Ben Haenow was born on 6 January 1985 in Croydon, England to parents Mick and Rosanna Haenow. 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 a day until he was "sick and paralytic".Haenow has sung in bands since he was 15 and formed the rock and roll band the Lost Audio with his brother in 2006. Before auditioning for The X Factor UK, he was employed as a van driver. On 6 January 2015, Ben's 30th birthday, he was signed by Syco Music.
