Edward Joel Kowalczyk (; ; born July 16, 1971)"Edward Kowalczyk IMDb entry"
''

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''"Happy birthday, Ed Kowalczyk!"
'' MTV.com'' is an American singer, songwriter, musician and a founding member of the band

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

. He launched a solo career after leaving Live in 2009, releasing his first album, '' Alive'', in 2010. He rejoined Live in December 2016.

Early life

Kowalczyk was born to a family of Polish descent on July 16, 1971. He was raised in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith. He grew up in

York, Pennsylvania York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...

, and attended William Penn Senior High School in the

York City School District The York City School District is a large, urban, public school district serving the City of York, Pennsylvania in York County, Pennsylvania. The district encompasses approximately . According to 2010 census data, the district's population was ...

, where he met the other three members of what would become Live. His father was a teacher at the local Northeastern High School.

Career

Ed Kowalczyk was the lead singer, lyricist, and main songwriter for the band

from its formation until 2009. When he left the band, the other three members issued a statement detailing what they felt were inappropriate actions by Kowalczyk in regards to contract and salary negotiations. Kowalczyk was sued by the band, seeking damages and an injunction against using the name "Live". Kowalczyk rejoined the band in December 2016 after months of rumors. In June 2022, Kowalczyk took a 55% controlling ownership of the band, immediately firing founding guitarist Chad Taylor from the band. In October 2022, Kowalczyk and three new touring musicians began performing as Live without

Patrick Dahlheimer Patrick Michael Dahlheimer (born May 30, 1971) is the former bass guitar, bassist for Live (band), Live and bassist for The Gracious Few. Live have sold over 20 million records, including the RIAA certification, 8× platinum album ''Throwing Coppe ...

and

Chad Gracey Chad Alan Gracey (born July 23, 1971) is the former drummer for the bands Live and The Gracious Few. Live have sold over 20 million records, including the 8× platinum album ''Throwing Copper''.Throwing Copper ''Throwing Copper'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Live, released on April 26, 1994, on former MCA Records subsidiary Radioactive Records. It was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and was recorded at Pac ...

'', playing acoustic concerts across the U.S., Europe and Australia. Kowalczyk has worked with musicians Stuart Davis and

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing on Wilson Phillips' debut and sophomore albums, '' Wilson Phillips'' and '' Shadows and Light'', ...

and singers Anouk,

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

Adam Duritz Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, for which he serves as a founding member and principal composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold ov ...

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immergl� ...

, Red Wanting Blue, and

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy A ...

. He featured on the song "Evolution Revolution Love," from the 2001 Tricky album '' Blowback''. He collaborated with

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist, Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band the Modern Lovers, before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for ...

and

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth ( ; born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, ...

(ex-

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

, then performing as The Heads) on the song "Indie Hair" from their 1996 album ''

No Talking, Just Head ''No Talking, Just Head'' is the only studio album by the Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers. Released in October 1996, the project was commercially ...

''. He appeared in the

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

film ''

Fight Club ''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel ''Fight Club (novel), Fight Club'' by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays The Narrator (F ...

'' as a waiter, his only film acting credit to date.

Political activities

Kowalczyk performed

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

's " Imagine" with

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

in 2003 at "Peace on the Beach," a rally to protest the coming

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. In 2008, he appeared in a video with

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

from

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...

, and

Nick Cannon Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American comedian, television presenter, actor, and rapper. In television, he began his career as a teenager on Nickelodeon's '' All That'' before going on to host '' The Nick Cannon Show'', '' ...

, supporting U.S. presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and appeared at campaign rallies for Obama with will.i.am. Kowalczyk is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism and has worked with them on awareness campaigns.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Songs in TV

* "Evolution Revolution Love" (Tricky featuring Ed Kowalczyk) was used in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' in the episode " Manchester (Part 1)". * "The Great Beyond" was included on the soundtrack of the 2011 film '' Killing Bono''.Jagernauth, Kevi
"Killing Bono Soundtrack To Feature Song By Pre-U2 Group The Hype"
'' indieWire'' – February 23, 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalczyk, Ed 1971 births 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters American people of Polish descent American alternative rock singers American alternative rock musicians American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters Live (band) members Living people Musicians from York, Pennsylvania Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania V2 Records artists American rhythm guitarists Guitarists from Pennsylvania American male guitarists