Benson Boone – Beautiful Things

When A Guitar Pedal Left On By Mistake Created 2024’s Biggest Song

Released on January 18, 2024, “Beautiful Things” began as two incomplete songs Benson Boone couldn’t finish over consecutive September evenings in Los Angeles. The 21-year-old from Monroe, Washington had recently moved to the city, signed to Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds’ Night Street Records after quitting American Idol just as he’d made the top 24. When he walked into producer Evan Blair’s studio with songwriter Jack LaFrantz for their very first session together, nobody expected what would happen next. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts in nineteen countries including the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, and France. By year’s end, it had earned 2.11 billion equivalent global subscription streams, becoming the IFPI’s best-selling single of 2024 worldwide.

The chart story tells only half the tale. On Spotify, “Beautiful Things” became the most-tagged song globally on Shazam in 2024 and the first song released that year to cross one billion streams. Within a week of release, Boone’s daily streams surged by 200 percent, then jumped another 370 percent by February’s end. The editorial team at Spotify programmed it onto 140 international playlists. Despite stiff competition from Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” at number two and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” at three, Boone claimed the year’s crown. He won Best Alternative at the MTV Video Music Awards and collected trophies at the Billboard Music Awards, NRJ Music Awards, and MTV Europe Music Awards, where he grabbed Best New Artist. Radio station BMI reported streaming numbers equivalent to four million dollars in revenue from Spotify alone.

Boone wrote the opening piano melody at his grandmother’s old piano around September 8, 2023, unable to sleep in his new Los Angeles apartment. The lyrics came from his relationship with actress Maggie Thurmon, which had just begun. For the first time in his life, Boone felt terrified he wasn’t in control of how things would end. He’d always confidently walked away from relationships before, but now he faced losing something genuinely precious. The following day in Blair’s studio, he brought the piano ballad to LaFrantz, who listened to both unfinished songs and suggested combining them into one. That’s when Blair pulled out a guitar still connected to his distortion pedals from the previous day’s session. He played along without thinking. Boone’s eyes went wide. Something unlocked. Blair recalls Boone screaming the chorus part shirtless because the intensity demanded it.

The recording happened entirely during that first session, though it took two weeks of post-production to crack the structural code. Blair realized he’d written the two sections in different time signatures, 4/4 and 6/8, which shouldn’t work together. But they made it work through patience, giving the song a full minute of gentle buildup before exploding. Boone recorded vocals that rolled straight from his soul, raw and emotive, paired with distorted guitars that broke every conventional pop rule. The trio made what Blair later called just about every wrong choice possible for commercial success. Yet that combination of tender gratitude rooted in positivity alongside distortion and big drums somehow permeated culture. They’d created something interesting, which Blair believes is the only through-line in big songs. The song’s tonal shift became its signature, moving from sweet piano ballad to powerful emotional release.

“Beautiful Things” served as the lead single from Fireworks & Rollerblades, Boone’s debut album released in April 2024. The record positioned him alongside fellow 2024 breakthrough artists like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, all nominated for Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammys. Boone performed “Beautiful Things” at that ceremony in a showstopping moment involving Heidi Klum and Nikki Glaser ripping off his tuxedo mid-performance, followed by his signature backflip off a piano. He’d already performed it with Lana Del Rey and at the MTV Video Music Awards. Taylor Swift personally selected him to open her Eras Tour London show at Wembley Stadium in June 2024. Rolling Stone declared him the Future of Music in a March cover story.

The cultural footprint extends beyond numbers. Nearly a million TikTok videos used the song within months of release. Boone teased it starting December 3, 2023, amassing 130 million views before the official drop. When iTunes made Beatles catalogues available in 2010, “Here Comes The Sun” took decades to reach those streaming heights. Boone achieved similar penetration in months. His sophomore album American Heart arrived in June 2025, influenced heavily by Bruce Springsteen and Americana sounds. The lead single “Mystical Magical” borrowed elements from Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and spawned its own Crumbl cookie collaboration, the Moonbeam Ice Cream Cookie, which became the first limited-edition dessert to appear two weeks running in the chain’s rotating lineup. Fans performed the song with backflips at Crumbl locations nationwide.

Boone attributes his musical awakening to filling in last-minute at his high school battle of the bands when his friend dropped out. He’d never sung before that junior year moment at Monroe High School. A Jon Bellion concert later inspired him to take singing seriously. When American Idol producers discovered his TikTok videos, judge Katy Perry told him he could win the competition. But Boone walked away, not wanting the American Idol label following him forever. Reynolds reached out via Instagram days later. They spent three days together in Las Vegas, and Reynolds signed him immediately to Night Street Records. As Boone reflected in early 2024 after his life changed overnight, he hadn’t expected “Beautiful Things” to take off on its own. Every previous song required constant promotion. This one started carrying itself after a week, and all he could do was watch the music work its magic.