Ben (song)
"Ben" was a number-one hit recording by a
teenaged Michael Jackson for the
Motown label in
1972. The song, the 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. charts. It also reached number seven in the
United Kingdom.
The song became the first of thirteen number-one
pop hits for Jackson in the
United States and his first number one as a solo artist.
Later included on Jackson's
album of the same name, "Ben" won a
Golden Globe for Best Song and was even nominated for an
Academy Award for
Best Original Song.
*Though Jackson had already become the youngest artist to record a number one ("
I Want You Back" with his brothers,
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.
*Jackson performed "Ben" in front of a live audience at the
Academy Awards ceremony, where it was up for the Oscar for
Best Original Song in
1973.
*The song was once performed at a ballet competition, where performers danced to nothing but songs from
Motown.
*A short version of the song was featured in the
Simpsons episode "
Stark Raving Dad" in
1991, where Jackson guest-starred as a fat mental patient. However, due to contractual obligations with his record company, Jackson was not allowed to sing in the episode, so an impersonator was hired to do his singing parts, which included short versions of "Billie Jean" and "Ben". Jackson is credited in the episode under the
pseudonym of John Jay Smith.
*The band
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.
*
Lyrics
