Benny Sings

Originating from the Netherlands, Benny Sings works as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer whose output blends the bright melodic frameworks of classic pop, R&B, and jazz with production and arrangement elements shaped by organic hip-hop and relaxed electronic textures. After performing in multiple ensembles, the Amsterdam native launched a solo path via Champagne People (2003). From that point forward he has sharpened a blend of soul, jazz-pop, and soft rock that draws core inspiration from Stevie Wonder, Michael Franks, and Alessi Brothers. (Sings’ mellow and tender vocals particularly echo the latter two acts.) A frequent and valued collaborator, Sings achieved modest successes alongside Data (“Don’t Sing,” 2015) and Rex Orange County (“Loving Is Easy,” 2018), while enlisting Mocky, Mayer Hawthorne, and Cornelius for his own City Melody (2018), which appeared the next year in a modestly altered form titled City Pop. He sustained the collaborative approach by joining Tom Misch, Mac DeMarco, and Emily King on his seventh album, the evocative, ’70s soft rock-influenced Music. He also helmed Rex Orange County’s 2022 album Who Cares?, which reached number one in the U.K., before teaming with producer Kenny Beats for 2023’s Young Hearts.

Benny Sings entered the world as Tim Berkestijn in 1977 and grew up in Dordrecht, a city located in the western Netherlands. During his teenage years, Berkestijn assembled his initial group, the high-school ensemble the Loveboat. Upon completing secondary education he entered the Royal Conservatory in The Hague to study sonology. In 1999, Berkestijn took the stage name Benny Sings upon joining the Dutch hip-hop outfit Abstract Dialect in the role of bassist. Soon afterward Sings began contributing to the hip-hop collective De Toffen while also writing and producing material for the soul-styled group Heavenly Social.

During 2003 Sings departed to pursue solo work, issuing his debut album Champagne People on the Dutch imprint Dox Records. Germany’s Sonor Kollektiv acquired the release for wider European circulation, where it garnered strong critical response and solid commercial results. Sings’ subsequent project arrived as the 2004 live recording I Love You, followed three years later by Benny…At Home, which, as its title suggests, was captured in his personal studio with Sings managing nearly all production and instrumental duties. The 2011 album Art marked the point at which his music began attracting wider notice in the United States, prompting the 2012 compilation The Best of Benny Sings to be assembled specifically to introduce international listeners to his catalog.

Although several years passed without fresh Benny Sings albums, he remained highly active. In addition to touring, producing numerous artists, appearing on Data’s 2015 single “Don’t Sing,” and forming new groups (the new-wave disco duo Copy Club, Coco Tour, and Double Double), he constructed a fresh studio in Amsterdam. His fifth album, the soft rock- and Phil Collins-inspired, Stepkids-mixed Studio, was tracked there and issued in late 2015.

In 2018 Sings notched a modest collaborative success with Rex Orange County’s “Loving Is Easy,” which appeared on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart. One year later he delivered his sixth proper album, City Melody. Captured across both U.S. coasts as well as in Amsterdam, Paris, and Tokyo, the set concentrated on Sings’ fondness for R&B-infused soft rock and featured contributions from Mocky, Mayer Hawthorne, and Cornelius. Near the close of 2018 he signed with Stones Throw and made his label debut with a reinterpretation of Drake’s “Passionfruit.” A modestly altered edition of City Melody, issued under the title City Pop, followed on Stones Throw in 2019.

During 2021 Sings re-emerged with another album shaped by ’70s and early-’80s soft rock influences, Music, which included appearances by Tom Misch, Mac DeMarco, Cautious Clay, and additional guests. Beat Tape II surfaced in 2021. He again collaborated with Rex Orange County, this time producing the singer’s 2022 U.K. chart-topping album Who Cares? Later that year Sings released the Santa Barbara EP. Young Hearts, a joint project with producer Kenny Beats, arrived in March 2023 and included the singles “The Only One” and “The World.”