Ben Mills Tickets

Details of Ben Mills and the Ticket Luck value

Ben-Mills
He formally studied Music earning a diploma from the Academy Of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey and has been singing since he was a child. He also plays piano, guitar and was also a keyboard player in the tribute band to The Doors called The L.A. Doors. He remained into the pub and club circuit with his own band called Benzego. Mills' audition for The X Factor was Bring It On Home To Me by Sam Cooke, which impressed the panel of judges; Simon Cowell thought he sounded like a young Joe Cocker, who, incidentally, Ben names as one of his musical influences along with Tom Waits, Rod Stewart and David Bowie. During his time on The X Factor he was mentored by Sharon Osbourne.

On 24 August 2007, Mills was a celebrity guest in an episode of the live television programme Doctor, in which he talked about his personal life and former drug-related problems. On live television Mills explained that he first took cocaine when he went on tour with a band, and from that moment he wanted to take more cocaine. He reported that the tour lasted for 4 years, that he became a heavy cocaine user and his social network became drug orientated, and he reached the depths of despair; he kept on borrowing money, his girlfriend left him, he was not turning up for gigs, and he had lost his confidence. He mentioned in the interview that he realized that he had got to change his life after spending 3 or 4 days on a beach in December, so he telephoned a councilor who helped him to rehabilitate, and after his recovery he went on to be the part of The X Factor. He was a complete personality in himself; a singer and a multi-instrumentalist whose palpable talent and raw passion lit up Saturday night television in a manner more akin to a rock god than a pop puppet. Strictly speaking Ben Mills was never an X-Factor material. With his lustrous locks, his 26 years, and that remarkable voice that sounds like he's gargling a bag full of rusty nails, he was thought of as a complete looser in the field of passion, emotions and false acts. The reasons were myriad: he wasn't young enough, malleable enough, or anywhere near sufficiently angelic. Nevertheless, he was far and away the best contestant the show has ever had.

The band was popular across Europe, and although they had high times in places like Italy, Germany and Estonia, Ben could only play Riders On The Storm so many times before it began to pall: I was just going through the motions after a while, playing on autopilot. It was fun, sure, but there was so much more I wanted to do. But by now, Ben, still only in his early twenties, was growing disillusioned with the music industry. Needing something to bring the money in, he founded a marquee company with a friend and his sister, and they began catering for parties and weddings across southern England. Because he couldn't quite leave music alone entirely, he formed another band, Benzego, which would often play at these functions.

Entering X-Factor gave him an opportunity to promptly shine. Mentored by Sharon Osbourne, a woman who knows a great voice when she hears one, he sailed through the early stages of the competition and began to increasingly step up his game as the weeks progressed, often performing at the piano or with the guitar, his voice possessed of a worldly gravitas at distinct odds with the otherwise fluffy nature of the show. Each week he was reaching audiences of more than 10 million.

It's been a strange trip these past few months, undoubtedly, he says of the immediate fame, the sudden adulation and the reaction of friends and former acquaintances. He is currently recording his debut album and has signed a five-album record deal with Sony BMG. His album, Picture of You, was released on 12 March 2007, the same date as the debut album from The X Factor runner up Raymond Quinn. His debut single was advertised as Beside You and set to be released on 5th March 2007. However, the single was pulled by the record company at the last minute with the reason to concentrate on album sales.