Benny Blanco | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Benjamin Joseph Levin |
Born | Reston, Virginia, U.S. | March 8, 1988
Genres | Pop[1] |
Occupations |
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Discography | Benny Blanco production discography |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels |
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Formerly of | |
Partner(s) | Selena Gomez (2023–present; engaged) |
Website | benny-blanco |
Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer, songwriter, record executive and author. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2] He has also won five BMI Songwriter of the Year Awards, won the 2017 iHeartRadio Producer of the Year Award, and received 11 Grammy Award nominations.[3]
Levin was initially mentored by American record producer Dr. Luke, who signed Levin to his production company Kasz Money Productions. Levin was thereafter credited on several of Luke's productions from 2008 to the mid-2010s. Since then, Levin has contributed to albums and singles that have sold a cumulative 500 million album-equivalent units; having produced or co-written for Ed Sheeran, BTS, Eminem, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Christina Aguilera, Kesha, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Sia, The Weeknd, Kanye West, Avicii, Selena Gomez, Adam Lambert, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, OneRepublic, Wiz Khalifa, J Balvin, Ariana Grande, Kali Uchis, Juice Wrld, and SZA, among others.
In July 2018, Blanco released his debut single as a lead artist, "Eastside" (with Halsey and Khalid).[4] The song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100—marking his 27th top-ten song as a writer, a sum which includes seven number one singles on the chart—while peaking the charts in four countries, and reaching the top ten in several others.[5] Each released that same year, Levin's follow-up singles — "I Found You" (with Calvin Harris), "Better to Lie" (with Jesse and Swae Lee) and "Roses" (with Brendon Urie and Juice Wrld) — preceded the release of his debut studio album, Friends Keep Secrets, in December.[6] A deluxe issue, titled Friends Keep Secrets 2 was released in March 2021, a date which coincided with the original receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latter spawned the top 40 single "Lonely" (with Justin Bieber).[7]
Blanco has founded two labels as imprints of Interscope Records—Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets—in 2014, through both of which he has signed artists including Tory Lanez, Jessie Ware, and Cashmere Cat, among others.[8] After both labels dissolved a decade later, Levin signed with A&M Records, an imprint of Interscope.