For Millennials. By Millennials.
One of the rising young music artists in today’s industry is American singer and songwriter Alec Benjamin. He is known for music tracks like Let Me Down Slowly, Paper Crown, and specially, If I Killed Someone for You, which has now garnered nearly 2.8 million views on YouTube. Benjamin has also collaborated with singers like Jon Bellion. Moreover, he takes inspiration from artists such as Eminem, John Mayer and Paul Simon.
Via a recent Instagram post, Alec Benjamin shared a few glimpses of his exciting life with his followers, expressing gratitude for his musical success. Almost all musicians begin from a place of rock bottom and then gradually climb their way up the success ladder. It takes considerable time to build a fan base that’s loyal and supportive, and to gain popularity. As Benjamin shared the story of his journey, he showed how far he has come in just the span of three years.
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Amongst other snapshots is a clip of Billie Eilish singing one of Alec Benjamin’s songs. Considering how huge Billie Eilish has become in the music industry, this is a big deal. But how did he get her?
Alec Benjamin’s Story
The 25-year-old’s professional career began when he was signed to Columbia Records, although he was later dropped and eventually signed to Atlantic Records. He even made his way to the Billboard Hot 100. According to Billboard, Benjamin didn’t really become interested in music until he was in high school.
It all began when he developed feelings for a girl in high school, and began learning the guitar to impress her. Regardless, he ended up genuinely having fun in the learning process. Hence later also delving into songwriting. He desired to stay independent from the start of his music career. Slowly reaching out to other songwriters, he began making connections. Eventually, he moved to LA to take his music more seriously and progress further in the professional industry.
He started to publicly play his music, usually ‘performing at open mics and venue parking lots’. According to him, he played about 170-odd shows during this period, including those at meet-and-greet conventions, where social media stars like Cameron Dallas would tour and meet fans.
Overcoming Struggles
Benjamin faced his fair share of struggles and hardships during this journey. At one point, he moved back home and found himself unable to even pay for his own meals. Nevertheless, he did not give up and continued to book gigs and upload tracks on YouTube. As luck would have it. the singer’s life changed in 2017 when a 12-year-old boy named Merrick Hanna appeared on America’s Got Talent and danced to Benjamin’s I Built a Friend for his audition. And just like that, the song was on the iTunes charts. Labels noticed and Atlantic Records signed him on in 2018. Once Benjamin joined Atlantic, he was able to take all his previously composed music and put it out for the whole world.
As of now, the singer has gained more success than he could’ve ever dreamed of. Spotify currently names him as their 118th most-streamed artist in the world, with over 17 million monthly listeners! But that’s not all. Benjamin has also immensely grown his social media accounts, with about 791,000 Instagram followers and counting. Needless to say, he deserves to be proud of how far he has come, especially after everything he’s been through. It’s good to see that he’s optimistic about the future; his fans are surely looking forward to see what will come next.