Tim van Berkestijn, better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Benny Sings, is a Dutch pop musician, songwriter, and producer from the Netherlands. Since 2003, he has released ten studio albums, including his most recent album, 2023's ''Young Hearts'' on

Stones Throw Records Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. '' LA Weekl ...

. He has since collaborated with many artists worldwide, like

Mac DeMarco MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV; April 30, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco has released six full-length studio albums, his debut ''Rock and Roll Night C ...

Mocky Mocky (born October 7, 1974) is a Canadian singer, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer. Biography Mocky was born Dominic Salole in Saskatchewan, Canada. He later moved to Ottawa and Toronto, and then to London, Amst ...

, and

Rex Orange County Alexander James O'Connor (born 4 May 1998), known professionally as Rex Orange County, is an English singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. O'Connor rose to prominence in 2017 following multiple features on Tyler, the Creator's Grammy-no ...

Biography

Tim van Berkestijn was born in 1977 and raised in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

, a city in the Western

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He formed his first band, the Loveboat, in high school. He attended the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherl ...

, where he studied

sonology Sonology is a neologism used to describe the study of sound in a variety of disciplines. In medicine, the term is used in the field of magingto describe the practice of medical ultrasonography. According to some scholars, sonology may represent a ...

. He made beats under the name Benny V Kreamtits before changing his name to Benny Sings. In 1999, Berkestijn adopted the stage name Benny Sings when he joined the

Dutch hip hop ::''This article is written from a predominantly Netherlands viewpoint – neglecting much of the Belgian (Flanders) scene, let alone Dutch- or mixed-language rap/hip hop in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, nor Suriname!'' ...

group Abstract Dialect as a bassist. During this period, he also worked with hip hop collective De Toffen and the soul group Heavenly Social. In 2003, Sings released his first solo album, ''Champagne People'', which did well in the Netherlands and Europe. During the 2010s, Sings gained more attention in the United States. In 2017, he helped pen the

single "Loving Is Easy". Beyond his solo career, Sings has collaborated with, written for, and produced many notable artists, including

Mayer Hawthorne Andrew Mayer Cohen (born February 2, 1979), better known by his stage name Mayer Hawthorne, is an American singer, producer, songwriter, arranger, audio engineer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. Cohen performs a ...

Free Nationals Free Nationals are an American contemporary R&B, R&B band formed in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. The group consists of Jose Rios (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ron "T.Nava" Avant (keyboard, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Kelsey Gonzale ...

GoldLink D'Anthony William Carlos (born May 17, 1993), better known by his stage name GoldLink, is an American rapper and singer. In 2014, he released his debut mixtape, ''The God Complex'', which received critical acclaim. In June 2015, GoldLink was cho ...

and

Tom Misch Thomas Abraham Misch (born 25 June 1995) is an English musician and producer. He began releasing music on SoundCloud in 2012 and released his debut studio album ''Geography'' in 2018. In 2020, he released his second studio album '' What Kinda Mu ...

. He also composed songs for the anime ''

Carole & Tuesday is a 24-episode anime television series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was animated by studio Bones, in commemoration of the studio's 20th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of record label FlyingDog. It aired from April 11 to October ...

''. In 2022, Sings co-produced

's album '' Who Cares?'', which debuted at number 5 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

. Sings released the single "The Only One" on October 26, 2022. His album ''Young Hearts'' was released on

on March 24, 2023.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Live albums

Compilations

As featured artist

*C-Mon – "Beggars for Sun" (''Cereal'', 2008) *Che Grand – "Soraya's Jam" (''Everything's Good Ugly'', 2009) *Knobsticker – "Hypothetical_Theoretical" (''Forest Fruit'', 2009) *Scallymatic Orchestra – "All I Can Give" (''Annie Get Your Gun'', 2009) *Kan Sano – "Go Nowhere" (''2.0.1.1'', 2014) *Data – "Don't Sing" (''Don't Sing'', 2015) *Koffie – "Hard Times" (''Huntu'', 2017) *Instupendo – "Homme" (''Friend of a Friend'', 2017) *

– "Loving is Easy" (2017) * Onelight – "Aldehyde" (''Vanderlay'', 2018) *

Tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

– "Toast 2 Us" (Tuxedo III, 2019) *Shuko & The Breed – "Life in Los Angeles" (''Dippin, 2019) * Blackwave. – "The Antidote" (''Are We Still Dreaming?,'' 2019) *

– "Apartment" (''

'', 2019) *Les Cooles de Ville – "Starr People" (''L.C.D.V.'', 2019) *Intellextual – "Popstar" (''Intellextual'', 2019) *Gosto – "The Other Way" (2019) *Aaron Taylor – "Shooting Star" (Icarus, 2020) *M.I.L.K. – "Prisoner" (''Always Summer Somewhere'', 2020) *Yaffle – "The Child Inside" (''Lost, Never Gone'', 2020) *Darius - "RISE" (''Utopia'', 2021)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sings, Benny 1977 births Living people Dutch pop singers People from Dordrecht Sonar Kollektiv artists Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni 21st-century Dutch singers