Biography

 Biography- Taylor Hicks was born at Saint Vincent’s Hospital at 3:30 am, Central Daylight Time, in Birmingham, Alabama on October 7, 1976, to Bradley Hicks and Pamela Dickinson Hicks. As an infant, he had blond hair progessivly, his hair color turned dark brown /black. He started turning gray by the time he was 13. 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. Hicks attributed his difficult childhood as the reason for him to find solace in soul and blues music. He has a younger half-brother, Sean, who would later convince him to audition for American Idol. When he was five years old, he would sing to random strangers the music of Kenny Rogers or Michael Jackson. He bought his first harmonica when he was 16, for $2 at a flea market in Bessemer, Alabama, and taught himself to play blues harp. He discovered that he possessed absolute pitch when he realized that he was able to recognize the pitches of ordinary noises and mimic them on the harmonica. He wrote his first song, “In Your Time”, at the age of 18, and later taught himself to play guitar when he was 19. Hicks was a former student of Berry High School, and graduated from it’s successor Hoover High School in 1995. He played varsity baseball, soccer, and basketball while studying in Hoover; and even for a while considered a career in professional basketball. He then majored in business and journalism at Auburn University, but lost interest and dropped out after three years, despite being only 40 hours short of earning his degree. While in college, Hicks was part of a band called Passing Through, which he later quit to start his own band. He recorded In Your Time independently in 1997 at age 19, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2000 to pursue a music career. There, he worked 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. He left Nashville after a year due to what he called the “oversaturation of the market”.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 James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph, and contemporary blues legend Keb Mo. 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. 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, 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.  American IdolHicks auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas, Nevada in September 2005. He had originally wanted to try out in Memphis, Tennessee, but auditions in that city were canceled to accommodate relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. On the night before Hurricane Katrina hit, he had been in New Orleans, Louisiana to attend the wedding of a good friend he met while at Auburn University. His Southwest Airlines flight out of New Orleans had been canceled, and he had been offered a travel voucher to use at a later date. He used the ticket voucher to fly to Las Vegas. 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, concerts, and an audience with Governor Bob Riley. May 12 was proclaimed “Taylor Hicks Day” and Hicks was given the key to the city. Also on May 12, Gov. Riley issued a proclamation making May 16 “Taylor Hicks Day”.Hicks was named the new American Idol on May 24, 2006 winning the title over McPhee, with over 63.4 million votes cast in total. With his win, Hicks (at 29) 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. 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. He was also named Hottest Bachelor by People magazine for 2006, appearing on the magazine’s cover. Life After IdolHicks signed a recording contract with Arista Records in conjunction with 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by AI creator Simon Fuller, in May 2006. Hicks’s debut single “Do I Make You Proud” debuted on the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and was subsequently certified gold by the RIAA. Hicks made guest appearances in concerts by Snoop Dogg, Widespread Panic, and Willie Nelson, among others. Hicks also joined his fellow Top 10 Idol finalists on the American Idols LIVE! Tour which ran from July to September. The members of the former Taylor Hicks Band, formed by Hicks two years prior, regrouped as the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra and shadowed the Idols’ tour route. Hicks occasionally appeared 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.

2006-2007:

Studio recording sessions ran in Los Angeles between October and November 2006, taking six weeks in total. The eponymous major label debut Taylor Hicks suffered release date delays until the December 12 date was set. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, and has since sold 500,000 copies. On February 17, 2007, Hicks is scheduled to appear at the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans on as as the newest “King of Endymion”, to head the Krewe of Endymion, the largest Mardi Gras parade. Hicks is then to embark on a US promotional tour for his album, set to open on February 21 in Jacksonville, Florida. Hicks continues to rely on the Internet for significant marketing and promotion. In late October 2006, Rehearsals.com started launching weekly videos from Hicks’s rehearsals dated October 4. In November, fan blog Gray Charles signed a contract with Hicks and his management team, making Gray Charles the Official Taylor Hicks Weblog. Hicks posted weekly audio blogs and offered pre-Idol live tracks on Gray Charles.In December, Hicks became the first ever artist to be featured on the Artist Voices program on the online video network GoFish. This two-month series will feature ten weekly installments that offer Hicks’s fans an opportunity to interact directly with him through the GoFish user-generated video platform. The series will also feature footage of Hicks as he promotes his new albumIn 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. 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 in Nashville, for redistributing songs, which were copyrighted in 1997, without permission. The charges were dropped when the masters were handed over to Hicks. 

Soul Patrol

Fans of Hicks have been dubbed the “Soul Patrol.” The phrase started among his Internet fan base after the episode of Hicks’s Idol audition aired, but it is difficult to trace its exact origin. Hicks frequently mentioned the Soul Patrol after performances on Idol, which was best shown after winning the competition—Ryan Seacrest asked if he had any parting words and Hicks yelled, “Soul Patrol!” During a promotional event for Idol in Alabama, Hicks “inducted” Governor Bob Riley and his wife into the Soul Patrol. Hicks also has two goldfish, named Lamont and Ray, around whom fans have created and maintain a blog. 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.” Hicks has also won the respect of President George W. Bush. An article in the New York Times characterized the Soul Patrol as a zealous fanatical group that nitpicked Hicks’s appearance, actions, and habits on online message boards and blogs. Hicks’s response, included in the same article, was, “I would rather have them overly invested than not invested at all. I’m very receptive to any input they have.”  Full name-Taylor Reuben HicksAge- 30Height- 6’ 1”Birthday- October 7^th, 1976Education- Berry High School, Hoover High School, Auburn University, attended for 1 year majoring in business, journalism, communications, and marketing, but dropped out with only 40 hours left.Father- Brad Hicks, a dentistMother- Pamela HicksStep Mother- Linda HicksHalf Brothers: Jeremy and Sean HicksTaylor’s Fans are known as the soul patrolTaylor’s first album released was “In your Time” Taylor carries a little statue of Ray Charles when he performs.The name of Taylor’s first band, made at auburn university, was Passing Through“Under the Radar” was the second album released with Passing ThroughMay 16^th is officially Taylor Hicks DayTaylor was voted Hottest Bachelor by people magazine in 2006Taylor is a spokes person for Ford.Taylor had no music training, teaching himself how to play harmonica, guitar and to sing!Taylor is not only the oldest person to win American Idol, he is also the oldest winner among all worldwide versions of the show USA Today reported that as a child Taylor Hicks was often called Coconut Head because of his hair style Taylor is the first male to win against a female in the finals. According to USA Today Taylor has two goldfish named Lamont and Ray Hicks auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas, Nevada. Taylor’s debut song “Do I Make You Proud” reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Top 100 list. He is the first male American Idol contestant to win the competition without ever being in the bottom 2/3 As of 2006, Taylor Hicks is the new spokesperson for Head & ShouldersTaylor Hicks owns the CD of “The Wiggles”. Taylor’s most embarrassing moment is puking on a restaurant’s herb garden. Taylor’s hair started turning grey when he was 13 years old. His greatest obstacle is life itself. He thinks the American Idol audition process is fair. His lucky charm is a dime. His favorite judge is Randy Jackson. Taylor’s definition of an American Idol is someone who is very talented and humble. He owns the album “The Wiggles”. According to Time Magazine Taylor sounds like Joe Cocker. Taylor on dying his hair for the American Idol finals: “[No], but hopefully I will be a little George Clooney-esque.” Taylor Hicks: “I’m the Soul Patrolman.” He won a talent contest in his senior year of high school. Compared to other Idol 5 contestants he has very little musical DNA. He has two aunts in a bluegrass duo, and his younger Brother, Sean, plays the trumped with the Georgia Tech Jazz Ensemble. He says the proudest moment in his life so far is making it to the finals of American Idol. Some rituals he does before he performs is pray and count the heads in the audience. One of his personal goals in life is to be as happy as possible. He says if he didn’t make it on American Idol he would be a broke performer. Taylor doesn’t have any formal singing training. His favorite male artists are: Billy Joel, Van Morrison, and Bob Seger. His favorite female artist is Cyndi Lauper. His audition city for American Idol was Las Vegas, Nevada. On e-bay people bought more Taylor Hicks Items than any other idol in season 5. His grey hair has caught on and now some people are dying their hair grey when the go to American Idol. On winning American Idol, “If I win, I’m going to buy the nicest couch in the world. I have the nastiest couch in my apartment with the stuffing coming out of it.” On Taylor’s iPod, he has lots of music, the Dave Chapel Show and some Paul Simon.Taylor’s pet peeve is being late. Punctuality. Taylor has allergies.    

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