Ben Mills

Ben Mills
Birth name	Benjamin Collett Mills
Born	1 March 1980 (age 36)
Origin	Chatham, Kent, England
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboard
Years active	2006–present
Labels	SonyBMG

Benjamin Collett "Ben" Mills (born 1 March 1980 in Chatham, Kent, England) is a British singer who finished in third place on the third series of The X Factor in 2006.

After the show, Mills signed a five-album record deal with SonyBMG. His debut album, Picture of You, was released on 12 March 2007, the same date as the debut album from X Factor runner-up Ray Quinn. His debut single was advertised as "Beside You" and set to be released on 5 March 2007, but it was pulled by the record company at the last minute. The reason given was to concentrate on album sales.

Mills made an appearance on 30 November 2008 in Margate, Kent together with Bob Geldof to switch on the Christmas lights. He also sang a rendition of Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" to around 2000 people.

Mills was a co-director of a marquee hire company in his home town of Whitstable before appearing on The X Factor.

He gained a diploma in music from the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey and has been singing since he was a child. He also plays piano and guitar. He was also a keyboard player in the tribute band to The Doors called The L.A. Doors and toured the pub and club circuit with his own band called Benzego.

Mills' audition song 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, whom, 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.

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