If you love or hate
American Idol, you cannot deny it's a genuine phenomenon and second
season runner-up Clay Aiken is a big part of it. While Aiken lost out to
Ruben Studdard by 134,400 of the 24 million votes, at times it was hard
to determine who the real winner was.
Clay Aiken's debut album, Measure of a Man was released
October 14,
2003.
The album was recorded in
Los Angeles,
Miami,
and London,
with executive producer Clive Davis, American Idol creator Simon
Fuller and producers and songwriters including Steve Mac, Cliff Magness,
Desmond Child, Steve Morales, and Rick Nowels.
Aiken wowed people when he released his debut single, “This Is The
Night.” The song was number one on the
Billboard hot 100. It sold over 392,000 copies in the first week.
The single beat Elton John’s record of sales for his
1997 single
dedicated to Princess Diana entitled “Candle in the Wind 1997.”
As a teenager, Aiken was a member of the Raleigh Boys Choir. He also
acted in various musicals: The Music man,
Oklahoma,
and countless stage plays. Aiken hails from
Raleigh, North Carolina and attended Raleigh's Leesville Road High
School before enrolling at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Although his
American Idol activities temporarily delayed his academic pursuits,
Aiken graduated with a bachelor's degree in special eduation in December
of 2003.
Aiken also is the product of a broken home. His
biological
father is Vernon Grissom, but the star-to-be opted to legally change to
his mother's name in the late '90s. Grissom, according to Aiken, was a
violent alcoholic who abandoned Clay and his mother when he was
1-years-old. Aiken prefers to think of Ray Parker--his mother's second
husband, who died in July 2002--as his real dad.While Aiken preferred
to keep much of his past private during the
American Idol run, he did open up in his
Rolling Stone interview. He revealed he's a church-going
Baptist who
attended the University of
North
Carolina at
Charlotte, where he majored in special education. He co-founded the
Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which aims to provide opportunities for
individuals with autism and other physical and mental disabilities. He's
scared of water, favors instant grits over the real thing and, believe
it or not, bites his toenails.
