It’s difficult to separate R&B singer Eric Benét from his successful music career and from his personal life but in the midst of balancing the two, Eric always finds the “happy” medium as the legendary R&B crooner takes on two new roles: a third-time father to be and CEO of his own record label.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Benét, the new CEO of Jordan House Records under Primary Wave/ BMG, was a byproduct of a gospel singing family who used his God-given ability to transition into secular music during the mid 90s.
Though he’s been nominated for multiple Grammys, the singer songwriter’s biggest claim to fame is the 1999 duet “Spend My Life With You,” featuring Canadian singer Tamia.
“Its a humbling experience to still have a song like that resonate for so long,” Benét told theGrio on the 15-year anniversary of his signature hit. “To hear that it’s still played at weddings means the world to me.”
Benét believed the message behind “Spend My Life” about strong, honest, and genuine love fit Tamia’s vocal range perfectly.
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The father of two thinks an individual is the result of their choices, good or bad.
He’s raised his oldest daughter, India, since she was 15 months old, after her late mother died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1993.
Carrying the workload of being an unexpected single parent, while trying to make it in the music industry, was a daunting task for Benét.
“You’re left wondering why were you put in this position,” Benét recalled. “But it helps you channel what and who are truly important into your life.”
That ability to focus on what truly matters guided the singer through one of more difficult times in his life.
He’s now married to Manuela Testolini, the former wife of Prince, but the media still regularly question him about his ex-wfe, Oscar winner Halle Berry.
The highly publicized break-up and conflicting reports of a sex addiction makes it a chapter in Benét’s life that he wants to leave in the past and is now focusing on his new venture of record executive with his new label teaming up Primary Wave/BMG spearheading the careers of R&B acts Calvin Richardson and Goapele.
“You’re never able to take the players out of the story, but in anybody’s life, there are personal hurdles that’ll make you wonder ‘How did I get here?'” said Benét about his split with Berry.
“One of the great things about that time was learning to shut out the noise … Realizing what’s important to me is my family, my daughter and my career. It was a way to learn how to shut everything and it doesn’t really matter what you think and I know what the truth is. I’ll keep moving forward, ” he added.
When asked if he still talks to Berry, Benét said: “No we haven’t stayed in touch. I just keep moving forward and being happy.”
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