Alec Shane Benjamin (born May 28, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter from

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. His 2018 breakthrough single "

Let Me Down Slowly "Let Me Down Slowly" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin, originally released as a solo version in 2018 and included on his mixtape ''Narrated for You'' before being re-released as a duet with Canadian singer Alessia Cara in earl ...

" reached the top 40 in over 25 countries and has amassed over 1 billion streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

as of April 2022. Benjamin primarily writes and sings songs in English, but has released versions of his songs "Older", "The Way You Felt", "Water Fountain", "Devil Doesn't Bargain", and “Shadow of Mine” in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

Early life

Benjamin was born and raised in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, but lived on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

during kindergarten and first grade. He has a sister, for whom he wrote his song "If We Have Each Other".

Career

Initially, Benjamin signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

while still enrolled at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. However, Columbia Records ended their partnership weeks after he submitted his album. Despite this, he went on a self-funded tour in Europe to open for Marina Kaye in France and

Lea Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

in Germany. He promoted his music by performing in parking lots outside concert venues and handing out business cards. Benjamin's album ''Narrated for You'' reached number 127 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in 2019. It features the songs "Water Fountain", "Outrunning Karma", and "

", the latter of which was later re-released as a single with

Alessia Cara Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara (), is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Mississauga, Ontario, to Italian Canadian parents, she began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploadi ...

. While promoting the mixtape, he created the "Can I Sing for You?" videos on YouTube, in which he performs his written songs in acoustic to people in public. In 2019, he recorded two singles with Spotify Studios NYC, one of which was a cover of Eminem's " Stan". He performed at the music festival KAABOO in Del Mar, CA in 2019. Benjamin's debut album '' These Two Windows'' was released on May 29, 2020. The album reached number 75 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The album features the single "Oh My God"; the song did not enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart but peaked at number 32 on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart and at number 26 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart.. To promote the album, he continued his "The Story Behind the Story" videos on YouTube, a series he started with the original versions of "I Built a Friend" and "Water Fountain". The videos explain the background and the lyrics behind some of his biggest songs. His second album, ''(Un)Commentary'', followed on April 15, 2022. Benjamin has also co-written songs for artists such as

Jon Bellion Jonathan David Bellion (born December 26, 1990) is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He was born and raised in Lake Grove, New York on Long Island. He is best known for his song "All Time Low," along with his writing and producing cred ...

, and has a songwriting credit on the track "New York Soul (Part II)" from Bellion's album ''

The Human Condition ''The Human Condition'', first published in 1958, is Hannah Arendt's account of how "human activities" should be and have been understood throughout Western history. Arendt is interested in the ''vita activa'' (active life) as contrasted with ...

''.

Personal life

Benjamin has stated in interviews that he suffers from

social anxiety Social anxiety is the anxiety and fear specifically linked to being in social settings (i.e., interacting with others). Some categories of disorders associated with social anxiety include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, autism spectrum disord ...

and OCD. Benjamin has cited influences by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

, and

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

Discography

Studio albums

Albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other certified songs

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Alec American male singer-songwriters American singer-songwriters Living people 21st-century American singers Place of birth missing (living people) 1994 births 21st-century American male singers