Chris Daughtry life and biography

Chris Daughtry is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry and as the fourth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, from which he was eliminated on May 10, 2006. After his elimination from Idol, he was given a record deal by RCA Records and formed a band called Daughtry, though their self-titled debut album, which sold more than one million copies after just five weeks of release becoming the fastest selling debut rock album in history was recorded before the band was officially formed. Therefore, Chris Daughtry was the only official member present on the album, leading some to mistakenly believe that the band Daughtry is Chris Daughtry's solo project.

In its ninth week of release, Daughtry reached number one on the Billboard charts. Chris Daughtry is now the third most successful American Idol contestant in terms of record sales, behind only Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, who both won their respective seasons. At the 50th Grammy Awards, the band was nominated for Best Rock Song for the single "It's Not Over".

Since the band's first album, Chris Daughtry has collaborated with several artists, including Sevendust, Theory of a Deadman, and Carlos Santana. He is known for his powerful vocal belting technique and wide vocal range.

Chris Daughtry was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina and raised in Lasker until he was 14. His parents, Pete and Sandra Daughtry, reside in Palmyra, Virginia, where Daughtry grew up before he relocated to McLeansville, North Carolina, outside of Greensboro. His brother, Kenneth, lives in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

At age 16, Daughtry started taking singing seriously as a musician. He took guitar lessons from blues rock guitarist Matt Jagger at Stacy's Music store in Charlottesville and sought advice from Andy Waldeck (frontman for Earth to Andy) who is credited first on his debut album. He performed with rock bands during his time in high school at local venues, opening for his future band mate Brian Craddock's band My Dog Lucy and Matt Jagger. During high school, he appeared in two stage productions: The Wiz and Peter Pan. For his first official performance, he sang "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus at his grandfather's bar. Daughtry graduated from Fluvanna High School in 1998.

Cadence

Daughtry's high school band went by the name of Cadence. He sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar. They produced one album, All Eyes on You (1999), a rare piece that can sometimes be found on eBay. Daughtry later sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar for rock bands in Burlington. The alternative metal band Absent Element consisted of Daughtry on lead vocals and guitar, Mark Perry on lead guitar, Scott Crawford on drums, and Ryan Andrews on bass. Absent Element released Uprooted in 2005. This CD contains the songs "Conviction" and "Breakdown", which the band Daughtry would later combine and re-record as the song "Breakdown" for their self-titled debut album.

Daughtry sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar for rock bands in Burlington. The band Absent Element consisted of Daughtry on lead vocals and guitar, Mark Perry on lead guitar, Scott Crawford on drums and Ryan Andrews on bass. Absent Element released Uprooted in 2005. This CD contains the songs "Conviction" and "Breakdown", which Daughtry would later combine and re-record as the song "Breakdown" for the Daughtry CD.

In 2005, Chris Daughtry auditioned for the CBS singing contest Rock Star: INXS. He did not make the cut for the actual filming of the show. Former Daughtry drummer Joey Barnes was at the same audition and made the cut only to drop out of the running due to disagreements regarding the contract.

Daughtry auditioned for American Idol in Denver, Colorado, with The Box Tops' "The Letter"; he was portrayed as a young rocker with Southern and hard rock influences. He passed the audition by a split decision: approved by Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, disapproved by Simon Cowell. Simon felt that Daughtry at that time was too robotic. After being given a Golden Ticket to Hollywood, he performed "The First Cut Is the Deepest", and sang "Emotion" during his trio performance with Ace Young and Bobby Bullard. The song for Daughtry's accappella performance remained unknown until American Idol Rewind aired Season 5 Hollywood week, when it was shown that he sang Elton John's 'Your Song'.

Daughtry eventually made it to the Top 24. On March 1, 2006, Daughtry's "raw" performance of Fuel's "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" received critical acclaim by all three judges. On March 3, 2006, Jackson stated in an interview that Daughtry had been offered the opportunity to become Fuel's new lead singer, as the band was at the time without a lead singer. At a welcome home party, Daughtry said he had declined the offer, but, he said, "he'd still like to work with them somewhere down the road." Daughtry's March 21 performance caused controversy when the apparently original rendition of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" garnered much praise from the judges. However, viewers noted that the rendition was very similar to a version by Live; however, there was no mention of that in Daughtry's pre-performance interview. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Daughtry defended himself, saying "It wasn't my doing. You say a lot of things in the interview, and when editing gets involved, things get cut out for time constraints. I did mention in my interview that I'm doing a different version from a band I totally respect. The lead singer of Live, Ed Kowalczyk, called me to say, 'Man, don't listen to that.'...It was really cool to get that kind of respect." On August 2, 2008 at the Tom's River Fest in Tom's River NJ, Daughtry, Kowalczyk, and Live performed Live's rendition of "I Walk the Line" together.

During the Season Five finale on May 24, 2006, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Daughtry performed the song "Mystery" with the band Live. After the show, "Mystery" suddenly went as high as #80 on the iTunes top 100 songs. Live's version of the song was later available for download on the band's MySpace.com profile with Chris Daughtry performing backup vocals.

Post-Idol events

After leaving American Idol, Daughtry traveled the talk show circuit, which has become commonplace for non-winners as American Idol progressed through the years. He made appearances on The Tonight Show, Total Request Live, and The Today Show. He also appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in which he performed "Wanted Dead or Alive". In a later episode of the show in which Ellen interviewed former presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush, who were collaborating on the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund, she even jokingly asked if anything could be done about Chris Daughtry's elimination. Chris Daughtry was asked to audition as the lead vocalist for Fuel and, though incredibly flattered, he declined the offer in order to form his own band.

For the week of June 10, 2006, Chris Daughtry's cover of "Wanted Dead or Alive" charted at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100, being named the Hot Shot Debut of the week. On July 10, 2006, it was announced that Daughtry had signed with 19 Entertainment and RCA Records and began working on an album that was to be released in November. It was also announced that, like season 4 rocker Constantine Maroulis, he would be forming his own band. His band was formed under the name Daughtry, after the singer's last name. The band currently consists of Chris Daughtry, guitarists Josh Steely and Brian Craddock (the latter replaced former guitarist Jeremy Brady in 2007), bassist Josh Paul (formerly of Suicidal Tendencies), and drummer Robin Diaz (who replaced former drummer Joey Barnes in 2010). Daughtry's debut album was released on November 21, 2006. Chris Daughtry reportedly told US Weekly that the band's album "would not be... pop." The first single off Daughtry, "It's Not Over", was released November 21, 2006. The album reached number one in Billboard Charts with his debut album. He joins Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and Ruben Studdard as the only contestants to reach number one in Billboard 200. The album featured Velvet Revolver and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who performed the guitar solo on the eventual single "What I Want".

In 2008, Chris Daughtry provided vocals on a Sevendust track entitled "The Past" on their album Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow. He had previously stated he had become friends with the members of the band. Alter Bridge members Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti appear on the same album. In the same year, Chris Daughtry also provides vocals on the Theory of a Deadman song "By the Way", which is featured on their third album Scars and Souvenirs. Still in 2008, he appeared on the song "Slow Down" on the album Revelation by Christian rock band Third Day. In 2009, the band Daughtry collaborated with Timbaland collaborated on Timbaland's song "Long Way Down" from the album Shock Value II.

In 2010, he and Jason Wade performed a duet on Lifehouse's fifth studio album Smoke & Mirrors on the song "Had Enough". Chris Daughtry also co-wrote the song "Send Me All Your Angels" for American Idol season 8 winner Kris Allen's debut album. He later performed lead vocals on the cover Def Leppard's song "Photograph" with Carlos Santana on Santana's album called Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time. It was released on September 21, 2010 with a performance on the Dancing with the Stars results show that day.

In a segment on the 2006 season of American Idol (before singing "Broken" by Seether), Chris Daughtry revealed that he is balding and made the decision to shave his head completely in order to retain an aesthetically pleasing appearance. He has been married to Deanna Daughtry since November 11, 2000. He has four children: a stepdaughter, Hannah, born September 7, 1996 from his wife's previous marriage, a son, Griffin, born June 30, 1998 and twins, Adalynn Rose and Noah James, born November 17, 2010. In a December 2007 interview with Gibson Lifestyle, Chris Daughtry said, "I used to call [my wife] and just quickly throw in the towel. But I've found that the less I say and the more I actually listen to her, and just be there without actually being there, is the best thing I can do. As a man, I always feel like I need to say something. Sometimes I have to stop myself because all I want to do is call and tell her about how much awesome stuff is going on in my life, and, you know, her day is sucking hard. I could write a book on it, I'm serious.' Chris Daughtry and fellow Idol contestant Ace Young have been friends since they met at the show's Denver auditions, and even periodically shared an apartment as finalists. Young said they clicked because they shared similar upbringings and were both "big on family". Ryan Seacrest had also dubbed them "the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon of the season" when the two were placed in the "bottom 2" together upon Young's elimination. In the final episode of the season, a clip of them in a "Best Male Bonding" segment was also shown.

Chris Daughtry's musical influences include Creed, Bush, Live, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Journey, Bon Jovi, and Fuel. He states that he grew up on rock and hard rock music.

Read more