Benny Blanco is an American record producer, musician, and actor. He won the BMI Songwriter of the Year Award five times in different years. He has worked with many famous singers, such as Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Sia, etc. . He is the boyfriend of American pop singer Selena Gomez.
Wiki/Biography
Benny Blanco was born Benjamin Joseph Levin on Tuesday, March 8, 1988, in Reston, Virginia, United States (age 35; as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Pisces.
Benny Blanco’s childhood photos with his mother
He completed his high school education in 2006. He studied at IAR (Institute of Audio Research) in New York.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′8″
Hair color: medium ash blonde
Eye color: hazel
family
He comes from a Jewish family.
Parents and siblings
His father, Andrew Mark Levin, ran a business selling underwear and pajamas. His mother, Sandra Beth, works in assisted living. He has an older brother.
Benny Blanco and his mother
wife
He is unmarried.
Relationships/Affairs
selena gomez
Benny Blanco started dating popular actress and singer Selena Gomez in June 2023. The couple has been seen attending several events together. Gomez confirmed her relationship with Blanco in a December 2023 Instagram comment. Later, she also shared some pictures of them on her Instagram account.
Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez
Elsie Hewitt
In 2019, Benny was romantically involved with actress and model Elsie Hewitt. They first met on the set of their music video “Graduation.” In January 2020, he opened up about dating Hewitt by sharing some photos on Instagram with the caption: “I have a girlfriend and she just went to a different school.” That same month, the couple They also appeared together at Spotify’s “Best New Artist” party.
Benny Blanco’s Instagram posts
Profession
musician
When he was six years old, he started making hip-hop music and recording his vocals in his bedroom. His real interest in music began in 1994. He was inspired by songs such as Nas’ “The World Is Yours” and All-4-One’s “I Swear,” which he often listened to on tape at the time. Later, he began sharing his work with artists on MySpace, hoping to gain recognition. After experimenting with making beats and recording himself on his boombox, his rapping skills caught the attention of executives at The Source and Columbia Records.
Benny Blanco in his studio
At the beginning of his career, Blanco was mentored by popular songwriter and producer Dr. Luke. He later signed with Dr. Luke’s production company “Kasz Money Productions” and served as a long-term co-producer and co-writer with Dr. Luke. Along with Dr. Luke, he co-produced several hit singles in the late 2000s, such as Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” (2008), Ciara’s “Tell Me Tell Me What Your Name Is (2009), Tik Tok (2010) Kesha and Marina ‘s “How to Be a Heartbreaker” (2012).
Poster for Kesha’s song “Tik Tok”
In 2007, the musician collaborated with Baltimore rapper Spank Rock. Together they released an EP titled “Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are…Bangers & Cash”. The collaborative project used samples from 2 Live Crew and gained widespread attention in the music industry. The EP received rave reviews from prestigious publications such as Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
Poster for the EP “Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are…Bangers & Cash”
In 2008, Blanco served as a writer and producer on the Britney Spears song “Circus” alongside Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly. The song was an instant hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the US music charts. Pop Radio. The song became Britney’s second best-selling digital song in the United States, with more than 3.2 million downloads as of July 2016. The song became one of the top ten best-selling songs of 2009, selling 5.5 million digital copies worldwide, according to IFPI. The world that year.
Poster for the song “Circus”
In 2011, he began working as a writer and producer without Dr. Luke. Some of his hits that year included Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts” and 3OH!3’s “Don’t Trust Me.” That same year, he produced Maroon 5’s album Overexpose (2011), as well as the lead single “Payphone”, a collaboration with Wiz Khalifa.
Album “Overexposed” poster
In July 2018, Blanco released his debut single “Eastside” as a frontman with Interscope Records under his own label Friends Keep Secrets. This is a collaboration between Halsey and Khalid. The song proved extremely popular, reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. It became his 27th top ten song as a songwriter and his first top ten single as an artist. The song was critically acclaimed around the world, topping the charts in four countries and reaching the top ten in many other countries.
Poster of the song “East Side”
He later released hit singles such as “Better to Lie” (2018) with Jesse and Swae Lee and “Roses” (2018) with Brendon Urie and Juice WRLD. In January 2019, he released the video song “I Found You / Nilda’s Story” with Calvin Harris and Miguel. The song was produced in support of “The While They Wait” help group for asylum seekers in the U.S., a partnership between Brooklyn Guardian Services, the Refugee and Immigration Center, the Department of Education and Legal Services, and the American Civil Liberties Union assistance. In February 2019, Blanco collaborated with Tiny, Selena Gomez and J. Balvin on the song “I Can’t Get Enough”.
Benny Blanco (right) and Selena Gomez in a still from the music video “I Can’t Get Enough”
He released the song “Graduation” (2019) with Juice WRLD. This is his second project with Juice WRLD after the song “Roses” (2018). The musician first collaborated with Justin Bieber on the song “Lonely” in October 2020.
Benny Blanco (right) and Justin Bieber
In March 2021, he released the deluxe version of the album “Friends Keep Secrets 2”. The album proved extremely popular and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on the day of its release. In August 2022, Blanco collaborated with BTS members Jin, Jimin, V and Jung Kook and popular American actor and rapper Snoop Dogg to create the song “Bad Decisions”.
Benny Blanco (fourth from left) and BTS members
The following year, he released the song “Lace It” with Eminem and Juice WRLD.
actor
television
Benny Blanco made his television debut in the American sitcom “Dave” (2020), which aired on the FXX channel. He appeared as himself, playing Dave’s friend and producer on the sitcom.
Benny Blanco (right) in a still from the sitcom “Dave”
Youtube
Blanco launched the cooking show called “Matty and Benny Eat Out America” in March 2020 with chef Matty Matheson. The cooking show is broadcast live on his YouTube channel “benny blanco”. The following year, the two launched another cooking show called “The Silly Cooking Show,” which premiered on Benny’s YouTube channel.
Benny Blanco (left) in a still from the cooking show “Silly Cooking Show”
Awards, Honors, Achievements
won
- 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 BMI Awards “Songwriter of the Year”
- Maroon 5’s song “Moves like Jagger” won the award for “Most Performed Pop Song” at the 2012 BMI Awards
- 2013 BMI Awards “Urban Songwriter of the Year”
- 2013 Songwriters Hall of Fame Hal David Starlight Award
- Justin Bieber’s song “Love Yourself” won the “Best Lyricist” award at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards
- 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards “Producer of the Year”
- “Secret Genius: Pop” at the 2018 Spotify Secret Genius Awards
- Music video “I Found You / Nilda’s Story” won the 2019 Clio Award for Gold in the Directing Category
- The music video “I Found You / Nilda’s Story” won the 2019 Clio Awards Music Video Gold Award
Nominate
- Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream Wins Album of the Year at 2011 Grammy Awards
- Trey Songz’s song “Heart Attack” won the 2013 Grammy Award for “Best R&B Song”
- Ed Sheeran’s album ‘X’ wins 2015 Grammy Award for ‘Album of the Year’
- Justin Bieber’s album ‘Purpose’ wins 2017 Grammy Award for ‘Album of the Year’
- Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” Wins “Song of the Year” at 2017 Grammy Awards
- Tory Lanez’s song “Luv” wins 2017 Grammy Award for “Best R&B Song”
- 2017 Grammy Awards “Non-Classical Producer of the Year”
- Julia Michaels wins ‘Song of the Year’ at 2018 Grammy Awards for ‘Issues’
- Justin Bieber’s song “Lonely” wins 2022 Grammy Award for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance”
- Justin Bieber’s album ‘Justice’ wins ‘Album of the Year’ at 2022 Grammy Awards
Facts/Trivia
- He has had a strong passion for music since he was a child. He reportedly won a songwriting competition when he was just 9 years old. When he was 13 years old, many companies wanted to sign him to record music.
- He revealed in an interview that earlier he wanted to be a rapper. However, he later discovered that making beats was more interesting and decided to make a career out of it.
- At the age of 17, he interned with producer Disco D, for which he had to travel from Virginia to Brooklyn, New York. Later, he attended a school in New York called IAR (Institute of Audio Research) and started working with Disco D.
- Blanco’s work has contributed to more than 500 million album sales worldwide by artists such as Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Sia and more contribute.
- At the age of 18, he became a DJ.
- During his childhood in Thurmont, Maryland, he attended Camp Airy for many years, where he performed under the name “Ebba Ebba” and even hosted a radio show.
- In March 2020, he appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine with chef Matty Matheson.
Benny Blanco (right) and Marty Matheson on the cover of Vogue
- In an interview, he shared the origin of his stage name Benny Blanco, saying:
I was Benny Bounce for a while, and then I was like, “I’m white!” I was learning Spanish at the time, so I was like, “Blanco!” I just wanted to be Blanco. A friend said: “You should be Benny Blanco, like in Carlito’s Road.”
- He is the founder of two record labels, “Mad Love Records” and “Friends Keep Secrets” and Interscope Records.
- He revealed in an interview that early in his career, he pretended to be popular rapper Jay-Z’s lawyer on the phone with the boss of a major music company.
- He has written a cookbook called “Open Wide,” scheduled to be published in April 2024.
Benny Blanco’s book “Open Your Heart”
- Blanco is a frequent guest lecturer in the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University.
- He founded a charity called Get Well Soon Tour, which organized concerts by famous musicians for sick children in hospitals.
- He is good friends with pop singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran.
Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran
- He was often spotted smoking cigars and drinking alcohol on various occasions.
Benny Blanco smoking a cigar
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education