Biography
Taylor Reuben Hicks was born in Saint Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham,
Alabama on October 7th, 1976. He and his family moved to suburban Hoover when he was 8
years old. His parents divorced when he was a small child. As of most
children of divorce, life was sometimes difficult and unstable, and Taylor
often took solace in music. His interest in music began at age 12 with his
first taste of the classic songs of the American soul music era, in particular
the music of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Ray Charles. The genre, he has said,
interested him much more than the popular music of the day. Never having
formal music lessons, he taught himself guitar and harmonica. Soon he began
writing original songs and immersing himself into the rich history of classic
soul, rock, blues, and pop music. In School, Hicks initially appeared more
the jock than musician, playing Little League baseball, golf, and varsity basketball, but his
growing passion for music soon took over. Taylor's first talent show win
occurred in High School, where he won the competition with his version of
"Sweet Home Alabama".
At age 15, the
trademark gray hair began to appear. Taylor has said his prematurely gray hair
did not bother him, in his characteristic brand of humor, he claims "It literally grew on me."
After graduating from Hoover High School in 1995, he
attended Auburn University, majoring in business, communications and marketing
, but eventually left to pursue his musical ambitions. Hicks hooked up with
several bands, including "Passing Through", which specialized mostly in jam
band covers and eventually gained a fairly good local following. After
the band broke up, Taylor
briefly moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a music career with little or
no success. He soon moved back to Birmingham where gig offers were more
plentiful and his local reputation was more established..
In Birmingham, Taylor hooked up with a
group of talented local musicians, which eventually evolved into the Taylor Hicks Band.
The band built a small following in the
local area through performances at bars, nightclubs and any other event
that would book them..
Taylor continued to play with the band in small venues in the Alabama area. Trying to break
himself nationally, he encountered many rejections, but kept going. He
financed, produced, and released two independent albums, In Your Time (1997)
and Under the Radar (2005), prior to appearing on Idol; the latter was made
available at local music outlets. His reputation was growing with
occasional opportunities to open for major acts as they swung through the
Birmingham area.
As his career seemed to be at a crossroads, and he was receiving urging from
the family to "settle down and get a job at the bank" He decided to
fly out to Las Vegas to audition for American Idol. His father
responded with the now famous line.. "Why don't you just buy a lottery ticket?." This was not an entirely unreasonable reaction from Dad; after all, at the time it seemed like a long shot,
especially since Taylor's look and music did not exactly fit into the American Idol mold.
In Vegas Taylor received immediate attention resulting from his unusual audition.
He moved on to Hollywood week by the approval of judges Randy Jackson and Paula
Abdul, but not Simon Cowell, who said that Hicks did not have enough of an
Idol image for any of the judges to put him through the Hollywood rounds.
Cowell of course, was eventually proven wrong, which to his credit, he subsequently acknowledged.
Taylor's fanbase grew exponentially as he was featured as a top 24
finalist on the show, which week after week was the number one show on American
television. Fans of Taylor Hicks were quickly dubbed the "Soul Patrol"
a group that quickly grew into an active and loyal online fanbase. Taylor
shrewdly grabbed the opportunity to define his distinctive fanbase by giving
frequent shout outs to the Soul Patrol during his American Idol appearances . To
this day, he continues to shout out to the "Soul Patrol". His hope, he has said, is to have the Soul
Patrol become a group as active as Jimmy Buffett's "Parrotheads".
Week after week, Taylor won the hearts and votes of American Idol viewers with his
energetic and soulful performances. He breezed through the competition
handily, being the only contestant in that season never to land in the bottom
three. Taylor Hicks was named the new American Idol on May 24th, 2006. He was
awarded a Ford Mustang, and a million dollar record contract. He landed a
lucrative commercial contract with Ford, in which he was featured prominently
in their commercials until the end of 2006. He began the
American Idol tour in the late summer/ fall of 2006, and frequently slipped in
several "special guest appearances" with Little Memphis Blues
Orchestra (formerly The Taylor Hicks Band) after the Idols tour in several
cities, which has become known as the "shadow tour". His first CD single Do I Make You Proud / Takin' It To The Streets"
was released on June 13th, 2006 and was certified Gold exactly one month later
on July 13th, 2006.
After the Idols Live tour wrapped, Taylor went into the studio to
record his major label debut album. With famed producer Matt Serletic, the
album was completed in six weeks, to allow for a pre-Christmas release. The
result was the self-titled
Taylor Hicks album. A diverse blend of pop, soul and rock, the
album received good reviews and shipped platinum. Despite the absence of a pre-released single,
video, or
radio play, the album to date has sold over 700,000 copies worldwide. Taylor launched a series of television and personal appearances to
promote the album, and in February, embarked on his first major solo concert
tour with a seven piece band assembled by himself and musical director, Loren
Gold. The 2007 tour proved to be a success, with Taylor solidifying his
reputation as a top-notch live performer. He received many favorable reviews
from fans and critics alike. The official tour wrapped up in late September
2007, although he continued to play sporadic dates after that. Touring, he has
said, will be the main emphasis of his career.
In June 2007, "Heart Full of Soul, An Inspirational Memoir About
Finding Your Voice, and Finding Your Way." was published. The memoir was
written with help from David Wild, a former writer from Rolling Stone
Magazine. The book recounts his early personal and musical struggles, all the
way up through his triumphant run on "American Idol", his headlining American
Idol tour and major label record release.
In late 2007, Taylor performed on the finale of "Asian Idol"
and did a mini tour in the Phillipines. He returned to the States to begin
writing songs for his next album. In the meantime, a surprising announcement
was made that he would be joining the Broadway cast of Grease for a summer
2008 run as "Teen Angel". His debut on Broadway was met with good reviews and
packed houses.
An album of Taylor's pre-American Idol music was announced to be released
and distributed by Vanguard Records. The album's title was announced as "Early
Works" and was slated to be released in August 2008.
Taylor Hicks continues to build on his own personal brand of music, a mix
of old school soul, classic rock, pop, blues, and jam he has labeled "Modern Whomp". His
reputation as a premiere live performer continues to grow. As an artist in a
non-mainstream genre, his road will be more difficult than most others who
have won the "American Idol" crown. To this day, his fanbase, dubbed
the "Soul Patrol" remains one of
the largest, most active, and most loyal of any artist to come out of the Idol
juggernaut. With their support, Taylor Hicks continues to move forward as a
career artist on his own path, at a time when the music industry is in
transition.
