| Taylor was the winner of the fifth season of the talent show American Idol. He was born October 6, 1976 in Birmingham, Alabama. He moved to Hoover along with his family at the age of 8, and it was then that his parents got divorced. All the music training he ever got was from his grandmother, Jonie. As a baby Taylor had blond hair, which turned dark brown in his younger years and finally grayed into his current trademark style. Taylor Reuben Hicks is a singer, songwriter and musician, with his roots in soul. His influences include Redding, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. He can play the guitar, the blues harp and the harmonica. After dropping out of business school, his music took him to Nashville, Tennessee. There, he started working with Bill Earle McClelland and Percy Sledge. He finally finished his schooling from University of Alabama and started performing at nightclubs and other venues. This was where his fan-base started growing with his trademark image; Hawaiian shirts and slacks. Taylor refers to his fans as the ‘Soul Patrol’. He’s had 2 albums released before making it to the American Idol. The first was ‘In Your Time’ which was released in 1997, and the other was ‘Under the Radar’ which was released in 2005. He also made a radio appearance in 2005, on National Public Radio which is a part of WBHM in Birmingham. Taylor auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas and got through with Randy’s and Paula’s approval, but the third judge Simon said he didn’t have the ‘Idol’ image. But he eventually proved Simon wrong by winning the American Idol over Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin, who were the other contenders in the top 3. May 12th in Birmingham is now called ‘Taylor Hicks Day’; he has also been given, the keys to the city. |