Alec Benjamin is an American singer and songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona. He is known for his songs “Let Me Down Slowly,” “Paper Crown,” “I Built A Friend,” “End of the Summer,” and “Water Fountain.” Take a look below for 26 more fun and interesting facts about Alec Benjamin.

1. He has gained much attention from his demos.

2. In addition to his solo project, Benjamin has found success in songwriting with artists such as Jon Bellion, including a feature on the track “New York Soul Pt. II” from Jon’s album “The Human Condition.”

3. Alec is heavily influenced by artists such as Eminem and Paul Simon.

4. Benjamin’s son “I Built A Friend” was used as backing material for a contemporary dance audition of contestant Merrick Hanna, on episode 1 of the 12th season of America’s Got Talent.

5. He made his U.S. television debut when he performed “Let Me Down Slowly” on the The Late Late Show with James Corden on January 8, 2019.

6. He was born on May 28, 1994, in Phoenix, Arizona. Nobody from his family was associated with music.

7. He was a loner in school and preferred not to make any friends.

8. He didn’t think much about his career. However, as he grew up and started listening to artists such as Paul Simon, Eminem and Dr. Dre, he began gaining a marked interest in music.

9. By the time he was in high school, he had started practicing singing on his own.

10. His father played music as a hobby. Alec once picked up his father’s guitar and began learning to play it on his own.

11. His didn’t attend any guitar classes. He would often watch YouTube videos to teach himself to play the guitar.

12. He was 16 years old when many amateur musicians were moving to YouTube to exhibit their skills.

13. While most of them were producing covers of famous tracks, Alec had decided that he would create original music. He started writing his own songs and composed them by using computer software.

14. By the time he graduated high school, he had decided that he would pursue music as a career option. Soon, he started writing emails to artists he thought he thought could help him in some way.

15. He started moving around in search of better opportunities.

16. He made several trips to Los Angeles to meet the right people, but that didn’t yield much.

17. He started playing music in the parking lots of music concerts and played at some clubs and coffee houses, too.

18. Following his high school graduation, Alec enrolled at the University of Southern California.

19. Alec met a songwriter named Sacha Skarbek through a common friend. Sacha had written songs for artists such as Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey.

20. Alec and Sacha started writing songs together, and Alec started performing at more venues. Sacha had her studio in London, and Alec flew across without any financial support from his parents.

21. While he was in Europe, he built a significant fan following. He opened several concerts and performed at the Berlin Music Week and The Reeperbahn Festival. There, he experienced popularity for the first time.

22. He eventually signed a deal with a small-time independent label named “White Rope” and released his debut mixtape, “Mixtape 1: America,” in 2013. It was a moderate hit.

23. That same year, Alec moved back to the U.S. and performed at a few venues in Los Angeles. Talent scouts from Columbia Records located him and soon offered him a record deal.

24. Alec was 20 years old at the time. The deal with Columbia seemed like a major opportunity. Although Columbia Records had promised to produce his debut album, they canceled the deal 24 hours after the submission of his first album.

25. This was a major blow to Alec, and he decided to start his career from scratch. He had written an entire album that was pitched to Columbia Records and he planned to post it online. He started with YouTube in August 2016.

26. His first upload, “Paper Clown,” became a major hit almost immediately. The emotional song made it to the hearts of his listeners and garnered a million views soon.