Bio : Corbyn Besson
Like so many artists who gained massive fame at an incredibly young age, Corbyn Besson knows the dedication it takes to unlock your truest voice and vision. An innately talented musician who taught himself to play guitar as a kid, the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter co-founded the wildly popular boy band Why Don’t We at just 17-years-old and soon embarked on a stratospheric rise that included turning out a series of chart-climbing hits and headlining arenas all over the globe. After stepping outside his comfort zone and immersing himself in a prolonged period of creative exploration, Besson arrived at his forthcoming and long-awaited debut solo project: a sonically daring body of work that brings his sublimely smooth vocals to a feel-good form of R&B-pop, both warmly nostalgic and irresistibly forward-thinking.
A supreme introduction to Besson’s new era, his high-energy new single “Tied Up” came to life with an A-list lineup of producers including Hit-Boy (the multi-GRAMMY winner behind iconic hits like Kendrick Lamar’s “Backseat Freestyle”), two-time GRAMMY nominee Tenroc (Jon Batiste, The Kid LAROI), and Latin GRAMMY winner Trevor Muzzy (Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj). While the groove-heavy track radiates a laid-back confidence and undeniable ease, its creative genesis required a great deal of soul-searching on Besson’s part. “In the last year I really felt the growing pains of trying to find my identity as an artist and create something up to par with my career to this point,” he says. “For a long time I was trying to figure out what people want to hear from me, but finally I started asking myself what I want to put out into the world. It was the first time I’d seriously asked myself that question, and it felt like a revelation.”
A monumental breakthrough for Besson, “Tied Up” took shape as he looked back on the records that first sparked his obsession with music, including early-2000s R&B and super-producer Max Martin’s repertoire of pop hits. (“Pop is where my heart is, but R&B is where my soul is,” he notes.) As they built off an in-your-face beat constructed by Tenroc, Besson and his collaborators dreamed up dance-ready banger that sets his sweet and airy vocals against a backdrop of shimmering synth, symphonic strings, and hard-hitting hip-hop rhythms. “That contrast between my vocal tone and those gritty drums and thick bass completely opened my eyes, because it’s something you don’t hear from a lot of male pop artists today,” he says. “After we finished the demo, I had a much clearer idea of what’s possible with my music, which felt really freeing.”
Born in Dallas but raised in Virginia, Besson first tapped into his musical side by playing piano as a child, then became fascinated with guitar at age 12. “I can still play piano, but guitar is what led me to truly appreciate music and try to take it to another level,” he recalls. While building his skills on guitar, Besson honed his phenomenal vocal gifts and began posting on SoundCloud and the broadcasting platform YouNow, soon garnering a major following on social media. With the formation of Why Don’t We in 2016, Besson found himself launched into the spotlight as the band quickly amassed a colossal fanbase. But even though the group achieved tremendous success—including earning streaming numbers in the multi-billions, a string of RIAA Gold-certified hits, and Top Ten placement on the Billboard 200 with both their studio albums—Besson ultimately felt called to strike out on his own. “With the band it was hard to feel a real attachment to the songs, because the main intention was to appeal to the girls in the audience rather than tell a more personal story,” he says. “Now I’m in a place where I’ve never felt so connected to the music I’m making, and it’s scary and exciting and so much fun.”
With his debut EP due out in late 2025, Besson reveals that his newfound clarity of vision has strengthened his sense of purpose as an artist. “More than anything, I want people to feel better when they listen to my music, whether it’s on a deep emotional level or just through the release of dancing around in their bedroom or turning up my songs in the car with their friends,” he says. “I feel like I discovered a piece of myself that I didn’t even know was there before, and now I want to use that to bring a little light into everybody’s lives.”