Taylor Reuben Hicks was born on October 7,1976 and is an American singer who won the fifth season of American Idol in May 2006.
44 Facts About Taylor Hicks
2.
Taylor Hicks performed on Broadway in 2008 and on national tour in 2009 in Grease playing Teen Angel, the role originated by Alan Paul.
3.
Taylor Hicks is the first Idol winner to secure a long-term residency at a Las Vegas casino.
4.
Taylor Hicks began his residency at Bally's Las Vegas in June 2012 and moved to a larger venue, Paris Las Vegas, in January 2013.
5.
In 2016, Taylor Hicks began hosting the INSP original series State Plate, and released a new single, "Six Strings and Diamond Rings", in 2017.
6.
Taylor Hicks was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on October 7,1976, to Bradley Hicks and Pamela Dickinson.
7.
Taylor Hicks's hair started turning gray by the time he was 14.
8.
Taylor Hicks's parents divorced, and stepmother Linda shared custody of their son until he came of age.
9.
Taylor Hicks has suggested his difficult childhood as the reason for his turning to soul and blues music for solace.
10.
Taylor Hicks has a younger half-brother, Sean, who later convinced him to audition for American Idol.
11.
Taylor Hicks bought his first harmonica when he was 16, for $2 at a flea market in Bessemer, Alabama, and taught himself to play blues harp.
12.
Taylor Hicks discovered that he possessed perfect pitch when he was able to recognize the pitches of ordinary noises and mimic them on the harmonica.
13.
Taylor Hicks was 18 when he wrote his first song, "In Your Time", and he taught himself to play electric guitar and the church organ when he was 19.
14.
Taylor Hicks played varsity baseball, soccer, and basketball while studying in Hoover.
15.
Taylor Hicks then pursued a major in business and journalism at Auburn University.
16.
Taylor Hicks left Nashville after a year due to what he called the "oversaturation of the market".
17.
Taylor Hicks returned to Alabama and launched a professional music career, performing at various venues and parties mostly around the Southeastern United States, including The War Eagle Supper Club in Auburn, Alabama.
18.
Taylor Hicks has performed with the likes of Widespread Panic, James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph, Snoop Dogg and Keb Mo.
19.
Taylor Hicks performed in the huge infield of Talladega Superspeedway in 2004 during a NASCAR race weekend.
20.
Taylor Hicks recorded, produced, and released a second album, Under the Radar, in 2005.
21.
Taylor Hicks has allowed audience members to record his concerts for personal, non-commercial use, and has authorized the Internet Archive to create a section for fans to upload and share their recordings.
22.
Taylor Hicks auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 10,2005.
23.
Taylor Hicks passed the audition with the approval of judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, but not Simon Cowell, who said that Taylor Hicks would never make it to the final round.
24.
Taylor Hicks was the first male contestant to win the competition without ever being in the bottom two or three.
25.
In June 2006, Ford Motor Company, the show's major sponsor, signed Taylor Hicks to promote Ford's "Drive on Us" year-end sales event.
26.
Taylor Hicks was named Hottest Bachelor by People for 2006, appearing on the magazine's cover.
27.
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.
28.
Taylor Hicks occasionally appeared as a "special guest" when circumstances permitted, and was accompanied at times by the other Idols, such as Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry, Ace Young, and Bucky Covington.
29.
On June 6,2008, Taylor Hicks joined the cast of the Broadway musical Grease in the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
30.
Once his 18-month tour in the traveling Broadway show 'Grease' ended, Taylor Hicks performed in over 20 live shows.
31.
Studio recording sessions for the eponymous major label debut Taylor Hicks ran in Calabasas, California between October and November 2006, and took six weeks in total.
32.
Taylor Hicks had, at that stage, the lowest selling American Idol winner's album.
33.
Taylor Hicks starred in Grease in the national tour as the Teen Angel after playing the role on Broadway.
34.
In 2009 Taylor Hicks released his second album, The Distance, on his own label, Modern Whomp Records, on March 10,2009.
35.
In May 2009, Taylor Hicks made Forbes' "Top Ten earning American Idol stars" list, coming in at number 10, with over $300,000 earned from album sales and from his role as "Teen Angel" in the national tour of Grease.
36.
In May 2011, Taylor Hicks opened ORE Drink and Dine restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama.
37.
On June 14,2011, Taylor Hicks performed at Bama Rising: A Benefit Concert For Alabama Tornado Recovery at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center.
38.
Entertainment Weekly magazine revealed that Taylor Hicks would be a celebrity contestant on Fox's dating show The Choice.
39.
Taylor Hicks was the first male Idol to be featured on a Grammy-winning album when he performed "Friday" on Jimmy Fallon's Blow Your Pants Off, which won for Best Comedy Album in 2013.
40.
In July 2013, Taylor Hicks attended the Evolution 2013 fighting game tournament as a competitor for Super Smash Bros.
41.
Taylor Hicks finished tied for 257th overall out of 709 players.
42.
In September 2017, Taylor Hicks premiered his song, "Six Strings and Diamond Rings" with Billboard Music, his first musical release in eight years.
43.
Taylor Hicks hosted State Plate via the INSP channel for three season from 2016 to 2018 where he featured iconic dishes and ingredients from each state in the United States.
44.
Taylor Hicks debuted in his starring role as Charlie Anderson in the Serenbe Playhouse production of Shenandoah in March 2019.