David Roland Cook (born December 20, 1982) is an American rock singer songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show “American Idol”. Prior to “Idol” he released an independent album entitled “Analog Heart”. This is followed by his post-“Idol” major-label debut “David Cook” which premiered on November 18, 2008 and has since been certified platinum by the RIAA. His second important record “This Loud Morning” was launched on June 28, 2011.
Cook initially didn’t intend to try out for the show. He performed Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer” for his audition. On the 2nd tune in Hollywood, he sang “I Will Be” by Edwin McCain. Cook took advantage of the choice allowing contestants to play musical instruments. His white, left handed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar gets the letters “AC” on it; as Cook told TV Guide, “I ‘ve two brothers, Adam and Andrew. Therefore, as a result of superstition, I place their initials on everything growing up.” Beginning in the Top 12 week, he also wore (and continues to wear) an orange wristband to support a 7-year old lover, Lindsey Rose, with leukemia. Another of Cook’s performances, The Beatles’ “Day Tripper”, was credited to White snake. Seattle-based group Doxology has promised that Cook’s performance of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” was based on a variation the group recorded upwards of last year. He also reiterated the credits of White snake and Chris Cornell. In spite of the controversy, critics praised Cook for selecting variants of tunes that match his vocal style.
Stanley Cook, Beth Foraker Frye, The Time of My Life, Come Back to Me, Light On
Siblings
Adam Cook, Andrew Cook
Nicknames
David Roland Cook , Cook, David
Awards
“American Idol” (2008)
Music Groups
Axium, Midwest Kings (2006),
Nominations
Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Breakout Artist
TV Shows
American Idol
Star Sign
Sagittarius
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Quote
1
[About the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008]: This tour is interesting because there's something for everybody. We've got country, we've got R&B, we've got rock, we've got Michael Johns and his mustache. It's all...well, everything except the mustache is a plus.
2
The difference between David Cook now and David Cook a year ago is...shorter hair. It's interesting. There's a lot of ancillary things surrounding me that are extremely different. My mom and my brother still make fun of me on a routine basis, so not much has changed.
3
At the last minute I decided to do it. Andrew and I were in the same group of four for the first audition and he didn't make the cut. It was very awkward. I turned to him and said, 'Is this something you want me to do? Because if you don't, I won't.' And his response was, 'If you don't, I'll beat your ass.' So it's entirely his and my mother's fault that this happened to me, and I'm very grateful.
4
I think marriage is a long way off for me. I'm 25 years old and I've got the world to learn. But I think eventually I would love to settle down and have a family and bring some kids into the world. Time will tell.
5
I'd feel the exact same as I feel today: that I'm just a goof who got lucky.
6
If you can't feel thousands of people screaming for you, then you're in the wrong business.
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Fact
1
Holds the record for most downloaded song from American Idol (2002). His song, "Time of My Life", has been downloaded more than 300,000 times.
2
Had eleven songs entered in the Billboard Hot 100 and fourteen songs on the Hot Digital Songs lists. His eleven songs on the Hot 100 chart are the most songs in a week by any artist in the Nielsen Music era.
3
On May 21, 2009, David performed the song "Permanent" from his self titled, major label debut CD on the Season 8 American Idol finale. The audio of that performance was sold as a download on Itunes, with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2).
4
David formed a band in his junior year of high school called Axium. They recorded 3 albums - "Matter of Time" (2002), "Blindsided" (2003), "The Story Thus Far" (2004), and 4 live CDs, "Cain's Ballroom Recordings" (2003), "Live @ Fishbonz" (2004), "Alive in Tulsa @ The Venue" (2004) and "Welcome to the Funeral" (live, 2006).
5
One of Axium's songs, "Hold", from their "Blindsided" CD was picked up by AMC Theatres Movie Tunes and was played nationwide on over 20,000 screens prior to the movie previews.
6
Axium was named one of the top 15 independent bands in the country in the "Got Milk?" independent band contest. Axium also was chosen as the best band in Kansas City in 2004.
7
Is the first Midwestern and first rocker to win American Idol.
8
Asked out American Idol (2002), Season 2 alum, Kimberly Caldwell, while on the red carpet, before the show's seventh season finale, after hearing she liked him. They dated until they broke up before the holidays. Rumors emerged saying she cheated on him, however, Kimberly has denied it, and her rep has confirmed that they are still friends.
9
Has a dog named Dublin.
10
Best friend on American Idol (2002) was Michael Johns. They did different types of dances on the American Idols LIVE! Tour during the final number, which resulted in a lot of attention from the fans, who dubbed them "Mavid".
11
Video for "Light On" placed number #28 on VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2008.
12
Music video for first song "Light On" debuted on VH1's Top 20 Countdown at #1 in its first week of voting.
13
He began singing in second grade, when his elementary school music teacher gave him a solo in a school choir performance.
14
While in college, he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.
15
Had a specially made white Luna Apollo Electric Guitar.
16
David's brother passed away at 11:52pm Eastern, May 2, 2009. David was scheduled to fly to Washington D.C., to be a part of the Race For Hope-D.C., a fund raiser for research and development of a cure for brain cancer on May 3, 2009. David participated in the race as a tribute to Adam.
17
Was a bartender in Tulsa, Oklahoma when he tried out for American Idol (2002).
Had no intention of trying out for American Idol but at his brother Andrew's insistence he tried out and made it to the final two with David Archuleta.
20
The initials "AC" stand for his brother's names Andrew Cook and Adam Cook. David uses them for good luck.
21
Refers to himself as a "word nerd" owing to his love of word puzzles.
$5 Million
