Ben is 26 years of age and comes from Kent. He currently runs his own Marquee company and has been doing it for four years. He has even put up a marquee for Jools Holland! Ben has one brother and one sister. Ben has a diploma in Music and can play the piano and guitar. Ben has been singing for twenty years and plays regularly in pubs and clubs in his local area. He has performed at the Guildford Folk and Blues Festival. Ben's musical influences include Joe Cocker, Tom Waits, Rod Stewart and David Bowie. During the competition, Ben performed Bring It Home To Me’ by Sam Cooke in the London auditions being described as a young Joe Cocker. He made it to the Boot Camp where on Day 1 he performed ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles and on Day 2 ‘Maggie May’ by Rod Stewart in front of Sharon and her team. In the Judges' Homes stage, Ben performed on last tune, 'With A Little Help From My Friends’ by Joe Cocker which took him to the final 12.
Q&As
What would winning The X Factor mean to you?
Ben describes the possibility of winning The X Factor as “everything I’ve ever wanted and more. It’s the direction my life needs to take at the moment and it would mean so much to me”. Ben runs a marquee business and he says that if he wins he’d reinvest some of the money into the company. “I’ve got people running it for me now, so it would really help in that respect.” Although his marquee business is very successful, he says that singing is his first love. “Singing is something I’ve wanted to do since I was about 14. I was already playing the guitar and the piano. I really thought I could sing then but I listen back and I had the worst voice in the world but I had a lot of encouragement from my family and friends so it came about that I could sing but I don’t know where the transition was from being a really awful singer to being a good one. It was probably around my early 20’s.”
Are you excited or nervous about the live shows?
“I just want to get involved in it now – I just really want to get stuck in get onto the stage and start singing. The competition will really start there and I just want to get on stage and show people what I can. I’ll miss my dog, but my Mum is going to look after her for me.”
How have your friends and family reacted?
“My friends and family are over the moon. They couldn’t be happier, they are so excited, and they are as excited as I am. They know how much it means to be so they are nervous, but excited.”
What stage experience have you had in the past?
Although Ben hasn’t sung professionally, he used to play keyboard for the LA Doors. He explains “we were a tribute band who toured Europe. We used to dress up as The Doors and I was the keyboard player. I did that for four years and played to around eight thousand people.” This wasn’t the first time that Ben has played to a crowd. “My proudest achievement was probably before I went to Music College, I was about 17, I was asked to go and play at a festival – a big open air festival and I played to 18,000 people with just an acoustic guitar. I opened the festival both days so I’m alright in front of crowds!”
What was your worst ever job?
“My worst job ever was on a building site. I had to dig drains and dig a water pipe. It was the lowest of the low in the building trade. I was given a shovel on a really rainy day and told to start digging. It was so horrible, it was like slavery, I was soaked to the bone. It was just the worst day of my life!”
And your best job?
“My best job was when I was a tractor driver on a strawberry farm. I did it for about two years. It was great, there were a load of students working and I was in charge of the camp site, so when I was driving the tractor I could just drive around.”
Do you come from a musical family?
Ben comes from a musical family. His grandfather used to play the church organ and his mum was a guitarist. He also studied music. “I went to the Academy Of Contemporary Music which was a guitar school. I got a diploma but it was mainly about the music business. You were taught by people who have been in the music business. My guitar teacher was a guy called Bruce Dickenson, who used to be in a band called Little Angels and had a hit with ‘Woman Kind’”.
Who are your musical influences?
He is a big fan of Jim Morrison, David Bowie and Bruce Springstein. “At the moment I really like bands like The Fretelli’s. Jim Morrison is my favourite legend. I’d love to have the charisma he had. I thought he was an amazing performer”. He says that he would sing ‘A Little Help From My Friends’ to wow the Judges.
What do you do in your spare time?
Although Ben can play the guitar, piano and didgeridoo (!), it’s not all about music for him. He says “I recently learnt to ski. I was playing at a friend’s wedding in Switzerland and part of the payment was that we could take ski-ing lessons. I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without ever skiing. I went down a black run on my second day! So that is my new favourite hobby. In fact, my ideal weekend at the moment would be a weekend skiing. It’s amazing going up on the ski lift into the mountains.”
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