Taylor Hicks is the 2006 winner of the Fox television series American Idol: The Search for a Superstar. Like 2003’s winner, Ruben Studdard, Hicks calls Birmingham, Alabama his hometown. He went to high school and college there before trying to make a go of it in the music business. He released two albums on his own before being tapped for the popular television contest. His prematurely gray hair and enthusiastic dancing helped set him apart from the other show’s contestants, and week after week, he applied his barroom tenor to songs by Elvis, The Beatles and Stevie Wonder, while claiming an affinity with Ray Charles and Otis Redding. With the support of fans calling themselves the “Soul Patrol,” Hicks won the final competition over the slick pop of L.A.’s Katharine McPhee. On August 30, 2012, Taylor Hicks performed “Takin’ It to the Streets” at the closing night of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Hicks is the first Idol winner to secure a long-term residency in Las Vegas. He began his residency at Bally’s Las Vegas in June 2012 and moved to a larger venue, Paris Las Vegas, in January 2013. Taylor Hicks performs all over the world.
