George Benson

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 22, 1943, Grammy-winning jazz guitarist and vocalist George Benson started his music career playing ukulele in a drug store when he was seven. A year later, he was playing guitar in unlicensed night clubs, and when he was 10, he recorded his first single, “She Makes Me Mad.” By the time he reached his teens, he was consumed by jazz and began to make a name for himself on the music scene. At the age of 21, he began collaborating with jazz organist Jack McDuff and recorded his first album, The New Boss Guitar of George Benson (1964), with McDuff’s Quartet. Forming his own quartet, George Benson became a respected artist in his own right with the release of albums It’s Uptown (1966) and The George Benson Cookbook (1967). He continued to release a series of well-respected albums in the late 1960s and into the 1970s but finally found commercial success with his 1976 album Breezin’. The album, which featured vocals for the first time on one of his albums, was the first jazz album in history to achieve platinum sales. The album also earned him three Grammy Awards including Record of the Year for his cover of “This Masquerade.” George Benson toured with singer Minnie Riperton and enjoyed even greater success with the Quincy Jones-produced pop album Give Me the Night (1980), scoring a major crossover hit with the title track. He also had major success with the original version of “The Greatest Love of All,” collaborated with Chet Atkins and Al Jarreau and continued to represent the popular face of jazz. Continuing to record and tour, many of George Benson’s albums were commercial and critical successes. He has released over three dozen studio albums, eight live albums, and over 20 compilations including 2015’s The Ultimate Collection, which landed in the Top 40 in the UK.