Benjamin Clementine at Dubai Opera on 1 November: from Paris busker to Mercury winner
The British singer, pianist, composer and Dune actor plays Dubai Opera's main auditorium on Sunday 1 November.
Benjamin Clementine performs in Dubai Opera's main auditorium on Sunday 1 November at 8pm. The venue describes the concert as a journey through piano and voice, and The National lists it among the key nights of Dubai Opera's tenth-anniversary season.
Born in December 1988, Clementine grew up in Edmonton, north London, in a family of Ghanaian descent. He taught himself piano from the age of 11, inspired by Erik Satie and Claude Debussy, and left school at 16.
At 19 he moved to Paris, where he busked and played bars around Place de Clichy while sleeping rough, and became a cult name on the city's music scene. His 2013 EP Cornerstone led to an appearance on Later... with Jools Holland.
His debut album At Least for Now won the 2015 Mercury Prize, which he dedicated to the victims of the Paris attacks that November. He followed it with I Tell a Fly (2017) and the self-produced And I Have Been (2022), and appeared on Gorillaz's album Humanz with the song Hallelujah Money.
He has also built an acting career, playing the Herald of the Change in Dune (2021) and Ife in Blitz (2024). France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2019, and the Dubai concert is presented by promoter Park Live World.
Benjamin ClementineSun 1 Nov · Dubai Opera, Dubai See ticketsSource: Dubai Opera, The National, Wikipedia: Benjamin Clementine
