All about me
Early life
Stephanie Benson was born in Ghana to royal Parents, a pharmaceutical millionaire and his fourth wife named Queen Nana Boahemah II, who had seventeen children. Her musical career began at the age of three when she started learning how to play the piano. She added the violin and cello when she was enrolled at the National Academy of Music at the age of eight in the year 1975. She became interested in playing the piano after her father often played the instrument to her before bedtime.
After her father’s death in 1981 when she was fourteen, she moved to London, England to explore life in a different part of the world. During her stay in London, she channeled her energy into playing the piano under the watchful eye of her uncle, and later got a residency singing and playing in one of the famous nightclubs in London. She also performed at Strange Fellows nightclub in the UK.
Career
Stephanie started her music journey at the age of 10 years old with a scholarship to the National Academy of Music for 2 years. Although Stephanie was signed to PWL UK Records at a very young age, she rose to fame after her Debut Performance as the 1st Artist on the London Fashion Week stage, performing to 250,000 people in one day, closely followed by an amazing series of performances for Prince Charles, William and Harry, becoming one of the favorites of the Royal families worldwide. Produced and Directed many Theatre Shows “Reflections”, “The Magic of Motown”. Best selling hit Dance single “Hanging On” was no5, 2011 in the World Charts. Joined Stevie Wonder on his UK tour. Travelled all over the world writing, performing and recording with various superstars, Rob Davis, Andy Kane, Andy Hill, Bruce Elliott Smith, Simon Cowell and many many others with whom Stephanie has written many hit singles , Whatcha Looking At, Had Enough, Something About you and many more.
Besides winning The Outstanding Woman in Music Award in African and many nominations i.e Best Soundtrack and Best actress in Lead Role “40 looks Good on You”, Best songwriter of the Year, Female artist of the year, Stephanie is most proud of her biggest achievement her own Daughter, Alexandra Buggs from Stooshe, one of the biggest girl bands in the UK. MOBO AWARD NOMINEES. With many many hits singles like Blackheart, Slip, Waterfalls and many more.
Stephanie Benson in 2023 was honoured by the United Nations in New York with 4 awards. She was awarded a UN Doctorate, Global Peace Ambassador for UK and Ghana, The Humanitarian Award and The Joe Biden Leadership Award.
Social activity
In a bid to groom potential stars of Ghanaian talent in all fields of the industry, in April 2013 Benson announced the establishment of a music school named the Benson Entertainment Production Institute (BEPI) in Accra. BEPI is intended to promote professional international standards relating to stage performances and rehearsals, theatre shows, TV shows and musical concerts, and training, as well as to serve commercial purposes. The first performance of students from BEPI was in 2014 at +233 Jazz Bar and Grill, Accra.
Surviving breast cancer
On 29 October 2015, Benson underwent surgery for breast cancer, a situation she described as shocking when she was diagnosed, revealing that she had lost her grandmother, mother and other relatives to the disease. Following her survival, she trained to do a mountain walk in France on 1 September 2016 with the Dutch “Singing for your Life” team to raise funds towards a cancer research and mobile mammogram unit for Ghana, and support for the Dutch Cancer Society.
Benson has publicly talked about surviving breast cancer after undergoing a total of 28 hours of surgery within three days.
On 19 March 2016, at Labadi Beach Hotel’s Omanye Hall in Accra, she held a women’s gathering centred on her fight against breast cancer with the aim of encouraging and strengthening women amidst music and words of exhortation. She released her song titled “Dear Lord” at this event, which was attended by notable women including Nana Ama McBrown, Michelle McKinney-Hammond as well as singers Akosua Agyapong, Irene Logan, Yaa Yaa and Becca.
Personal life
Benson is an older sister of Ghanaian highlife singer, Akosua Agyapong.
She is married to John, and together they have five children. They have been married for 36 years
Brand Ambassador
In October 2018, 3Foundation made her a brand ambassador to lead a breast cancer awareness campaign where she helped raised funds to support women affected by breast cancer to undergo resconstructive surgeries.
Performances for the British royal household
Since taking on music commercially, Benson has entertained celebrities and important personalities at public and private events including the British royal household and Prince Charles, who said upon hearing her sing the first time, “You are one of the most amazing performers I’ve ever seen.” Benson has performed at events hosted by the British royals including Princess Anne, and reportedly exceeded her 15-minute allotted performance time for Prince Charles to approximately an hour because he enjoyed her act.
Accident
On 22 April 2014 Benson was involved in a car accident. Following this, she released a gospel single titled “My Prayer” as a way of showing appreciation and gratitude to God for saving her from the accident.
Discography
Since travelling between her two homes in the UK and Ghana, Benson has released a number of albums and tracks, including Different Kind of Heaven, What are you doing with your life and Friend in 2015, as well as Dear Lord and I am worth it in 2016. Sixty Nine “69” was released in 2020. Go To Girl was released in 2021 and Asem Aba was released in 2022.
