AMERICAN IDOL – “602 (Auditions)” - STEFAN BENZ (ABC/Eric McCandless)
Stefan Benz is one of the many new contestants auditioning for season 21 of American Idol this year. On February 26, fans will see this young singer take the stage in front of judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. We have five facts about him below, including age, hometown and musical stylings.
1) He is 16 years old. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, he now calls Los Angeles, California, home. Stefan actually moved to the US just as everything shut down. But, it was a blessing in disguise because the lockdown allowed him to hone his singing and instrumental skills.
2) He can play the guitar and the piano. The teenager prefers pop music, and considers himself to be a pop artist, having an already impressive library of musical releases. His most popular Spotify song has 400,000+ streams from 2020, and it’s called “Simplify.”
In 2021, he released an album called 6 Doors Down. Following that was an extended play (EP) titled How to Steal Your Girl in 5 Songs. See the cover art for his latest single below:
3) At age 11, he participated in the World Championship of Performing Arts, where people from 70 countries were allowed to compete. But, not only did he participate, he won! Stefan worked with music producer Manny Mijares as a result.
In South Africa, his song “Cool 4 Me” topped the charts. And he was only 12 years old! That made him the youngest artist to ever accomplish that feat.
4) Stefan’s stage presence has allowed him to perform on Good Day New York and at the U.S. Open. In addition, he participated in his first U.S. tour last summer. Oh, and did we mention he’s also been to the Grammy’s?!
5) This kid is a social media superstar too. He’s signed with CAA (Creative Artists Agency). Plus, he boasts 236,000 Instagram followers on his verified account. TikTok‘s no different. Stefan’s got 151K followers and 963.8K likes on the platform.
See Stefan Benz on season 21 of American Idol, airing Sunday February 26 at 8 PM ET/PT on ABC.
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