34 Facts About Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews started playing acoustic guitar at the age of nine.

Dave Matthews has done various solo performances and produced other records.

Dave Matthews has won two Grammy Awards: one with the Dave Matthews Band in 1997 for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and one in 2004 for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance from his solo album.

David John Dave Matthews was born on January 9,1967 in Johannesburg, the third of four children born to South African parents, John and Val Dave Matthews.

At age two, Dave Matthews moved with his family to Yorktown Heights, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working for IBM.

In 1974, the Dave Matthews family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year, then returned to New York, where his father died from lung cancer in 1977 when Dave Matthews was ten years old.

At some point, while residing in New York, Dave Matthews attended his first concert, when his mother took him to a performance by Pete Seeger.

Dave Matthews moved to New York in 1986 where he worked for IBM for a short time, then joined his mother that same year in Charlottesville, Virginia, a town Dave Matthews's family had lived in before he was born.

Dave Matthews met local star Tim Reynolds through mutual friend, Nic Cappon.

In time, Reynolds had Dave Matthews join him on stage, and Dave Matthews was persuaded to record some of his own songs.

Anne Dave Matthews was survived by her two children, and they traveled to the United States following her death.

Dave Matthews sang on the track "Sing Along" on Blue Man Group's second album The Complex in 2003.

Fleck is the frontman and namesake of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones; Dave Matthews appears as guest vocalist with the band on their 1998 release, Left of Cool.

Dave Matthews performed a duet with Emmylou Harris on "My Antonia" on her 2000 album Red Dirt Girl.

Dave Matthews played a cover of Neil Young's song "The Needle and the Damage Done" at the 2010 tribute MusiCares Person of the Year, honoring Young on January 29,2010.

Dave Matthews played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows.

In 2007, Dave Matthews appeared briefly in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where he plays a homosexual salesman.

Dave Matthews had a significant role in Lake City with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity, in which he portrays the character Red.

In 2007, Dave Matthews guest-starred in the medical-drama series House in the episode "Half-Wit".

Dave Matthews played a piano-playing musical savant who had the two hemispheres of his brain severed from each other in order to recover from his epilepsy, but at the expense of his musical abilities.

Dave Matthews had a piano double for the complex pieces, but played the simpler pieces himself.

Dave Matthews was a cast member and performer in the popular music documentary Before the Music Dies.

In 1999, Dave Matthews purchased more than 10 acres of land in Albemarle County, Virginia, known as Blenheim Farm, to preserve its historical significance.

In 2011, Dave Matthews collaborated with wine makers Steve Reeder and Sean McKenzie in creating the Dreaming Tree Wines.

On May 16,2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine, Dave Matthews appeared streaming on the virtual graduation ceremonies for the University of Virginia.

Dave Matthews married longtime girlfriend Jennifer Ashley Harper in 2000.

Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid board of directors in 2001, to serve alongside fellow musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young to raise money for family farmers in the United States.

Dave Matthews supported Barack Obama for president in 2008, both in the primaries and in the general election.

On September 21,2009, Dave Matthews stated that some of President Barack Obama's harsher critics were motivated by his race, and stated that he "sees it [racism] everywhere" in the United States.

Dave Matthews is a strong supporter of gay rights and participated in "Love Unites Shepard Fairey Equality Project", a gay marriage advocacy project.

On May 10,2012, Dave Matthews entertained a sellout crowd at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle where President Obama was hosting a campaign fundraiser.

Dave Matthews was a major donor to the 2017 gubernatorial campaign of progressive Charlottesville politician Tom Perriello.

On October 30,2021, Dave Matthews performed at a Democratic get out the vote event in Charlottesville, Virginia with gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.

The Dave Matthews Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.