Damien Rice

Dublin-born Damien Rice (IMRO) once fronted the hard-edged indie rock band Juniper. But when he decided to go solo, acoustic and dig deeper into his Irish soul, he struck musical gold. Rice's album, O, was first released in Europe in 2002, where it immediately started winning him fans, awards and rave reviews. When it was subsequently released in the U.S. on Vector Records, Rice's star rose considerably. He won the prestigious Shortlist Music Prize in 2003 and began to sell out venues around the world. —EP