# Benedict Cork

Benjamin Mark Cork (born 4 August 1993), known professionally as Benedict Cork is an English singer-songwriter. He was raised in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. His debut album Notes On A Hopeless Romance was released May 2024.

## Early life

Cork was born Benjamin Mark Cork to Andrew Cork and Julia (née Kornberg). His maternal grandfather, Sir Hans Kornberg, was a German-born British-American biochemist whose parents were killed in the Holocaust. Cork has two older brothers and one older sister, SuRie, who represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Cork was educated at The Bishop's Stortford High School and Hills Road Sixth Form College. He first started performing aged 8 and moved to London to take up work as a piano man in bars after finishing college.

## Career
### 2018-2020

Cork's official recording career began with a collaboration with Simon Jefferis. Their single Easy was released March 2018
His first solo release was Piano Tapes in September 2018, a live five-track EP recorded at Red Gate Recorders in Eagle Rock, California. Elton John, on hearing the EP, referred to Cork as "sensational" and "a name to look out for". The single Mama Said was described as "devastatingly beautiful" by Billboard.
After launching a residency at London's Fiction Studios in 2019, Cork supported Emily King and Tom Walker and appeared at British Summer Time in Hyde Park supporting Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie. This was followed by Cork's second EP, Letters To Strangers, in the summer of 2019.
Cork supported Duncan Laurence on his European Tour before recording Piano Tapes Volume II and releasing the EP over the summer of 2020. Cork also appeared in a campaign for French fashion house Mugler alongside English National Ballet dancer Precious Adams performing his song Wildfire.

### 2021

Cork released his EP Secrets I’ll Never Tell June 2021. Themes of the EP include Cork's journey growing up as a gay man, heartbreak, sexual identity and the difficulties of being a musician in a largely digital world
To coincide with the release of Secrets I’ll Never Tell, Cork released a series of podcasts by the same name. These showcased frank and open conversations with several collaborators from the world of entertainment and literature including Adam Lambert, MNEK, Sophia Thakur, Duncan Laurence and Precious Adams. The guests came from various ethnic and social backgrounds, and discussed topics such as mental health, authenticity, gender and specific challenges for artists arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

### 2022

Cork released his fifth EP If These Walls Could Talk April 2022. During the If These Walls Could Talk Live tour in London and Utrecht, he announced he would be taking time off to write and record his debut album.
On 21 October 2022, Cork hosted an album preview show at London’s Collins Music Hall to preview tracks from his debut album. This included the single Dream Of You released on V2 Records November 2022 to coincide with his Incase It Don’t Come True European Tour.

### 2023

Cork spent 2023 recording his debut album in London. During the summer of 2023, he supported Adam Lambert at the Royal Albert Hall and Tors on their UK tour before announcing his own European tour for October 2023.
Cork released the first single from his album, Soulmates, on Kartel Music Group before embarking on his We Coulda Been Soulmates tour. The single was supported by BBC Radio 1’s Future Pop show. Cork also announced his first US headline tour for February/March 2024.

### 2024

The second single of Cork's upcoming album Reasons I Loved You (I Can't Think Of One) was released on January 26th. A few days later, Cork announced his debut album Notes On A Hopeless Romance for release a few months later, accompanied by a live headline tour running through May/June of 2024.
Notes On A Hopeless Romance was released May 2024 previewed by the singles Nice Guy, Beauty Queen and God Damn. The album was supported by BBC Introducing 3CR and Spotify’s GLOW campaign and Cork was featured by F Word Magazine as their first digital cover story. Benedict also supported Tors throughout their European tour September 2024.

## Discography
### Album

| Title | Details |
| Notes On A Hopeless Romance | Released: 10 May 2024 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl |

### Extended plays

| Title | Details |
| Piano Tapes (Live at Red Gate Recorders) | Released: 20 September 2018 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl (combined with Piano Tapes, Volume II) |
| Letters To Strangers | Released: 13 August 2019 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl (combined with Secrets I'll Never Tell) |
| Piano Tapes, Volume II | Released: 30 September 2020 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl (combined with Piano Tapes, Volume I) |
| The Midnight Sessions | Released: 7 February 2021 Format: Digital download |
| Secrets I'll Never Tell | Released: 18 June 2021 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl (combined with Letters To Strangers) |
| If These Walls Could Talk | Released: 22 April 2022 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl (combined with Live From Collins Music Hall) |
| Live From Collins Music Hall | Released: 17 December 2022 Format: Digital download, CD, Vinyl (combined with If These Walls Could Talk) |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Easy (with Simon Jefferis)" | 2018 | non-album single |
| "Ghost" | 2018 | Piano Tapes (Live at Red Gate Recorders) |
| "Mama Said" | 2018 | Piano Tapes (Live at Red Gate Recorders) |
| "Down for Forever" | 2018 | Piano Tapes (Live at Red Gate Recorders) |
| "Believe" | 2018 | Piano Tapes (Live at Red Gate Recorders) |
| "Wildfire" | 2018 | Piano Tapes (Live at Red Gate Recorders) |
| "Therapy" | 2019 | Letters To Strangers |
| "Fear of Lonely" | 2019 | Letters To Strangers |
| "Funny How Things Change" | 2019 | Letters To Strangers |
| "Breaking Hearts" | 2019 | Letters To Strangers |
| "Pray No More" | 2019 | Letters To Strangers |
| "Boys Don’t Cry" | 2019 | Letters To Strangers |
| "Heaven Is a Place on Earth (Cover)" | 2019 | non-album single |
| "Hollywood" | 2020 | Piano Tapes, Volume II |
| "One Last Song" | 2020 | Piano Tapes, Volume II |
| "Growing Pains" | 2020 | Piano Tapes, Volume II |
| "Choices" | 2020 | Piano Tapes, Volume II |
| "Wild One" | 2020 | Piano Tapes, Volume II |
| "All My Famous Friends" | 2021 | Secrets I'll Never Tell |
| "Have A Good Life (See You Never)" | 2021 | Secrets I'll Never Tell |
| "Sick of the Parties" | 2021 | Secrets I'll Never Tell |
| "The Lucky Ones" | 2021 | Secrets I'll Never Tell |
| "At Least We Tried" | 2021 | Secrets I'll Never Tell |
| "The Life We Planned" | 2021 | If These Walls Could Talk |
| "Miracle" | 2022 | If These Walls Could Talk |
| "If These Walls Could Talk" | 2022 | If These Walls Could Talk |
| "All The Love Songs Sound The Same" | 2022 | If These Walls Could Talk |
| "Where The Wild Things Go" | 2022 | If These Walls Could Talk |
| "Dream Of You" | 2022 | non-album single |
| "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" | 2022 | non-album single |
| "Soulmates" | 2023 | Notes On A Hopeless Romance |
| "Reasons I Loved You (I Can't Think Of One)" | 2024 | Notes On A Hopeless Romance |
| "Nice Guy" | 2024 | Notes On A Hopeless Romance |
| "Beauty Queen" | 2024 | Notes On A Hopeless Romance |
| "God Damn" | 2024 | Notes On A Hopeless Romance |

### Songwriting credits

* Auryn - "Right Thing To Do" on Ghost Town
* Mark Feehily - "Love Me, Or Leave Me Alone" on Fire
* Adam Lambert - "Feel Something" on Velvet
* Ørjan Nilsen - "Hold me"

### Performance credits

* ORKID - "Hands" on I Don't Give A Damn (piano)
* Angel Haze - "April's Fool" on Dirty Gold (vocals)
* Adam Lambert - "Feel Something" on Velvet (piano/backing vocals)
* Ørjan Nilsen - "Hold me" (vocals)
* Adam Lambert - "I'm A Man" on High Drama (backing vocals)