Ben Watt
Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt (born 6 December 1962) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ, and radio presenter, best known as a member of the duo Everything but the Girl.[1]
Ben Watt
Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt
6 December 1962
Marylebone, London, England
Barnes, London, England
- Musician
- singer
- DJ
- author
- producer
- radio presenter
- Vocals
- guitar
- keyboards
- synthesizer
- piano
- organ
- turntable
- programming
1981–present
- Cherry Red
- Blanco y Negro
- Sire
- Warner Bros.
- Atlantic
- Virgin
- Buzzin' Fly
- Strange Feeling
Early life[edit]
Watt was born in Marylebone, London, and grew up in Barnes, the son of Scottish jazz bandleader and arranger Tommy Watt and Welsh showbusiness writer Romany Bain.[2] He has a total four older half-brothers and half-sisters.[1][3]
Writer[edit]
Watt's first memoir, Patient – The True Story of a Rare Illness (Penguin, 1996), describes his life-changing ordeal with Churg–Strauss syndrome (Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis), a rare life-threatening auto-immune disease with which he was diagnosed and hospitalized in 1992, on the eve of a North American tour with Everything But The Girl. "An astonishingly assured anatomy of his ordeal, by turns terrifying, mordantly funny and intensely moving. Many people suffer the pain and indignities of intensive medical treatment; but few have written about it with quite such alarming vividness or clarity", wrote Mick Bown in The Daily Telegraph.[17] The book was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a Sunday Times Book of the Year chosen by William Boyd and a Village Voice Literary Supplement Favorite Book of the Year, and was also a finalist for the Esquire-Waterstones Best Non-Fiction Award in the UK.[18]
His second memoir, Romany and Tom—a portrait of his parents' lives and marriage—was published by Bloomsbury in February 2014.[19] "Neither sentimental nor savage, yet often wise, moving and entertaining within the same paragraph, Romany and Tom is a major achievement to rival any of Watt's recordings", said The Guardian.[20] "Watt captures what real life feels like, and he captures it with breathtaking clarity, beauty, and precision", said the Los Angeles Review of Books.[21] In September 2014 it was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2014.[22]
Radio presenter[edit]
In 2006, Watt launched the online Buzzin' Fly radio show to showcase upcoming music from the label, new releases and guest mixes. It was re-broadcast on the Galaxy Network[46] and Kiss. In 2009, after more than 150 editions, Watt presented his last show and accepted an invitation to move to the BBC Radio 6 Music's flagship electronic radio show as a resident DJ on the 6 Mix; this show was cancelled in 2014.[47]
Personal life[edit]
Watt lives with his spouse and creative partner Tracey Thorn in Hampstead, north London. They met at Hull University in 1981; after 27 years together, they married in 2009 at the Chelsea Register Office.[48][49] They have three children.[50]
In 1992, Watt was diagnosed with Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), an extremely rare and potentially deadly autoimmune condition.[51] He eventually had 5 m (15 ft) of necrotized small intestine removed (about 75%), leaving him on a permanently restricted diet. He later wrote the memoir Patient about his experiences with the disease and recovery.[51]
Watt is part of an environmental advocacy group that advocates for cleanup and care of the Welsh Harp reservoir. He launched the group Cool Oak as part of his advocacy. [52]