Taylor Hicks Biography

Singer Taylor Hicks won the 2006 edition of the TV talent show American Idol: The Search for a Superstar.

Like 2003’s winner, Ruben Studdard, Hicks calls Birmingham, Alabama his hometown. Hicks went to high school and college there before trying to make a go of it in the music business, and 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 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.

After that initial blast of television celebrity, Hicks settled in to a career close to home, touring and performing in and around Alabama and going into the restaurant business.

He has since appeared on television many times, mostly as a performing guest, but also as the host of his own food-and-beverage series, State Plate (2016-18).