10 Songs You Didn’t Know Benny Blanco Made

Benny Blanco has been behind some of the biggest hit songs of the past 20 years.

Though the songwriter may have become a household name amid his relationship with his fiancée, Selena Gomez, Blanco has worked with everyone from Britney Spears to Ed Sheeran over the years. In fact, he and Gomez first crossed paths in 2009 when Gomez’s mom, Mandy Teefey, set up a meeting for them to work on a song together. 

In March 2025, the producer and Gomez released a collaborative album, I Said I Love You First. In an interview with Rolling Stone at the time, Gomez revealed that working with Blanco was natural.

“We had been together for a while, and obviously I would confide in him. I couldn’t figure out my sound,” she said. “It helps that he knows a little bit about music, and it kind of happened organically to where I felt like this process was unlike any other process I’d ever been through.”

Here’s a look at 10 songs that you might not have known Benny Blanco helped produce.

“Diamonds” by Rihanna

Blanco was a co-writer and co-producer on “Diamonds,” one of Rihanna‘s biggest hits and the lead single off of her 2012 album Unapologetic.

During a May 2024 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Blanco, who co-wrote the song with Sia and music producer duo Stargate, recalled how the song came together in under 15 minutes. He was unsure of the song’s potential at first, but changed his mind when he heard Rihanna’s vocals.

“Rihanna is such a special artist that the second her voice touches something, it’s like a firework. She has so much tone and personality,” he told Howard Stern.

“California Gurls” by Katy Perry

Blanco was a producer on multiple collaborations with Katy Perry, including “I Kissed a Girl,” “Teenage Dream” and “California Gurls.”

“We wanted to make anthem for California,” he told Stern. “I listen to the song and I feel the palm trees, I feel like I’m in L.A.”

The two reunited to work on “This Moment” and “It Takes Two,” tracks off of Perry’s 2013 album, Prism.

“Tik Tok” by Kesha

Blanco was a co-writer and co-producer on one of Kesha‘s signature songs, “Tik Tok.” The two would go on to collaborate on “We R Who We R” and “Die Young” for Kesha’s later albums.

In September 2024, while looking back at her discography for Vulture, Kesha recalled the writing process, revealing the creative team wanting her to make the “Tik Tok” lyrics “dumber.”

“After I wrote them, I was like, ‘This is too dumb, right? It doesn’t make sense to brush your teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s,’ ” she said. “But I remember Benny Blanco was like, ‘No, it’s sick. Just don’t overthink it.’ That’s what we ended up with.”

“Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5

Blanco was a writer and producer on Maroon 5‘s 2011 hit “Moves Like Jagger.”

In March 2025, Blanco appeared in an interview with Daniel Wall, revealing that Adam Levine was originally interested in the song “Stereo Hearts” (which was later recorded by Gym Class Heroes) before he heard a demo of Shellback singing “Moves Like Jagger.”

Blanco also collaborated with the group on other tracks such as 2012’s “Payphone” and 2014’s “Maps” and “Animals.”

“Circus” by Britney Spears

Blanco was a songwriter and co-producer on the title track for Britney Spears‘ 2008 album, Circus, which was an early success for him.

“The first, like, big pop thing that I ever worked on was Britney Spears,” Blanco told Jake Shane on a July 2025 episode of Therapuss. “Sometimes I am in a restaurant and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this song’s so good.’ And I Shazam it, and then it’s my own song.”

He jokingly added, “I’m old and I can’t remember anything. I’ve done, like, hundreds of songs that have come out.”

“Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber‘s “Love Yourself” was produced by Blanco, and co-written by him and Ed Sheeran.

During his interview on The Howard Stern Show, Blanco recalled how the original title of the song was a lot less radio-friendly, but he admitted he doesn’t like to curse “unless it’s really important to curse in the song.”

“And to me, it felt more important and because you knew I want to leave a little bit up to the audience,” he continued.

Blanco and Sheeran would end up sending “Love Yourself” to Bieber for his 2015 album, Purpose.

“Nobody Gets Me” by SZA

SZA and Blanco have collaborated on “Special” and “Nobody Gets Me” off of her 2022 album, SOS. He also appeared in the music video for her 2022 song, “Snooze.”

SZA is a fan of Blanco’s beats, but she also loves his cooking, as he revealed to PEOPLE. In April 2024, Blanco released  Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends, where he shared some of his favorite recipes.

“It sucks because once I cook them … I remember I made SZA lasagna and banana pudding when she first came to my house,” Blanco said. “And then every day she would just be like, ‘Hey, I’m not coming unless there’s the lasagna or banana pudding.’ I’d be like, ‘f—.’ ”

“Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran

Blanco and Sheeran co-wrote and produced “Castle on the Hill” and multiple other tracks off of Sheeran’s 2017 album, ÷ (pronounced “divide”).

For a TIME100 cover story published in April 2025, Blanco wrote about what makes Sheeran so “relatable,” even though he’s one of the world’s biggest pop stars.

“He sings sentences that we say all the time, but nobody ever puts them together like that in a song,” Blanco wrote about Sheeran. “The thing that makes him so good — and I’m in a similar spot — we’re just kind of like the average Joe that shouldn’t have really made it, but somehow we did. He has that humility and that insecurity, and I think that’s what makes him so relatable.”

“Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello‘s “Señorita” was a big hit for the duo, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 100 chart and receiving a Grammy nomination.

Blanco was a co-producer on the track, and in an October 2019 interview with Billboard, he spoke about the process of crafting the song.

“That one, we worked on for soooo long. Before that song came out and everything from the first demo, it was over a year, a year and a half — maybe more,” he recalled. “And then it came out, and it’s crazy to me. No, I did not know it would be as big as it was going to be.”

“Kill Em with Kindness” by Selena Gomez

In March 2025, Blanco and Gomez released their album, I Said I Love You First, but the future fiancés had previously worked together. A decade earlier, in 2015, the two collaborated on tracks “Kill Em with Kindness” and “Same Old Love” off of Gomez’s album, Revival.

In a September 2024 Vanity Fair interview, the Only Murders in the Building star said she’s “never been loved this way.”

“He’s just been a light. A complete light in my life,” she continued. “He’s my best friend. I love telling him everything.”