Beck Hansen seems to have experienced a spiritual sea change after the acclaimed recording artist distanced himself from the Church of Scientology in an interview out Friday.
The mononymous musician best known as Beck put space between himself and Scientology in an article published by The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I think there’s a misconception that I am a Scientologist. I’m not a Scientologist. I don’t have any connection or affiliation with it. My father has been a Scientologist for a long time, but I’ve pretty much just focused on my music and my work for most of my life, and tended to do my own thing,” he said in the interview, according to the newspaper.
“I think it’s just something people ran with,” the musician added, according to the newspaper.
The 49-year-old Grammy Award-winning musician is among those who have previously identified him as adhering to Scientology, making him until now one of the most prominently known entertainers of his ilk to seemingly subscribe to its beliefs.
“Yeah, I’m a Scientologist,” he told the Irish Sunday Tribune in 2005. “My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it and stuff.”
“I think people can sort of say and do whatever they want,” he said at the time. “All I can do is live my life with integrity and raise my child and work hard and work hard for the people I work with. I don’t have anything to hide. I am completely proud of my life.”
The musician married a Scientologist, actress Marissa Ribisi, in 2004, and they have two children together. He filed for divorce in February, the Morning Herald reported.
Beck earned his first of 15 Grammy Award nominations for his 1994 alternative rock hit “Loser.” He won his first of seven when he bested Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen to win the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1997 for the song “Where It’s At.”
“Sea Change,” his eighth studio album, was nominated to receive the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
His 14th studio album, “Hypersonic,” was released Friday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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