Ben Johnson is an American songwriter, producer, and artist. His notable hits include " One of Them Girls," " Truck Bed," and " Take My Name," which was recognized as ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''’s Country Song of the Year, and "

All My Favorite Songs "All My Favorite Songs" is a song by the American Rock music, rock band Weezer, released on January 21, 2021, as the first single from their fourteenth studio album ''OK Human''. A music video was released on the same day. Composition The song b ...

," which was nominated for

Grammy Award for Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

" at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

. He has written for artists such as

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country pop singer from Sneedville, Tennessee. He competed in the The Voice (American season 6), sixth season of ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice''. After being eliminated in the ...

, Kylie Morgan,

Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his cover (music), song covers uploaded to YouTube. Puth signed with the record labe ...

Hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

Lee Brice Kenneth Mobley Brice Jr. (born June 10, 1979), known professionally as Lee Brice, is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Curb Records. Brice has released five albums with the label: ''Love Like Crazy'', ''Hard 2 Love (Lee B ...

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

Ava Max Amanda Ava Koci (born Amanda Koçi; February 16, 1994), known professionally as Ava Max ( ), is an American Pop music, pop singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in 2018 with the release of her breakthrough single "Sweet but Psycho". The ...

, and

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

Early life and education

Ben Johnson grew up in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

, where he lived until moving to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

with his sisters in 2012 to pursue a music career. He began piano lessons at age six with his grandmother, developing his own style by altering compositions, which sparked his interest in

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. Influenced by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers ( – ) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Country Music", he is best known for his di ...

, the "Father of Country Music," he and his sisters performed traditional and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

in church and at festivals, honing their skills. They gained recognition by reaching the Hollywood rounds of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' in 2011, receiving praise from

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

and

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...

. After relocating to Nashville, Johnson and his sisters established a daily songwriting routine alongside their studies and side jobs, cultivating a reputation and connections with some of the city's most prominent songwriters. He attended

Belmont University Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...

on a

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

. He is a

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

Career

Johnson has achieved nine No. 1 singles, including "

Bulletproof Bulletproofing is the process of making an object capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles (e.g. shrapnel). The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protecti ...

" by Nate Smith, " Gone" by

, " Take My Name" by

Parmalee Parmalee is an American country music band from Parmele, North Carolina. The band consists of brothers Matt Thomas (lead vocals, guitar) and Scott Thomas (drums), along with their cousin Barry Knox (bass) and Josh McSwain (guitar). They are sign ...

(which was recognized as ''

''’s Country Song of the Year), and " New Truck" by

Dylan Scott Dylan Scott Robinson (born October 22, 1990) is an American country singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Dylan Scott. He is signed to Curb Records. Career Scott's debut single, "Makin' This Boy Go Crazy", was released in June ...

. His co-written song " One of Them Girls," performed by

, won the Country Song of the Year award in 2021 across

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

, BMI, and

SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.

. The song was named song of the year by the Nashville chapter of the Association of Independent Music Publishers. It topped ''Billboard’''s Country Airplay chart for three weeks, and reached No. 2 on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

. At the

in 2022, Johnson received a nomination for

" for the

#1 Rock Airplay song "

." That year, he was also honored at the CMA Triple Play Awards. " Give Heaven Some Hell," performed by

and co-written by Johnson was honored at the 2023 Nashville Songwriter Awards. "Bulletproof," performed by Nate Smith and co-written by Johnson was nominated for Male Song of The Year at the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards. In August 2024, it was announced that Johnson was collaborating with

and David Alan Johnson to produce the

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

''Music Row'', which would provide an in-depth look at Nashville's music industry and the creative community behind

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. As of August 2024, Johnson held a worldwide co-publishing deal with Tape Room Music/APG/Runner Music.

Personal life

In 2016, Johnson married Lauren Conklin, whom he met as a 13-year-old at middle-school orchestra camp at Belmont University.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ben Living people American songwriters American producers Belmont University alumni Songwriters from Mississippi Year of birth missing (living people)