Kevin Griffin
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Kevin Michael Griffin (born October 1, 1968)[1]Template:Better source is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Better Than Ezra, with whom he has released nine studio albums. He has also issued one solo record.
His songs have been performed and recorded by artists such as Taylor Swift, Train, James Blunt, Christina Perri, Howie Day, Barenaked Ladies, Blondie, and Missy Higgins, among others. He is a co-founder and partner of the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee.
Early life and education
Griffin was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended River Oaks School, where he met future bandmate Jim Payne.[2][3] He received a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in political science[4] from Louisiana State University in 1990.[5] He was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He took the LSAT with the intention of attending law school and working in entertainment law.[5] He then took a job with Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles in the early 1990s.[5]
Music career
Better Than Ezra
Griffin formed the alternative rock band Better Than Ezra in 1988.[4] It reached the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart with the 1995 single "Good",[6] which stayed atop that chart for seven weeks.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". "Good" also reached No. 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chartScript error: No such module "Unsubst". and No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7]
The band enjoyed further success with hits such as "In the Blood", "Rosealia", "King of New Orleans", "Desperately Wanting", "One More Murder", and "At the Stars".[8]
In 2010, the Better Than Ezra song "Breathless" was covered by Taylor Swift at the Hope for Haiti Now telethon,[9][10] the most widely distributed telethon in history.[11][12][13]
Solo career and Ezra Ray Hart
Griffin's first solo album, Anywhere You Go,[14][15] was released on October 4, 2019.[16] Griffin also performs as part of the supergroup Ezra Ray Hart, with Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Emerson Hart of Tonic.[17][18]
As a performer, Griffin is known for singing in falsetto, inviting audience members onstage to play guitar, and interrupting his own songs with verses of well-known rock songs. He is also a mimic, imitating singers such as Aaron Neville, Bruce Springsteen, and Dave Matthews.[19][20]
Griffin has won numerous BMI pop and country awards.[16]
Songwriting
Griffin has produced, written, and co-written platinum albums and songs that have sold more than thirty million copies in total.[3][16] His number-one hits include Howie Day's "Collide" (2004)[9][3] and Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" (2010).[21][9][22][3]
Songs written by Griffin have been performed and recorded by artists such as Taylor Swift,[9][10][23] Train,[10] James Blunt,[10] Moon Taxi,[16] Christina Perri,[24] Trombone Shorty,[25] Barenaked Ladies,[10][24] Tom Morello, Boys Like Girls, Blondie,[10][16] Chase Rice,[26][27] the Struts,[16][23] and Missy Higgins,[16] among others.
Other endeavors
Griffin is a co-founder and partner of the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee.[28][29][30][4] Rolling StoneTemplate:'s 2015 review of the festival's inaugural year was positive, saying it had "an A-list lineup (arguably the best curated of the year)"[28] and "established itself as a festival to watch".[28] Performers have included Justin Timberlake,[31][4] Foo Fighters,[32] Willie Nelson,[33] Chris Stapleton,[34] the Killers,[35] Dave Matthews Band,[36][33] Maren Morris,[36][33] the Black Keys,[33][27] Cage the Elephant,[36] and Black Pumas.[36]
In 2018, Griffin was an adjunct professor at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.[4]
Griffin is active with MusiCares and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[37][38] In 2020, through a series of livestreamed acoustic performances, he was able to raise more than $220K for various charities helping those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[37][38]
Personal life
Griffin and his family largely resided in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.[39] He purchased a home in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in July 2006,[39] and in 2011, he sold it and moved to Franklin, Tennessee, with his family.[40]
Griffin's first marriage ended in divorce, and "substance abuse was a factor".[41] He has three children.[42]
He married Erica Krusen, a senior executive with Gibson Guitar Brands, in 2022.[42]
In a June 2025 interview, Griffin stated that he had been sober for ten years.[41]
Selected songwriting credits
| Year | Artist | Song | Album | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Blondie | "Good Boys" | The Curse of Blondie | Co-writer |
| Howie Day | "Collide" | Stop All the World Now | Co-writer | |
| "Perfect Time of Day" | Co-writer | |||
| "Sunday Morning Song" | Co-writer | |||
| Meat Loaf | "Testify" | Couldn't Have Said It Better | Writer | |
| 2004 | Missy Higgins | "Don't Ever" | The Sound of White | Co-writer |
| "Scar" | Co-writer | |||
| "Unbroken" | Co-writer | |||
| 2005 | Josh Kelley | "Lover Come Up" | Almost Honest | Co-writer |
| 2007 | Jon McLaughlin | "Human" | Indiana | Co-writer |
| 2008 | David Cook | "Avalanche" | David Cook | Co-writer |
| Lenka | "Knock Knock" | Lenka | Co-writer | |
| Tristan Prettyman | "Madly" | Hello...x | Co-writer | |
| 2009 | Howie Day | "Be There" | Sound the Alarm | Co-writer |
| "Longest Night" | Co-writer | |||
| "Sound the Alarm" | Co-writer | |||
| "Undressed" | Co-writer | |||
| Train | "I Got You" | Save Me, San Francisco | Co-writer | |
| 2010 | Taylor Swift | "Breathless" | Hope for Haiti Now | Writer |
| James Blunt | "I'll Be Your Man" | Some Kind of Trouble | Co-writer | |
| Sugarland | "Stuck Like Glue" | The Incredible Machine | Co-writer | |
| "Tonight" | Co-writer | |||
| 2011 | Augustana | "Counting Stars" | Augustana | Co-writer |
| David Cook | "Fade into Me" | This Loud Morning | Co-writer | |
| Il Volo | "This Time" | Il Volo (international version) | Co-writer | |
| 2012 | Boys Like Girls | "Crazy World" | Crazy World | Co-writer |
| Missy Higgins | "Hello Hello" | The Ol' Razzle Dazzle | Co-writer | |
| 2013 | Barenaked Ladies | "Did I Say That Out Loud?" | Grinning Streak | Co-writer |
| "Gonna Walk" | Co-writer | |||
| "Odds Are" | Co-writer | |||
| James Blunt | "Kiss This Love Goodbye" | Moon Landing (deluxe edition) | Co-writer | |
| "Telephone" | Co-writer | |||
| 2014 | Christina Perri | "Lonely Child" | Head or Heart | Co-writer |
| "One Night" | Co-writer | |||
| Megan and Liz | "Night of Our Lives" | Simple Life | Co-writer | |
| 2015 | Barenaked Ladies | "Get Back Up" | Silverball | Co-writer |
| "Duct Tape Heart" | Co-writer | |||
| David Cook | "Home Movies (Over Your Shoulder)" | Digital Vein | Co-writer | |
| Andrew McMahon | "Canyon Moon" | Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness | Co-writer | |
| 2016 | Violent Femmes | "Issues" | We Can Do Anything | Co-writer |
| 2017 | Barenaked Ladies | "Canada Dry" | Fake Nudes | Co-writer |
| "Bringing It Home" | Co-writer | |||
| "Lookin' Up" | Co-writer | |||
| "You + Me vs. the World" | Co-writer | |||
| Trombone Shorty | "Where It At?" | Parking Lot Symphony | Co-writer | |
| 2018 | The Struts | "Freak Like You" | Young & Dangerous | Co-writer |
| Mike Love | "Must Be Christmas" | Reason for the Season | Co-writer | |
| Moon Taxi | "Good as Gold" | Let the Record Play | Co-writer | |
| 2021 | Barenaked Ladies | "Flip" | Detour de Force | Co-writer |
| "Good Life" | Co-writer | |||
| "New Disaster" | Co-writer | |||
| "Roll Out" | Co-writer | |||
| Tom Morello | "Raising Hell" | The Atlas Underground Flood | Co-writer | |
| Chase Rice | "American Nights" | The Album | Co-writer |
References
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- Pages with script errors
- 1968 births
- American alternative rock musicians
- APRA Award winners
- Better Than Ezra members
- American male singers
- Living people
- Musicians from New Orleans
- Louisiana State University alumni
- American rock songwriters
- American male songwriters
- Musicians from Atlanta
- American alternative rock singers
- Singers from New Orleans