AKA MMA Fights

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Eric Benét grew up surrounded by music. His siblings loved to sing and harmonize, which led him to form his first group, Benét, with his sister and cousin. Scoring their first record deal with EMI and creating a few tracks gave Eric the experience he needed to rise to eventual stardom. After Benét disbanded, he made more demos which found their way to Alison Ball at Warner Bros Records, who was also at EMI. She knew a hit when she heard one, and his second album, True to Myself, was released to great acclaim in 1996. The album featured hits such as “Spiritual Thang,” “Femininity,” and “Let’s Stay Together.”

Success soon followed, and Benét began to see great praise for his records, including his number one hit “Spend My Life With You” (featuring Tamia), which landed him both a Grammy nomination and won him the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song in 2000.

To continue his upward trajectory, Benét joined forces with producer David Foster to make his third album, Hurricane, in 2005. In 2008, Benét released his fifth studio album, Love & Life, which landed him another Grammy album and performance nomination with his lead single “You’re the Only One.” In 2012, Benét was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance from his single “Sometimes I Cry.” With the achievements of his music career, Benét began to move into acting, TV production, philanthropy, and entrepreneurial projects.