Biography

Bentley has forged a music career to be jealous of and his reign as independent pioneer continues with his 10th anniversary in 2019. Described as “one of those ‘watch and learn’ artists” (Jammerzine) he has single-handedly amassed over 30 million YouTube hits, and 6.2 million artist sales.

Born to an automotive manager and one of the UK’s first female rally drivers in the sleepy suburbs of central England, Ben immediately broke family convention by pursuing a career in music. Breaking out as a remixer at the tender age of 17 he topped multiple club charts with his productions for the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, will.i.am, Sia, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, Calvin Harris and Lady Gaga who now follows him on Twitter.

Expanding his skills into song-writing, arranging and composing Bentley began contributing scores to some of the world’s best known franchises like “The X-Files”, “Tekken”, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, “Gradius”, “Titan Wars” and “QQ Dance”. With a taste of international success as a producer Ben looked further afield to make his debut as a recording artist before planting his roots – unintentionally – as far away from home as possible.

Inspired by the soaring melodies and spiritual influences to their mainstream music, Bentley introduced himself to the Japanese industry in 2008 and in 2009 his label tested audiences with the debut single “Sunaoninaretara FINAL NIGHT”. Without any promotion or radio play Bentley shocked the label by immediately selling over 30,000 copies placing the song in the top 5 of Japan’s International Chart. The single was quickly followed by the album “TRANS//LATION” which saw Bentley become the first ever British artist to release a Japanese album on a major label (EMI Universal).

Bentley continued his success in Japan with various projects including the 2012 album “UPGRADE 1.0” which saw him collaborate with native artists for the first time including May J. She was enamoured by Ben’s sound and called on him to write and produce for her next album. Ben’s work also caught the attention of May J.’s record label AVEX who signed him to their management arm as he became the first ever foreign writer and first ever foreign producer to join Japan’s biggest music company. Ironic that it was also the same management label of Ayumi Hamasaki who offered her personal approval of Bentley’s debut at the start of his Japanese career.

His first English EP “So Much More…” included the title track which was featured in the number 1 selling video-game “SEGA All-stars Racing”. It also featured 1 of 3 songs that received a staggering 1.1million streams in just 5 days after a promotion with the US social network Gaia Online. The sequel album “TRANS//LATION 2” made Bentley the 19th most viewed musician on YouTube the week of its release and his adaptation of the theme from “Devil May Cry 4” has accumulated 1.5 million streams.

2015/16’s “The Rebellion” was a defiant statement of independence and received critical acclaim: “Articulate, brilliant and haunting.” (BuzzJack) “The must-listen-to album of 2015.” (Muzikman) “Let this album be an inspiration to us all.” (25 Best Indie Albums of 2015). Its visuals have received praise too: the album’s music videos – produced and directed by Bentley himself – were described as “cinematically beautiful” by GT Magazine. 2017’s “Unravelling” was also a smash with critics being described as “powerful and meaningful… Bentley has bounced back better than ever!” (Essentially Pop) and became his highest earning independent album at the time with over 310,000 sales.

Also in 2017 European dance masters Marq Aurel and Rayman Rave released “Have a Nice Day” written by and featuring Bentley which reached #2 in the Taiwanese Chart as well as breaking the German Dance Top 30 and iTunes Singapore Chart.

Bentley’s 10th anniversary has been the colossal celebration we’ve come to expect from such a reputable artist. Proceedings kicked off at the end of 2018 with a live performance on Japan’s prestigious music show “Nodojiman THE WORLD!” which coincided with the release of his Japanese single “Lay Down on My Heart”. The song was premiered in the UK by BBC Radio (“amazing… an incredible artist… one of the most fascinating I’ve ever come across” – Alex Noble) and was the first ever J-pop song broadcast by BBC Introducing leading to Bentley being awarded the “Sound of 2019” (BBC) as well as being nominated for Best Male at the 2019 Birmingham Music Awards.

His 10th anniversary album “Translated” – a celebration of his Japan debut – gained 270,000 sales during it’s summer release resulting with his decision to reside in Japan where he headlined at the Tokyo Summer Bon Festival. He’s even found time to compose music for the upcoming “Titan Wars” video-game, the theme song for From Aqua Mineral Water commercial, the main theme of the AVEX Influencer Academy as well as continue working with Asian artists such as Carrie Lai and DJ KOO (TRF).