EBEN

American pop singer Eben is known for his yearning, bright-toned electronic pop. His first brush with fame came on the 2012 season of American Idol where, at only 15, he became the youngest male contestant to reach the Top 12. Eben appeared in a handful of moderately successful boy bands over the next five years before beginning a solo career in 2018 with the Finally EP. Over the next three years he issued new music at a prolific rate, landing streaming hits with songs like "That's Alright" and "Plastic Angels." Eben's fourth EP, Dandelions, appeared in 2021. Born just outside of Tampa, Florida and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Eben Franckewitz successfully auditioned for American Idol's 11th season in 2012, competing against mostly older singers and rising to the show's Top 12 before being eliminated. In 2014, he relocated to Orlando to further pursue his music career, joining the boy band FarYoung, which had been created by former Backstreet Boys producer Tim Coons. Two years later, Franckewitz and fellow FarYoung member Jackson Owens resurfaced in a different boy band called ABT LST NT (pronounced "About Last Night"). By 2018, Franckewitz had landed in Los Angeles, where he launched a solo career simply using his first name, Eben. Beginning with the Finally EP and then on subsequent singles like the pulsing electronic "Lambo" and the half-rapped "Past Hundred Days," Eben's music took on a slightly darker and more mature tone. After a second EP, Past Hundred Days, he joined up with pop group Why Don't We to open their sold-out 8 Letters tour, then landed a 2019 streaming hit with "Plastic Angels." Eben returned in June 2020 with the Honeydew EP, which yielded another streaming favorite in "The Kids Are Alright." The singer's prolific string continued into the next year with another EP, Dandelions. ~ Timothy Monger