Grandson (musician)

Benjamin was born in New Jersey, United States but his family moved to Toronto, Ontario when he was 3 years old (he holds dual citizenship of both countries).[4][5] He has two sisters.[6] Benjamin grew up largely in the Eglinton West area of Toronto.[4][5][7] He attended Northern Secondary School in Toronto and, after graduation, enrolled in McGill University in Montreal. There, he studied education with the initial goal of becoming a teacher.[5][8] He also spent a great deal of time DJing and playing shows in Montreal while at McGill.[9] After two years, he transferred to Concordia University, another Montreal institution. He studied communications there briefly before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue a music career.[3][5]

Benjamin began releasing music under the pseudonym Grandson, stylized as grandson, in late 2015.[7] In 2016, he released several singles that accrued millions of streams, including "Bills", "Things Change", and "Bury Me Face Down".[4][10] In 2017, he was signed to RCA Records, and continued releasing singles, including "Best Friends" and "Kiss Bang".[3][8] He also performed at North by Northeast that year (among other festivals).[7]

In April 2018, it was announced that grandson had signed to the Fueled By Ramen record label.[11] He had also released two new singles, "Blood // Water" (a song about political corruption that would go on to appear on multiple Billboard charts) and "Thoughts & Prayers", which offered a critique of American gun laws in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.[4][12] He released his first EP on Fueled by Ramen, A Modern Tragedy Vol. 1, in June 2018.[12][13] That EP also featured the song "6:00" which discussed police brutality.[14] Also in June 2018, grandson was featured on Mike Shinoda's song "Running from My Shadow", taken from his debut album Post Traumatic; the track was released also with an accompanying music video in May 2018.[15]

Throughout 2018, grandson toured with acts like Hobo Johnson, Joywave, Nothing But Thieves,[13][14][16] Smashing Pumpkins,[17] and Young the Giant.[2][18] He also appeared on an episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers in August 2018, performing "Blood // Water".[19]

In February 2019, he released a new single, "Apologize", and announced his second EP, A Modern Tragedy Vol. 2, which was released on 22 February 2019.[5][20] In late May, grandson released a cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Maria", a song featured on the 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles.[21]

In June 2019, he won the SOCAN Songwriting Prize for his song "Blood // Water",[22] while in September 2019 the singer released A Modern Tragedy Vol. 3, the final installment of the Modern Tragedy trilogy EPs;[23] the record features the lead single "Rock Bottom", which peaked at No. 38 on the Canadian Rock Chart.[24]

On September 23, 2020, grandson announced on his Facebook page that his debut full-length album Death of an Optimist would be released on December 4, 2020. Death of an Optimist is grandson’s debut album, being his first record to have a heavier tone since the release of the last a modern tragedy EP, a modern tragedy vol. 3. The album gained a lot of publicity and recognition through his social media.

• Official website