Artist · chart history · #682 in indie & aaa artist polls

Ben Lee

Solo artist Bondi Australian singer/songwriter

Ben Lee is an artist from Bondi. Ben Lee has 44 chart appearances on 39 radio countdowns from 15 stations on RockLists, spanning 1998–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Catch My Disease”, which appears on 16 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted Ben Lee most often is WBER (Rochester, NY), with 13 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2005.

44appearances

39countdowns

17songs charted

15stations

0#1 finishes

1998–2025years

Ben Lee started young: born in 1978 and from Bondi, he was 14 when he began playing with the Sydney band Noise Addict, and when that band fell apart in 1995 he went solo. His indie pop is sunny, wide-eyed and a little bit cheeky, built on acoustic guitar and a voice that never quite loses its boyishness.

Breathing Tornados, in 1998, had "Cigarettes Will Kill You", a gentle, rueful strum, and the laid-back shuffle of "Nothing Much Happens". "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" turned up on The Dirty Little Secret EP in 2002. Then Awake Is the New Sleep, in 2005, turned the optimism all the way up: "Catch My Disease" is a hand-clapping sing-along that bounces like a kid on a trampoline, and "Gamble Everything for Love" and "We're All in This Together" keep the heart firmly on the sleeve. Ripe followed in 2007 with "Love Me Like the World Is Ending".

He has kept a foot in acting too, playing the lead in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake in 2003, and has put out eleven solo albums.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by Ben Lee on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	Catch My Disease	753	16	#2	–	2005
2	Cigarettes Will Kill You	220	4	#2	–	1998
3	Something Borrowed, Something Blue	170	2	#18	–	2003
4	We're All in This Together	98	2	#53	–	2007
5	Begin	94	2	#39	–	2005
6	Gamble Everything for Love	86	1	#15	–	2004
7	Into the Dark	82	2	#76	–	2005
8	Chills	67	1	#77	–	2005
9	Goodbye To Yesterday	59	1	#52	–	2015
10	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	58	3	#81	–	2009
11	Close I've Come	52	1	#77	–	2006
12	Nothing Much Happens	37	3	#81	–	1999
13	I Love Pop Music	37	1	#58	–	2009
14	The Enemy Within	25	1	#79	–	2017
15	Get Used To It	20	1	#106	–	2012
16	Without Love	15	1	#117	–	2008
17	Love Me Like the World Is Ending	5	1	#96	–	2007

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Year-end chart timeline

Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.

98 99 00 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 12 15 17

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2025	83	Cigarettes Will Kill You	Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025)
2022	693	Catch My Disease	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s
2018	652	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018
2017	79	The Enemy Within	WBER Listener Countdown 2017
2015	52	Goodbye To Yesterday	WBER Listener Countdown 2015
2014	1221	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013	1176	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2013	560	Catch My Disease	WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013)
2013	95	Cigarettes Will Kill You	Triple J Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years (2013)
2012	106 (tie)	Get Used To It	WBER Listener Countdown 2012
2011	1121	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	1084	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009	58	I Love Pop Music	WERG Top 90 of 2009
2009	81	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2009
2009	1046	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2009	869	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade
2008	117 (tie)	Without Love	WBER Listener Countdown 2008
2008	1038	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	66 (tie)	We're All in This Together	WBER Listener Countdown 2007
2007	96	Love Me Like the World Is Ending	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2007
2007	820	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2006	77 (tie)	Close I've Come	WBER Listener Countdown 2006
2006	685	Artist ranking	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006)
2005	105	Catch My Disease	The End Top 107 Songs of 2005
2005	69	Catch My Disease	CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2005
2005	30	Catch My Disease	Y100 Top 150 Songs of 2005
2005	8	Catch My Disease	WBER Listener Countdown 2005
2005	39	Begin	X96 Top 50 Songs of 2005
2005	50	Catch My Disease	WEQX Top 102.7 of 2005
2005	70 (tie)	Begin	WBER Listener Countdown 2005
2005	76 (tie)	Into the Dark	WBER Listener Countdown 2005
2005	77 (tie)	Chills	WBER Listener Countdown 2005
2005	2	Catch My Disease	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005
2005	53	We're All in This Together	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005
2005	86	Into the Dark	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005
2005	399	Catch My Disease	ModernRock.com Top 400 Songs of 2005
2004	15	Gamble Everything for Love	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2004
2003	18	Something Borrowed, Something Blue	WBER Listener Countdown 2003
2002	22	Something Borrowed, Something Blue	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2002
2000	94	Nothing Much Happens	WBER Listener Countdown 2000
1999	83	Nothing Much Happens	91X Top 91 Songs of 1999
1999	4	Cigarettes Will Kill You	WBER Listener Countdown 1999
1999	81	Nothing Much Happens	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999
1998	2	Cigarettes Will Kill You	Triple J Hottest 100 of 1998

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