Benét was born Eric Benét Jordan in 1970, Benét being his mother's maiden name. He was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is the youngest of five siblings.

Benét's father loved rap music and inspired an interest in music in his son. He sang with a Top 100-style group called Gerard in the late 1980s. Benét, his sister Lisa, and his cousin George Nash Jr. formed a band called Benét and released a self-titled album in 1992, but it only sold 100,000 copies.

Benét's career-building, however, was interrupted by a series of personal tragedies. His father died of cancer. Next his girlfriend Tami Marie Stauff died of injuries suffered in an automobile crash (April 24, 1993) after languishing in a coma for five days. Benét endured a long period of personal and creative depression, often feeling that only his responsibilities as a father kept him going. He took a job with United Parcel Service in Milwaukee and eased back into music by producing demo recordings for local artists.

From 2001 to 2005, he was married to actress Halle Berry.

He has a daughter, India (with Stauff, born in 1992).