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Benson Boone

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Washington-raised singer whose piano ballads went enormous with "Beautiful Things," delivered live with backflips off the drum riser.

Benson Boone grew up in Monroe, Washington, one of five children born to Kerry and Nate Boone, and discovered he could sing only when a friend asked him to perform at his high school's battle of the bands. A Jon Bellion concert convinced him to take music seriously, and he left Brigham Young University-Idaho after one semester to focus on songwriting.

He auditioned for American Idol in 2021, advancing to the Top 24 before withdrawing to pursue an independent career, and built an audience on TikTok, reaching 1.7 million followers before releasing his debut single, "Ghost Town." That song, along with follow-ups "Room for 2" and "In the Stars," led Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds to sign him to Night Street Records.

His songs sit on piano and a wide, high-register vocal that he pushes hard in the final chorus. "Beautiful Things" became one of the biggest singles of 2024, topping charts in the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere and giving him his first US top-five hit. It preceded his debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which reached number six on the Billboard 200; a second album, American Heart, followed in 2025.

In 2024, Taylor Swift invited him to open the London Eras Tour concerts at Wembley Stadium, alongside Paramore. His live show leans on gymnastics as much as singing: he competed on his high school's diving and tennis teams, and works flips and tumbling into the performance, usually in a jumpsuit.

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