Benny Blanco

Some Lesser Known Facts About Benny Blanco

• Benny Blanco is an American record producer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of the BMI Songwriter of the Year Award which he received five times in different years. He has collaborated with notable singers such as Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna, and Sia. In December 2023, he confirmed dating the popular American actress and singer Selena Gomez.

• He belongs to a Jewish family. His father worked in the apparel business and his mother used to work in assisted living.

• He wanted to become a musician since childhood. He began producing hip-hop beats in his bedroom and recording vocals over them at the early age of 6.

  

• In an interview, he revealed that he won a contest for songwriting at the young age of 9. When he reached 13, numerous companies were interested in signing him for recording deals.

• His real interest in music began in 1994. He found inspiration in songs such as “The World Is Yours” by Nas and “I Swear” by All-4-One, which he often listened to on cassette tapes during that period.

• He later started sharing his work with artists on the online platform MySpace, aiming to get noticed. His efforts in creating beats and recording his voice on his boombox paid off when executives from Columbia Records and editors from The Source magazine noticed his skills in rapping.

  

• He has spent several years at Camp Airy, during his childhood in Thurmont, Maryland. While staying there, he had given numerous performances and also hosted a radio show using the nickname “Ebba Ebba.”

• When he was 17 years old, he interned with the producer Disco D, which required him to commute between Virginia and Brooklyn, New York. He later relocated to New York to attend the Institute of Audio Research (IAR) and continued his collaboration with Disco D.

• Benny Blanco received guidance from Dr. Luke, an American record producer and songwriter, in the early stages of his career. He then began working as a producer and songwriter at Dr. Luke’s company, ‘Kasz Money Productions.’

• He, along with Dr. Luke, has co-produced various hit singles in the late 2000s. Some of their hit singles during that period include “I Kissed a Girl” (2008) by Katy Perry, “Tell Me What Your Name Is” (2009) by Ciara, “Tik Tok” (2010) by Kesha, and “How to Be a Heartbreaker” (2012) by Marina.

  

• In 2007, he released an EP titled “Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are…Bangers & Cash” in collaboration with Baltimore rapper Spank Rock. The EP featured samples from 2 Live Crew and became quite popular in the music industry. It earned accolades from major music magazines such as Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.

• The following year, Blanco teamed up with Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly to co-write and co-produce Britney Spears’ song “Circus.” The song was a big success, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping American pop radio charts. It also became Britney’s second highest-selling digital song in the United States, with more than 3.2 million downloads by July 2016. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that “Circus” was among the top 10 best-selling songs of 2009 globally, selling 5.5 million digital copies that year.

  

• The musician began working independently without collaborating with Dr. Luke in 2011. His notable projects that year included hits like “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5, “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes, and “Don’t Trust Me” by 3OH!3.

• He worked as a co-producer and co-writer for Maroon 5’s album “Overexposed” in 2011.

• Blanco teamed up with Halsey and Khalid to release his debut single “Eastside” in 2018. The single became a superhit and was listed as number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. The song marked his 27th entry into the Top Ten as a songwriter and was his first to reach the top 10 where he was credited as the artist. The song gained international acclaim, topping the charts in four countries and ranking in the top ten in numerous others.

  

• In the same year, he gave several hit singles including “Better to Lie” (2018) with Jesse and Swae Lee and “Roses” (2018) with Brendon Urie and Juice WRLD.

• In January 2019, he collaborated with Calvin Harris and Miguel for the video song “I Found You / Nilda’s Story.” The song was created to help ‘The While They Wait’ fund, a joint initiative by Brooklyn Defender Services, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Civil Liberties Union, aimed at assisting asylum seekers in the United States. ^[1]Billboard

• He released the music video for the single “I Can’t Get Enough” in collaboration with Tainy, Selena Gomez, and J Balvin in February 2019. He also acted in the music video of the song. 

• In August 2019, the musician teamed up with Juice WRLD for the music video “Graduation.” This was his second collaboration with Juice WRLD, following their 2018 song “Roses.”

  

• He was featured on the cover of Vogue magazine along with the chef Matty Matheson in March 2020.

  

• Blanco, along with Justin Bieber, launched the song “Lonely” in October 2020. In 2021, the song was included in the reissue of Blanco’s debut studio album ‘Friends Keep Secrets’ (2018).

• He appeared alongside the American rapper and comedian David Andrew Burd (popularly known as Lil Dicky) in his debut sitcom ‘Dave’ (2020).

• He released a deluxe version of his album titled ‘Friends Keep Secrets 2’ on 26 March 2021. The deluxe version of the album was a big hit and got a platinum certification from RIAA on the very first day it was released.

• He appeared as a host alongside chef Matty Matheson in the cooking show ‘Matty and Benny Eat Out America’ (2020), which premiered on his YouTube channel ‘benny blanco.’

  

• In 2021, the duet of Benny and Matty started a new cooking show ‘Stupid F*cking Cooking Show,’ which streamed on Benny’s YouTube channel.

• In August 2022, the musician worked together with BTS members Jin, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, as well as the well-known American actor and rapper Snoop Dogg to create the song “Bad Decisions.”

• He came out with the song “Lace It” in December 2023. It was a collaborative work with popular rapper Eminem and Juice WRLD.

  

• Apart from music, he is also interested in cooking. He often shares cooking videos on his Instagram handle. He has also authored a cookbook named “Open Wide,” which is set for publication in April 2024.

  

• Blanco’s music production has played a significant role in selling over 500 million albums worldwide for several notable artists including Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, and Sia.

• In an interview, he revealed the story behind his stage name Benny Blanco, and said,
  

   I was Benny Bounce for some time, and then I was like, “I’m white!,” and I was studying Spanish at the time, so I was like, “Blanco!” I was just going to be Blanco. A friend said, “You should be Benny Blanco, like in ‘Carlito’s Way.”

• He has established two record labels ‘Mad Love Records’ and ‘Friends Keep Secrets’ under Interscope Records.

• In an interview, he revealed that once he pretended to be the lawyer of the popular rapper Jay-Z, so that he could speak to the top executives at music companies over the phone.

• Blanco has provided lectures several times as a guest faculty at the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University.

• The musician has found the ‘Get Well Soon Tour’ charity that arranges concerts of popular musicians for sick children in hospitals.

• He has a close friendship with the well-known singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran.

• He has frequently been seen smoking cigars and consuming alcohol at different events.