b. 7 October 1976, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. This pop/soul singer shot to fame in 2006 as the winner of the fifth series of the highly successful Fox TV show American Idol. Raised in Alabama, Hicks was singing from an early age. His love of music eventually proved to be the major driving point of his life, and he dropped out of university in the mid-90s to pursue a career as a session singer in Nashville, Tennessee. During the late 90s and early 00s, Hicks established a solid career as a live performer and also released two independent albums. He passed auditions for the fifth season of the reality show American Idol, and defied the expectations of the resident cynic/judge Simon Cowell to progress to the final in May 2006, where he defeated Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin. At the age of 29, he was the oldest person to have won the title, although his slick stage moves and overuse of the blues harp did attract some outside criticism.
Music svengali Clive Davis was on hand to offer Hicks a recording contract with Arista Records. Hicks' debut single, "Do I Make You Proud', was composed by the Absolute production team, and had first been performed by the singer on the American Idol finale. Predictably, the single debuted at the top of the US charts in June. Hicks" self-titled debut album followed in December but its relative commercial failure compared to other American Idol acts led to the singer's departure from Arista at the start of 2008.
DISCOGRAPHY: In Your Time (Laser's Edge 1997)***, Under The Radar (Laser's Edge 2005)***, Taylor Hicks (Arista 2006)***.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Heart Full Of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice And Finding Your Way, Taylor Hicks.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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