Who Is Ben Lapidus? About The Comedy Singer On AGT Season 17 Hollywood Life

Publish date: 2024-06-04

Ben Lapidus had quite the first impression when he auditioned for America’s Got Talent. His audition wasn’t your typical audition. However, the comedy singer successfully made it to the first round of the live shows and will compete for America’s vote.

So, who is Ben Lapidus? The 29-year-old singer has more than just the song “Parmesan Cheese” going for him. HollywoodLife has rounded up 5 key things to know about Ben.

1. Ben initially got four Xs from the judges.

Ben sang his original song “Parmesan Cheese” for his AGT audition. Simon Cowell presses his X during the performance, followed by Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Heidi Klum. At this point, his AGT run should have been over. Simon told Ben that he didn’t like his song, and Howie agreed with him. Suddenly, the crowd began chanting “parmesan.” This gave Ben a second chance. The judges realized the song’s catchiness and changed their tune. All the judges except Howie took their X away and gave him a yes.

2. Ben grew up in Pennsylvania.

Ben was raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Growing up in Pennsylvania had an impact on his love for music. “I grew up just completely immersed in the pop-punk, emo, hardcore-punk scene in Pennsylvania,” Ben told NBC. “So that was my bread and butter musically from a songwriting perspective. So everything I do that seems like a parody of that comes from a place of such deep love and gratitude for this music and has really shaped my entire life.”

3. Ben recently released an EP.

The full studio version of “Parmesan Cheese” is available to listen to now. Ben also released his EP, Grad School. His newest singles include “Grad School, “Call Your Mom,” and “Never Mine to Lose.”

4. Ben has his own podcast.

Ben has been a podcast sound designer and now has his own time-traveling narrative comedy podcast titled Who Killed Avril Lavigne? “It’s been a long journey, starting from a musical that took four years to develop and ran at multiple venues and we had an off-Broadway run,” Ben revealed. “Now it’s like a full musical, but it’s a story. A story about a kid from 2022 who loves pop-punk and emo music, but the world has moved on from that phase of culture, and he gets sent back in time to the year 2005. It’s at the Warp Tour to save Avril Lavigne from being murdered and replaced. That’s based on this internet conspiracy theory.”

5. Ben’s dad passed away when he was a child.

In his introduction video, Ben revealed that he was mostly raised by his mom. His dad died when he was 6 years old in a “totally unexpected” way. As a way to cope with the loss, Ben started writing songs and recording them. “Music was my lifeline,” Ben said.