Researching Ben Cooper

Cooper grew up in a family of nine siblings and states his family as his biggest influence. His creative streak originated from a passion for drawing and painting early on, and by middle school he had begun making short movies with friends and playing music.

At the age of 19, Ben Cooper decided he wanted to become a writer and wrote two books. However, he did not backup his files and the computer crashed, so he took it outside and smashed it with a hammer. It was with this turn of events that Cooper started creating music for himself which would eventually form into an unintended career, despite his original intentions.

When Ben Cooper was 14, he came out as gay to his parents. His step-father then kicked him out of his home. In his adulthood, Cooper found out that his step-father sexually abused his niece. Ben ended up adopting his niece, and gave testimony at his step-father's trial. Although he intended for his "The Family Tree" trilogy to be fictional when he began the project, his songs in the third album, "Leaves," were directly written about his family due to those recent developments in his life.

Cooper met Alex Kane in 2000 in a band called Helicopter Project when asked to replace the lead singer of the band, and the two have worked together on various projects since. Most of Ben Cooper's tracks are reportedly recorded in a tool shed outside his house. In 2011, Cooper released a new album under the alias "Patients". He is perhaps best known for his 2007 track "Welcome Home" which featured on an advertisement for Nikon cameras.

His song "We're On Our Way" was featured in the trailer for the 2012 motion picture The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

His songs "Glory" and "All is Well (Goodbye, Goodbye)" performed by Radical Face were featured in the 2016 motion picture Buddymoon.

Cooper also owns digital design company The Lazy Eye.

Cooper was born and grew up in Norwich, where he completed an apprenticeship in cigar-making. He subsequently moved to London, where he became active in the Cigar Makers' Mutual Association.

Cooper was soon elected as general secretary of his union. A supporter of the New Unionism, around the start of the 1890s, he helped found unions for workers in bass-dressing, match-making, dock work, confectionery and stick manufacture, as well as a separate union for female cigar makers. At the 1892 London County Council election, he was elected as a Labour and Progressive Party candidate in Bow and Bromley.

Cooper's newfound prominence led to his election to the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, and he held his seat on the council for many years. He also served on the council of the General Federation of Trade Unions.

Cooper stood as a Liberal-Labour candidate in the 1907 Stepney by-election, but he was easily defeated by Frederick Leverton Harris.

In 1918, Cooper organised the merger of the Cigar Makers' Mutual Association with other small unions, to form the National Cigar and Tobacco Workers' Union. He became the first leader of the new union, but retired shortly afterwards, and died in January 1920.