Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: BENEE

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

LEARN

Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand and born Stella Rose Bennett, alt-pop breakout BENEE was raised in a musical household, but it wasn’t until her late teens that she began posting covers on SoundCloud and taking her interest in music more seriously, soon attracting the attention of producer and fellow Kiwi Josh Fountain, who’d help kickstart her career and has been involved in her production ever since. Buzz around the singer’s early work landed BENEE a major label deal out of the gate, and a pair of 2019 EPs, Fire on Marzz and Stella & Steve, shot her to international critical acclaim and to chart-topping success at home, leading to a tour with Lily Allen and cementing a fervent online following. It was 2020, however, with viral hit “Supalonely” featuring Gus Dapperton became a mega-hit on TikTok (and has gone on to amass billions of streams) and the release of her debut LP, Hey u x, that BENEE truly became a breakout star, lauded for her quirky, genre-bending indie/alt-pop stylings and knack for fusing fantastical lyrical themes with a grounded and earnest sense of suburban upbringing. Despite the Covid lockdown, which stalled a would-be early U.S. tour with Remi Wolf, BENEE managed to make remote appearances on several American late-night shows throughout 2020, and began work on her latest effort, recent EP Lycee, as lockdowns started to ease, recording half at home in New Zeland and half in Los Angeles with Greg Kurstin, Kenny Beats, and Rostam. Bonnaroo’s always been great about featuring pop artists on the verge of breakout success (Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa’s first outings both come to mind), but as the 22-year-old makes her debut on the farm, she should already feel like a pretty huge star in her own right to anyone who’s been paying attention online. Don’t miss BENEE this time around, because she’ll almost certainly be at the top of the bill when she returns.

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