Rice was originally the singer for Juniper, a rock band with a notable stage show, which released the singles "The World Is Dead" and "Weatherman". On the eve of recording their first full album for Polygram in 1999, Rice became disenchanted with the commercial direction he felt pushed into by the label, and quit. His Juniper bandmates became Bell X1.

Moving to rural Italy, he lived quietly, until deciding to return to the music business on his own terms. Turning to acoustic guitar and intensely personal songwriting, he busked penniless around Europe until he was able to attract a band and coffeeshop gigs in the Dublin area. Exploiting a lucky connection to David Arnold, his second cousin, Rice was able to record O. The songs "The Blower's Daughter", "Cold Water" - both featured in the 2004 film Closer - and "Cannonball" became international hits.

The other members of the band are: Lisa Hannigan who sings and occasionally plays guitar and bass; cellist Vyvienne Long; percussionist Tom Osander (aka: Tomo) who was also a member of the band God Street Wine; and bassist Shane Fitzsimons.

In 2003, the band won the Shortlist Music Prize for O.

"The Blower's Daughter" and "Cold Water" were featured on the 2004 Mike Nichols film Closer. "Cold Water" was also featured on the TV drama ER. "Delicate" was featured on the movie "Dear Frankie" as well as on the TV dramas Lost, House, Alias and [CSI:Miami]] and "Cannonball" was featured on the TV series The L Word and the dramedy The O.C. The song "Cold Water" was featured on the movie "Stay".

Damien Rice is also involved in a human rights campaign to free Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is presently being subjected to her third house arrest in Rangoon by the Burmese military - this time having been confined to her home since September 2003. Damien and Lisa recorded a charity song, campaigning for her being set free, called "Unplayed Piano."

Damien spent 2004 and 2005 reportedly recording the follow-up to O, a process which is still on-going. There is no expected release date. He also took some time to record an old Juniper track, "Cross-eyed Bear" (originally titled "Jewellery Box"), for the new Warchild album. When the song was first available for download, there was an error in the mastering of the track, in that Damien's and Lisa's voices were much lower than usual. The error was fixed a few days later, to the dismay of some fans (who thought that the low voice was intentional, and subsequently some people

Albums

* Feb 2002 - O
* Nov 2002 - O (With Bonus DVD)
* Jul 2003 - Live From The Union Chapel (EP)
* Nov 2003 - O With 2 Bonus Tracks
* Jul 2004 - B-Sides (EP)
* Aug 2005 - O (Featuring New Song - Unplayed Piano)

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Singles

* Sep 2001 - The Blower's Daughter
* May 2002 - Cannonball
* Oct 2002 - Volcano
* Mar 2003 - Woman Like A Man
* Apr 2004 - Lonelily (Vinyl Only)
* Jun 2004 - Lonely Soldier (Featuring Christy Moore)
* Jun 2005 - Unplayed Piano

O is the name of Damien Rice's first album. Released in Ireland and Great Britain on 1 February 2002, it has since gone platinum in Ireland. Rice wanted to make the album without the backing of a major record label, believing if he signed such a deal it would compromise his future work, forcing him to move in directions he did not wish to.

The first single from O was "The Blower's Daughter" which was released in September 2001, before the album itself was completed. It entered the top 20 in the Irish charts. There is a version of this song, released in January 2005, on the album Ana e Jorge - Ao Vivo (song #7)[1], by the Brazilian artists Seu Jorge and Ana Carolina.

The album has two hidden tracks, "Prague" and "Silent Night", which play after a period of silence after the last track.

There is no special meaning in the name of the album. It came to Damien Rice during bicycle incident and he enjoyed it.

In December 2004, The Blower's Daughter was re-released in the charts on the Closer soundtrack.

Lisa Hannigan is the amazingly talented female vocalist you will know from listening to Damien's recordings and going to his gigs.

She sings "Silent Night", the hidden track at the end of "O", and sometimes sings many of Damien's songs solo at his gigs around the country.

Early in 2002 she sang as lead vocalist for Damien's music at a gig in the Temble Bar Music Centre in Dublin. She is an incredible singer and occasionally gets even louder applause than Damien from their audiences!! (Sorry Damien!)

Lisa also appears on backing vocals on Mic Christopher's album "Skylarking", as well as the soundtrack to "Goldfish Memory".

In September 2003 Lisa appeared in a new play by Jessamyn Fiore called "The Mysterious World of Birds", performed in Galway and Dublin.