Benjamin Bernard Haenow (born 6 January 1985) is a British singer-songwriter and former van driver. In 2014, he was crowned as the winner of the eleventh series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' UK after beating

Fleur East Fleur East (born 29 October 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, rapper and radio presenter on Hits Radio. She competed on the second series of the televised singing competition ''The X Factor'' in 2005 as a member of the girl group Addicti ...

. Following his win, his debut single, a cover of OneRepublic's "

Something I Need "Something I Need" is a song recorded by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released on August 25, 2013, through Mosley Music and Interscope Records as the third single from their third studio album, ''Native'' (2013). The song was wri ...

", was released in December 2014. It debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming the 2014 Christmas number one. Haenow released his self-titled debut studio album in November 2015, preceded by the single " Second Hand Heart", a duet with

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

Early years

Ben Haenow was born on 6 January 1985 in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, England, to parents Mick and Rosanna Haenow (née Ward). He has an older brother named Alex. Their parents split when Ben was four years old, forcing his mother to work three jobs to make ends meet. When he was 14 years old, Ben suffered depression and drank a bottle of

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

a day until he was "sick and paralytic". Haenow has sung in bands since he was 15 and formed the

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

band the Lost Audio with Alex in 2006. Before auditioning for ''The X Factor'', he was employed as a van driver.

Career

2014: ''The X Factor'' and career beginnings

On 26 June 2014, Haenow auditioned in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

for the eleventh series of ''

''. After singing

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

' "

Ain't No Sunshine "Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album '' Just As I Am,'' produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar. String arran ...

" in his room audition, he received four "yes" votes and progressed through to the arena auditions. He sang

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' " Wild Horses" at the arena and progressed to "bootcamp". Haenow was placed in the "Over 26s" category at "bootcamp" and was mentored by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

. He successfully made it through to "judges' houses" and was later chosen by Cowell for the live shows, along with Jay James and eventual runner-up

(as well as eventual wildcard Stevi Ritchie). Along with East, he was never in the bottom two and eventually made it to the live final. Haenow was announced as the winner on 14 December 2014. When the voting statistics were announced, Haenow was revealed to have received the most public votes from week four to ten. On 15 December 2014, the day after he won the show, Haenow released his winner's single, a cover of OneRepublic's "

", via digital download. On 17 December, the single received a physical release, which features three of Haenow's best ''X Factor'' performances – "Jealous Guy", "Highway to Hell" and "Man in the Mirror". On 18 December, "Something I Need" entered the Irish Singles Chart at number two, finishing behind

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

's "

Uptown Funk "Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson from his fourth studio album, ''Uptown Special'' (2015), featuring American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released as the album's lead single on 10 November 2014 via dow ...

", making Haenow the first ''X Factor'' winner not to get Ireland's

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

in nine years. On 21 December, the song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart ahead of "Uptown Funk", after selling 214,000 copies in its first week, and became the

. The release also became the second-fastest selling single of the year, behind

Band Aid 30 Band Aid 30 is the 2014 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group was announced on 10 November 2014 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, with Geldof stating that he took the step after the United Nations had contacted him, saying help w ...

's "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

", which sold nearly 313,000 copies in its first week back in November 2014.

2015–2016: ''Ben Haenow''

On 6 January 2015, Haenow's 30th birthday, it was announced that he had been signed by

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

. He then spent several months of the year in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

recording his self-titled debut album, ''

Ben Haenow Benjamin Bernard Haenow (born 6 January 1985) is a British singer-songwriter and former van driver. In 2014, he was crowned as the winner of the eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' UK after beating Fleur East. Following his win, his debut singl ...

'', which was released on 13 November 2015. The lead single from the album, " Second Hand Heart", a duet with

, was released on 16 October 2015 and peaked at number 21. On 28 January 2016, Haenow confirmed that he and Syco had parted ways by way of mutual agreement.

2017–present: ''Alive''

Haenow released a new single "Alive" and on 7 July 2017. This was followed by "Forgive & Forget" on 13 October 2017 and "Rising" on 15 December 2017. Haenow revealed on his Facebook page that new single "Falling Down" would be released on 6 April 2018; he later announced on 3 May 2018 that his sophomore album, titled ''Alive'', would be released on 25 May 2018.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Promotional singles

References

External links

* *
Fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haenow, Ben 1985 births Living people English tenors Game show contestants People from Croydon Singers from London RCA Records artists Syco Music artists The X Factor winners The X Factor (British TV series) winners 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers