walking upstream…
Benson Boone
photo: drew de f fawkes · cc by 2.0 ↗Benson Boone
sourcesWikipedia · GRAMMY.com interview · Rolling Stone
Benson Boone grew up in Monroe, Washington, and briefly appeared on the nineteenth season of American Idol in early 2021 before withdrawing to pursue music on his own terms. Discovered online and signed to Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds' Night Street Records in partnership with Warner, he broke through with the falsetto-driven breakup ballad 'Ghost Town' and became a global star in 2024 with 'Beautiful Things,' a hushed-verse-to-roaring-chorus anthem from his debut album 'Fireworks & Rollerblades.' His sound pairs piano-and-guitar balladry with an acrobatic, high-flying voice and theatrical arena showmanship, drawing frequent comparisons to classic vocal showmen.
the sound in question
2024
Beautiful ThingsBenson Boone
walk the tributaries ↓
Queen1970s–80s · Rock / Glam rock / Arena rock
Boone has named Queen among the artists he grew up on, praising performers 'who use their voice as the main instrument,' and he has publicly embraced comparisons to Freddie Mercury's theatrical range and stagecraft, even performing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with Queen guitarist Brian May at Coachella in 2025. In his own music that pull shows up as a taste for dramatic dynamic swings and a big, unguarded falsetto pushed to the front of an arena-scaled arrangement.
listen: upstream & here
1976
Somebody to LoveQueen
2024
Beautiful ThingsBenson Boone
listen forPlay Queen's gospel-swelling 'Somebody to Love' next to 'Beautiful Things' and listen for the same trick: a restrained, aching build that suddenly detonates into a full-throated, high-register climax carrying the emotional weight of the song.
Adele2010s · Pop / Soul / Pop soul
Boone has cited Adele as one of the voice-forward artists he listened to growing up, and his ballads share her template of confessional heartbreak carried by a spare piano and a single voice that builds from intimacy to a belted release. He tends to write the same kind of plainspoken, gut-level lyric that lets the vocal performance, rather than production, do the emotional work.
listen: upstream & here
2011
Someone Like YouAdele
2022
In the StarsBenson Boone
listen forSet Adele's 'Someone Like You' against 'In the Stars' and notice how both hold a hushed, piano-led verse close before opening into a soaring, grief-stricken chorus that lands as the release the whole song was withholding.
Sam Smith2010s · Pop / Soul / R&B
Boone has said Sam Smith was among the singers who shaped him, and he has pointed to Smith's aching, falsetto-heavy balladry as a model for using the voice as the centerpiece. His early breakup songs reach for that same tender, high, breaking-at-the-edges delivery over sparse, gospel-tinged backing.
listen: upstream & here
2014
Stay With MeSam Smith
2021
Ghost TownBenson Boone
listen forCue Smith's 'Stay With Me' before 'Ghost Town' and listen for the shared move into a fragile upper-register vocal that swells with a choir-like backing, turning a lonely lyric into something churchy and communal.