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Kevin Michael Griffin[1] (born October 1, 1968) [3] is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Better Than Ezra.[4]
Kevin Griffin | |
|---|---|
 Griffin performing with Better Than Ezra in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kevin Michael Griffin[1] |
| Born | October 1, 1968 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.[2] |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1988–present |
| Member of | Better Than Ezra |
His songs have been performed and recorded by artists such as Taylor Swift,[5][6][7] Train,[6] Sugarland,[8][9][10][6][11] James Blunt,[6] Dierks Bentley, The Record Company, Wilder Woods, Moon Taxi,[12] Saint Motel, Andy Grammer, Christina Perri,[11] Trombone Shorty,[13] Howie Day,[5][14][12] Barenaked Ladies,[6][11] Tom Morello, Boys Like Girls, Blondie,[6][12] Chase Rice,[15][16] The Struts,[12][7] Andrew McMahon, Matt Nathanson, Meat Loaf, Missy Higgins, and many others.
He is a co-founder and partner of the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee.[17][18][19][20] Rolling Stone's review of the festival's inaugural year was positive, saying it had "an A-list lineup (arguably the best curated of the year)" [17] and "established itself as a festival to watch."[17] Performers at the festival have included Justin Timberlake,[21][20] Foo Fighters,[22] Willie Nelson,[23] Chris Stapleton,[24] The Killers,[25] Dave Matthews Band,[26][23] Maren Morris,[26][23] The Black Keys,[23][16] Cage the Elephant,[26] and Black Pumas.[26]
Griffin formed the alternative rock band Better Than Ezra in 1988.[20] They had platinum success in the 1990s with hits such as "Good", "In the Blood", and "Desperately Wanting", and have continued in the 2000s with hits such as "Extra Ordinary", "A Lifetime", and "Juicy". The band continues to tour and produce new recordings, the most recent of which is All Together Now, released in September 2014. As a performer, Griffin is known for singing in falsetto, inviting audience members onstage to play guitar, and interrupting his own songs with verses of well-known rock songs. He is also a mimic, imitating singers such as Aaron Neville, Bruce Springsteen, and Dave Matthews.[27][28]
His first solo album, Anywhere You Go,[29][30] was released on October 4, 2019.[12] Griffin also performs as part of Ezra Ray Hart with Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Emerson Hart of Tonic.[31][32]
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Griffin was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended River Oaks School, where he met his bandmate Jim Payne.[33][14] He received a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in political science[20] from Louisiana State University in 1990.[4] He was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He took the LSAT with the intention of attending law school and working in entertainment law.[4] He then took a job with Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles during the early 1990s,[4] before Better Than Ezra achieved commercial success.
Griffin and his family largely resided in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.[34] He purchased a home in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in July 2006[34] and in 2011, he sold his house and moved to Franklin, Tennessee, with his family.[35]
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Griffin has produced, written, and co-written platinum albums and songs that have sold more than thirty million copies.[14][12]
Griffin's first number-one with Better Than Ezra was the 1995 song "Good",[36] and it stayed on top of the Alternative Chart for seven weeks. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, No. 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.[36]
His other number-one songs are Howie Day's "Collide"[5][14] and Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" in 2011,[5][9][14] which became the eleventh most-downloaded song in country music history.[citation needed]
In 2010, his song "Breathless" was covered by Taylor Swift at the Hope for Haiti telethon,[5][6] the most widely distributed telethon in history.[37][38][39]
Griffin has won numerous BMI pop and country awards,[12] and his song "Scar", with Missy Higgins, won Song of the Year at the Australian ARIA Awards.[12]
In 2018, he was an adjunct professor at NYU's Clive Davis School of Recorded Music.[20]
He is active with Better Than Ezra's foundation, MusiCares, and St. Jude.[40][41] In 2020, through a series of livestream acoustic performances, he was able to raise more than $220K for various charities helping those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[40][41]
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 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (May 2019) |
| Year | Artist | Song | Album | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Barenaked Ladies | "Flip" | Detour de Force | Co-writer |
| "Good Life" | Co-writer | |||
| "New Disaster" | Co-writer | |||
| "Roll Out" | Co-writer | |||
| Tom Morello | "Raising Hell" | The Atlas Underground Flood | Co-writer | |
| The Record Company | "How High" | Play Loud | Co-writer | |
| Moon Taxi | "The Beginning" | Silver Dream | Co-writer | |
| King Calaway | "Homegrown" | Midnight | Co-writer | |
| Chase Rice | "American Nights" | The Album | Co-writer | |
| Saint Motel | "Bullet" | The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Co-writer | |
| Hurricane Fall | "Another One More Time" | Another One More Time | Co-writer | |
| Wax Owls | "Carry Me" | Carry Me | Co-writer | |
| Daniel Powter | "Fall in Love" | Essential Daniel Powter | Co-writer | |
| 2020 | Kyd the Band | "Corridors" | Season 3: The Realization | Co-writer |
| Chaz Cardigan | "Live a Little" | Live a Little | Co-writer | |
| Dierks Bentley & Sheanandoah | "Every Road" | Every Road | Co-writer | |
| 2019 | Patrick Droney | "Stand and Deliver" | Patrick Droney EP | Co-writer |
| Wilder Woods | "Feel" | Wilder Woods | Co-writer | |
| 2018 | The Struts | "Freak Like You" | Young & Dangerous | Co-writer |
| Mike Love | "Must Be Christmas" | Reason for the Season | Co-writer | |
| Phillip Phillips | "Miles" | Collateral | Co-writer | |
| "Don't Tell Me" | Co-writer | |||
| Moon Taxi | "Good As Gold" | Let the Record Play | Co-writer | |
| Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear | "Hell and Back" | The Radio Winners | Co-writer | |
| The Night Game | "American Nights" | The Night Game | Co-writer | |
| Lennon Stella | "Without Warning" | Nashville Soundtrack vol. 6 | Co-writer | |
| 2017 | Barenaked Ladies | "Canada Dry" | Fake Nudes | Co-writer |
| "Bringing It Home" | Co-writer | |||
| "Lookin' Up" | Co-writer | |||
| "You + Me vs. the World" | Co-writer | |||
| Trombone Shorty | "Where It At?" | Parking Lot Symphony | Co-writer | |
| 2016 | Violent Femmes | "Issues" | We Can Do Anything | Co-writer |
| 2015 | Barenaked Ladies | "Get Back Up" | Silverball | Co-writer |
| "Duct Tape Heart" | Co-writer | |||
| David Cook | "Home Movies (Over Your Shoulder)" | Digital Vein | Co-writer | |
| Andrew McMahon | "Canyon Moon" | Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness | Co-writer | |
| 2014 | Christina Perri | "Lonely Child" | Head or Heart | Co-writer |
| "One Night" | Co-writer | |||
| JT Hodges | "Already High" | Non-album single | Co-writer | |
| Megan and Liz | "Night of Our Lives" | Simple Life | Co-writer | |
| 2013 | A Rocket to the Moon | "Whole Lotta You" | Wild & Free | Co-writer |
| "You're My Song" | Co-writer | |||
| Barenaked Ladies | "Did I Say That Out Loud?" | Grinning Streak | Co-writer | |
| "Gonna Walk" | Co-writer | |||
| "Odds Are" | Co-writer | |||
| James Blunt | "Kiss This Love Goodbye" | Moon Landing (deluxe edition) | Co-writer | |
| "Telephone" | Co-writer | |||
| 2012 | Boys Like Girls | "Crazy World" | Crazy World | Co-writer |
| Daniel Powter | "Cupid" | Turn On the Lights | Co-writer | |
| "The Day We Never Met" | Co-writer | |||
| Missy Higgins | "Hello Hello" | The Ol' Razzle Dazzle | Co-writer | |
| Tristan Prettyman | "My Oh My" | Cedar + Gold | Co-writer | |
| 2011 | Augustana | "Counting Stars" | Augustana | Co-writer |
| David Cook | "Fade into Me" | This Loud Morning | Co-writer | |
| Howie Day | "Ceasefire" | Ceasefire EP | Co-writer | |
| "Isn't It Obvious" | Co-writer | |||
| "Oxygen" | Co-writer | |||
| Il Volo | "This Time" | Il Volo (international version) | Co-writer | |
| 2010 | Taylor Swift | "Breathless" | Hope for Haiti Now | Writer |
| James Blunt | "I'll Be Your Man" | Some Kind of Trouble | Co-writer | |
| Sugarland | "Stuck Like Glue" | The Incredible Machine | Co-writer | |
| "Tonight" | Co-writer | |||
| 2009 | Howie Day | "Be There" | Sound the Alarm | Co-writer |
| "Longest Night" | Co-writer | |||
| "Sound the Alarm" | Co-writer | |||
| "Undressed" | Co-writer | |||
| Train | "I Got You" | Save Me, San Francisco | Co-writer | |
| 2008 | David Cook | "Avalanche" | David Cook | Co-writer |
| I Nine | "Don't Wanna" | Heavy Weighs the King | Co-writer | |
| Joshua Radin | "Free of Me" | Simple Times | Co-writer | |
| Lenka | "Knock Knock" | Lenka | Co-writer | |
| Tristan Prettyman | "Madly" | Hello...x | Co-writer | |
| 2007 | Graham Colton | "New Year's Resolution" | Here Right Now | Co-writer |
| Ingram Hill | "Four Letter Word" | Cold in California | Co-writer | |
| "Impossible" | Co-writer | |||
| Jeremy Lister | "Fit" | Just One Day EP | Co-writer | |
| "Just One Day" | Co-writer | |||
| Jon McLaughlin | "Human" | Indiana | Co-writer | |
| 2006 | Val Emmich | "Absolutely Still" | Sunlight Searchparty | Co-writer |
| 2005 | Josh Kelley | "Lover Come Up" | Almost Honest | Co-writer |
| 2004 | Graham Colton Band | "Cigarette" | Drive | Co-writer |
| "Cut" | Co-writer | |||
| "First Week" | Co-writer | |||
| "How Low (Breakdown)" | Co-writer | |||
| "Morning Light" | Co-writer | |||
| Missy Higgins | "Don't Ever" | The Sound of White | Co-writer | |
| "Scar" | Co-writer | |||
| "Unbroken" | Co-writer | |||
| 2003 | Blondie | "Good Boys" | The Curse of Blondie | Co-writer |
| Howie Day | "Collide" | Stop All the World Now | Co-writer | |
| "Perfect Time of Day" | Co-writer | |||
| "Sunday Morning Song" | Co-writer | |||
| Meat Loaf | "Testify" | Couldn't Have Said It Better | Writer |
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