Benjamin Duterde (; born 10 November 1984), better known by his stage name Ben l'Oncle Soul (, ), is a French soul singer and songwriter. He has released four studio albums, the self-titled debut '' Ben l'Oncle Soul'' in 2010, ''À coup de rêves'' in 2014, ''Under My Skin'' in 2016, and ''Addicted to You'' in 2020.

Career

After graduating in 2004, he started singing in a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

group called Fitiavana. His friends called him "l'Oncle Ben" because he was often wearing a bow tie like Uncle Ben from

Uncle Ben's Rice Ben's Original, formerly called Uncle Ben's, is an American brand of parboiled rice and other related food products that was introduced by Converted Rice Inc., which is now owned by Mars, Inc. Its headquarters are in Denver Harbor, Houston, Tex ...

. But he decided to change the name in 2009, shortly before the release of his first EP, ''Soul Wash: Lesson 1'', to avoid copyright problems. His eponymous debut album, Ben l'Oncle Soul, was released by

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

in 2010. On 25 June 2011, Ben l'Oncle Soul opened the 32nd edition of the

Montreal Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...

in a major free concert in front of more than 10,000 people at the Scène TD de la place des Festivals in the heart of Montreal. The concert was his third appearance in Montreal having performed at the 2010

FrancoFolies Francofolies or Les Francofolies may refer to: * Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, a music festival in Montréal, Québec, Canada * Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Les Francofolies () are an annual music festival founded in 1985 in La Rochelle, P ...

and at the 2011 Montréal High Lights Festival. He performed at

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

on 9 July 2011, and appeared on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' on BBC 2 on 21 October 2011. As part of the

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Ser ...

, he played at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nati ...

, London, on 12 November 2011. In 2014, Ben l'Oncle Soul released his second studio album, ''À coup de rêves''. His third album, ''Under My Skin'', was released in 2016, and ''Addicted to You'' in 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

EPs

*2009: ''Soul Wash: Lesson 1'' *2019: ''Ben'' *2023: ''Is it You?''

Singles

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Features

Awards and nominations

*2010: Nominated for the

Prix Constantin {{unreferenced, date=February 2011 The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the M ...

for ''Ben l'Oncle Soul'' *2010: Nominated for La Chanson de l'année (The Song of the Year) for "Soulman" *2011: Nominated for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year for ''Ben l'Oncle Soul'' at the

NRJ Music Award An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisio ...

s *2011: Won for Best Male Singer of the Year at the Globes de Cristal *2011: Won for Live Breakthrough at the

Victoires de la musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

*2011: Nominated for Breakthrough of the Public at the Victoires de la musique *2011: Nominated for Album of the Year for ''Ben l'Oncle Soul'' at the Victoires de la musique *2011: Nominated for Music Video of the Year for "Soulman" at the Victoires de la musique *2011: Nominated for Best French Artist for ''Ben l'Oncle Soul'' at the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

*2012: Won for

European Border Breakers Award The European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) was an annual prize awarded to recognise the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year. ...

"European Border Breakers Award"
, Etep.nl. Retrieved 20 February 2012

References

External links

Official website

"Ben L'Oncle Soul"
EBBA feature {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben l'Oncle Soul 1984 births Living people French people of Martiniquais descent Musicians from Tours, France 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers