Benny Blanco Bio
Benjamin Joseph Levin, known professionally as Benny Blanco, is an American record producer, songwriter, music executive, and author. Born on March 8, 1988, in Reston, Virginia, he has become one of the most influential pop and hip-hop producers of his generation, contributing to albums and singles that have sold a cumulative 500 million album-equivalent units. Beyond production, Blanco has launched a recording career of his own, founded two record labels, and authored a best-selling cookbook. In 2025, he married singer and actress Selena Gomez.
Blanco is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, five BMI Songwriter of the Year Awards, and the 2017 iHeartRadio Producer of the Year Award. He has also received eleven Grammy Award nominations and a Latin Billboard Award win for Crossover Artist of the Year in 2025. His work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, the Weeknd, BTS, and Rihanna has helped shape contemporary mainstream music.
Early Life and Background
Benjamin Joseph Levin was born on March 8, 1988, in Reston, Virginia, where he was raised. He is Jewish and grew up in a household that nurtured his early interest in sound and rhythm. As a child, he attended Camp Airy in Thurmont, Maryland, where he routinely performed and hosted a radio show under the name Ebba Ebba.
His first serious exposure to music came in 1994, when he was six years old, listening to Nas’s The World Is Yours and All-4-One’s I Swear on cassette tapes. Those recordings influenced his early productions and inspired him to begin making hip-hop instrumentals in his bedroom and recording his own vocals on top of them. His stage name, Benny Blanco, came from the fictional character of the same name, played by John Leguizamo, in the 1993 film Carlito’s Way, and was a reference to his early work as a white rapper.
Blanco’s rapping eventually caught the attention of The Source magazine and executives at Columbia Records. He later secured an apprenticeship with producer Disco D after making multiple trips from Virginia to New York City to meet with labels and producers. These formative experiences helped him transition from bedroom beats to professional sessions.
Path to Music Production
Blanco’s professional career began in 2007 when he teamed up with Baltimore rapper Spank Rock to release the collaborative EP Bangers & Cash, a project built on 2 Live Crew samples that drew acclaim from Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. The EP helped him connect with future collaborators Amanda Blank and Santigold and opened the door to work with established producers.
He was mentored for several years by Dr. Luke, who signed Blanco to his production company Kasz Money Productions. Under Dr. Luke’s tutelage, Blanco co-produced and co-wrote major hits, including Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, Kesha’s TiK ToK, and Taio Cruz’s Dynamite. In 2008, he co-wrote and produced Britney Spears’s Circus, which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, number one on American pop radio, and sold over 3.2 million digital copies in the United States as of July 2016. On a global scale, Circus was one of the top ten best-selling songs of 2009, with 5.5 million digital copies sold worldwide, according to the IFPI.
By 2011, Blanco had begun writing and producing his first charting hits without Dr. Luke, including Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger and Gym Class Heroes’s Stereo Hearts. That same year, he worked on Maroon 5’s platinum-selling album Overexposed and its lead single Payphone featuring Wiz Khalifa. These successes established him as an independent force in pop and hip-hop production.
Benny Blanco Career
Early Career (2007-2012)
Blanco’s early career was defined by high-profile collaborations and rapid ascent through the pop and hip-hop worlds. His work on Britney Spears’s Circus in 2008 and on Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream cemented his reputation as a reliable hitmaker. The years between 2008 and the mid-2010s saw him credited on a steady stream of productions with Dr. Luke, including work for Rihanna, Maroon 5, and Kesha.
By the end of this period, Blanco had built a catalog of songs that consistently reached the upper regions of the Billboard charts. His growing list of collaborators, combined with his knack for crafting radio-ready hooks, made him a sought-after producer for both established stars and emerging artists.
Breakthrough (2013-2018)
On June 13, 2013, Blanco was presented with the Hal David Starlight Award at the 44th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, an honor given to young artists who have already made an impression on the music industry. In his acceptance speech, he joked, They picked the wrong person, I’m in a room with people I should probably be serving food to. The award marked a turning point in his public profile.
In 2014, Blanco founded two imprint labels under Interscope Records, Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets, through which he signed artists including Tory Lanez, Jessie Ware, and Cashmere Cat. He was named Producer of the Year at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards, further solidifying his standing in the industry.
In July 2018, Blanco released his debut single as a lead artist, Eastside, featuring Halsey and Khalid. The song peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, marking his 27th top-ten song as a writer, a sum that includes seven number-one singles on the chart. Eastside also topped the charts in New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and reached the top ten in several other countries. Later in 2018, he released follow-up singles I Found You with Calvin Harris, Better to Lie with Jesse and Swae Lee, and Roses with Juice Wrld featuring Brendon Urie, preceding the release of his debut studio album, Friends Keep Secrets, on December 7, 2018.
Notable Works and Milestones
Blanco’s signature work as a producer includes Ed Sheeran’s Don’t and Castle on the Hill, Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself, Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger, Payphone, Maps, and Animals, Rihanna’s Diamonds, Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream and California Gurls, and Kesha’s TiK ToK. He has amassed 29 total number-one songs across his career and is recognized for his achievements with artists including BTS, Gracie Abrams, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, the Weeknd, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Lana Del Rey, Miguel, Halsey, and Camila Cabello.
Benny Blanco Award Nominations
Blanco has received eleven Grammy Award nominations across his career, reflecting his broad influence as a songwriter and producer. In 2025, he was nominated for a Latin Billboard Award in the Latin Pop Song of the Year category. On November 7, 2025, Blanco received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording for Bluest Flame, a collaboration with Selena Gomez.
Benny Blanco Awards Won
Blanco has won the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, five BMI Songwriter of the Year Awards, and the 2017 iHeartRadio Producer of the Year Award. In 2025, he won the Latin Billboard Award for Crossover Artist of the Year, recognizing his expanding footprint in Latin music.
| Award | Wins | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Hal David Starlight Award | 1 | 2013 |
| BMI Songwriter of the Year | 5 | 2013-2017 |
| iHeartRadio Producer of the Year | 1 | 2017 |
| Latin Billboard Crossover Artist of the Year | 1 | 2025 |
Benny Blanco Family
Blanco was born and raised in Reston, Virginia. He is Jewish, and he attended Camp Airy in Thurmont, Maryland, for many years of his childhood. Little additional public information about his parents or siblings has been widely reported.
Personal Life
In 2019, Blanco was reportedly dating model Elsie Hewitt. He has been in a relationship with singer and actress Selena Gomez since June 2023. The couple formally announced their engagement on December 11, 2024, following a period of media speculation, and were married on September 27, 2025, at the Sea Crest Nursery in Santa Barbara, California.
Beyond music, Blanco published his first book, Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends, on April 30, 2024, through Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Co-authored with chef Jess Damuck, the book debuted on the best-seller lists of The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. Blanco has also co-hosted cooking shows on his YouTube channel, including Matty and Benny Eat Out America with chef Matty Matheson, and appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on the FXX series Dave. Both of his imprint labels, Mad Love Records and Friends Keep Secrets, became defunct in 2024, after which he joined the relaunched A&M Records as a general manager, a position he held until October 2025.