Damien Rice was born in Dublin, Ireland to George and Maureen Rice and grew up in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. He was originally in the band Juniper, a rock band which released the singles The World Is Dead and Weatherman. On the eve of recording their first full album for Polygram in 1999, Rice became disenchanted with the commercial label and quit. His Juniper bandmates became Bell X1. He moved to rural Italy where he played acoustic guitar, wrote songs, and busked around Europe until he was able to form a band and get coffeeshop gigs in the Dublin area. Exploiting a lucky connection to David Arnold, his second cousin, Rice was able to record O, for which he won the Shortlist Music Prize in 2003. The other members of the band are cellist Vyvienne Long; percussionist Tom Osander (aka: Tomo) a member of the 90s jam band God Street Wine; and bassist Shane Fitzsimons. Lisa Hannigan on vocals and ocassionally guitar and bass, has recently left the band.