Benjamin Edward Stephen Adams (born 22 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter from
Ascot,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He represented
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 along with
Gaute Ormåsen as a part of pop band
Subwoolfer. He is also known as the lead singer of the British-Norwegian boy band
A1.
Early life
Born in
Ascot, Adams attended
Westminster Under School, where he became head
chorister of the school choir. He later attended
Bedales School, leaving aged 16, after completing his
GCSEs, to join
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...
.
Career
A1 (1998–2002 and 2009–present)
Adams was a member of four-piece boyband
a1, who won a
Brit Award in 2001 for Best Newcomer and had two
number one singles on the
UK singles chart, "
Take On Me" (the chart-topping song that was originally made famous by and written by the Norwegian band
a-ha
A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...
) 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. Ben was also
gunged during the Gunge Day episode of Live and Kicking in 2000.
It was announced in 2009 that a1 were to reform to compete to represent
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
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 Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
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. In 2018, the band celebrated their 20th anniversary with an international tour.
Solo career (2004–present)
After a couple of years
writing
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
, 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 in June 2005.
As well as writing for himself, Adams began writing and producing for the likes of
Robin Thicke,
Craig David,
JLS,
Sam Bailey
Samantha Florence Bailey (born 29 June 1977) is an English Pop music, pop singer who won the The X Factor (British series 10), tenth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor'' in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a c ...
,
Amelia Lily,
Markus Feehily,
Union J and
Alexandra Burke to name but a few. Adams also co-wrote the
Lisa Scott-Lee single "Electric" with
Guy Chambers
Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams.
Education
Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, ...
, 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
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'' (2001–200 ...
'' 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
(later
Channel 5) reality TV series ''
Celebrity Big Brother'', and reached the finale finishing in fifth place after the public vote, behind
Coolio,
Verne Troyer,
Terry Christian and eventual winner
Ulrika Jonsson. Adams performed as 'Prince Charming' in
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
' 2009/2010
pantomime production of ''Cinderella''. He performed as Aladdin in
Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
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 Adams announced plans to release his second recorded album ''1981'' and released und a steady stream of singles presumably from the album. No release date has been announced as of June 2020. In October 2017 Adams took a leading role in the touring version of
Flashdance the Musical, starring as Nick Hurley alongside
Joanne Clifton.
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, which was produced by
Warwick Davis (who also starred in the concert). The musical received its fully staged premiere at
The Other Palace 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".
Subwoolfer (2021–present)
Adams represented
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2022 along with
Gaute Ormåsen as a part of pop band
Subwoolfer. Together they performed the song "
Give That Wolf a Banana", which placed 10th in the grand final with 182 points.
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 male songwriters
A1 (group) members
People educated at Bedales School
English expatriates in Norway
Musicians from Berkshire
Entertainers from Ascot, Berkshire