Taylor Hicks Biography

Fast Facts

• As a teenager, 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
• Winner of Season 5 of American Idol (2006); runner-up was Katharine McPhee
• Wrote an autobiography titled Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way in 2007
• Was dropped from J Records, the label that signs the American Idol winners, in January 2008
• Made his Broadway debut as Teen Angel in Grease in 2008; he then reprised that role for the show's national tour
• Began releasing albums on his own label, Modern Whomp Records, in 2008
• Ranked No
• 10 on Forbes' 2009 list of American Idol top earners