The Gist
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Benny Blanco was raised in Reston, Virginia by Andrew and Sandra Levin.
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The songwriter once called his mom his “best friend.”
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He credits his family with encouraging his interest in music from a young age.
Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez have spoken at length about their desire to become parents, so it should come as no surprise that the music producer has plenty of nice things to say about his own childhood in Reston, Virginia. Thanks to parents Andrew and Sandra Levin, Blanco was encouraged to pursue his hobbies from a young age.
“My mom and dad were very into music, so they played me music very early on,” he told AugustMan.
As well, Blanco’s passion for cooking is due in large part to his family’s support. In 2024, he published his first cookbook, Open Wide, which is “all about how to throw the perfect dinner party,” according to the first-time author (the final recipe: “Ed Sheeran’s Fried Rolex”).
Instagram/Selena Gomez
Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez in the kitchen making meatballs.
When Blanco proposed to Gomez in December 2024, Andrew and Sandra were some of the first family members to congratulate the newly engaged couple. Both mom and dad attended the celebratory gathering of loved ones after their son got down on one knee.
But who, exactly, are the songwriter’s parents? Before Blanco says “I do,” find out more about his relationship with Andrew and Sandra Levin below.
Benny Blanco’s mom is his “best friend.”
By all appearances, Blanco is a mamma’s boy. The music producer happily gushed about his love for his mom Sandra in a 2024 interview with People.
“My mom is my best friend,” he told the publication. “Are you kidding me? Every Sunday we go to the farmer’s market. I cook her lunch. We swim. We gossip—about stuff I have no idea what she’s talking about. She knows everything. She sends me things. She’s like, ‘Do you think it’s true?’ And I’m like, ‘I have no idea…I don’t even know these two people.”
His parents encouraged his interest in music.
Blanco may be producing records for the likes of Justin Bieber, Christina Aguilera, Ariana Grande, and SZA, but he started out like any other kid: banging pots and pans. The songwriter was encouraged by his parents from a young age.
“Ever since I was like a baby I was into music, I would always like bang on the pots and pans,” he told AugustMan. “My brother was also really into music so he would take me into record stores.”
Blanco added that he began “making little songs” around the age of five. “And then I won a contest when I was 9 to go the studio and I got to record my first song, and I was just over the moon! I just got so into making music and I never looked back.”
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco with his family.His family taught him how to cook.
Apart from his musical talents (which, by the way, earned him a spot in the Songwriters Hall of Fame back in 2013), Blanco also loves to cook. The producer dedicated a section of his cookbook to discussing the ways in which his Jewish identity and family influences his approach to food.
“Even more so than actually being religious and going to temple, the Jewish cuisine has been such a lubricant bringing my friends and family together in a way that is pretty magical,” he once told Hey Alma. Blanco wrote about going to Jewish delis with his dad growing up, and his grandmother’s secret matzo ball soup recipe; on the flip side, he also joked that his mom is a “terrible cook.”
Read the original article on InStyle