Ben Houston — Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Ben has over 33 years in the music industry – his music is known nationally and internationally. Many people – from the USA, to China, to Russia, to Great Britian – have said Ben Houston is one of the greatest singers that has ever been, a rare treasure.

Born Ben Reginald Dobbins on June 7th, 1964, in Nashville Tennessee, Ben was raised in the deep woods of Mississippi, which is where he learned his singing style. At age 2, Ben and his sister, Dee, moved to Mississippi to live with their grandmother. Their grandmother's home was next door to a church, which is where he would spend the next 15 years of his life, attending and singing. Ben's mother was the church pianist for many years there. At age 7, Ben was traveling and touring the deep south singing at different churches with many local pastors in Mississippi and Alabama. Ben was singing and his sister Dee was playing the piano. His early influences were James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Bill Withers, Jackie Wilson, Al Green and Sam Cooke. In his last year of high school, Ben moved back to nashvile to live with his mom and dad. After high school he changed his last name to "Houston" to have more of a 'flashy' apppeal in show-biz, as many other artist have done.

Once in college, Ben put together his first full band – "Ben Houston and the Heart of Soul." Ben had done strictly Gospel music for many years, so he wanted to try some different kinds of music. His band took off like a rocket, and his voice was different and hot in demand. Ben has a 4-octave range. His first record was at age 19; the single was called "Great Comeback."  This did very well, and brought Ben to a new level. Ben's band was also in top demand on the college circuit. Ben quit college and and went full time on the road. He oftens says, "If he had to do it all over, he would have finished school." Ben began playing colleges, private parties, nightclubs, etc. He also began doing jingles and singing in TV commercials, which took his baritone/tenor, 4-octave voice to national acclaim.

Soon after, Ben moved to Chicago, where the Chicago people were awed at this young, Mississippian singing style. Chicago was known for its Blues and Jazz, but when they heard Ben sing one time, they stood to their feet and clamoured for more of Ben. This led to a long singing engagement at a Jazz club called the "Vu," located on Lincoln & Racine Street. Ben also had two cameo appearances in two major movies in Chicago. After the engagement was done, Ben moved briefly to Los Angeles, where he began to sharpen his songwriting skills. He also learned more about the music business and the stage. Ben spent a lot of time with Blues greats such as Charles Brown, Little Richard and Billy Cox (Cox was a bassist for Jimi Hendrix). He has played with Charlie Daniels and many other famous entertainers, who kindly taught Ben about the business and also warned Ben about the pitfalls and traps of the industry. They had experience and they knew the ropes. Ben didn't know at the time, that this was prepping him for the major national and internationl success that was only around the corner... Read More of Ben's Story