Benson Boone was inspired by the likes of Sam Smith and Adele to use his voice as the “main instrument” in his songs.
The ‘Beautiful Things’ hitmaker – who has had viral success with the popular hit, which topped the charts in several countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, and the UK, and just released his debut album ‘Fireworks and Rollerblades’ to acclaim – has revealed the artists he is inspired by and how he will always make his vocals the key component to his tracks.
Speaking to GRAMMYs.com, he said: “Growing up I listened to a lot of Billy Joel, Sam Smith, Adele, Stevie Wonder, and Queen; these are artists who use their voice as the main instrument for their songs. I think I took a lot of aspects from that into my own music and that’s kind of how I operate. So when I write, I let my voice lead where the song goes. I think that’s what I naturally picked up listening to those artists.”
The 21-year-old star also spoke about how music is like therapy for him.
He said: “I think every song is very different; some of them are sad and some aren’t. But I do like to pull inspiration from whatever I’m feeling at the time. So whatever I’m going through, that’s when I want to write a song; when I’m feeling those emotions the strongest.
“No matter what situation I’m in, I always feel better writing something in the middle of whatever emotion I’m feeling. So it does help me. It’s therapeutic.”
Despite his chart success, Benson insists the most important thing is getting the album heard by as many people as possible.
“I definitely understand feeling the pressure for this album. But ‘Beautiful Things’ was its own moment, and we worked very hard to get it to where that went — and I know that doesn’t always happen, and I’m not expecting that. But I’m just doing my best to get the album to as many people as I can regardless of whether it doesn’t stream at all or it does great.
“I’m truly so proud of these songs, and I’ve made something I love and that I’m passionate about.”