Warner’s Benson Boone has had a helluva year. The 22-year-old Washington native’s rise to fame is an example of dedicated artist development by Aaron Bay-Schuck, Tom Corson and team. This patient work led to the TikTok-fueled success of single “Beautiful Things,” which appears on his debut full-length, Fireworks & Rollerblades.

At the time of this writing, Boone has amassed over 6.5 billion career streams, with 1.3b alone coming from Spotify streams of “Beautiful Things”—the platform’s most-streamed song in the world this year to date, certified triple platinum by the RIAA. To build excitement leading up to its release, Boone shared samples of the song on his TikTok profile, and those videos have resulted in an additional 12b views. Boone followed it up with “Slow It Down,” an upbeat track about the power of staying in the moment and being present. As Boone stated, “That’s very true to who I am, what I stand for and what I want to be.” Boone’s strategic use of TikTok to tease new material has resulted in a gain of 3.2m followers since the start of 2024 alone, plus another 2.6m new followers on Instagram.

All of this has naturally fueled big Grammy buzz, with Boone considered a BNA contender and “Beautiful Things” a possible ROTY/SOTY nominee.

Boone first made waves after being discovered by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds following an appearance on American Idol in 2019, leading to the release of two EPs on Reynolds’ own Night Street Records in 2022 and 2023. Boone spent the better part of two years crafting a diverse collection of songs inspired by the artists he grew up listening to and modeled his vocal-focused approach after, from Aretha Franklin and Billy Joel to Adele and Sam Smith.

The buzz didn’t stop with the singles, as Boone was able to carry the momentum toward Fireworks & Rollerblades, with 3.6b streams and 1m sales to date. Meanwhile, “Beautiful Things” received four VMA nominations and one win for Best Alternative Song. His performance of the song at this year’s ceremony earned critical plaudits; People hailed his “big sound and even bigger vocal.” The WME-repped Boone was also invited to perform the hit alongside Lana Del Rey at the 2024 Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and weeks later found himself opening for Taylor Swift when her Eras Tour hit sold-out Wembley Stadium in London in June.

Boone’s own headlining tour is already underway, with all 2024 dates sold out worldwide; his 2025 tour of Australia and New Zealand is also a complete sellout. With accolades continuing to pour in, it’s safe to say Boone’s just getting started.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jonathan Weiner