Benson Boone Was on 'American Idol' Years Before "Beautiful Things" Blew Up

2024 was a pretty good year for Benson Boone. He became a major artist thanks to his single "Beautiful Things," and even got to perform at the Grammys. Years before he found that level of success, though, Benson was actually a contestant on American Idol back in 2021.

Instead of potentially winning that season of the show, though, Benson decided to quit and pursue a different track in his musical career. Here's what we know about why he made that decision.

In a 2022 interview on The Zach Sang Show, Benson said that he quit American Idol because he actually wanted to make a serious go at being a musician.

"The reason I quit American Idol is because I wanted to do music," he explained. "I don't want people to be like, 'Oh, Benson Boone, American Idol blew him up. Like, that's where he comes from. No. I want to be Benson Boone 'cause I write smash hits and they love my music … I just didn't want that label on me."

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the 2025 Grammys, Benson echoed a similar sentiment, saying that the moment he left American Idol was actually the moment he realized he really wanted to be a musician.

"You know what? When I was doing American Idol, I didn't even know if I wanted to do music for the rest of my life," he explained.

"I didn't know if this was gonna be my career. So, I think it was when I quit American Idol that I was like, 'OK, I'm gonna do this.' I do think my perspective has changed a lot and I think if you're passionate about something, if you love something, you should just chase it," he continued.

Clearly, Benson made the right call for himself, and he managed to find success even without the backing that American Idol would have provided.

Benson's audition on American Idol was the only time that fans of the show got to see him. He earned three yeses from the judges, and Katy Perry even said that she saw him going far.

"I'm gonna tell you something that you may not believe," she told said. "But if you believe it, it might happen. I see American Idol and I see you. I see you winning American Idol, if you want to."

Benson made it through Hollywood Week and to the Top 24, but dropped out of the show at that point. He then began posting his music on TikTok, and eventually caught the eye of Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, who signed him.

By 2024, Benson was opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, and it was clear that he had become a pretty major artist, all without any help from American Idol. It might not have been his destiny to win the show, but it's clear that it was an important stepping stone in his decision to start taking music seriously.