Born on October 7, 1976 in Birmingham, Alabama, Taylor Hicks is best known for his gray-white hair and peculiar dance moves on season 5 of American Idol. Taylor was born with blond hair, but as the years progressed, his hair color began to change dramatically, from dark brown to black and finally, at the age of 13, to a gray-white do. Taylor's parents were divorced when he was only eight, and it was through this traumatic phase in Taylor's life where he discovered his passion for soul and blues music. Taylor started singing when he was only five years old. He would go up to strangers in the street and proceed to entertain them with songs by Kenny Rogers or Michael Jackson. When he was 16, he purchased his first harmonica and 2 years later was writing his own songs. Taylor is a graduate of Hoover High School, where he was an athlete, participating in sports like baseball, basketball and soccer. He studied at Auburn University for three years, majoring in business and journalism and at the same time performing in the band, Passing Through. After dropping out, Taylor relocated to Nashville, and was able to release two albums independently.

Auditioning for season 5 of American Idol was not Taylor's idea; rather, it was his younger half-brother's. Regardless of whose idea it was, Taylor's Las Vegas audition was successful, despite having received a thumbs-down from American Idol judge Simon Cowell. However, his performances in the semifinals were enough to change the notorious British judge's mind and when he went on to the Finals, his renditions of "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Just Once," "Play That Funky Music," "Jailhouse Rock," "Dancing in the Dark," "You Are So Beautiful" and the written-for-the-winner song "Do I Make You Proud" earned him over 63.4 million votes, most from his fan base called the "Soul Patrol," in week 11, making him the fifth American Idol winner.

Having come out as the winner of American Idol season 5, Taylor was not only signed with Arista Records, but also got to release "Do I Make You Proud" as his first single. The song came out at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. During the American Idol season 5 concert tour, Taylor's previous band reunited, calling themselves Little Memphis Blues Orchestra. The band went on the same tour route, and Taylor joined them every chance he could get. Taylor has also been offered a large sum of money to write his memoir. His first self-titled album came out on #2 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and was deemed a platinum record in January of 2007.

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