Taylor Hicks

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Taylor Hicks
Background information
Birth name	Taylor Reuben Hicks
Born	October 7, 1976 (age 30)
Origin	Birmingham, Alabama
Genre(s)	Blue-eyed soul Blues Blues rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar, harmonica, vocals
Years active	1997-2006
Label(s)	Arista Records (2006-present) Independent (1997-2005)
Associated acts	Little Memphis Blues Orchestra

Taylor Reuben Hicks^[1] (born October 7, 1976^[2]) is an American soul 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. Upon winning American Idol, he was immediately signed to Arista Records^[3], under which his major-label debut, called Taylor Hicks, will be released on December 12, 2006. His energetic stage performances and throwback to soul music have earned him a following of devout fans, who have dubbed themselves the "Soul Patrol".

Contents 1 Biography 2 Career 2.1 Early career 2.2 American Idol 2.3 Life After Idol 2.4 2006-2007: Taylor Hicks 3 Soul Patrol 4 Popular culture 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 6 Bibliography 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Biography

Taylor Hicks was born at Saint Vincent's Hospital at 3:30am Central Daylight Time in Birmingham, Alabama on October 7, 1976, to Brad Hicks and Pamela Dickinson Hicks.^[4] As an infant, he had blond hair. His hair color turned dark brown/black as an adolescent and started turning gray by the time he was 13. He and his family moved to suburban Hoover when he was 8 years old. His parents divorced when he was 8, and his father Brad, a dentist, and stepmother Linda shared custody until he became of age.

According to his father, when he was five years old he sang to random strangers the music of Kenny Rogers or Michael Jackson^[5] He plays guitar as well as blues harp and writes most of his own songs. ^[6] He also possesses absolute pitch. ^[7]

Hicks was a former student of Berry High School and graduated from its successor Hoover High School in 1995. He attended Auburn University, majoring in business, communications and marketing, but lost interest and dropped out after three years.^[8] He moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a music career and has worked with Nashville veterans Billy Earl McClelland and Percy Sledge.^[9]

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Hicks' professional music career began with performances at various venues, including The War Eagle Supper Club (a popular college bar) in Auburn, Ala and at the Playboy Mansion.^[10] He released two independent albums, In Your Time (1997) and Under the Radar (2005) prior to appearing on Idol, although having never held a recording contract, he did not violate their requirements for contestants. Hicks has also performed on Tapestry, a radio program on National Public Radio affiliate WBHM in Birmingham, in December 2005. Hicks has also performed with James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph, and contemporary blues legend Keb Mo.^[11]

He also performed in the huge infield of Talladega Superspeedway in 2004 during a NASCAR race weekend. After Hicks won Idol, driver David Stremme said that he hoped Hicks would come back for the October race weekend there.^[12]

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, but it was unclear whether his American Idol contract would allow this to continue, so the Archive will not accept the upload of concerts recorded after January 1, 2006.^[13]

[edit] American Idol

See also: List of Taylor Hicks' performances on American Idol

Hicks auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had originally wanted to try out in Memphis, but auditions in that city were cancelled to accommodate relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina. He was in New Orleans attending a wedding of a good friend he met while at Auburn University on the night before Hurricane Katrina hit. His SWA flight was canceled, and he was offered a travel voucher to use at a later date. He used the ticket voucher to fly to Las Vegas. ^[14] Hicks passed the audition by the approval of judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, but not Simon Cowell, who said 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.

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 and mini-concert, another concert at the Riverchase Galleria mall, an evening appearance at the Birmingham Museum of Art, and a campaign appearance with Governor Bob Riley.^[15][16] May 12 was proclaimed "Taylor Hicks Day" and Hicks was given the key to the city.^[17] Also on May 12, Governor Bob Riley issued a proclamation making May 16 "Taylor Hicks Day".^[18] He was also named Hottest Bachelor by People magazine for 2006, appearing on the magazine's cover.^[19]

Hicks was named the new American Idol on May 24, 2006 winning the title over Katharine McPhee. Over 63.4 million votes were cast in total. With his win, Hicks (at 29) became the oldest person to win American Idol, only the second male to win the contest (after Ruben Studdard), and is, to date, the only man to win the contest against a woman in the finale. He is also the first and only white man and the fifth Southerner to win American Idol. He is the second American Idol from Birmingham, Alabama after season 2 winner Ruben Studdard, as well as the fourth finalist with Birmingham ties.^[20] He is the third winner to have never landed in the bottom two or three (after Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood).

In June, 2006, Ford Motor Company, the show's major sponsor, signed Hicks to promote Ford's "Drive on Us" year-end sales event.^[21]

[edit] Life After Idol

Hicks signed a recording contract with music mogul Arista Records in conjunction with 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by AI creator Simon Fuller, in May 2006. On July 13, one month after its release, Hicks's debut single "Do I Make You Proud" was certified gold by the RIAA.

Exploiting a loophole in his Idol contract, Hicks managed to make guest appearances on concerts by Snoop Dogg, the Allman Brothers Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Widespread Panic, and Willie Nelson. Hicks also joined his fellow Top 10 Idol finalists on the American Idols Live! tour which ran from July-September. The members of his former band regrouped as the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra and shadowed the Idols' tour route, with Hicks occasionally appearing as a "special guest" when circumstances permitted, and was even accompanied at times by the other Idols, such as Yamin, McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Ace Young, and Bucky Covington.

In August, it was announced that Hicks received a $750,000 (USD) deal to write a memoir of his life, which is expected to be released in spring 2007 by Random House. ^[22] The book will be ghostwritten by Rolling Stone writer David Wild. In the same month, Hicks's lawyers sued a producer with whom he worked for redistributing copyrighted songs from 1997, recorded in 2001, without permission. The charges were dropped when the masters were handed over to Hicks.^[23] In October, videos of Hicks's rehearsals started to be released weekly on Rehearsals.com, as part of promotion for his upcoming album, the eponymous Taylor Hicks. With the tour over, recording for the album commenced in Los Angeles.

[edit] 2006-2007: Taylor Hicks

[edit] Soul Patrol

Fans of Hicks have been dubbed the "Soul Patrol."^[24] Hicks frequently mentions the Soul Patrol after performances, best shown after winning Idol, Ryan Seacrest asked if he had any parting words and Hicks yelled, "Soul Patrol!" ^[25]

During a promotional event for Idol in Alabama, Hicks "inducted" Governor Bob Riley and his wife into the Soul Patrol.^[26] Hicks also has two goldfish, named Lamont and Ray, around whom fans have created and maintain a blog.^[27]

Hicks also became the interest of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. The Secretary of State, according to a Time Magazine report, "took time out from diplomacy to join the millions of Americans awaiting the results of the singing competition." The report also notes that a State Department official "tells Time Magazine that Rice is an unabashed fan of the show and plans to send Hicks her congratulations."^[28] Hicks has also won the respect of President George W. Bush.^[29]

[edit] Popular culture

Hicks became the subject of two Weekend Update skits on NBC's Saturday Night Live on April 15 and May 20, 2006, portrayed by cast member Jason Sudeikis. In an allusion to Hicks' quirkiness and disposition, Sudeikis mocked playing Hicks' trademark blues harp and repeatedly shouted out "Soul Patrol!" Hicks, when interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on the subsequent episode of American Idol on April 18, 2006, as to whether or not he saw the imitation, admitted that he had and that the impression made him "fall out on the floor" with laughter.

"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied Hicks on his 2006 album, Straight Outta Lynwood, with a parody of "Do I Make You Proud" called "Do I Creep You Out?".

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album	Statistics	Singles
	In Your Time Released: 1997 Re-released: TBD Label: Independent Chart positions: TBD U.S. sales: TBD RIAA certification: TBD	Singles Released
	Under the Radar Released: 2005 Re-released: TBD Label: Independent Chart positions: TBD U.S. sales: 17,000 RIAA certification: TBD	Singles Released
	Taylor Hicks Released: December 12, 2006 Label: Arista Chart positions: TBD U.S. sales: TBD RIAA certification: TBD	Singles Released

[edit] Singles

Year	Single	Album	US	US AC	US Pop	US Dig	US Sales	CAN Singles
2006	"Takin' It to the Streets"	American Idol Season 5: Encores	69	-	-	42	-	-
2006	"Do I Make You Proud"	"Do I Make You Proud/Takin' It to the Streets (Single)"	1	15	1	18	1	1

[edit] Bibliography

• Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way (2007)

[edit] See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 (U.S.) chart achievements and trivia

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Taylor Hicks Official Site
• Taylor Hicks at American Idol
• Taylor Hicks at the Internet Movie Database
• Taylor Hicks at MySpace
• Taylor Hicks at the Open Directory Project

Preceded by: Carrie Underwood

American Idol Winner Season 5 (2006)

Succeeded by: Incumbent

Persondata
NAME	Hicks, Taylor Reuben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American soul musician, American Idol season 5 winner
DATE OF BIRTH	October 6, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH	Birmingham, Alabama
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH