In the past month, Benson Boone has made a dynamic debut at Coachella, released new music, announced his second album, appeared as a guest artist on “Saturday Night Live” for the first time and unveiled a North American tour for his upcoming sophomore record.
The singer, whose monster hit “Beautiful Things” from 2024 has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify, is clearly maintaining his momentum — and fans are matching the energy.
On May 8 — one day after Boone announced a second Salt Lake City stop on his “American Heart” tour “due to overwhelming demand” — the singer has added a third show at the Delta Center.
Boone will perform in Salt Lake City Oct. 8, 9 and 11.
So far, it’s the only city where the singer is playing three times.
The extra love the singer is showing Salt Lake City is fitting, as Utah has played a meaningful part in his rapid rise to fame.
Benson Boone’s ties to Utah
The song that started it all for Boone is inseparable from Utah.
The music video for “Beautiful Things‚” which has over 640 million views on YouTube, was filmed in St. George, Utah, as the Deseret News previously reported. The red rock bluffs of southern Utah are on full display as Boone walks around and sings about his fear of losing the beautiful things that he’s got.
The singer’s family also now lives in the St. George area, according to KSL.
A recent profile in Rolling Stone magazine notes that Boone himself lives about 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City, in “a sharp-angled, industrial-gray luxury fortress with towering windows atop a cliff” that overlooks Utah Lake.
Last year, when Boone launched a world tour in support of his debut album, “Fireworks & Rollerblades,” he experienced his first-ever arena show at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.
“Probably the most emotional day of my life. I’m still wondering if this show even happened. Our first arena,” Boone shared on Instagram following that show. “Thank you for crying with me, singing with me, laughing with me, feeling with me. I promise you this is just the start of it, and I ain’t slowin down till these tires are burned into the street.”
The Grammy-nominated artist has attended a few Utah Jazz games over the past few months, rubbing shoulders with the Jazz Bear at the Delta Center.
Now, this fall, he will conclude his North American “American Heart” tour at that same venue.
It will be his first time performing at the Delta Center.
The tour will support his new album, which comes out June 20.
“A lot of it is very Bruce Springsteen, Americana, like a little more of a retro vibe,” Boone told Rolling Stone. “It all started with me believing in the song ‘Beautiful Things.’ Now, I have a whole album just about ready to go — and I’ve never believed so much in a body of work.
“I think I’m getting to the point where I just want people to know that there’s more than just that song,” the singer continued. “I think I’m a little past that point. But of course I still love the song. I’m still proud of it. And I’ll be performing it for a while, so I hope that feeling sticks around.”
Tickets for the shows go on sale Friday, May 9, at 10 a.m. local time.
Benson Boone’s rise to fame
Boone’s rise to fame has been rapid — it was only around five years ago that he even discovered he could sing, as the Deseret News previously reported.
The singer was a teenager when he filled in at the last minute for a friend in his high school’s Battle of the Bands. He had never sung before, but to his parents’ surprise, he pushed through his hesitation and decided to take the stage to perform.
“My husband and I hadn’t heard him sing ever really,” Boone’s mother previously told the Everett Herald. “He told us he was going to do it and we were like, ‘Oh, OK, alright, this should be interesting.’
“When we went, our jaws dropped.”
Not much later, in 2021, an 18-year-old Boone decided to try his luck on “American Idol.” But the teen — who “Idol” judge Katy Perry declared a potential winner — ended up forgoing the competition and also dropped out after a semester at BYU-Idaho to pursue music on his own terms.
With some videos on TikTok, Boone caught the attention of Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, who provided some mentorship and signed the young singer to his label, Night Street Records.
Boone’s fame has since skyrocketed, with energetic performances at the Grammys and Coachella, two albums and a highly-anticipated tour.
“Five years ago, I did not even know I could sing. My plan was to play a professional sport, or be an architect, or interior designer,” he told the pop culture site Notion in 2022. “So, if my younger self could see me now, they wouldn’t believe it. I would be so confused.”