BENEE
Artist
Stella Rose Bennett (born January 30, 2000), known professionally as BENEE, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter who debuted in December 2017 with “Tough Guy.” Music had always been a large part of her life, with a family history in theatre. BENEE’s first instrument was a saxophone, playing it for several years along with the guitar.
BENEE started posting music to SoundCloud in her final year of high school (2017), catching the attention of producer Josh Fountain. The pair went on the work together in several of her singles, including break-out single “Soaked” which was featured on triple j’s hottest 100 (2018), as well as being certified platinum in New Zealand.
After spending two weeks in a communications course at the Auckland Institute of Technology, she realised she wanted to be making music full-time.
BENEE’s debut EP, FIRE ON MARZZ, was released in June 2019, and featured four previously released singles, alongside two new tracks. This was followed by a second EP, Stella & Steve, in November 2020, which included a feature from tourmate jack berry as well as American musician Gus Dapperton.
Her song “Supalonely” from the EP exploded in popularity due to a viral dance trend using the track on TikTok in March 2020, making the track BENEE’s first on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #39, and charted globally.
In May 2020, BENEE released a second version of the song, without Gus, titled “Lownely”, which offered a more stripped back production and lower tempo. A month later, BENEE joined forces with Bakar and Kenny Beats to create “Night Garden”. The track was debuted on Apple Music in celebration of BENEE being named as their “Up Next” artist of the month. Further singles a the time included “Snail”, “Plain” and “Happen To Me”, eventually leading up to her debut album, Hey u x.
Through 2021, she released two collaborative singles, “help herself” with bbno$ and “ARE YOU LETTING GO?” with Dreamer Boy, as well as a solo single, “Doesn’t Matter.”
2022 brought another new solo single, “Beach Boy”, which was first teased on her official Discord server, ten days before its global release. This lead up to her third studio EP, Lychee. A number of collaborations proceeded after the EP, including tracks with Sub Urban, easy life and Jeremy Zucker.
During the early days of 2023, BENEE began teasing her first single of the year “Green Honda,” which she had been performing across the world during touring, as well as “Morning Routine.” Two further brand new tracks were performed during her performances at Coachella 2023, “Sports Mode” and “Love Rollercoaster,” as well as a collaboration track with mental health charity Youthline with “BAGELS” which would appear on her sophomore album released later that same year.
