David Roland Cook
(born December 20, 1982) is an American
rock singer-songwriter[1], who rose to fame after winning the
seventh season of the
reality television show American Idol. Prior to
Idol he released an album entitled
Analog Heart, and his post-
Idol self-titled album, produced by
Rob Cavallo, was released on November 18, 2008 and has since been certified
Platinum by the RIAA.
Early life
Cook was born in Houston, Texas , raised in Blue Springs, Missouri, and currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His parents are Beth (née Frye) and Stan Cook.[2] He is the middle of three brothers.[3][4] Adam is the oldest, and Andrew is the youngest. David's eldest brother, Adam, has been battling brain cancer since 1998.[5] Although it's not yet confirmed that it was because of his brother's medical condition, People reported on March 31, 2009 that David was canceling dates on his current tour due to "family matters." [6]
Cook's interest in music began early in life. He began singing in second grade, when his elementary school music teacher gave him a solo in a school choir performance. He proceeded to perform in virtually every Christmas and PTA program.[7] He received his first guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, at the age of 12.[8] He also participated in choir and drama programs in middle school and high school. At Blue Springs South High School, he performed in musicals , including The Music Man, West Side Story, and Singin' in the Rain.[7][9][10] In addition to this, he was an active member in the Blue Springs South High School National Forensics League (or NFL), where he qualified for the national tournament twice for duo interpretation, an event that relies on performance and interpretation of a literary work.
He was also an avid baseball player during high school. After losing interest in the sport, he focused more on music. He earned a theater scholarship to the University of Central Missouri, but he abandoned theater after two semesters, graduating from the school in 2006 with a degree in graphic design.[11][12] While in college, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa.[13] After his college graduation, he relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to pursue a career in music, telling his family, "I just want to give myself until I'm 26 years old to get a job."[2]
Musical background
His musical influences include Our Lady Peace, Alice in Chains, Big Wreck, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Switchfoot, Chris Daughtry, Bon Jovi and Collective Soul.[14][15] Immediately after winning American Idol, Cook was asked backstage by Entertainment Weekly who his top five favorite bands were. Our Lady Peace and Big Wreck were on this short list, as well as the Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and 8stops7.[16]
American Idol
Overview
Cook's brother Andrew, sits alongside their mother at an appearance.
Cook originally did not plan to try out for the show. He came to the auditions initially to support his younger brother Andrew (who did not make it to Hollywood) and then, at his brother's urging, David tried out himself.[2][17] Cook auditioned for American Idol in Nebraska, performing Bon Jovi's "Livin' On a Prayer." For his first Hollywood audition, Cook performed "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. On the second song in Hollywood, he sang "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. Cook took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments. Besides his Hollywood audition, he also accompanied himself on electric guitar for his performances of "All Right Now," "Hello," "Day Tripper," "I'm Alive," "Baba O'Riley," "Dare You to Move," and "Dream Big," and on acoustic guitar for "Little Sparrow," "All I Really Need Is You," and "The World I Know." His white, left-handed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar has the letters "AC" on it; as Cook told TV Guide, "I have two brothers, Adam and Andrew. So, because of superstition, I put their initials on everything growing up."[18] Since the Top 12 week, he also wore (and continues to wear) an orange wristband to support a 7-year-old fan, Lindsey Rose, with leukemia.[19][20][dead link]
Another of Cook's performances, The Beatles' "Day Tripper", was credited to Whitesnake. Seattle-based band Doxology has claimed that Cook's performance of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" was based on a version the band recorded over a year ago.[21] On April 1, before performing his self-arranged rendition of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" on American Idol, Cook responded to Ryan Seacrest in the interview session, revealing that his performance of "Eleanor Rigby" was based on Neil Zaza's and Doxology's versions. He also reiterated the credits of Whitesnake and Chris Cornell. Despite the controversy, critics praised Cook for choosing versions of songs that fit his vocal style.[22][23][24] Cook's arrangements of "Hello," "Little Sparrow," "Always Be My Baby," "All I Really Need Is You," "Baba O'Riley," "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" were original arrangements,
Cook won the seventh season of American Idol on May 21, 2008, receiving 56% of the votes, with 12 million votes over David Archuleta as the runner-up. Cook then sang "The Time of My Life", the winning song of the 2008 American Idol Songwriter's Competition. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes.[25][26] During the finale show, identical commercials featuring Cook and fellow finalist Archuleta mimicked the Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business where he dances in his underwear playing an air guitar; they were promoting the game franchise Guitar Hero.[27]
Performances and results
Post-Idol career
Cook performing during the American Idols Live! Tour 2008.
For the Billboard chart week ending May 25, 2008, a week following Cook's American Idol victory, Cook broke several Billboard chart records. Most notable was his record shattering feat of having eleven songs debut on the Hot 100 that week, beating the previous record set by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) in 2006 when she had six songs debut on the chart.[28] Cook's first single, "The Time of My Life" led the pack, debuting at #3 on the Hot 100.[28] Cook's eleven charting songs also gave him the most songs by one artist on the Hot 100 of any week in the Nielsen SoundScan era (which began in 1991), and the most of any era since The Beatles placed 14 songs on the chart the week of April 11, 1964.[28] In addition, that same week Cook also broke the record for the most debuts on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, where he placed 14 debut entries, the record of which was previously six set by Bon Jovi in 2007.[28] Cook's 17 entries had a combined total of 944,000 digital downloads in the first week of selling.[29] The song also reached #61 in the UK due to downloads alone.
Cook has also signed an endorsement deal with Skechers that will run through December 2009. [30]
At the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, Cook won the Best Reality/Variety Star award, alongside Lauren Conrad of The Hills.[31]
Cook's photo is also featured on the cover of The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2009, along with President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain.[32]
David Cook
Cook worked with Espionage, Ed Roland (Collective Soul), Zac Maloy (The Nixons), Jason Wade (Lifehouse), Neal Tiemann (MWK) [33], Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra), Chantal Kreviazuk, and Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) on his self-titled, major label debut album.[34] The album was produced by Rob Cavallo.[35] On Ryan Seacrest's morning show On Air of KIIS-FM on September 5, 2008, the singer revealed that the CD release date would be November 18, 2008.[36] Cook announced via a blog on his myspace page that Neal Tiemann, his former bandmate from Midwest Kings (MWK) joined his band as lead guitar player.[citation needed]
The first single released from the album, "Light On" was announced on Cook's official site and debuted on September 23, 2008. By the week of October 10, 2008, the song had reached no. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. [37]
His debut album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association for America (RIAA) for sales exceeding one-million units in January 2009. [38] He was presented with his plaque while recording a performance that was aired during the April 1st, 2009 episode of American Idol.
His second music video, "Come Back to Me", was released on April 4, 2009, as a part of a dual-release in which his single "Bar-ba-sol" was released to radio stations as well.
The Declaration Tour - 2009
In January 2009, Cook announced he would be embarking on a national tour in February. On January 23, 2009, the dates for Cook's Declaration Tour were announced. The tour began on February 13, 2009 in Tallahassee Florida, and will end in West Palm Beach, FL on May 2, 2009. The tour will hit college campuses and other venues. As he revealed on April 1, 2009 while on American Idol, the tour has been extended through August.[39] Members of his touring band are Neal Tiemann (lead guitar), Andy Skib (keyboard and guitar), Joey Clement (bass guitar), and Kyle Peek (drums).
Other performances
Cook appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on November 1, 2008, where he performed "Light On" and debuted the track "Declaration".[40]
Cook appeared at the 2008 Glamour Magazine Women of the Year Awards as a guest of Mary Steenburgen to surprise honoree Hillary Clinton, a fan of American Idol. He sang one of Clinton's favorite songs, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", which he also sang during the Top 3 week on Idol.[41]
Cook performed on the American Music Red Carpet Live November 23, 2008, performing "Light On" and "Declaration."
In June, Cook performed the Star-Spangled Banner at Game 3 of the 2008 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.[42] Cook also performed with his brother Andrew during the opening weekend of the 2008 NFL season at a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders.[43]
Cook started off 2009 performing songs from his debut album for the troops during a USO tour, where he was able to visit seven bases. [44]
On February 12, 2009, Cook appeared on the morning news program, Good Morning America and talked about Walt Disney World Resort's new attraction, The American Idol Experience. He performed Light On and took the stage once again to perform Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac with fellow American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. He and all the other six winners received a mic-shaped statue from the creator of the franchise, Simon Fuller to honor them for winning the competition. [45][46]
Personal life
In May 2008, Cook asked out Season 2 American Idol alum Kimberly Caldwell while on the red carpet before the show's seventh season finale.[47][48] During a radio interview with XL 106.7 on October 13, 2008, Cook revealed that he and Caldwell were "still seeing each other."[49] In a November 2008 interview with PEOPLE magazine, Cook said his relationship with Caldwell was a "nice break from the chaos" of post-Idol fame.[50] Cook denied rumors of an engagement to Caldwell in a radio interview on December 12, 2008, saying "I've never even been to Tiffany's" (per Star magazine's reports that Cook had gone into the store and purchased a $54,000, 2-carat diamond ring).[51][52].They ended their relationship in December 2008.[53]
Discography
- See also: Axium
- See also: Midwest Kings
Studio albums
Singles
Other charted songs
Music Videos
| Year | Song | Director |
| 2008 | "Light On" | Wayne Isham |
| 2009 | "Come Back To Me" | Gavin Bowden |
Tours
Awards/Nominations
| Year | Presenter | Award | Result |
| 2008 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star[59] | Won |
| Best Presenter (Post Show) | Nominated |
| The New Music Awards | Top 40 Male Artist of the Year[60] | Won |
