Taylor Hicks – American Idol

Have you ever had a dream so big it consumed you? So big you were willing to crawl into bed with hardship and heartache, rejection and disappointment, fear and frustration?

And then one day when you had almost nothing left to give, when you’d been passed over and turned away countless times, when you felt beaten down and were about to give up, when you were wondering if it was crazy to still believe you might make it as a singer-musician-performer in this crazy world, a national disaster that left misery, destruction, and devastation in its wake, altered the trajectory of your life.

It didn’t matter if it was destiny or the Divine, suddenly you were given the opportunity to go to Las Vegas, and hours after arriving, you found yourself in front of three judges named Simon, Paula and Randy, who held your dream, your very life, in their hands.

Here is Taylor singing a powerful rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the song he chose for his audition, which is about digging deep and having faith during troubled times. He knew a lot was riding on this audition. As it turned out, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul liked him, but Simon Cowell did not think he had “the look.” Still two out of three judges saying yes, got him through to the next round.

After beating out thousands of other people who auditioned; after going from the Top 24, to the Top 20, to Top 16, and the Top 12; after performing his heart out and escaping elimination each week, it came down to Taylor and Katherine McPhee.

Thirty-seven million viewers, many devoted “Soul Patrol” Taylor Hicks fans, cast 63.5 million votes for the final two. On the night of the finale, the silver-haired, good-ole-boy from Alabama, who talks like he’s country, sings like he’s soul, and looks like George Clooney’s brother, was crowned the winner of Season Five’s American Idol.

LIFE LESSON: Many people dream of success, but they aren’t willing to stick with it no matter how many disappointments they face. Taylor Hicks serves as a reminder to never give up.

Taylor, whose style is raw, bluesy, Southern-soul, R&B, plays the meanest, hottest, fifty shades of harmonica. When was 16, he fell in love with an old beat-up Marine Band harmonica that cost two dollars at a flea market, and they became inseparable.

“Take the Long Way Home,” was the first song I played on the harmonica. Home was a bit elusive growing up. It can take a long time to find your way, especially when home has been pretty broken.

He taught himself to play the guitar when he was 19, playing along to Eric Clapton’s album “Unplugged” and Supertramp’s “Take the Long Way Home.” He played day after day, month after month until he started to get good.

Taylor, whose hometown of Birmingham was a hot spot in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, says that soul music taught him loud and clear that racism is nothing but pure ignorance. Soul music is gospel music for everyone – black, white, saint or singer.

“It’s a shame the epicenter of such hatred and violence was in my hometown. To some degree my state still has that residual stigma, but we’re light years away from what that was.

– Taylor Hicks

His full-blown soul education came from studying greats like Sam Cooke, James Brown, Sam and Dave, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, as well as white soul singers like Bob Seger, Steve Winwood, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Cocker, and Van Morrison. He studied where each of them came from and where they’d traveled. Eventually he learned that all roads led back to Ray Charles.

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”

– Tony Robbins

“I spent almost two years in Nashville knocking on doors, hustling tapes to whoever I could pawn one off on, but I couldn’t stir any interest.

“Nashville taught me that if you’re unhappy, you shouldn’t sit around wallowing in misery. Go out and do something to change your life. I’m a great believer in fighting your hardest to make your dream come true, but pick your battleground wisely.

“Someone from Sony Nashville looked me in the eye, handed me back my tape and said ‘Son, you’re not going to make it in this town. If you’re ever going to get a deal, it’s going to be in Los Angeles.’

Putting your heart and soul out there day after day to be judged by the powers that be can be horribly soul-crushing.”

– Taylor Hicks

“I went back to Birmingham bloodied with unfulfilled dreams, but I held my head high and was ready to get back to work. Failure fueled my ambition. I decided to become a traveling troubadour and try and conquer the whole country. But that dream didn’t work out either. When you live mostly on the road and only come home to do laundry and sleep for a couple of hours, it becomes a lonely struggle for survival filled with isolation, confusion, and doubt.

“My most dismal dark years were between the ages of 25 and 28. Band members were always leaving, and I needed money and sleep. More than anything I needed a break.

“When my father asked what I was doing with my life I couldn’t fake the optimism any longer. I’d followed my burning passion for music wherever it led, and in his eyes I had nothing to show for it. I’d left college convinced I was born to entertain people who were going through their own journeys and troubles, but it had been ten long grinding years of performing in one small, seedy club after another, sleeping on peoples’ couches, and barely getting by. I didn’t fit Nashville’s country label or Los Angeles’ rock and pop label.

“My dad kept telling me to get a real job, and I was scared he was right. I had no record deal, no representation, and no clear prospects of anything changing. I felt like I’d hit the end of the road. But Henry David Thoreau said ‘It’s not until we’re lost that we begin to understand ourselves.’

The story of how Taylor Hicks ended up on American Idol is stranger than fiction.

“I went to a friend’s wedding in New Orleans the weekend Hurricane Katrina hit in 2006. One minute we were partying, the next we were frantically fleeing town. It was 3:00 a.m. and the airport was closed. Luckily I had $500, which I got out of the ATM, and I chased down one of the last taxis in the city. I spent 15 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic with no air-conditioning. I got as far as West Monroe, 285 miles away. From there I rented a car and drove home to Birmingham. I called Southwest Airlines, and because my flight had been canceled, they offered me a round trip ticket anywhere in the country.

“I’d vaguely considered going to the Idol auditions in Memphis, but they were cancelled because of the storm. I was staring down thirty-years with precious little to show for all my time and effort, so I decided to fly somewhere I’d never been—the Entertainment Capitol of the World. The farthest north I’d ever gone was Little Rock, Arkansas. That airline voucher ended up being my winning lottery ticket.

“I arrived around 1:00 a.m., found a hotel room and gambled with money I couldn’t afford to lose. In my near penniless state, I felt like a fool wondering what I was doing there. Then my brother called and said American Idol was holding Season Five auditions in a couple of hours. I rehearsed over and over what I’d do at the tryouts. I laid down for a short while, and then exhausted, I walked from my hotel to the convention center and joined all the other wannabes hoping to be discovered.

“I was older than the rest of the crowd, I had gray hair, and I was the only one wearing an over sized golf shirt. People in line asked if my children were there to audition. I almost didn’t qualify due to my age. They kept checking my I.D. because contestants had to be between 16 and 28, and I was a couple of months shy of 29.

“I knew there was no way I would fit in with everyone else. If I had any chance of winning, I had to stand out. For years my flaws held me back, but I began to see that on Idol people wanted flaws they could relate to, and I had plenty.

Taylor made it through round after round, along with Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, and Katherine McPhee. He says one of the things he values most about American Idol is that contestants get to sing great songs from the past.

“With such massive cutbacks in music education in the schools, the show provides a little prime time music education. I feel proud when a kid asks me about Otis Redding because I sang “Try a Little Tenderness,” or about Sam Cooke because I performed “You Send Me.”

The night of the finale, Prince was there. Taylor remembers the first time he really tried to sing as a kid, he was in the car with his mom driving down the highway screaming along to Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” never dreaming that one day he’d share the stage with him.

He sang a duet with Toni Braxton that night. Afterwards, she gave him a money clip backstage and said he was going to have a lot of money to fill it. He was too embarrassed to tell her that all he had were a few five and ten dollar bills.

I met Taylor Hicks after one of his high-energy shows in the Indigo Room at Bally’s Hotel in Las Vegas. Later on, I had a chance to interview him. We talked several times and I always found him to be a bit shy, down-to-earth, and extremely grateful. His story of unwavering perseverance that finally led to his success will inspire anyone who is having challenges achieving their dream.

Here’s Taylor singing “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne, a song that used to be so apropos.

Ray Charles’ “I Believe To My Soul” is all about believing in yourself deep down to your core, to your very soul. If you do, then when good, bad, or really ugly things happen you won’t be knocked too far off track. Sometimes that belief is the only thing that will carry you through. It’s not easy to silence the doubt. For most of us, there are a million breaks that don’t go our way, but I’m a great example it can happen.

LIFE LESSON: Dreams do come true, but it takes hard work. Since winning “Idol” Taylor put out a self-titled album featuring guest artists Bryan Adams, Diane Warren, and Rob Thomas. His second album is called The Distance. 

He has appeared on Broadway and toured with the national company for Grease.

He has written a book Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way.

Here is the entire Up Close and Personal with Taylor Hicks article.

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