Benson Boone (born in 2002 in Monroe, Washington State) bet on himself and hit big in the early 2020s. After leaving Brigham Young University to pursue his music career, the singer-songwriter tried out for American Idol, but he left the competition after making it past the talent show’s auditions. Trading the small screen of TV for the hand-sized screens of social media, he began posting videos online, and Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds took notice, signing Boone to his label Night Street Records. Boone’s early singles were emotion-packed piano ballads—the sweeping debut single “GHOST TOWN”, the swirling 2022 cut “In The Stars”—but plugging in proved to be a winning strategy. His modern power ballad “Beautiful Things”, released in early 2024, was an online sensation before it became a global megahit, reaching the U.S. Top 10 and readying the world for Boone’s debut full-length, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which came out that spring.