Benjamin Evans Rector (born November 6, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Rector is an independent artist, and releases music under his own label OK Kid Recordings; he has individually sold over 250,000 albums and 2,000,000 downloads.

An early success saw him being the youngest grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting contest in 2006 with the song "Conversation" from his self-titled extended play (EP).

27 on Rock Digital Song Sales, and its third track "Beautiful" was highlighted by iTunes via their Single of the Week promotion in July 2013.

Rector also has a dedicated touring base, frequently performing to sold-out shows across the United States with each album release.

Throughout his career he has also toured in supporting slots for Dan + Shay, Needtobreathe, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Dave Barnes, among others.

[4] He graduated from Tulsa's Metro Christian Academy in 2005 and resumed playing piano,[7] and from the University of Arkansas in 2010 with a degree in business and marketing, where he was a brother of the Beta Upsilon Chi fraternity.

[2] A particular moment of clarity came when he performed at the Cambridge Room in Dallas, Texas to a sold-out crowd of 350 people, exclusively fans.

[56][57] In January 2016, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month[58] and was featured on NBC's Today show where he live performed his single "Brand New", which initially received airplay on Sirius XM's The Pulse in September 2015.

[69] On June 22, 2018, Rector released his seventh studio album, Magic, his first with OK Kid Recordings, which was led by its first single, "Drive".

Winwood is one of Rector’s musical heroes and was originally named in the song's lyrics before agreeing to take part in its composition as well.

[94] On March 11, 2022, Rector released his eighth studio album, The Joy of Music, following four pre-released tracks: "Living My Best Life", "Dream On", "Supernatural", and "Steady Love".

[95] The project features Snoop Dogg, Dave Koz, Kenny G, and Taylor Goldsmith and a short film created in conjunction with the record.

In the film, Rector is led through seven songs from the album with associated cinematography by his new friend Joy — a muppet monster he created in collaboration with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Executive Vice President of marketing for ESPN Laura Gentile said that "Sunday" "captures the joy that baseball brings, and the great feelings fans and players share as the season begins".

In 2024 he co-headlined Ben Rector and Cody Fry With the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and opened for Dan + Shay for their Heartbreak on the Map Tour.

On August 5, 2022, Rector released "What Makes a Man", a single featuring Thomas Rhett, which discusses introspection relating to manliness and fatherhood.

[114] On February 2, 2024, Rector released a cover of "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" by Darrell Scott, a song he played every show throughout the 2023 revival of The Old Friends Acoustic Tour.

[115] In March 2023, he and country musician Terri Clark performed a duet for her song "Now That I Found You" for her album Take Two.

[7] Various influences for his music style include but are not limited to James Taylor, Paul McCartney, Randy Newman,[8] Huey Lewis and the News, and Steve Winwood.

[128] "The Men That Drive Me Places" reflects on how lucky he is to have found success in his career, but primarily focuses on glorifying the inspiring lives of individuals who have driven him to concerts.

[32] Opening acts for his shows include Jacob Whitesides, Tyrone Wells, The Band Camino, and most recently Jordy Searcy and Stephen Day.

Rector has performed as an opening act for Needtobreathe and Dan + Shay, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for Soul2Soul: The World Tour in 2017.

[147] Rector's performance of "Old Friends" on Pickler & Ben in 2019 was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program category,[148][149] In 2021, Rector was a mentor for two contestants on season 19 of American Idol, alongside Ryan Tedder, Jason Aldean, and Jimmie Allen.

He performed duets of two of his songs live on the show: "Love Like This" with Graham DeFranco and "Brand New" with Tate McRae.

[152][14] "Brand New" was featured in the trailers for Edge of Seventeen and Moana, in a Weight Watchers campaign starring Oprah Winfrey, and on ads for the Olympics and the Major League Baseball World Series.

[52][153] The song saw over 40 major movie and television placements by 2019, including advertising efforts for The Edge of Seventeen, The Fundamentals of Caring, The Croods: A New Age, and Moana.

[157] U.S. Soccer partnered with Rector to feature his unreleased song “New Day” as the soundtrack to promotional content for the qualification matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Rector headlined a pre-game performance at U.S. Soccer's first home match of the qualifying campaign in Nashville alongside Lindsay Ell.

[9] Religion was emphasized in The Joy of Music with songs including "Supernatural" and "Thank You", where he had grown to be more comfortable discussing his faith more openly.