Taylor Hicks Fun Facts & Quotes

Taylor Hicks Fun Facts & Quotes

• He auditioned American Idol only because he had an airline voucher he received when a flight he booked out of New Orleans the night before Hurricane Katrina was cancelled. He did not even know about the try-out until a few days before the auditions. At 29, he was just young enough to qualify for consideration.
• The New York Times described his style as “part Stax, part Motown and part honky-tonk.”
• He garnered 63 million votes on American Idol.
• The 36.4 million viewers that tuned in for the American Idol final he won represented that year’s third-largest TV audience after the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards.
• He was part of an Armed Forces tour that made stops at eight military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Djibouti.
• He has jammed with Earth, Wind & Fire, Jamey Johnson, The Allman Brothers, Robert Randolph, Keb Mo, Jamey Johnson, Widespread Panic and Willie Nelson. He recently lunched with his pals John Daly and Charles Barkley.
• He was on the cover of a People Magazine Sexiest Singles issue.
• He sang the national anthem at Talladega and Jordan Hare Stadium in his home state.
• He is a partner in SAW’s Juke Joint in Birmingham.
• Then Governor Bob Riley officially proclaimed a Taylor Hicks Day in Alabama before he even won American Idol.
• He made his Grand Ole Opry debut covering a Waylon Jennings song with Jamey Johnson.
Taylor Quotes
• “I had already played in as many roadhouses and honkey tonks as you could imagine by the time I got on Idol. It was easy to transform from anonymity to fame.’’
• “I’ve led an interesting life and I’ve been able to hang around with interesting people, and it’s all a result of American Idol.”
• “I probably come down to the beach and bounce around with friends four or five times a year. If I stay down there too long, I don’t want to leave.’’
• “My harmonica stays in my pocket. So I get up and play pretty much every time I am out and about.’’
• “There’s no other hang like a ‘Bama hang. I learned how to be an entertainer playing for Joe Gilchrist there. And there is a difference between entertaining and just playing music.’’
• “I’d eventually like to move back down to the beach and open up a SAW’s Seafood Shak.’’
• “Music is my job, and I love it. I take it seriously. I bet I can count on a few fingers the number of times I’ve had to cancel. It’s an ode to the way I way I was raised, especially from my grandmom.’’