Born in South Africa on January 9, 1967 he was given the name David John Matthews. He is the Grammy winning lead vocalist and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. He has also done some work with Josh Groban and has starred in three films.
Dave along with three brothers and sisters, and parents John and Val moved to Yorktown Heights, New York, when he was only two years of age. Then in 1970, they moved again to Cambridge, England, returned to New York in 1977. Soon after his father passed away, the family moved back to England.
After Dave finished college, one of the requirements of the South African government was to do two years in the military. However, because he was from a devoted Quaker family the military was not an option for him.
He took piano lessons before he started playing the guitar at the age of nine. Dave traveled back and forth from England to Virginia and this is where his musical career became a reality for him. He did various gigs, but found he shied away from performing publicly. It was not until a friend, Tim Reynolds, got him to get up on stage with him that he stunned the audience with his talent. This is where he received the musical gig with Miki Liszt Dance company singing, “Sensitive feelingsâ€. In 1990, he had the brainstorm to start his own band.
At first, he was going to have another person singing however, he changed his mind and decided to do the singing. He formed his band in 1991 with Boyd Tinsley, LeRoi Moore, Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, and Peter Grieser and called themselves The Dave Matthews Band. They had their first show April 20, 1991 at the Earth Day Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since that time, he has performed with many other bands and other artists.
He has also done several films, which include “Where the red Fern Growsâ€, “Because of Winn Dixie†and a brief appearance in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larryâ€. His upcoming film is Lake City starring Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity. You may have seen Dave in House MD with a guest appearance in March 2007 in which he played a musical savant who had to have half his brain removed to recover from mental retardation.
He and his long time girlfriend have twin daughters.
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