Celebrity sensations Selena Gomez and beau Benny Blanco visited the humble and locally beloved Looney Tunes Record Store in West Babylon Saturday afternoon.
Promoting their new album “I Said I Loved You First” and small business in one lowkey turned massive buzz swoop, the recently-engaged collaborators surprised three in-person shoppers upon arrival, and hundreds by the end of their hour-long drop-by.
Reports say fans of the “Back to You” singer and husband-to-be—who has written decades of No. 1 hits such as “Moves Like Jagger” for Maroon 5 and “Love Yourself” for Justin Bieber—were stunned beyond belief, some nearly even falling faint at the sight of the former.
The pair conversed with store owner Karl Groeger and promoted selections from his in-store vinyl collection before engaging in “meet-and-greets” with eager album purchasers. They also worked the counter and answered call-ins directly.
In a video posted to Looney Tunes Record Store’s Instagram account, Blanco—who famously lifted his professional tag from the “Carlito’s Way” gangster of the same name—called Looney Tunes “the greatest record store in the New York City area.”
“Call Me When You Breakup,” the album’s first single that features breakout Gracie Abrams, peaked at a respectable No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Gomez, who first rose to child stardom as a part of the Disney Channel Series “The Wizards of Waverly Place” (2007-2012), recently plugged a starring performance in the Oscar-nominated “Emilia Perez” for Netflix.
After years of ghost-writing or super-producing from behind the scenes, Blanco has recently put a face to his no longer in-name-only brand. He provides informative breakdowns of his creative process on a rotation of video-inclusive podcasts, and also had a laugh-out-loud recurring role in rapper Lil Dicky’s semi-autobiographical, industry-satirizing “Dave” for FX.
Artists such as Cardi B, LL Cool J, Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato have visited the store in years past. However, these were mostly ticketed meet-and-greets—with some culminating in performances.
Gomez may not have sung during her brief outing on the South Shore of suburban Suffolk County on March 22. Still, it was a memorable springtime commencement for all who encountered the 2-time Grammy Award nominated artist and her ferociously influential, 11-time Grammy-winning fiancé nonetheless.