John Benitez (born November 7, 1957), also known as Jellybean, is an American musician, songwriter, DJ, remixer, and music producer.
He has produced and remixed artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters.
[1] Benitez was born in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City, the son of Puerto Rican parents.
[2] After his parents divorced, Benitez and his younger sister Debbie were raised by their mother, who worked in the executive offices of Sloan's supermarkets.
[2] In 1976, Benitez got a weekend job deejaying between salsa bands at a club called Charlie's in the Bronx.
[2] Benitez wanted to move to Manhattan, so he worked at a club called La Mariposa in Washington Heights.
[2] After earning a high school equivalency diploma, Benitez enrolled at Bronx Community College as a psychology major and took voice and diction classes.
He worked seven nights a week at Hurrah, and Le Mouches in New York City, Club Marrakesh in Westhampton, Blue Cloud in Southampton, and La Falafel.
[2] In 1984, Benitez remixed Madonna's hit song "Like a Virgin" and landed a producing deal with EMI America Records.
[2] Benitez remixed songs for various artists, including for Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Sting, Talking Heads, Deniece Williams, Elvis Costello, Fleetwood Mac, the Pointer Sisters, and ZZ Top.
[6] When Warner Bros. asked Benitez to produce a non-rap song for the Krush Groove soundtrack, he suggested Debbie Harry, who was resurrecting her career.
His 1984 cover of Babe Ruth's "The Mexican", for which he recruited original singer Janita Haan, regarded as a pivotal moment in the electro-hip hop underground scene, and was his first number-one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
[8] The single "What's It Going To Be" featured Niki Haris, one of three main vocalists on the album together with Cindy Valentine and Deanna Eve.
[9] The album received mixed reviews with Ian Cranna in Q Magazine calling it "functional but forgettable".
[8] Other vocalists who have performed on a Jellybean release include Adele Bertei and Richard Darbyshire.
[10] After not playing anywhere for a decade, David Mancuso invited Benitez to deejay at The Loft in New York City in 2001.