2007–2025 Blanco was mentored for several years by
Dr. Luke, who signed Blanco to his production company Kasz Money Productions. While under Dr. Luke's tutelage, Blanco co-produced and co-wrote many songs, including hits such as
Katy Perry's "
Teenage Dream",
Kesha's "
TiK ToK", and
Taio Cruz's "
Dynamite". In 2008, he took part in writing and producing
Britney Spears' "
Circus" (with Dr. Luke, and
Claude Kelly). The song reached number three on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number one on American pop radio and is her second-best-selling digital song in the United States, having sold over 3.2 million downloads as of July 2016. On a global scale, "Circus" was one of the top 10 best-selling songs of 2009 with 5.5 million digital copies sold that year across the world, according to the
IFPI. In 2011, Blanco wrote and produced his first charting hits without
Dr. Luke, among them Maroon 5's "
Moves like Jagger" and
Gym Class Heroes' "
Stereo Hearts". The same year, Blanco went on to work on Maroon 5's
Platinum-selling album
Overexposed and its lead single "
Payphone" featuring
Wiz Khalifa. On June 13, 2013, Blanco was presented with the
Hal David Starlight Award at the 44th Annual
Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, an honor awarded to young artists who have already made an impression on the music industry. In his acceptance speech, he joked, "They picked the wrong person, I'm in a room with people I should probably be serving food to." In the years since, Blanco has amassed 29 total number-one songs and is recognized for his achievements with artists including
BTS,
Gracie Abrams,
Ed Sheeran,
Justin Bieber,
the Weeknd,
Selena Gomez,
Ariana Grande,
Britney Spears,
Lana Del Rey,
Miguel,
Halsey, and
Camila Cabello. Blanco was named Producer of the Year at the 2017
iHeartRadio Music Awards. In 2025, Blanco was nominated for Latin Billboard Award for Latin Pop Song of the Year, and won Crossover Artist of the Year. On November 7th, 2025, Blanco received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording for Bluest Flame with Selena Gomez.
Artist projects In 2007, Blanco teamed up with Baltimore rapper Spank Rock to release
Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are... "Bangers & Cash", a collaborative
EP for both artists based on
2 Live Crew samples that caught the attention of many in the industry and sparked connections to future collaborators
Amanda Blank and
Santigold. The EP received acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and more. In July 2018, Blanco released his debut song as a standalone solo artist, "
Eastside" featuring
Halsey and
Khalid, on his own label Friends Keep Secrets with
Interscope Records. The song peaked at number nine on the
Billboard Hot 100, and was also a global success, topping the charts in New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and peaking within the top ten of the charts in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway. Later in 2018, he released his second, third, and fourth singles: "
I Found You" with
Calvin Harris, "
Better to Lie" with
Jesse and
Swae Lee, and "
Roses" with
Juice Wrld featuring
Brendon Urie, respectively. His debut album
Friends Keep Secrets was released on December 7, 2018. In January 2019, Blanco released "I Found You / Nilda's Story" with
Calvin Harris and
Miguel in conjunction with the launch of The While They Wait Fund to benefit
asylum seekers in the United States, an initiative by Brooklyn Defender Services,
Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and
American Civil Liberties Union. The song debuted with a video directed by
Jake Schreier highlighting the story of one
Honduran woman, Nilda, and her two-year-old son Keyden. In February 2019, Blanco released "
I Can't Get Enough" with
Tainy,
Selena Gomez, and
J Balvin. On August 30, 2019, Blanco released a song with Juice Wrld called "
Graduation", their second collaboration after "Roses". In October 2020, Blanco released his first artist collaboration with
Justin Bieber titled "
Lonely". The second and third singles ("Real Shit" with Juice Wrld and "Unlearn" with
Gracie Abrams) followed in December 2020 and March 2021, respectively. A deluxe version of his album
Friends Keep Secrets 2 was released on March 26, 2021, and was certified
RIAA platinum on the day of release. On December 16, 2023, a posthumous Juice Wrld song with Blanco and
Eminem titled "
Lace It" was released. On October 17, 2024, Blanco released a collaboration with
Myke Towers, the song "Degenere" reached #1 on the Latin Pop Chart, Latin Airplay Chart and Billboard's Latin Rhythm Chart. In February 2025, Blanco and fiancée Selena Gomez announced a collaborative album,
I Said I Love You First, which was released on March 21, 2025. "
Scared of Loving You" was the first track to be released from the album. On August 25, 2025, their collaboration with The Marías “Ojos Tristes” reached #1 on the overall Latin Chart, Latin Pop Chart and Urban Latin Chart. On November 14th, 2025 Blanco released a collaboration with
Netón Vega titled "Perro Fiel".
Media On March 9, 2020, Blanco and acclaimed chef
Matty Matheson debuted a new collaborative cooking show,
Matty and Benny Eat Out America, on Blanco's
YouTube channel. The first episode featured a behind-the-scenes visit to fellow YouTuber
Kenny Beats's show
The Cave where Blanco teaches Matheson to rap. Additional episodes included
Lil Dicky,
Mason Ramsey,
Diplo,
Laird Hamilton and more. On April 16, 2020, Blanco made his TV debut playing a fictionalized version of himself on the first and second seasons of the
FXX series
Dave with
Lil Dicky. On March 31, 2021, Blanco and chef
Matty Matheson debuted a new cooking show on Blanco's YouTube channel, called
Stupid F*cking Cooking Show. On February 18, 2026, Blanco,
Lil Dicky, and Kristin Batalucco launched
Friends Keep Secrets, a multimedia podcast, featuring informal conversations with celebrity guests including
Ed Sheeran and
Lizzo. The series is filmed in the Los Angeles home of Lil Dicky and Batalucco using hidden cameras. On April 16, 2026, Blanco made an appearance as a fictionalized version of himself on an episode of
Beef. Blanco drew online attention after appearing barefoot with visibly dirty feet on the debut of his podcast with Lil Dicky, prompting criticism and discussion of his personal hygiene, which he later addressed publicly.
Books Blanco's first book,
Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends, was published on April 30, 2024, by Dey Street Books/HarperCollins. Co-authored with
Jess Damuck,
Open Wide debuted on best seller lists from
The New York Times,
Los Angeles Times and
USA Today, sitting on
The New York Times list for two weeks at publication. The book is a guide to entertaining and features Blanco's own recipes as well as dishes and advice from friends including
Matty Matheson,
Lil Dicky,
Mike Solomonov, Mario Carbone and
Eric André. ==Record labels==