Ben

"Ben"
Single by Michael Jackson
from the album Ben
B-side	You Can Cry On My Shoulder[1]
Released	July 12, 1972
Format	CD single
Recorded	1971
Genre	Pop, soul, pop rock/R&B, soft rock
Length	2:44
Label	Motown
Writer(s)	Walter Scharf Don Black
Producer	The Corporation
Michael Jackson singles chronology

"Ben" is a song written and composed by Walter Scharf and Don Black and recorded by Michael Jackson for the Motown label in 1972.

Background

Originally written for Donny Osmond, "Ben" was offered to Jackson as Osmond was on tour at the time and unavailable for recording.[2] The single, theme of a 1972 film of the same name (the sequel to the 1971 killer rat movie Willard), spent one week at the top of the U.S. pop chart.[3] It also reached number-one on the Australian pop chart, spending eight weeks at the top spot.[3] The song also later reached a peak of number seven on the British pop chart.[4]

Although Jackson had already become the youngest artist to ever record a number-one ("I Want You Back" with The Jackson 5, in 1970), "Ben" made him the third-youngest solo artist, at fourteen, to score a number-one hit single. Only Stevie Wonder, who was thirteen when "Fingertips, Pt. 2" went to number one, and Donny Osmond, who was months shy of his fourteenth birthday when "Go Away Little Girl" hit number one in 1971 were younger.

The song is one of Jackson's most re-released, having appeared on The Jackson 5 Anthology, The Best of Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson Anthology, Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection, The Essential Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection, Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection, The Definitive Collection, Number Ones and King Of Pop. A live recorded version was released on the 1981 album The Jacksons Live! and remixed versions have appeared on The Remix Suite and Michael Jackson: The Stripped Mixes. After Jackson's death, singer Akon released a remix of the song with his own background vocals and Jackson's original voice.

In 1985, the song became a top ten hit again in the UK when covered by Marti Webb as a tribute to Ben Hardwick, a young liver transplant patient. This version reached #5 in the UK charts and was one of the singer's biggest hits. The co-writer of the song Don Black was at that time Webb's manager.

Music details

The song is played in the key of F Major at a tempo of 88bpm. The vocal range is B3-D5[5].

Michael Jackson performed the song on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in the early 1970s, and again in 1976 on The Jacksons.

Cultural references

• Kipp Lennon, who performed the singing part of Michael Jackson's character on The Simpsons sang "Ben" to Homer Simpson in the episode "Stark Raving Dad" replacing the name "Ben" with "Homer".
• American singer Amanda Seyfried sang the song as a fourteen year old to the President of the United States as a birthday present for him.
• Pearl Jam makes a reference to the song "Ben" on their 1993 album Vs. on the song "Rats", with the line "Ben, the two of us need look no more" repeated several times at the end the track.[8]. Twice during their Backspacer Tour, Eddie Vedder played a snippet of "Ben" before the band played "Rats".[9]. Notably the first time he played the snippet was at the O2 Arena in London where Michael Jackson was due to perform at a series of concerts.
• Boyzone covered the song on their album A Different Beat.
• The song was featured in the TV movie Wedding Wars, sung by John Stamos' character at the wedding of his brother, Ben.
• The song was sung by 9 year old autistic boy David Militello on the third season of America's Got Talent.
• The song was covered in 2003 by Crispin Glover, for the remake of Willard.
• "Ben" was featured on the 2nd single of Japanese singer, Stephanie, entitled because of you.
• The song was spoofed in the television show The Wayans Bros. when it was sung by Marlon Wayans about his rat named "Rufus".
• The song was covered in 1990 from Silvy Melody at the Vlaamse showbiz TV Show De Kinderacademie.
• Ray Quinn sang "Ben" on the third series of The X Factor, during Motown week in 2006. Two years later, Eoghan Quigg would perform the same number as part of Michael Jackson week; this version is now featured on Quigg's self-titled album.
• Billy Gilman performed the song at the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special in 2001
• In 2007, Connie Talbot released a version on her debut album, Over The Rainbow.
• In the season 3, episode 05 of Will & Grace called Grace 0, Jack 2000, Will sings a part of the song to Grace when she broke up with Ben Doucette, played by Gregory Hines.
• During Dawn and Pete's wedding renewal vows in the Christmas episode of Gavin and Stacey, Dawn uses lines from "Ben", substituting 'Pete' for 'Ben'.[10]
• Faith No More covered this song on April 13, 2010 at The Warfield Theater in San Francisco, and again on July 3, 2010 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.
• During the second season of the US version of Queer As Folk, Michael Novotny sings the song to his ex-boyfriend Ben Bruckner in an attempt to win him back.

References

1. ^ See tracklisting, for example, on artwork hosted at http://www.discogs.com/Michael-Jackson-Ben-You-Can-Cry-On-My-Shoulder/master/141503
2. ^ Donny Osmond
3. ^ a b Cadman, Chris (2007). Michael Jackson: For the Record. Authors OnLine. ISBN 978-0-7552026-7-6. 
4. ^ "Ben" at Oscars
5. ^ "Michael Jackson: Ben Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. © 1971, 1972 (Renewed 1999, 2000) JOBETE MUSIC CO., INC.. http://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/22265/Product.aspx. 
6. ^ "Chart Stats". http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=5989. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
7. ^ U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs
8. ^ "Rats". pearljam.com. 25 November 2009. http://www.pearljam.com/song/rats. Retrieved 21 January 2010. "Ben, the two of us need look no more" 
9. ^ "Ben". pearljam.com. 30 September 2009. http://www.pearljam.com/song/ben. Retrieved 21 January 2010. 
10. ^ Gavin and Stacey: Series three, episode four

External links

• Ben at the 45th Annual Academy Awards on YouTube