Benny Sings was born Tim Berkestijn in 1977, and was raised in Dordrecht, a city in the western Netherlands. When Berkestijn was a teenager, he formed his first band, a high-school combo called the Loveboat. After graduating from high school, Berkestijn enrolled in the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where he studied sonology. In 1999, Berkestijn adopted the stage name Benny Sings as he joined the Dutch hip-hop group Abstract Dialect, signing on as their bassist. Before long, Sings was also working with the hip-hop collective De Toffen, as well as writing and producing material for the soul-styled group Heavenly Social. In 2003, Sings struck out on his own, making his first solo album, Champagne People, which was released by the Dutch label Dox Records. Germany's Sonor Kollektiv label picked up the album for European distribution, and it earned enthusiastic reviews and impressive sales. Sings' next effort was a 2004 live disc, I Love You, and three years later, he released Benny...At Home, which true to its title was recorded in his home studio, with Sings handling most of the production and instrumental work himself. With the 2011 album Art, Sings' music began receiving greater attention in the United States, and the 2012 compilation The Best of Benny Sings was assembled with an eye toward introducing international audiences to his body of work. Though there were no new Benny Sings albums for a few years, he stayed very busy. Along with touring, producing multiple acts, appearing on a hit song (2015's "Don't Sing") with French producer Data, and forming new bands (new wave disco duo Copy Club, Coco Tour, and Double Double), he also built a new studio in Amsterdam. His fifth album, the soft rock and Phil Collins-inspired, Stepkids-mixed Studio, was recorded there and released in late 2015. ~ Mark Deming