Taylor Hicks Biography

Musician and performer Taylor Hicks was born in 1976 in Alabama. As a young child, Taylor turned to music as a comfort after his parents divorce, and by the time he was sixteen, he was teaching himself to play blues harp, guitar, and harmonica. After graduating from high school, Hicks majored in journalism at Auburn, but did not complete the program.

In 2005, Taylor Hicks attempted an audition for American Idol in Memphis, but had to relocate to Las Vegas after finding the Memphis tryouts too crowded. While competing on American Idol, Taylor Hicks performed renditions of “Dancing in the Dark,” “Living for the City,” and “Levon,” which ultimately led him to a win for the 2006 season.  At the age of twenty-nine, Taylor Hicks became the oldest contestant to win the show.

Following American Idol, Taylor Hicks signed a recording contract with Arista Records and released his first single, “Do I Make You Proud.” The single went to gold status, and Hicks began to promote his upcoming debut album with appearances alongside a variety of performers on tour, including Willie Nelson and Widespread panic.

His debut album, Taylor Hicks, was released in 2006 and landed at number two on the charts. By 2007, the album was certified platinum, and Taylor Hicks began his own nationwide promotional tour. That same year, he released his autobiography, Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way. In 2008, Taylor Hicks took a role with the musical Grease on Broadway, and remained with the traveling version of the show.

The Distance, Taylor’s Hicks’s second album, featuring the single “What’s Right is Right,” was released in 2009. A few years later, in 2012, he announced that he would begin a one-year run in Las Vegas, at Bally’s. The show was so successful that within a year he’d moved the performance to a larger venue. In recent years, Taylor Hicks has expanded his focus a bit beyond music, hosting the INSP series State Plate (which explores the food and culture of all fifty states) and appearing in an episode of Hell’s Kitchen.