Going on Survivor isn’t always about winning, and while you could use many Season 46 castaways to make that case, there’s perhaps no better example than Ben Katzman. The professional musician and all around vibes guy powered through repeated night terrors and pizza-induced memory loss, among many other challenges, to win an immunity necklace, make the finals and somehow build a genuine connection with what feels like half the cast. Despite losing, it’s all been one silver lining after another for him, including with his music.
The zero vote finalist took to social media this week to announce his band is playing their first ever major festival at Hopscotch, right alongside some huge acts. The Raleigh, North Carolina extravaganza will feature dozens of famous faces including St. Vincent, Waxahatchee, Guided By Voices, Tim Heidecker and of course, Ben Katzman’s DeGreaser. You can check out his post about the huge music win below…
They say you can tell how much someone has your back based on how happy they are when you find success. Let the record show a ton of Survivor castaways are nothing but stoked for Katzman. The posts across his socials have been flooded by alumni shouting out their support including Sugar, Jesse, Jemila, Jake and Kendra.
A bunch of others have also hit up his recent gigs around the country or made plans to play with him at a future show. Survivor legend The Dragonslayer Coach is apparently going to shred the trumpet with him at a future concert, and Liz was recently spotted shredding the triangle. There’s even footage of that madness, which you can watch below…
@BKdegreaser69 and @TheLizWilcox88 do, in fact, rock 🤘 pic.twitter.com/HPLhvfd5D8May 26, 2024
She looks like she’s having the absolute best time, which is probably a combination of her having finally eaten, her not being around Q anymore and the fact that everyone seems to have the best time when they’re around Ben. If you don’t believe me, ask Venus, Charlie, Jelinsky, Jem and Jess who all went on an outing to Applebee’s together. Or ask Tim who went to one of Ben’s shows and jumped on stage to take a picture together in which their continued bond is obvious. Check it out…
Tonights concert in New York is SOLD OUT! SHOUTOUT TO MERCURY LOUNGE AND THE SIGA BOIZ #brotherlylove pic.twitter.com/WOZjgoU7sMMay 23, 2024
As someone who has watched nearly every season of Survivor, I’ll be honest and admit Ben is far from the best player. He’s too emotionally invested in his fellow castaways, and he’s not some strategic genius coming up with wild plans. I think you could put him on as many seasons as you want to, and he probably wouldn’t win any of them. But I also don’t think he’d go home early very often either. He’s clearly someone who knows how to connect with other human beings. He’s clearly someone people want to have around, and he’s clearly someone players from all walks of life are willing to make the effort to stay connected with.
I mean, look at this photo collage he put up of him hanging out with Survivor contestants over the past few months. In a season that featured lots of resentment, interpersonal conflicts and petty vendettas, take a second to appreciate how many different people are represented in this album…
It’s not even just people from his season either. If you look at comments underneath even his random posts, you’ll see messages from former winners like Tony, Dee and Gabler. I’ve seen photos and videos of him hanging out with Austin and Carson. For Ben, that’s probably his idea of winning, and I hope he plays the show of his life at Hopscotch. Keep doing you. Keep shredding, dude. We’re all rooting for you.