Damien Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion.
Rice was raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, and began his musical career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper. After leaving the band he worked as a farmer in Tuscany and busked throughout Europe before returning to Ireland in 2001 and beginning a solo musical career. Rice found his early calling in painting and music. He set out to break into the pop charts with the indie rock outfit Juniper, that were signed to POLYGRAM RECORDS in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate success with a couple of single releases, but a projected album foundered because of record company politics.