Virtually famous: Benee

TikTok'ing along: Benee
Imogen Wilson
David Smyth24 April 2020

If new musicians can’t build a fanbase through gigging this year, at least there’s TikTok.

Stella Bennett, a 20-year-old New Zealander who trades as Benee, should have been over here for some club shows next month. Instead – and more profitably, actually – she’s watched her single Supalonely go viral on the clip-sharing app.

It helps that its sunny chorus, more infectious than you know what, lends itself perfectly to a set of actions that has generated endless videos of smiling kids doing the dance. Last month Jennifer Lopez and her whole family had a go, while Elton John called the song “my top tip for the next global smash” on his Instagram.

She’s not quite the name on everyone’s lips in the UK, where she’s now on her second week just inside the top 20, but she has cracked the top 10 in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and of course New Zealand, where she already had two double platinum hits from an earlier EP.

There’s even more fizzy pop where that came from on her most recent collection, Stella & Steve, which is named after herself and her car. Elton knows what he’s talking about.

Watch Benee on YouTube:

Listen to Benee on Spotify:

Listen to Benee on Soundcloud:

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