Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks
Taylor Reuben Hicks is a popular American singer-songwriter and musician. Hicks was an independent artist for the span of a decade before rising to prominence as the winner of the fifth season of American Idol. Arista Records signed him as soon as he won the music competition. His energetic stage performances and influences derived from classic soul, blues, and R&B music have earned him a following of devout fans, who have dubbed themselves the Soul Patrol.

Taylor Hicks was born in Birmingham, Alabama on October 7, 1976, to Bradley Hicks and Pamela Dickinson Hicks.He and his family moved to suburban Hoover when he was eight years old. His parents divorced when he was eight, and his father Brad, a dentist, and stepmother Linda shared custody until he became of age.He has a younger half-brother, Sean, who would later convince him to audition for American Idol.

Hicks would sing to random strangers the music of Kenny Rogers or Michael Jackson when he was just five years old. He bought his first harmonica when he was 16 and taught himself to play blues harp. He discovered that he possessed absolute pitch when he was able to recognize the pitches of ordinary noises and mimic them on the harmonica.Hicks wrote his first song, In Your Time when he was 18 and he learned playing guitar when he was 19.

Career
Hicks was part of a band called Passing Through when he was in college. Later on, He started his own band. He recorded In Your Time independently in 1997 at age 21. With a purpose of establishing his career, he he moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2000. There, he got the opportunities of working with Nashville veterans Billy Earl McClelland and Percy Sledge and recorded a three-track demo but was unable to find a label that would sign him.

Hicks returned to Alabama and launched a professional music career with performances at various venues and parties mostly around the Southeastern United States, including The War Eagle Supper Club (a popular college bar) in Auburn, Alabama. Hicks has performed with the likes of James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph, and Keb Mo.He also performed in the huge infield of Talladega Superspeedway in 2004 during a NASCAR race weekend.

He recorded, produced, and released a second album, Under the Radar, in 2005. Despite releasing two albums prior to appearing on American Idol, he did not violate their requirements for contestants, as he had never held a recording contract.

Hicks has allowed audience members to record his concerts for personal, non-commercial use, and went so far as to authorize the Internet Archive to create a section for fans to upload and share their recordings.

American Idol
Becoming American Idol is the greatest achievement of Taylor Hicks in his career. Hicks auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas, Nevada in September 2005. Hicks passed the audition by the approval of judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, but not Simon Cowell who remarked that Hicks would never make it to the final round. On Hicks's first performance for the voting public, Cowell called back to this quote, admitting he was wrong.

The competition was getting more and more interesting. On the May 10, 2006 results show, Hicks along with Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin, were announced as the Top 3 finalists. On May 12, Idol producers brought Hicks to Birmingham for a weekend of promotional events including television interviews for the local FOX affiliate, a downtown parade, concerts, and an audience with Governor Bob Riley.May 12 was proclaimed Taylor Hicks Day in the city of Birmingham by mayor Bernard Kincaid and Hicks was given the key to the city. On the same day, Riley issued a proclamation making May 16 Taylor Hicks Day for the state of Alabama.

The announcement of the new American Idol was made on May 24, 2006. Taylor Hicks was declared victorious over McPhee, with over 63.4 million votes cast in total. The worldwide audience of 200 million television viewers was anxiously awaiting this proclamation. With his win at age 29, Hicks became the oldest person to win American Idol. He is the fifth Southerner to win American Idol, the second winner from Birmingham, Alabama after season 2 winner Ruben Studdard, as well as the fourth finalist with Birmingham ties.

The crown of American Idol attracted good luck in Hicks career. Ibn June 2006, Ford Motor Company, the show's major sponsor, signed Hicks to promote Ford's Drive on Us year-end sales event.He was also named Hottest Bachelor by People magazine for 2006, appearing on the magazine's cover. Besides these golden opportunities, he was also named Sexiest Man Ever to Grace the Face of the Earth by Chuck Norris.

Hicks signed a recording contract with Arista Records in conjunction with 19 Recordings Unlimited. The label was managed by AI creator Simon Fuller, in May 2006. Hicks's debut single Do I Make You Proud was a super hit. It debuted on the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and was subsequently certified gold by the RIAA.