Devendra Banhart

At 42 years old, Devendra Banhart has this physical status:

Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is a Venezuelan American singer-songwriter and visual artist.

Banhart was born in Houston, Texas, and was raised by his mother in Venezuela until he migrated to California as an infant.

In 1998, he began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute, but then moved to Europe, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Banhart's debut album was released in 2002 and he continues to record his material on the Young God and XL labels, as well as other compilations and collaborations.

Early life

Banhart was born in Houston, Texas, to Mara Eugenia Roussez, a Venezuelan mother, and Robert Gary Banhart, an American father. His given name is a synonym for Indra, which was adopted by Indian religious leader Prem Rawat (whom Banhart's parents followed), and Obi's middle name Obi comes from Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Star Wars character.

In 1983, his parents divorced, and Rsquez and he immigrated to Caracas, Venezuela. Rsquez later married and when Banhart was 14, his stepfather moved the family to Los Angeles, California.

Banhart began attending San Francisco Art Institute on a scholarship while living in The Castro, San Francisco's "gay" district, although he would often busk instead of attending classes. He appeared in a gay wedding for the first time, performing Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" and the hymn "How Great Thou Art."

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Musical Career

Banhart dropped out of college in 2000 and moved to San Francisco after the dot-com bust wreaked havoc on the city's economy. He moved to Paris, France, in the summer of 1988, and began playing indie rock bands, including Sonic Youth. After Siobhan Duffy, Gira's wife, bought a copy of Banhart's demo CD The Charles C. Leary and gave it to Gira, Banhart returned to the United States and performed rock in San Francisco and Los Angeles until he was discovered by Michael Gira, the owner of Young God Records.

Banhart and Gira produced an album from Banhart's recordings, and Young God Records' Oh Me Oh My, a short film that was made up of short pieces, received positive feedback in 2002. Rejoicing in the Hands, Nio Rojo, and The Black Babies were two other albums and an EP for the label; the releases had a sluggish acoustic sound. Banhart joined XL Recordings in 2005 and released Cripple Crow, which was recorded in Bearsville Studios, New York, and had a more elaborate sound.

Banhart's albums feature a variety of musical styles, and he is often referred to as the leader of the "Freak Folk" movement. His songs are evocative, idealistic, and poetic, with the occasional appearance of innuendos.

Banhart co-produced the album I Am a Bird Now with Antony and the Johnsons in 2005. On "You Are My Sister," which Boy George also appears, he sings the intro to the song "Spiraling" and plays guitar.

In 2006, Banhart was the first artist to create a T-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project. He donated the proceeds from the selling of his T-shirt to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Banhart's song "Carmensita" was romantically linked from 2007 to 2008.

At his home studio in Topanga, California, he recorded his second album for XL Records, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. At number 115 on the Billboard 200, the album debuted. In the soundtrack of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist's Infinite Playlist, the album's song "Lover" was included, as well as a cameo appearance by Banhart.

Banhart has appeared at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl opening for Gilberto Gil, as well as at Bonnaroo and Coachella music festivals. With Andy Cabic of Vetiver, he founded Gnomonsong, a record label. He signed with Neil Young's boss Elliot Roberts, who also performed vocals to Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon in 2007.

Banhart released Surfing, a collaborative project with Megapuss' Gregory Rogove and Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes and Little Joy, in 2008.

What Will We Be, a writer from Warner/Reprise and announced in 2009? Later this year, he produced a remix of Oasis' "Get Off Your" High Horse Lady," at the band's request. Banhart remixed the Phoenix song "Rome" from their 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, along with "Neighbors."

Beck's second album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, was announced on September 4, 2009. Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy all appeared.

He is a lover of music memorabilia. Banhart wrote the foreword for and appears in Lauren Dukoff's book Family: Photographs. Kenneth Patchen's introduction to a collection of poems has also appeared.

Banhart's first record on Warner/Reprise came on October 27, 2009. In 2011, Banhart and Jon Beasley, who were known as art directors for the album's design and packaging, were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

A musical collaboration between Banhart and Beck is included in the film Life Through Wartime, directed by Todd Solondz. The song is set over the film's end credits. Banhart performs lead vocals, while Beck adds backing vocals and also recorded the song. Solondz and Marc Shaiman's music composed the lyrics.

Banhart broke a bone in his right leg while skating in March 2010, just hours before a show in Phoenix, resulting in the cancellation of future performances in Utah and Colorado.

In 2011, he collaborated with Marisa Monte and Rodrigo Amarante on a Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album, "N com a Minha Msica." The collection is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot + Rio. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to fight AIDS/HIV and other related health and social problems.

Banhart performed "Song 1" at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., in April 2012. The museum's entire surface was blanketed with a video of the performance by artist Doug Aitken.

Banhart appeared on The Eric Andre Show in July 2012 during the show's first season.

Banhart's latest album, Mala, was released on December 3, 2012. Banhart's debut album for Nonesuch was released on March 12, 2013.

Banhart wrote about Arthur Russell's "Losing My Taste For The Nightlife" for the Red Hot + Arthur Russell compilation, which is aimed at the Red Hot Organizations fighting AIDS.

Banhart curated a two-day exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, featuring performances from Harold Budd, Hecuba, Lucky Dragons, Jessica Pratt, Rodrigo Amarante, William Basinksi, and Helado Negro.

Banhart produced Joshy, directed by Jeff Baena and starring Nick Kroll, Jenny Slate, and Thomas Middleditch in 2015.

Banhart's first track on his ninth studio album, Ape in Pink Marble, was released in June 2016. Banhart's second track from his ninth studio album, "Saturday Night," was released in August 2016. Ape in Pink Marble, his ninth studio album, was released on Nonesuch Records on September 23, 2016.

Banhart performed on Ssion's album O in 2018, lending vocals to the song "Free Lunch."

Banhart performed in the project 27: The Most Beautiful Album, which came from the podcast More Perfect, a Radiolab spinoff, in September 2018. The initiative commemorated the United States Constitution's 27 amendments.

Macromedia's tenth studio album, Mahogany, was released on September 13, 2019. Helado Negro remade the song "Love Song" which was released on January 16, 2020.

"You Will Find It" was his first appearance on a Mykki Blanco track in April 2020.

Banhart and Noah Georgeson co-directed the film Arkansas, which stars John Malkovich and Liam Hemsworth.

Banhart contributed to a 50th anniversary tribute album recognizing Allen Ginsberg's Fall of America on February 5, 2020. Mickey Hart, Yo La Tengo, Thurston Moore, and Lee Renaldo were among the artists on display. The poem "Milarepa Taste" was written by Banhart, who provided music and a score.

Banhart unveiled a picture of the Grateful Dead's "Franklin's Tower" on Amazon's Amazon Originals collection on September 3, 2020. The album has since been widely distributed.

As his main influences, Banhart has cited Vashti Bunyan, Simón D'az, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Arthur Russell, Ali Farka Touré, and Caetano Veloso.

Banhart's music has been referred to as psychedelic folk, freak folk, and New Weird America, and she has performed with artists such as singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, musical group CocoRosie, and contemporary folk band Vetiver. The New York Times has referred to his work as "ashram-appropriate guitar strums" and "trippy-hippie tone poetry." Critics also compared Banhart's style to that of 1970s band Tyrannosaurus Rex, a young spin on British rock musician Marc Bolan's T. Rex, but in a 2004 interview, Banhart admitted that he was unaware of Tyrannosaurus Rex until he started writing and recording music.

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