Ben Adams
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Benjamin “Ben” Edward Stephen Adams (born 22 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter from Ascot,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, best known as a member of the British-Norwegian boy band A1.


Early life

Born in Ascot, Adams attended
Westminster Under School Westminster Under School is an independent preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13, attached to Westminster School in London. The school was founded in 1943 in the precincts of Westminster School in Little Dean's Yard, just behind Westminster ...
, where he became head
chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
of the school choir. He later attended
Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conven ...
, leaving aged 16, after completing his
GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
, to join Charterhouse School.


Career


A1 (1998–2002 and 2009–present)

Adams was a member of four-piece boyband a1, who won a
BRIT Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
in 2001 for Best Newcomer and had two number one singles 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 ...
, " Take On Me" (the chart-topping song that was originally made famous by and written by the Norwegian band a-ha) and " Same Old Brand New You", before separating in 2002. Whilst in the boyband, Adams also scooped a '' Smash Hits'' Poll Winners Party Award for Most Fanciable Male in 2001. It was announced in 2009 that a1 were to reform to compete to represent
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. a1 then re-signed with
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
and recorded another two studio albums " Waiting For Daylight" and " Rediscovered", which Adams co-wrote and produced. In 2013, a1 participated in
The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...
. In 2018, the band celebrated their 20th anniversary with an international tour.


Solo career (2004–present)

After a couple of years
writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
, Adams made a comeback with a new solo recording contract with BMG Records. His first solo single, "Sorry", peaked at number 18 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 ...
in June 2005. As well as writing for himself, Adams began writing and producing for the likes of
Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...
,
Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...
, JLS,
Sam Bailey Samantha Florence Bailey (born 29 June 1977) is an English pop singer who won the tenth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a cover of Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper" was released on 15 December 2013, achieving ...
,
Amelia Lily Amelia Lily Oliver (born 16 October 1994) is an English singer and television personality. In 2011, she became a finalist on the eighth series of ''The X Factor'', where she finished in third place. In 2017, she finished as runner-up on the t ...
, Markus Feehily,
Union J Union J are an English boy band, consisting of members JJ Hamblett, Jaymi Hensley, George Shelley and Josh Cuthbert. Shelley left the group in 2016 and was replaced by Casey Johnson, who left several months later, Cuthbert left the group ...
and Alexandra Burke to name but a few. Adams also co-wrote the Lisa Scott-Lee single "Electric" with Guy Chambers, as well as a song called "Get Off My Girl" with Har Mar Superstar. Adams has his own recording studio situated in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
called Archer Studios previously known as Parkbench Studios. Having been the creative director behind the bands Kissing Freddie, What Jane Did Next (which Adams is a part of) and MEOW. When he entered the ''Celebrity Big Brother'' house in 2009, it was revealed that Adams had worked on songs for ''
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) ...
'' winner, Alexandra Burke. In 2009, Adams was a participant on the sixth series of the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
(later Channel 5) reality TV series ''
Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...
'', and reached the finale finishing in fifth place after the public vote, behind Coolio,
Verne Troyer Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, YouTuber, and stunt performer. He was best known for his role of Mini-Me in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was ...
, Terry Christian and eventual winner Ulrika Jonsson. Adams performed as 'Prince Charming' in Milton Keynes' 2009/2010
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
production of ''Cinderella''. He performed as Aladdin in Woking 2014/2015, also starring as Aladdin in Manchester 2016/2017. In 2012, Adams took part in '' Skal vi danse?'', the Norwegian version of '' Strictly Come Dancing''/'' Dancing with the Stars'' on TV2 Norway. His dance partner was Tone Jacobsen. He placed second. In 2017 Ben announced plans to release second recorded album ''1981'' and has continued to release a steady stream of singles presumably from the album. No release date has been announced as of June 2020. In October 2017 Ben took a leading role in the touring version of
Flashdance the Musical ''Flashdance'' is a stage musical based on the 1983 film of the same name with a book by Tom Hedley and Robert Cary, music by Robbie Roth and lyrics by Roth and Cary. The show had its world premiere in 2008 at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, as pa ...
, starring as Nick Hurley alongside
Joanne Clifton Joanne Kirsty Clifton (born 24 October 1983) is an English professional dancer, presenter, actress, and singer. She won the World Ballroom Showdance Championship in 2014, and won the European Professional Ballroom Championship and World Dancespor ...
. Adams co-wrote with Chris Wilkins a new original musical called ''Eugenius!'' which premiered as a concert performance on 29 July 2016 at the
London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...
, which was produced by Warwick Davis (who also starred in the concert). The musical received its fully staged premiere at
The Other Palace The Other Palace is a theatre in London's Off West End which opened on 18 September 2012 as the St. James Theatre. It features a 312-seat main theatre and a 120-seat studio theatre. It was built on the site of the former Westminster Theatre, w ...
from 22 January to 3 March 2018 and returning from 1 September to 7 October 2018. In 2019, Adams released a duet with Morissette, "This Is Christmas".


Personal life

In September 2021, Adams revealed he had become a father for the first time.


Discography


Solo albums


Solo singles


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Ben 1981 births Living people English male singers English pop singers English songwriters A1 (band) members People educated at Bedales School English expatriates in Norway Musicians from Berkshire People from Ascot, Berkshire