Taylor Hicks, the 29-year-old Birmingham, AL, native that captured the hearts and minds of more than 63.4 million people who voted him this year’s American Idol is ready to seize the opportunity he’s been working towards his entire life.   After spending many years honing his talent, playing the bars of his native Alabama and Florida, recording a pair of indie albums, knocking on doors, giving up any kind of personal life to pursue his dream of making music, that moment is here.

And here’s where the real work begins as he prepares to enter the recording studio to make his debut album for Arista Records. His first single, “Do I Make You Proud” debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, the Single Sales chart and the Pop 100, with more than 190k sold its first week of release. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of every CD, digital download, ringtone and ringback benefits the American Red Cross.

“The last year of my life has been an amazing journey that happens to very few people,” he says “and I intend to make the best of it.”

The man who injected “wooooo!” and “Soul Patrol” into the vernacular insists “what you see is what you get,” and that passion, personality, and talent is exactly what has made him a household name.

 “I’m still the same person that I was, the same musician,” he says. “I just had to go through this process to get to the other side, to be heard artistically.”  Hicks is now seizing the opportunity to make the kind of album he’d always dreamed of, but never had the resources to record.

“I’m looking for a great vocal sound,” he says. “It all starts with the voice. I am essentially a singer and I’m excited about capturing that in a way I’ve never been able to do up until now.”

Shortly after his win, Taylor signed with legendary music man and Chairman, BMG U.S., Clive Davis to release his forthcoming debut album.  “Taylor has to really move to the next step and show he is a recording artist that can compete with the best,” says Davis.  “He is charismatic and soulful at the same time, and already knows how to use his stage presence in a very winning fashion.”

Finding himself in New Orleans for a wedding right before Hurricane Katrina with his flight out of town cancelled, Hicks took a cab to West Monroe, LA., where he turned a free plane ticket from the airlines into a trip to Las Vegas to audition for Idol, knowing it would serve as the perfect showcase for his ability to win over a crowd.  

“American Idol is an amazing thing,” he says. “It teaches six-year-olds about Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It on Home to me.’” It allows them to enjoy music with their moms and dads. I’m very respectful of what the show has done for music. It exposes kids who might not have the opportunity with liberal arts and music education programs getting cut from public schools.”

He also appreciates how it has brought him an audience that ranges from 6 to 60. “At some of the beach bars I played over the years, I had to entertain 15-year-old kids sitting with their 75-year-old grandparents.  I’ve been performing live for a long time,” he says. “That was my strength.”

With the hoopla of Idol behind him, Hicks is well aware of building a long-range career and an artist identity apart from the show that launched him.

“It’s a very critical time for me,” he acknowledges. “I have a great opportunity to work and write with some really cool people. I’m just now starting to open up creatively. I no longer have to worry about how much gas to put in the minivan just to get from point A to point B. I can let my brain open up, create and trust my instincts. That’s the approach I’m taking… the gut feeling.”

One of the opportunities he’s been offered is to record one of Ray Charles’ songs in his own studio, with a reunion of the famed Raelettes backing him up. “He’s one of my idols. The people at the foundation said, if Ray was around, he would have loved me,” says Hicks. “I believe he would have appreciated my idea of soul music, of touching people with a real sensibility.”

For Hicks, music is the goal, his fame and all that goes with it are merely a means to succeed.

“This has been my vision since I was a kid,” he says. “All I wanted to do my whole life was to bring a feeling and talent to music.  Music has provided an outlet for me to touch people and make them happy. It’s like a conductor between individuals. I’m just lucky to have a bigger battery to conduct than others. I’m a hands-on kind of dude. You have to connect with people in this job.”

The son of a divorced mother and dentist father, Hicks briefly attended Auburn University to study business and journalism, but left to pursue his muse. He spent hours peddling his independently released CDs, In Your Time, recorded when he was 19, and Under the Radar, released last year, all over Birmingham. He’s opened for the likes of James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph and Keb Mo.

“I’m the guy in the band,” he says. “That’s what I am… whether it’s performing with the VFW Outpost group or backing up Keb Mo. I’m a working musician. That’s how I’ve made my living. And I’m real fortunate, too. They always say, the right place, the right time.”

For Taylor Hicks, luck is the residue of design. And he’s ready to work and reap its rewards.

 

Source: TaylorHicks.com (post-2006)

“The first thing I ever stole was an Otis Redding LP from my friend's house,” says singer/songwriter and harmonica player Taylor Hicks. “I think I was in third grade.”

And though he was born years after the heyday of the great soul and blues performers, Hicks, spent his childhood immersed in a steady stream of music by artists such as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Van Morrison. At 16, he bought a $2 harmonica from a flea market in Bessemer, AL and spent most of his time practicing while other kids were more concerned with driving cars.

Today, Hicks’ own brand of soul-and-blue-influenced music reflects the same sort of raw emotion and sensibilities so apparent in the songs he grew up on: pain, loss, love and the confusion inherent in them all.

He says his passionate writing and singing style is just a natural progression of a life that has been a little different than those of his peers. “Some people grew up in close-knit families,” he explains, “they could identify with the sugar-coated, new-wave music that was popular in the ’80s and even now. My home life wasn’t very supportive or comfortable - with divorce (among other misfortunes). I had to make life-changing choices at an early age. And the whole time, I was listening to soul music - music where you can actually hear a man’s heart break. So it just really made sense to me - even at such a young age.”

Hicks said he found the comfort he was looking for on stage. “I just made it my home. It’s where my heart is.” And watching his intensity on stage, it’s apparent that he holds nothing back. Even the slowest songs are sung with such energy, sweat and grit it would make his predecessors proud. The addition of his growling harmonica style is explosive at least.

Backed by several bands and such musicians as Nashville veteran Billy Earle McClelland, he has entertained audiences at festivals, clubs and fraternities for the past seven years while sharing the bill with some of his idols such as Percy Sledge along the way.

On his debut album, "In Your Time", Hicks demonstrates that, although he has a reverence for those artists he learned from, he’s far from a stuck-in-the-past purist. The title track from this live CD could be identified as modern soul music, but it is tinged with swinging horns and jazzy guitar licks. The acoustic ballad "The Fall" brings the listener along on Hicks’ sentimental thoughts of a relationship on its last leg. He leaves behind the bigger band sound, opting for more sparse accompaniment that drives home the nakedness of emotion in the song. The recording also features classics including "Georgia" and the Archie Bell & the Drells song "Tighten Up".

 

Source: TaylorHicks.com (pre-2006)

With his raspy, soulful voice and salt-and-pepper hair, Taylor Hicks was one of the unlikeliest contestants to make it to the final round of American Idol, but his quirky charm and rousing delivery of songs like "Takin' It to the Streets" won Hicks a devoted legion of fans called the Soul Patrol and the title of the fifth-season American Idol. Born in Birmingham, AL, and raised in Hoover, Hicks grew up listening to classic soul artists such as Otis Redding and Sam Cooke -- which he said he could to relate to even as a child due to the divorce of his parents and other troubles -- and singer/songwriters like Van Morrison, Bob Seger, and Billy Joel. His chief influence, however, was Ray Charles, whom he admired so much that he carried a little statue of Charles with him whenever he performed. Though Hicks had no formal musical training, he picked up singing, guitar, and harmonica on his own. He began performing for his family at an early age and won a talent contest at his high school (at which time his hair started turning gray). While studying business, communication, and marketing at Auburn University, Hicks formed the Passing Through band, and left school early to try his luck in Nashville. As a touring performer, he opened for artists ranging from James Brown to Drive-By Truckers and also performed at the Playboy Mansion. Hicks released two albums with his band: In Your Time, a live album, and Under the Radar. In 2005, he auditioned for American Idol; the Memphis tryouts were so crowded that Hicks couldn't get in, so he went to the Las Vegas auditions. Despite the doubts of judge Simon Cowell, Hicks' differences from the typical pop star look and sound worked for him rather than against him in the competition, and his performances of "Levon," "Living for the City," and "Dancing in the Dark" helped put him over the top. After winning American Idol, Hicks signed a record deal with Clive Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, and released the single Do I Make You Proud that summer. Hicks also performed with the American Idol tour and began work on his major-label debut album. His self-titled debut arrived in late 2006.

 

Source: Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Date of Birth

7 October 1976, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Birth Name

Taylor Reuben Hicks

Nickname

Tay Tay
The Silver Fox
Tay Tay (his nickname given by his American Idol finalists group)

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Trade Mark

Grey hair

Trivia

His music reflect his favorite music: the old songs of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Ray Charles. In fact, he used to always carry a tiny statute of Ray Charles on stage with him. It was lost or stolen recently and he's been looking for another one.

According to his grandmother, Taylor has never had any music lessons. He came running up to her when he was about twelve years old saying, "Grandma, you've got to hear this!" Then he sang Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness" for her.

Plays guitar and a "blues" harmonica or "harp." He writes most of his own songs. He has a CD entitled: Under the Radar.

He left college before graduating and went to Nashville for nine months to pursue a musical career. He has played for various venues around the United States. He has even played a couple nights at the Playboy Mansion.

His fans are known as the Soul Patrol.

Made the top final 2 on "American Idol: The Search for a Super Star"

On May 17 2006, joined Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood as the only Idol contestants who were never voted in the bottom 2 or 3.

Worked at a shopping mall and would dress up as the Easter Bunny for Easter and spring promotions.

Is close friends with Elliot Yamin.

Sang a duet with Toni Braxton "In the Ghetto" in the finale of American Idol [2006], where later he won the title of the 'American Idol'.

He was touring in New Orleans with his band, the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra, on the night Hurricane Katrina hit and used a ticket voucher to fly to Las Vegas.

He bought a $2 harmonica at a local flea market when he was 16 and has been playing harmonica ever since.

On May 24, 2006, he became the new American Idol.

He is the second American Idol winner from Birmingham, Ruben Studdard being the first.

He was born at Saint Vincent Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, and his birth time is 10/06/76 at 3:30am.

Parodied on Saturday Night Live by Jason Sudeikis

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

His father Brad, is a dentist.

Has two goldfish, named Lamont and Ray.

He performs the song "Takin' It To The Streets ", originally sung by the Doobie Brothers, on the American Idol top 12 CD.

"Do I Make You Proud" debuted at #1 on Billboard Hot 100.

In college was in a band called Passing Through.

Personal Quotes

"I want my voice heard."

"When you are doing something you love, sleep can wait!"

"It's music man. If it's in your heart, you feel it, you play it, you sing it, you perform it, you bust your buns doing it, and that's what it's all about."

"Come on America! I'm living the American dream!"

 

Source: IMDB

Birth Place: Birmingham, AL
Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: October 6, 1976, Libra
Profession: Singer; reality-show contestant

After years of trying to make it in the music biz as a harmonica-playing, singer-songwriter, the 29-year-old Hicks took a chance and auditioned for the fifth edition of American Idol in 2006. Although he didn't fit the previously established Idol image, this personable (and polarizing) performer won over viewers — and ultimately won the competition — with his stellar musicality and spastic, Joe Cocker-esque dancing. Judge Simon Cowell initially balked at the baby-faced, gray-haired soul singer (and Saturday Night Live constantly goofed on him), but by the end, Hicks had joined Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken as the only Idol contestants never to appear in the bottom three. Dubbed Gray Charles by his fans (who in turn were nicknamed the Soul Patrol), Hicks racked up votes week after week, while his detractors shook their heads every time he yelled, "Wooo!" He released his self-titled album in December 2006.

Taylor Hicks Fast Facts:

• As a teenager, he played harmonica at local bars.
• His hair started turning gray in his teens.
• Released two independent albums, In Your Time in 1997 and Under the Radar in 2005.
• Received a key to the city of Birmingham, AL, on May 12, 2006.

Taylor Hicks Relationships:

• Brad Hicks - Father
• Linda Hicks - Stepmother
• Pam Dickinson - Mother
• Sean Hicks - Half Brother

College:

• Attended Auburn University, Auburn, AL; Attended University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

 

Source: TV Guide

1991

Taylor Made

As a ninth grader at Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala., Hicks likes to perform and sometimes brings a harmonica to play during class. Ninth grade English teacher Susan Whitson – who will become press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush in 2004 – tells PEOPLE of Hicks' musical talent, "On a couple of occasions I was like, 'Okay Taylor, why don't you get in front and play?'"

1993

The Blues Singer

In high school, Hicks splits his passions between sports and music, often combining both in the same night. "When I was about 16, I would play high school basketball and then I would put on this big white hat and go into particular restaurants and play harmonica with bands," Hicks tells PEOPLE. "I was playing one night and my folks came for dinner. They came up to me and said, 'What the hell are you doing here?' My dad said, 'Son, you know that you're a minor and I'm your father,' and I was like, 'Dad, don't sweat it. It's just the blues.'"

1995

Fall - Go Tigers

Hicks enters Auburn University to study business and journalism but doesn't make academics a priority, focusing on his music first before eventually dropping out. "Taylor is very smart but he was not a good student," classmate Barry Jackson tells PEOPLE in 2006. "He'd come in to class on test day after playing at a club the night before, and he wouldn't have studied at all."

1997

First Tick

A struggling musician, Hicks cuts his first album, In Your Time, which he releases himself and sells at a local record store and shows. The limited edition album will become a collector's item once Hicks makes American Idol, fetching more than $100 on eBay. In Aug. 2006, he'll file a lawsuit against Nashville producer William Smith after Smith tries to profit by selling copies of Hicks' early songs, which he collaborated on. Hicks drops the suit after Smith gives him possession of the master recordings.

2005

October 10 - Tragedy to Triumph

Visiting New Orleans for a friend's wedding, Hicks is forced to evacuate the city as Hurricane Katrina approaches. "I called an airline company [Southwest], and they said we'll give you a ticket – one way – for anywhere in the country," he tells PEOPLE in June 2006. "So I went to Las Vegas. American Idol tryouts were there, and I auditioned and here I am." Over judge Simon Cowell's objections, Hicks is invited to Hollywood to continue with the competition.

2006

February 22 - Proving Doubters Wrong

Despite being told by Cowell after his first audition that he'd never make it to the finals, Hicks takes his first step in that direction as one of the 24 Idol semifinalists. For his first solo performance, Hicks belts out a powerful rendition of Elton John's "Levon," getting the usually stubborn Cowell to admit he was wrong.

May 13 - Sweet Home Alabama

With less than two weeks to go before the new American Idol is chosen, Hicks – one of the three remaining finalists – returns to Birmingham, where he performs for 12,000 fans at Alabama's largest mall and is feted with a parade through downtown. He even finds time to travel to the state capital, Montgomery, for a meeting with the newest member of Soul Patrol, Alabama governor Bob Riley.

May 24 - Sound of Victory

With 63.4 million people casting their vote, Hicks beats Katherine McPhee to win American Idol. Asked if he has anything to say to America, Hicks, who will finalize his record deal a week later, yells out "Soul Patrol!" before singing his first single, "Do I Make You Proud?" "It's an exhilarating feeling," he tells FOX News reporters after the show. "I am flabbergasted. I can't believe I'm the next American Idol!"

June 21 - Chart Topper

Thanks to the giant push of Hicks' Idol win, "Do I Make You Proud?" debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. He'll sign a book deal with Random House's Crown imprint two months later for his memoir, Heart Full of Soul. The book, for which he receives an estimated $750,000 advance, is scheduled for release in spring 2007 and details Hicks' struggles on the way to success.

June 26 - Bachelor Party

As the cover guy of PEOPLE's annual "Hottest Bachelors" issue, Hicks tells the magazine about his dating do's and don'ts. "She's gotta be cool," he says. "She's gotta be easy to get along with. And deep. Shallow does not turn me on at all." He also claims that "it's a whole lot easier" to think about marriage after winning Idol. "I had to deal with being somewhat of an outcast because it's not socially acceptable to be a struggling musician," he says. "I've felt sorry for the person I was dating. I felt she deserved better."

July 28 - American Idol Meets American President

During the "American Idols Live" tour, Hicks and the other 11 finalists meet President George W. Bush at the Oval Office, making them the first participants from the show to do so. After the meeting, the group tours the White House before heading a mile east for that night's performance at Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center.

August 17 - Cry Me a River

In an interview with Fashion Rocks magazine, Justin Timberlake is quoted as saying that "People think [Hicks] looks so normal and he's so sweet and he's so earnest, but he can't carry a tune in a bucket." Timberlake goes on to tell the magazine, "I despise [American Idol], and yet I'm completely fascinated." Timberlake's publicist Ken Sunshine disputes his client's sentiments, telling the Washington Post, "These comments are taken completely out of context. [Timberlake] only wishes him well. He has great affection for anyone that puts himself out there the way he did."

December 12 - Soul Man

Hicks releases his self-titled major label debut. "It's my take on modern soul music," he tells PEOPLE. "My album takes pieces of what I learned from Ray [Charles] and from what I hear in today's music. My musical sensibility goes way beyond the two minutes of Idol."

 

Source: People Magazine

Some are born to greatness, the legend goes, some acquire greatness, and still others have greatness thrust upon them. For Birmingham, Alabama’s favorite son, whose self-titled new album on Arista Records, TAYLOR HICKS, is the penultimate year-end release of 2006, it has been a case of all three.  After a lifetime steeped in the blues and soul and R&B of his native Southern heroes – Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown, Sam Cooke, to name a few – Taylor’s artistry was reaffirmed and validated in no uncertain terms this past year, as he won the fifth season of FOX’s American Idol. 

Born in Birmingham on October 7, 1976, Taylor was eight years old when his family moved to nearby Hoover and his parents divorced.  The difficult childhood of a broken home led him very early on to the warm and tender mercies of soul music.  As a youth he realized that he had perfect pitch and soon taught himself to play guitar and a blues-wailin’ harmonica.  Upon graduation from high school in 1995, he enrolled at Auburn University where he studied business and journalism.  His first independently-released CD came out soon after, In Your Time.

After three years of balancing college with his life as a working musician, it was clear which held the winning hand.  “This has been my vision since I was a kid,” he says. “All I wanted to do my whole life was to bring a feeling and talent to music.  Music has provided an outlet for me to touch people and make them happy.  It’s like a conductor between individuals.  I’m just lucky to have a bigger battery to conduct than others.  I’m a hands-on kind of dude.  You have to connect with people in this job.”

Putting his energy into music full-time, Taylor became a fixture around Birmingham, opening concerts and club dates for visiting performers who included James Brown, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph and Keb’ Mo’, to name a few.  Taylor honed his skills, and learned to please others while pleasing himself.  “At some of the beach bars I played over the years, I had to entertain 15-year-old kids sitting with their 75-year-old grandparents.  I’ve been performing live for a long time,” he says, “whether it’s performing with the VFW Outpost group or backing up Keb’ Mo’.  I’m a working musician.  That’s how I’ve made my living.”  In early 2005, he released his second indie CD, entitled Under the Radar.

Taylor’s twist of fate came in New Orleans, at the wedding of an Auburn friend, the night before Hurricane Katrina hit on the fateful day of August 29, 2005.  With his out-of-town flight cancelled, he was given a free airlines voucher.  Earlier in the summer, Taylor had considered auditioning for American Idol in Memphis, but auditions were subsequently cancelled there as the city became one of the centers of the Katrina relief effort.  Throughout the summer and fall, however, auditions proceeded in eight cities across the country, and Taylor eventually used his voucher to travel to the auditions in Las Vegas, his first steps up the steep AI ladder.

From the very start, Taylor’s material set him apart from the pack, with such blues and funk based rockers as the Doobies’ “Takin’ It To the Streets,” Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me,” Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and “In the Ghetto,” Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” and others keeping Taylor out of the bottom three for the entire season, a rare feat on AI.

The six-week recording schedule with Serletic for the new album spanned October and November, and was the greatest challenge of Taylor’s life.  “I’m looking for a great vocal sound,” he said at the time.  “It all starts with the voice.  Although I play guitar and harmonica, I am essentially a singer and I’m excited about capturing that in a way I’ve never been able to do up until now.”

“It’s a very critical time for me.  I have a great opportunity to work and write with some really cool people. I’m just now starting to open up creatively … I can let my brain open up, create and trust my instincts.  That’s the approach I’m taking… the gut feeling.”

And that’s the spirit, the heart and soul that makes TAYLOR HICKS one of the most satisfying and honest new album releases of the year.  It celebrates an artist who is ready to pursue the highest heights he can attain – and get right on down to the core of his roots while he does it.

 

Source: Hohner, Inc.