Alec Benjamin
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40 free Alec Benjamin trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Alec Benjamin writes pop songs the way other people tell stories at a kitchen table: small scenes, plain words, and a turn near the end. Few artists have had a bumpier start, either. He was signed, let go, and had to find his own audience before 'Let Me Down Slowly' made him a streaming fixture. This quiz covers the songs and the story behind them. Several questions dig into 'Jesus in LA': what it is really about, how it was written, and what happens in its video. Others ask you to guess the Alec Benjamin song from the tale it tells, or test what you know about his albums, collaborators and early career. It suits longtime fans who know every track and newer listeners who found him through one viral hit. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will leave with a few tales worth retelling.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Alec Benjamin released 'Jesus in LA' after which guitar idol, once a poster by his bed, said he loved it?
John Mayer
John Mayer is sent Benjamin's new songs, and his praise for this one was among the reasons it came out. In 2019 he joined Benjamin on stage at a sold-out Los Angeles show.
Q 02Which Canadian singer joined Alec Benjamin on the 2019 duet version of his breakout hit 'Let Me Down Slowly'?
Alessia Cara
Alessia Cara added her own lyrics and vocals to a song Benjamin had first released solo in 2018. The duet gave him his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
Q 03Before music took off, Alec Benjamin's first job was teaching which martial art at a studio in his hometown?
Karate
Karate earned Benjamin a black belt, but he quit teaching after hearing that a person he liked did not think it was cool.
Q 04Dropped by his first label, Alec Benjamin built a following by staging impromptu shows in which unlikely spots?
Parking lots
Parking lots outside concerts by stars such as Shawn Mendes and Troye Sivan became his stage for six months, and he handed out business cards to passers-by.
Q 05A 12-year-old's dance to Alec Benjamin's 'I Built a Friend' on which TV competition helped win him a record deal?
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent aired Merrick Hanna's audition to the song in 2017, which sent it up the iTunes charts and made labels ask who the unsigned singer was.
Q 06Which Minecraft YouTuber teamed up with Alec Benjamin for the 2021 single 'Change My Clothes'?
Dream
Dream released the duet as only his third song. The unlikely pairing reached the UK and Irish singles charts.
Q 07Which rapper does Alec Benjamin rank among his all-time favourite artists, praising his way with words?
Eminem
Eminem sits beside Paul Simon and Jason Mraz on Benjamin's list of all-time favourites, because he wants songs that have something important to say.
Q 08Why did a teenage Alec Benjamin first start learning guitar, around the end of high school?
To impress a girl
To impress a girl was the plan, and it failed, but he enjoyed learning so much that he kept going so he could sing without an accompanist.
Q 09Alec Benjamin's nostalgic song '1994', full of childhood memories, is named after the year of which event?
His birth
His birth year gives the song its title, and the verses trace how the world grew heavier as he got older, with the 9/11 attacks as his moment of awakening.
Q 10Justin Lubliner, who managed Alec Benjamin's rise, also signed which teenage future superstar to his Darkroom label?
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish became the template for Benjamin's team, who focused on building him as a touring act as his shows grew wilder.
Q 11Alec Benjamin grew up with his family, across the street from his grandparents, in which Arizona city?
Phoenix
Phoenix was his base while, still a teenager, he emailed songwriters cold and then travelled to Los Angeles and the UK to write with them.
Q 12Which major label signed a teenage Alec Benjamin, then dropped him soon after he handed in his first album?
Columbia Records
Columbia Records kept the rights to those recordings, so he could not put them on Spotify or iTunes and uploaded phone demos to YouTube instead.
Q 13Alec Benjamin was enrolled at which university when he signed his first record deal?
USC
USC was where he was living in a dorm when the deal came. After the label let him go, he rebuilt his career from open mics.
Q 21In the music video for 'Jesus in LA', Alec Benjamin reflects on his move to Los Angeles from inside what?
A phone booth
A phone booth is his perch in the Joey Brodnax-directed clip, which also has him strolling the city at night past locals who stand around in eerie silence.
Q 22The true story behind 'Jesus in LA' ends with a broke Alec Benjamin leaving Los Angeles to live with whom?
His parents
His parents took him back after he lost his record deal, his friends and his money. Being home with family, he says, was what finally made him happy.
Q 23Which Alec Benjamin song did he describe as being about the hard lesson that love cannot be bought?
Annabelle's Homework
Q 14Which record label gave Alec Benjamin a second chance in February 2018 and released 'Let Me Down Slowly'?
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records heard the song among the demos that persuaded it to sign him, then made it his first single for the label.
Q 15Alec Benjamin made his national TV debut in January 2019, singing 'Let Me Down Slowly' for which talk-show host?
James Corden
James Corden had him on The Late Late Show, where he sang with an acoustic guitar in front of a flower shop set on the day the duet version was released.
Q 16Alec Benjamin prefers which word to 'singer-songwriter' when describing himself, because his songs tell stories?
Narrator
Narrator is the label he chose after deciding he needed a new word for what he does. It echoes the title of his 2018 debut mixtape, Narrated for You.
Q 17These Two Windows, the title of Alec Benjamin's 2020 debut studio album, is his metaphor for what?
His eyes
His eyes are the windows: he argues every theme has been written about before, so only the teller's point of view makes a retelling new.
Q 18Which Alec Benjamin song did he say is about the day he realised he was no longer a child?
Death of a Hero
Death of a Hero is about the downfall, in his eyes, of someone he really looked up to. In 2019 he played it on stage with the guitarist he grew up admiring.
Q 19Which Alec Benjamin song did he write for his sister, with verses about a classmate and his grandparents?
If We Have Each Other
If We Have Each Other saves its final verse for her. It is the opening track of his 2018 debut mixtape and has gone double platinum in the US.
Q 20Which Alec Benjamin song is about one of the first girls he liked, who said she loved him before he was ready?
Water Fountain
Water Fountain ends with the roles reversed: by the time he had grown up and still had feelings for her, she had moved on.
Annabelle's Homework recalls him doing a classmate's assignments just to win their affection, and getting his heart broken anyway.
Q 24Which Alec Benjamin song about being bullied as a child gives its last verse to the bully's point of view?
Boy in the Bubble
Boy in the Bubble switches sides because Benjamin felt the bully's own story is something people do not talk about often enough. It has gone gold in the US.
Q 25Which Alec Benjamin song about a friend whose lifestyle would one day catch up with him also named his 2019 tour?
Outrunning Karma
Outrunning Karma gave its name to the tour that closed with two nights at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. The song has gone gold in the US.
Q 26Which Alec Benjamin song is, in his words, about changing for a person you love?
If I Killed Someone for You
If I Killed Someone for You is what he called a different and darker song for him. It went platinum in the US without ever being a single.
Q 27Alec Benjamin wrote 'Demons' right after a songwriting session with which R&B star produced nothing usable?
Khalid
Khalid had just left the studio when the song arrived. Benjamin admits it is not his favourite on the album, and calls the track itself one of his demons.
Q 28Alec Benjamin's song 'Oh My God' nods to which classic sci-fi TV series he watched with his father as a child?
Lost in Space
Lost in Space was a show his dad loved to quote, so Benjamin slipped a Will Robinson reference into a song about feeling adrift in the music business.
Q 29Which Alec Benjamin song title is his metaphor for trying to save a relationship that just isn't working?
Match in the Rain
Match in the Rain began as a line he sang into his phone five minutes before going on stage in Munich. He wrote the rest in the studio two months later.
Q 30Which Alec Benjamin single deals with domestic abuse, inspired by a friend who was not ready to talk about it?
Must Have Been the Wind
Must Have Been the Wind was written to do the one thing he felt a friend could: let the person know he was there for them. It has gone gold in the US.