Clay Aiken Tickets

Details of Clay Aiken and the Ticket Luck value

Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken (born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978) began his rise to fame from the television program American Idol in 2003. Placed second, RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released in October 2003. In the four years following his American Idol appearance Aiken launched seven tours.

Aiken made many television appearances. He sang The Star-Spangled Banner on opening night of the 2003 World Series and appeared in numerous television specials during the 2003. Aiken starred in and executive produced his first TV special, titled A Clay Aiken Christmas. On July 4th, 2004, Aiken performed in the A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, DC and performed in the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series in 2004 and 2005.



No one is quite sure where the term Clay mates originated, but Aiken has trademarked the term. While in Los Angeles in September 2006 for a CD signing and appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Aiken talked with Jann Carl of Entertainment Tonight about the names various sub-groups have given themselves: Clayasians (Asian fans), Claynadians (Canadian fans) and Claydawgs (male fans).

Clay Aiken was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. As a young boy, Aiken sang in the Raleigh Boy choir and as a teenager, he sang in school choirs, church choir, musicals and local theatre productions. Later, he sang lead with a local band and co hosted and performed with the band. He was also emcee and performer at the Johnston Community College Country Showcase in Smithfield, NC, and at the North Carolina Music Connection and Hometown Music Connection shows.

Television viewers' first glimpse of Aiken came during the audition episodes of American Idol's second season. The show's judges first saw Aiken as a nerd unlikely to be any kind of idol, but after hearing him sing Always and Forever decided to advance him to the next round. The clip of the judges' surprise during this audition performance was replayed many times over the course of the competition.

Aiken made it to the round-of-32 before being cut from the show, but he was invited to return for his performance of Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and sent him to the final 12 as the viewer's choice. While noted for his performance of ballads, his upbeat performances were also appreciated. Aided by a makeover from the show's producers, Aiken received enough votes every week to keep him out of the bottom three.

On October 14, 2003, Aiken released his first solo album, Measure of a Man, which debuted at #1 and with 613,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years, and highest debut of any Idol. The album received RIAA Double Platinum certification November 17, 2003. The album initiated both the hit single Invisible and his first hit song, This Is the Night. Later that year, Aiken won the Fan's Choice Award at the American Music Awards ceremony, and his CD single This Is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water won the Billboard award for the Best-Selling Single of 2003.

From February to April 2004, Aiken embarked on the Independent Tour with Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first American Idol contest. Following this tour, he planned a few summer solo tours, but demand ultimately led to the booking of fifty dates across the United States, resulting in Not-a-Tour. Disney was the exclusive sponsor of Aiken's Summer Concert Tour. Each concert previewed Aiken's performance of Proud of Your Boy, a song originally intended for the first release of the film but cut when the Aladdin storyline changed during production. A music video, featuring Aiken, is presented on the Aladdin Special Edition. On this tour he also performed a duet, Without You.?

Aiken donated his time and voice to multiple benefit events and concerts, including the 2004 Rosalynn Carter Benefit, the America's Promise Benefit, and Heather Headley's Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit, Home, where he sang a duet with Headley. He was one of the celebrity readers for the Arthur Celebrity Audio book which benefits the Bubel/Aiken Foundation and other charities, and served as spokesperson for the series. He was also an ambassador for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

While on tour Aiken wrote his NY Times best-selling book Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life with Allison Glock. The book is an inspirational memoir that focuses on the most important people in his life as a child and young adult, and the importance of his faith.

Aiken was voted the Favorite Reality Star of 2003 by TV Guide readers and ?the most-loved reality star of all time? in a TV Guide poll conducted in the summer of 2005. In February 2006, People magazine readers voted Aiken their Favorite American Idol.