Benji Madden

Benji Madden
Background information
Born March 11, 1979
Waldorf, Maryland, US
Genres Pop rock, folk rock, alternative rock, pop punk
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1995–present
Labels EMI
Associated acts Good Charlotte, The Madden Brothers, Rad Omen
Notable instruments
OLP Guitars
Gretsch guitars
Music Man guitars

Benjamin Levi "Benji" Madden (born March 11, 1979) is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer. He is the guitarist for the band Good Charlotte, as well as pop rock collaboration The Madden Brothers. He formed both of these acts with his identical twin brother, Joel Madden. Benji is now a judge on The Voice Australia. He is married to actress Cameron Diaz.

Early life

Benjamin "Benji" Madden was born on March 11, 1979, in Waldorf, Maryland, the son of Robin Madden and Roger Combs.[1][2] He has an identical twin, Joel Madden, with whom he formed the band Good Charlotte.[1] He has an older brother named Josh and a younger sister, Sarah. All attended La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland.[2]

Career

Madden started the fashion line called Made Clothing, along with his brothers Joel and Josh, but the line became defunct. In early 2006, it became DCMA Collective. A DCMA Collective store opened in Los Angeles on March 15, 2008, but later closed.

In 1996 Madden started a band with his twin brother Joel named Good Charlotte. The band became defunct.

While still playing in Good Charlotte, Madden and Joel wrote and produced for other artists. Madden was a co-writer and co-producer of some of the songs on Hilary Duff's Most Wanted (2005) compilation album. He later helped write the songs "Amnesia" for pop rockers 5 Seconds of Summer and "No Ordinary Girl" for pop artist Kalin and Myles. He has appeared as a back-up vocalist for artists such as MxPx, Kill Hannah, Apoptygma Berzerk, Mest, The 69 Eyes, Sean Kingston, Three 6 Mafia, Chamillionaire, and Matisyahu.[3] As of September 2009 Madden has guested playing in the band Taintstick, fronted by radio talk show host, professional MMA fighter, and pro skateboarder, Jason Ellis.

On April 3, 2010, Madden partook in a boxing match against MTV and VH1 host Riki Rachtman at Ellismania 5: Get These Brawls. The event was hosted by Jason Ellis at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Madden beat Rachtman by knockout at 1 minute and 42 seconds into the first round.[4]

On November 11, 2011, Madden and his brother and Joel Madden released a free mixtape, "The Madden Brothers: Before Volume 1". It contains new artists the brothers were personally interested in. Their brother Josh Madden helped to produce the mixtape.

In December 2011, it was announced that Benji and Joel are recording a record as "The Madden Brothers".

In 2012, Benji appeared on the TV show The Voice Australia, alongside Joel and being his mentor.

In early 2013, Benji helped write Tonight Alive's song "Breakdown" and also made an appearance in the video for the song as well as singing towards the end of it.

In 2014, electronic dance music artist TJR released his track "Come Back Down", which features Benji for the track's vocals.

The Madden Brothers record "Greetings from California" was released on September 16, 2014.

In mid-2014, both of the Madden brothers appeared as coaches on The Voice Kids Australia, in a specially made double chair.

In early 2015, it was announced that Benji would be joining Joel as a coach on the main edition of The Voice, bringing the number of coaches up to five instead of the usual four.

Personal life

Madden lives in Beverly Hills, California.

In January 2008, media outlets reported that Madden and his long-time fiancée, Australian starlet Sophie Monk, had split up.[5] In response to the rumors, Good Charlotte's rep told Us Weekly: "Benji Madden and Sophie Monk are together and very happy." However, in mid-February it was officially announced by Monk's Sydney agent, that "Sophie and Benji have officially split. The decision was mutual and they remain amicable."[6] Madden then dated Paris Hilton from February to November 2008 .[7][8][9] Madden also dated television personality Holly Madison, from December 2009 until January 2010.[10] However they have remained very close friends. He also dated singer Eliza Doolittle about a year, from 2011 to 2012.[11]

Madden is an avid collector of Living Dead Dolls. In an episode of MTV Cribs he showed off his vast collection. He is known for having many tattoos, including a tattoo of Ben Franklin, which covers his entire back.[12]

Madden is an avid MMA and boxing fan. He has competed in several amateur fights since 2010. Growing up in Maryland Madden became a big fan of the Baltimore Orioles.

Madden began dating actress Cameron Diaz in May 2014. The two were officially engaged before Christmas Day in 2014 and were married on 5 January 2015,[13] in a Jewish ceremony, despite neither being Jewish.[14]

Discography

With Good Charlotte

With The Madden Brothers

Vocal appearances

Year Song Artist(s) Album
2001 "Let's Go" X-Ecutioners
2002 "January" Goldfinger Open Your Eyes
2003 "Jaded (These Years)" Mest Mest
"It's Alright" MxPx Before Everything & After
"On the Outs"
2004 "Are You Ready?" Hazen Street Hazen Street
"All That"
"Last Train Home" Lostprophets Start Something
2007 "Tightly Wound" MxPx Secret Weapon
"Sex Without Love" Ben Lee Ripe
2008 "My Own Way" Three 6 Mafia Last 2 Walk
2009 "Apollo (Live on Your TV)" Apoptygma Berzerk Rocket Science
"Darkness into Light" Matisyahu Light
"Dead N' Gone" The 69 Eyes Back in Blood
"Shoulda Let U Go" Sean Kingston Tomorrow
"Snowblinded" Kill Hannah Wake Up the Sleepers
2013 "Breakdown" Tonight Alive
2014 "Come Back Down" TJR[16]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Not Another Teen Movie Prom band member
2006 Live Freaky Die Freaky Interrogator #1 Voice only
Material Girls Mistaken valet #2
Fast Future Generation Himself
2007 Punk's Not Dead
2008 Paris, Not France
2009 6 Beers of Separation

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Punk'd Himself 1 episode
2009 Australian Idol Himself (guest judge) 2 episodes
2011 The Electric Company Himself
2014 The Voice Kids Himself (judge) All episodes
2015 The Voice Australia

Music videos

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Leahey, Andrew. "Artist Biography [Benji Madden]]". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Joel Madden". People.com. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  3. ↑ Benji Madden as a back-up vocalist Twitter. September 18, 2009.
  4. ↑ Ellismania 5 - Benji Madden VS Riki Rachtman - The Fight
  5. ↑ "Sophie Monk and Benji Madden split up". News.com.au. January 7, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
  6. ↑ Sophie Monk splits from Good Charlotte's Benji Madden News.com.au. February 13, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Paris Hilton and Benji Madden Split Up". People.com. November 19, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
  8. ↑ Stavros and Paris reunited and it feels so sleazy TMZ.com. (2008/11/17) Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Paris Hilton and Benji Madden Split Up". People.com. January 18, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  10. ↑ Malkin, Marc. "He's really an awesome guy". Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  11. ↑ http://www.contactmusic.com/story/eliza-doolittle-sings-about-break-up-on-new-album_3785094
  12. ↑ Benji Madden shows off his tattoo of Ben Franklin News.com.au. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  13. ↑ Chiu, Melody (December 23, 2014). "Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden Are Engaged". Time.
  14. ↑ Gabe Friedman (7 January 2015). "Cameron Diaz has a Jewish wedding - through neither she nor beau are Jewish (although some reports say Madden's mother is Jewish)". Haaretz. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.themaddenbrothers.com/
  16. ↑ http://turnupthebass.net/2014/01/27/tjr-benji-madden-come-back-down/

External links