly pays homage to Ben’s love of R&B (‘Easier to Leave’) and gospel (‘Only One Road’), but there’s everything from upbeat pop (‘One More Time With Feeling’) to reggae (‘Fool for Love’) on this album as well.
