As of the 2000 census, there were 150,115 people, 59,158 households, and 37,328 families residing in the city. Rockford is in the center of its namesake metropolitan area, with a combined population of approximately 339,178 persons. The population density of the city prime was 1,034.8/km² (2,680.4/sq mi). There were 63,570 housing units at an average density of 1,135.1/sq mi (438.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.81% White, 17.37% African American, 0.32% Native American, 2.20% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.80% from other races, and 2.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.18% of the population.

There are 59,158 households of which 31.5% include children under the age of 18, 43.8% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $55,667, and the median income for a family was $65,465. Males had a median income of $37,098 versus $25,421 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,781. 14.0% of the population and 10.5% of families were below the poverty line. 19.6% of those under the age of 18 and 8.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

In the late 1950s, Rockford surpassed Peoria as Illinois' second largest city, holding onto that position for nearly half a century before being overtaken by Aurora after a special census held there in 2003. Note that Rockford was not recounted at the same time so this is not necessarily a direct population comparison.

According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Rockford is considered to have a population of 157,272, making it the 146th largest city in the United States.

Law and government

Coordinates	51°53′50″N4°40′58″N
City name	Rockford
Year	2007
Homicide	12.9
Forcible rape	68.3
Robbery	405.4
Aggravated assault	689.7
Violent crime	1,176.3
Burglary	1,520.6
Larceny theft	3,781.8
Motor vehicle theft	404.8
Arson	54.1
Property crime	5,761.3
Source url	http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/data/table_08_il.html
Source name	2007 FBI UCR Data

Rockford City Council

Rockford is divided into fourteen wards which elect one alderman each. The City Council as of April 2009 are :

1st Ward

*Joe Sosnowski (R)

2nd Ward

*Patrick Curran (R)

3rd Ward

*Doug Mark (R)

4th Ward

*Carl Wasco (D)

5th Ward

*Venita Hervey (D)

6th Ward

*Lenny Jacobson (D)

7th Ward

*Ann Thompson-Kelly (D)

8th Ward

*Nancy Johnson (D)

9th Ward

*Bill Timm (R)

10th Ward

*Frank Beach (R)

11th Ward

*Karen Elyea (D)

12th Ward

*John Beck (R)

13th Ward

*Linda McNeely (D)

14th Ward

*Bill Robertson (I), caucuses with Democrats.

History

1835-1865:Two settlements on the river

Rockford was first settled in 1834–1835 by Germanicus Kent, Thatcher Blake, and Lewis Lemon, who came from Galena and established themselves on the west bank of Rock River, and Daniel Shaw Haight, who founded a settlement on the east bank. (Lemon, a slave, later bought his freedom, but stayed in the area as a truck farmer.) Before the Civil War, the area was dominated by settlers from New York and New England, while Southern Illinois was dominated by settlers from Kentucky and Tennessee, many of them former slave owners. Halfway between Chicago and Galena, the community was briefly known as Midway, but quickly became known as Rockford, because of the excellent ford across the Rock River. A post office was established in 1837. The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1839, and chartered as a city in 1852. The first weekly newspaper was published in 1840 and the first successful daily newspaper appeared in 1877. Between 1890 and 1930 the city had three daily newspapers.

Rockford Female Seminary was chartered in 1847, became Rockford College in 1892, and became fully coeducational in 1958. Its best known graduate is Jane Addams (RFS Class of 1881), the founder of Chicago's Hull House and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Rockford Public Library, the second such institution in Illinois, first opened to the public in August 1872; the library's first dedicated building, a Carnegie library, was completed by 1902. Although Rockford was a sleepy country village for about the first ten years, it thereafter began to expand rapidly in size and industry and became the seat of Winnebago County. In 1851, the Rockford Water Power Company was organized and in 1852 the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad reached the city. These two events, which brought inexpensive power and transportation to the area, changed Rockford forever. By 1860 Rockford had become a significant, growing industrial center, noted for production of the John H. Manny reaper and other agricultural machinery.

1865-1900: Rockford's industrial revolution

In 1876, the Rockford Union Furniture Company was organized by a small group of men led by John Erlander, an immigrant from Småland, Sweden. It was the first of 25 area furniture factories that were formed as cooperatives. Many of the furniture companies were organized with laborers and craftsmen holding significant power, reflecting a different business approach from that of the old Yankee entrepreneur. By the 1880s the furniture industry was using the talents of Swedish-born craftsmen and capitalists, and by the first half of the 20th century Rockford was the second largest furniture manufacturing center in the United States (behind Grand Rapids, Michigan).

1900-1950: Wartime and economic changes

During the first half of the 20th century, Rockford underwent a number of changes that expanded its presence both regionally and nationally. Additionally, economic factors of the time led the city to diversify its industrial base. In 1910, the oldest surviving Harley Davidson dealership was founded in Rockford, Illinois. Kegel Harley-Davidson is also the world's oldest family-owned dealership as it was started by Joe Kegel in 1910 and is still operated today by his great grandchildren, Karl and Mark Kegel. In 1917, the U.S. Army opened Camp Grant, one of its largest training facilities in the nation, in order to train infantry for World War I. After the war, the facility was closed, then later turned over to the Illinois National Guard. During World War II, Camp Grant served as an induction center for the U.S. Army as well as a POW detention center. The USS Rockford, a Tacoma class frigate named for the city, was commissioned in March 1944 and earned two service stars during World War II.

In 1947, Loves Park incorporated, becoming the first suburb of Rockford. The agricultural implement industry was already in decline by the First World War, and the furniture industry was severely damaged by the Great Depression and the Second World War. By the end of the 1960s both were extinct in the city.

The Rockford Peaches

During the early to late 1940s the Rockford Peaches (of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League) were one of the first all-female baseball teams in the world. They played their home games at Beyer Stadium which was razed in the 1990s. A placard displays where the stadium once stood, along with additional historical information. Although the 1992 motion picture A League of Their Own features the Rockford Peaches, all of the characters playing on the team were fictional, and the team did not participate in the league championship series in 1943 as depicted in the film. The Peaches won the league championship in 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950.

Era of movie palaces

The number of impressive movie palaces built in the 1920s and early 1930s speaks to the thriving economy Rockford had at the time. The Coronado Theater was the largest and most expansive of all these movie theaters in Rockford, complete with an orchestra pit, double balcony, highly ornate design and full array of theatrical and stage equipment. Coronado Theatre, "Rockford's Wonder Theater", was listed during 1979 to the National Register of Historic Places. Other remarkable theaters in Rockford included the Midway, Times, and State theaters.

Rockford:The Forest City

Rockford was well known for its elm trees, being the reason for its nickname, the Forest City. Of note are the parks and boulevard street layouts in certain parts of the city. Neighborhood parks and wide common grassy/forested areas forming boulevards are found in the older parts of the city. Many of the parks were part of the street layout put down in the late 1890s and early 1900s when subdivisions of that era were created. These parks typically were an entire city block, or in some cases larger. They would typically have a bowery, and sometimes a cement-lined pool. The boulevards tend to be in slightly newer subdivisions built in the 1920s. In the mid 1950s an epidemic of Dutch Elm disease more or less wiped out the population of elm trees. However, Rockford is still heavily lined with other types of trees.

1950-2000: A changing manufacturing center

Life Magazine described Rockford in 1949: "It is as nearly typical as any city can be". However, from 1950 to 1989, more than half of the earnings in Winnebago County came from manufacturing, far above the national average. which initially assembled the Chrysler Newport and other large cars and now produces the Dodge Caliber and similar cars. Sundstrand, now Hamilton Sundstrand, a division of United Technologies, also expanded during this period making aircraft parts.

Two different Rockfords

After World War II, Rockford underwent a high rate of population growth. By 1960, the city's population was over 125,000, nearly a 50% increase from two decades before. Although the city's population had been concentrated evenly on both sides of the river up to this time, several infrastructure changes would change Rockford forever.

In 1958, the Northwest Tollway (Interstate 90) was completed. To minimize its impact on neighborhoods, the highway was routed not through the city itself, but near the Winnebago-Boone county line several miles from what was then the eastern city limits. The only access to I-90 was an exit on State Street (U.S. Route 20), which was the city's main east-west thoroughfare. The interstate access would lead to a shift in commercial growth from downtown to nearly exclusively on the east side for the next four decades. In 1964, Rockford College relocated its campus from south of downtown to a location near the eastern edge of the city of the time. A year later, Rock Valley College was opened even further to the east. As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, new-home construction shifted almost entirely to the east side. In the mid-1970s, a pedestrian mall was constructed downtown. Intended to increase foot traffic for struggling downtown businesses, it had the reverse effect; many shoppers who still spent money went to indoor malls in the area along with strip malls that sprouted up on the east side throughout the 1980s and 1990s. After decades of controversy, the last part of the downtown pedestrian mall was removed in 2009.

"The Big Orange Box"

In 1979, construction began on the MetroCentre, a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena located on the west side of downtown. It opened in 1981 with concerts by Dionne Warwick and The Rolling Stones. The MetroCentre, nicknamed the "Big Orange Box" due to its monochromatic appearance, also has played home to a number of Rockford's professional sports teams along with hosting other events.

2000-present: Building a new image

Starting as early as the 1990s Rockford has had the ignominious honor of being listed at times as one America's worst cities by the Rand McNally corporation and Money magazine, sometimes being ranked one of the top ten worst cities. This may have been due to the lack of jobs and high number of outdated or closed factories. Crime on the west side of town was endemic, with huge areas of old established neighborhoods in extreme blight. The homicide rate in these areas was quite high. Many houses were vacant with no one wishing to buy them. The city government has developed many programs to attempt to address these problems and has seen some success. In February 2009, The Wall Street Journal published a series of stories on Rockford and its mayor focusing on various challenges faced by the city, including higher unemployment and lower education levels of workers compared to some cities.

New commercial and residential development have begun taking place in the downtown area, and the city is also considering plans for a convention center, casino, and riverwalk. The Main Street Corridor (Illinois Route 2) is also expected to be redeveloped. Construction from the downtown area, south to US Highway 20 was expected to begin in 2007. From 2007-2008, the MetroCentre in downtown Rockford underwent a number of interior and exterior renovations.

Looking into the future

The Rockford economy has suffered since the decline of the manufacturing industry in the late 1980s. Once a national leader in manufacturing and industry, the focus of the local economy has been forced to change. Many of the family-owned companies that once inhabited Rockford were acquired by larger companies; the larger companies then relocated the products being made to lower wage parts of the United States or sent them overseas altogether. The city's new focus relies on high-technology businesses, tourism generated by museums and its park system, and the westward growth of the Chicago metropolitan area.

On September 28, 2007, Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist of the rock band Cheap Trick, announced plans for a $25 Million restaurant and hotel on the city's far northeast side called "Rick's." The restaurant would have a music theme featuring thousands of guitars and memorabilia that Mr. Nielsen has collected. Groundbreaking was expected in late 2007 with a grand opening in the second half of 2008. As of 2010, this project has not yet materialized.

Transportation

Roads and highways

Rockford is linked by highway to Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa. In recent decades, the city's location has worked to its advantage in attracting jobs in the logistics and transportation industries. Public transportation in the city is provided by the Rockford Mass Transit District (RMTD); however, public transit infrastructure in Rockford is not at the level of comparably-sized communities.

;Interstate 90 Completed in 1958, the Northwest Tollway (renamed the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in September 2007) links the Rockford area both to Madison, Wisconsin and the northwest Chicago suburbs. From Rockford north, I-90 replaced U.S. Route 51 in Illinois. I-90 also links the city with Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as I-43 joins it several miles north of the state line. The tollway was partially responsible in the city's rapid growth eastward from the 1960s to the late 1990s.

;U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 goes through Rockford twice. The original highway is now an east-west business route (State Street) that divides the city to the north and south. From the 1970s to the late 1990s, the area was core to commercial development in the city. Rockford also marks the point where U.S. 20 and Interstate 90 no longer parallel each other.

In 1965, a US-20 bypass around the southern end of the city was completed, joining the Northwest Tollway near Cherry Valley. The bypass (known as "Bypass 20") joins State Street west of the city near Pecatonica, Illinois. East of Interstate 90, U.S. 20 is a 4-lane divided highway parallelling I-90. From the west, U.S. 20 provides a link to Freeport, Galena, and Dubuque, Iowa. However, much of the highway west of Rockford is a winding two-lane road that discourages truck traffic.

;Interstate 39 Built in stages between the late 1970s to its completion in 1992, Interstate 39 served as a replacement for U.S. 51 south of the city. Starting from the U.S. 20 bypass, the highway directly links Rockford to Bloomington and Normal, Illinois. Its construction allowed better access to Chicago from the south via Interstate 80 and Interstate 88, also allowing for a bypass around the city of Chicago to Wisconsin.

;Other roads/highways Illinois Route 2 (South/North Main Street) Illinois Route 70 (Kilburn Avenue) Illinois Route 251 (North Second Street, Kishwaukee Street, Harrison Avenue, 11th Street)

Raoul Wallenberg Expressway (proposed, never built)

Air

In 1946, after Camp Grant was permanently closed, the Greater Rockford Airport was built on the western portion of the property. Rockford's airport is the Chicago Rockford International Airport (formerly Greater Rockford Airport). Built on the western end of the former Camp Grant U.S. Army training camp, it is located in the southern end of the city. The Greater Rockford Airport was opened in 1946; the current passenger terminal was completed in 1987. The airport is currently home to United Parcel Service's second largest air hub. It is presently ranked as the twenty-second largest cargo airport in the nation when measured by landed weight. Passenger service is currently offered by Allegiant Air along with several other charter operations. The airport markets itself as an alternative to Chicago airports for leisure travelers.

Machesney Airport, located north of the city, was opened in 1927 as a private airport serving the Rockford area. During World War II, the airport was utilized by the Army Air Corps. After the war, it again served as municipal airport, closing in 1974. After its closure, the Machesney Airport became the site of the Machesney Park Mall, built in 1980.

Rail

;Passenger Currently (as of September 2010), the Rockford region is not served by passenger rail service. The 2000s revived interest in linking the Rockford and Chicago regions by rail. In 2006, the Northern Illinois Commuter Transportation Initiative proposed extending Metra train service from the western Chicago suburbs to Rockford. Additional passenger service is being considered via Amtrak through the Blackhawk Area Rail Coalition. While service (via Amtrak's Black Hawk) was cut in 1981, proposals to revive it have been supported, stalling out primarily due to state and federal budget crises.

;Freight Rockford is served by several different freight railroad lines, such as Union Pacific, Canadian National, and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern. The Union Pacific Railroad’s Global III Intermodal Facility is located approximately south of Rockford in Rochelle, Illinois, a community of 10,000. The complex is one of the largest intermodal facilities in the world. Construction on the state-of-the-art facility was completed in 2003 in Rochelle due to the close proximity to four interstate highways (I-39, I-88, I-80, and I-90) and rail routes.

Education

Post-secondary

Although Rockford is located in a large metropolitan area, the region does not feature any locally-based public 4-year universities; the closest such institution is Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, away. Along with Rockford College (a private 4-year school), the city is the home to Rock Valley College (a 10,000-student community college), Rockford Business College (re-branded as Rockford Career College in 2009), and St. Anthony College of Nursing. at Rock Valley College]] In addition, it hosts several satellite branches of other schools, including Judson University (based in Elgin), Northern Illinois University (based in DeKalb), Rasmussen College, and the University of Illinois College of Medicine (based in Chicago).

Rockford College is best known for graduating Jane Addams, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her efforts to promote international peace and justice. Laura Jane Addams (1860–1935) entered what was then Rockford Female Seminary in 1877 and became the first graduate to receive a B.A. degree from the newly accredited baccalaureate institution in 1882 (the school was renamed Rockford College in 1892).

Rock Valley College is a community college with several locations in the Rockford area. The main campus is the site of the Bengt Sjostrom Theatre. The former outdoor theatre now features a motorized retractable roof constructed during 2003.

Public School District 205

The Rockford Public School District covers about and serves over 27,000 students. It is the third largest school district in the state, with 40 elementary schools, seven middle schools, and four high schools (Jefferson, Guilford, Rockford East High School, and Auburn). The district has seen heavy criticism over the past 30 years, as aging schools have become an issue, and several legal issues have drained the district's resources.

Private schools

In addition to its public school system, Rockford supports 27 sectarian and nonsectarian private schools ranging from elementary to secondary education.

Points of interest

listing]]

Lake-Peterson House, the former home of Pehr August Peterson, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Erlander Home Museum is the site of the Swedish Historical Society of Rockford. It is located in what was the home of Swedish immigrant John Erlander, former president of the Rockford Union Furniture Company. This is the cultural centerpiece of Rockford's Swedish ancestry community.

Rock Cut State Park is located within the county to the northeast.

Anderson Japanese Gardens has been ranked the top Japanese garden in North America. The garden was designed by Hoichi Kurisu with bronze angel sculptures by Carl Milles.

Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden is also a popular attraction. The facility contains of rare trees and shrubs.

Burpee Museum of Natural History, located just north of downtown, is home to Jane the Rockford T-Rex.

Discovery Center Museum contains a large and well-respected interactive children's science exhibit.

Rockford Art Museum completes the entire museum campus.

Coronado Theatre, an ornately decorated vaudeville movie theater located in downtown Rockford. The theater was completely restored in 1999.

Faust Hotel, the tallest building in Rockford, was built in 1929 and has many art deco features. It has a tower several stories above the rest of the building, topping off at 15 stories (186 ft) The Hotel Faust was the center of social life and visits by V.I.P.s for decades. The 'Faust' building is now used as apartments for the elderly.

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum, a preserved "cottage" built in 1865, provides a glimpse into life in the 19th century. It combines exterior elements of a Swiss Chalet with elements from Victorian. A swing foot bridge, razed in 1976, ran from the cottage crossing the Kent creek bluffs and was a popular place to visit for many years. From October 2004 until June 2005, Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum worked to rebuild the bridge. Engineers Willett, Hofmann & Associates and Civil Constructors designed and built the new bridge.

Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center is the oldest continuous community music organization in the United States. It exists to provide quality music for all people of the northern Illinois region through live performances by local and world-renowned artists.

Rockford is also the home of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps.

Midway Village and Museum Center is a picturesque turn-of-the-century Victorian village featuring twenty-six historic structures and heritage gardens. Its grounds include a . Museum Center that offers five exhibition galleries of Rockford's unique and ethnic history, a collection of antique and handcrafted doll houses in the Old Doll House and a working replica of a water powered machine shop at its Severin Lake entrance.

Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza is a park that celebrates the United Nations' International Day of Peace on September 21 .

The Rockford area is also known as an outdoor destination, especially in the non-winter months. Numerous forest preserves surround the Kishwaukee River valley, five miles (8 km) southeast of the downtown area. Both the Rockford Park District and Winnebago County Forest Preserve District own and operate numerous golf courses as well. In fact, Golf Magazine called Aldeen Golf Club one of 50 excellent national golf courses one can play for under $50. Aldeen was ranked #38 in the nation in 2004.

Sports teams

Current

Rockford Foresters (Baseball; Great Plains Baseball League 2010-)

Rockford IceHogs (Ice hockey; UHL 1999-2007, AHL 2007-)

Rockford Rampage (Indoor soccer; AISL 2005-2008, NISL 2008-)

Rockford RiverHawks (Baseball; Frontier League 2002-2009, Northern League 2010-) Rockford Rage (Women's Roller Derby; 2006-)

Historical

Rockford Forest Citys (Baseball, 1871)

Rockford Fury (Basketball; PBL, 2006–2008)

Rockford Lightning (Basketball, 1986–2005)

Rockford Peaches (Women's baseball, 1943–1954)

Surrounding communities

Cherry Valley

Loves Park

Machesney Park

Belvidere

New Millford

Winnebago

Roscoe

Rockton

South Beloit

Sister cities

Brovary, Ukraine since 1995 Changzhou, China since 1999 Borgholm, Sweden since 2002 Cluj-Napoca, Romania since 2005 Ferentino, Italy since 2006

Media

Print media

Rockford Register Star , Daily Newspaper. Founded 1855. Circulation: 75,000.

Rock River Times, Weekly Newspaper. Independently owned since 1987. Circulation: 22,000.

Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, Monthly Magazine. Founded 1977. Features a monthly column about Rockford titled "The Rockford Files" by executive editor Scott P. Richert.

Television

WREX (13.1 NBC affiliate, 13.2 CW affiliate)

WTVO (17.1 ABC affiliate, 17.2 MyNetworkTV affiliate)

WIFR (23.1 CBS affiliate, 23.2 AccuWeather)

WFBN-LP 33, IND (repeats WCIU-TV Chicago)

WQRF-TV 39.1 Fox affiliate

Rockford is one of a few markets in the United States with no PBS station of its own. PBS in the Rockford area is available on cable through WTTW in Chicago, and Wisconsin Public Television affiliate WHA-TV in Madison.

Radio

Although this is a list of radio stations based in the Rockford area, the signals of radio stations from both the Chicago area and southern Wisconsin also are commonly received in the city. ;AM Radio stations

WNTA 1330, News/Talk Radio

WROK 1440, News/Talk Radio

WLUV 1520, Classic Country

;FM Radio stations

WFEN 88.3, Christian Radio

WNIJ 89.5, NPR (operated by Northern Illinois University)

WNIU 90.5, NPR Classical Radio (see WNIJ)

WGSL 91.1, Christian Radio

WRTB 95.3, Classic Hits/Adult Contemporary Radio

WKGL-FM 96.7, Classic Rock Radio

WZOK 97.5, Top 40 Radio

WXXQ 98.5, Country Radio

WQFL 100.9, Christian Radio

WGFB 103.1, Adult Contemporary Radio

WXRX 104.9, Modern Rock Radio

WYRB 106.3, Hip Hop/R and B

WLEY 107.9, Mexican Regional, Aurora

See also

Irish Marching Society

List of people from Rockford, Illinois

Winnebago County War Memorial

Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps

References

Further reading

Sutrina, Katie. "The ‘Rosies’ of Rockford: Working Women in Two Rockford Companies in the Depression and World War II Eras," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, 102 (Fall–Winter 2009), 402–28.

External links

City of Rockford Website

Rockford Area CVB travel guide

Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center

Midway Village Museum

Discovery Center

Swedish Immigration to Rockford

Swedish Historical Society of Rockford

Erlander Home Museum

Rockford-Area Information

Category:Cities in Illinois Category:Populated places in Winnebago County, Illinois Category:County seats in Illinois Category:Populated places established in 1834 Category:Rockford metropolitan area

Coordinates	51°53′50″N4°40′58″N
Name	Sara Evans
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Sara Lynn Evans
Born	February 05, 1971
Origin	New Franklin, Missouri, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Country
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1992–present
Label	RCA Nashville
Associated acts	Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Mindy McCready
Url	Sara Evans Official Site

Sara Lynn Evans (), born February 5, 1971, is an American country singer and songwriter.

Evans was one of the few traditional-styled singers to emerge from Nashville in the late 1990s, according to Allmusic. Since emerging from the late 1990s, Evans has made four No. 1 Country hits and Gold and Platinum-certified albums by the RIAA, like 2003's Restless and 2005's Real Fine Place. Her 2000 album, Born to Fly was certified Double-Platinum.

Biography

Early life and the rise to fame

on the campus of The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL.]]Evans was born in Boonville, Missouri, in 1971, and is of Welsh, English and Irish descent. She was raised on a farm, and was the eldest girl of seven children. By five she was singing weekends in her family's band. At age eight, she was struck by an automobile in front of the family home, and her legs suffered multiple fractures. Recuperating for months in a wheelchair, she continued singing to help pay her medical bills. When she was 16, she began performing at a nightclub near Columbia, Missouri, a gig that lasted two years.

Evans moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 to be a country music artist, where she met fellow musician Craig Schelske. She then left Nashville with Schelske in 1992, when they moved to Oregon. After the couple married in 1993, Evans returned to Nashville in 1995, where Evans began recording demos. Nashville songwriter Harlan Howard was impressed by Evans' demo of his song "Tiger by the Tail". Howard decided to help Evans' music career, which led to a signed contract with the RCA Nashville.

In 1997, Evans released her first album for RCA, Three Chords and the Truth. Critics praised the album for returning to traditional country and included it in many of their year's "top 10" lists. The video for "Three Chords and the Truth" directed by Susan Johnson (director) was nominated for awards from Billboard Magazine, CMT and the MVPA. The album included a cover version of an older Country song, Patsy Cline's "Imagine That", which originally reached No. 21 for Cline on the Country charts in 1962. None of the three singles made the top 40. It would be another year before Evans gained full popularity. In 1998 Evans released her second album, No Place That Far. Critics slammed her on choosing a more pop-country sound. Her first single, "Cryin' Game", hardly made a ripple on the charts though the music video, which re-teamed Evans with director Susan Johnson, did very well in rotation. However, it was her next single, "No Place That Far", a duet with Vince Gill, that brought Evans massive success, reaching No. 1 on the Country charts, as well reaching the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40, Evans' first major hit. Because of the success the album gained, Evans' album was certified "Gold" by the RIAA that year.

Breakthrough: the Born to Fly and Restless albums

In 2000, Evans worked on a third album to be released later that year. The album, Born to Fly, was released to stores on October 10, 2000, and later became another major-selling album. She insisted on hiring Seattle-based rock drummer Matt Chamberlain (The Wallflowers, Edie Brickell), who brought a different sound to her music. The album became Evans' first album to receive a "Platinum" rating by the RIAA, and spawned four country hits, including the title track ("Born to Fly") which was the first single released from the album, reaching the No. 1 spot on the Country charts, Evans' first No. 1 as a solo artist. Hits continued from the album all the way into 2002. After "Born to Fly", the second single, "I Could Not Ask for More", was released in 2001, the country version of Edwin McCain's big pop–rock hit from the year before. Evans' version reached No. 2 on the country charts and was a No. 35 Pop hit, ironically an even bigger Pop hit than McCain's version on Billboard's Hot 100 (McCain's version reached No. 37). In 2002, songs continued to be released from the album; "Saints and Angels" and "I Keep Looking" were the last two singles released from the album. "I Keep Looking" reached No. 5 and "Saints and Angels" reached No. 16. In 2004, the Born to Fly album was officially certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA.

In 2001, Evans was the most-nominated artist at the Country Music Association awards with seven nominations overall, and she won her first CMA award when "Born to Fly" won the award for Video of the Year, her first major award from Country music.

In 2003, Evans recorded a long-awaited fourth album, which was titled Restless. The album was released August 19, 2003 to stores. The first single released from the album in 2003, "Back Seat of a Greyhound Bus", was a Top 20 Country hit, reaching No. 16 on the Hot Country Songs list that year, but it did not hit the Billboard Hot 100, peaking outside it on the Bubbling Hot 100. Despite the album's first single not reaching the Top 10, the album still sold fairly well, debuting at No. 3 on the "Top Country Albums" list and the No. 20 on the "Billboard 200" list, and sold over 40,000 copies within its first week. However it was the album's next single, "Perfect" that broke Country's Top 10, eventually peaking in the top 5 at No. 2, barely missing Country's top spot. The third single from the album, "Suds in the Bucket", was the album's most successful single; it became Evans' third Number One hit and was also a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, it was Evans' first ever Gold-certified single by the RIAA. The album's fourth and final single, "Tonight", failed to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

Restless received a nomination in the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Success of the Real Fine Place album and Greatest Hits

After 2003's Restless album, Evans re-emerged with a fifth studio album titled Real Fine Place, released October 4, 2005. The album's lead single, "A Real Fine Place to Start," reached No. 1 on the Country charts in 2005, as well as reaching the Pop Top 40 at No. 38. The single marked the first time Evans charted on Billboard's "Pop 100" and "Hot Digital Songs" chart, reaching No. 67 and No. 62 respectively. "A Real Fine Place" was another Gold-certified single by the RIAA. The album sold 130,000 copies within its first week, becoming Evans' first album to reach the No. 1 spot on the "Top Country Albums" chart, while also becoming her most successful album on the "Billboard 200" to date, reaching No. 3. The album sold three times more copies than her previous album had done in their first weeks. On December 6, 2005, Evans released the compilation album Feels Like Home through Cracker Barrel stores. The album contains remixes of some of her most popular songs, including a live version of "Born to Fly" and an acoustic version of "No Place That Far". In 2005 the album's follow-up single "Cheatin'" was a top 10 Country hit, peaking at No. 9 there. The third single released from the album, "Coalmine", was the least successful single, just about breaking Billboard's Country Top 40 chart in early 2006.

In 2006, R&R; announced Evans as the "Female Vocalist of the Year" in its 2006 Readers' Poll. In spring 2006, Evans released Always There through Hallmark stores for Mothers' Day. The album has six of her favorite already-released songs, including a live version of "Suds in the Bucket" and an acoustic version of "Born to Fly". Two new songs are on the disc: "You Ought to Know by Now" and "Brooklyn & Austin". In 2006, the last significant single from the Real Fine Place album was released, titled "You'll Always Be My Baby", which was a Top 20 Country hit, but missing Billboard's Hot 100, reaching a peak position on the Bubbling Hot 100 at #105. An album cut released from the album in 2006, "Missing Missouri", reached No. 52 on the Country charts that year. On May 23, 2006, Evans competed and performed at the 2006 ACM awards show in Las Vegas, where she won her first ACM for the "Top Female Vocalist". Evans also became a spokesperson for National Eating Disorders Association, and has spoken out widely on this subject, as she has been personally affected by it. She also hosted a charity event, Fashion for Every Body, which featured a fashion show, silent auction and performance by Evans.

On October 9, 2007, Evans released her first Greatest Hits collection. The compilation features four new songs, including the lead-off single "As If", which was a Top 20 hit on the country charts. Evans released the gift book You'll Always Be My Baby (based on her song). It was written by Evans, Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro. It was announced on October 15, 2007, that Evans would host the 41st annual CMA Awards show with LeAnn Rimes on November 7, 2007.

Evans also showed support for Texas Congressman Ron Paul in the 2008 Presidential race and was the headliner at his "Rally For The Republic" on September 2, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the same day as the Republican National Convention in neighboring St. Paul.

Stronger and career today

The single "Low" (sung by Sara Evans) was released to radio on September 29, 2008, to promote (for the movie released October 10). The song is featured on the movie's soundtrack which was released on October 7, 2008, and also includes other big name country artists. "Low" debuted (and peaked) on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at #59 on October 12, 2008. It only remained on the chart for one week before returning for a second week in January 2009 at the same position.

A book called Sweet By and By, written by Evans and author Rachel Hauck, was released on January 5, 2010. It is the first release of a four-book deal inked with Thomas Nelson Fiction. The second book will be Softly and Tenderly, and is to be released in January 2011, with the following third and fourth books to be released 2012 and 2013.

Evans stated in a video posting to her fan club on December 23, 2008, that she is working with her brother Matt Evans and producer Nathan Chapman on her sixth studio album. The lead-off single, "Feels Just Like a Love Song", was released on July 20, 2009. The song debuted and peaked at #59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart; after spending two weeks on the chart, it fell off.

In 2009, ABC Daytime and SOAPnet sponsored a tour, headlined by Sara Evans, that featured performances throughout the summer. Additionally, soap talent made appearances at her shows. Evans also participated in performances on the networks, as well as on-air interstitial campaigns and online promotions.

In late 2009, Evans released a four-song Christmas EP, I'll Be Home for Christmas, to coincide with her 2009 Christmas tour. The EP includes the title track as well as "O' Come All Ye Faithful", "Go Tell It on the Mountain", and "New Again" (a duet with Brad Paisley). It was released on November 3, 2009 to digital retailers.

During Evans' 2010 fanclub party on June 10, 2010, she debuted the second single from her upcoming sixth studio album, Stronger, which will be released on March 8, 2011. The song, titled "A Little Bit Stronger," was released to radio on September 27, 2010. "A Little Bit Stronger," which is one of the few songs on the upcoming album not co-written by the artist, was pitched to Evans by its songwriter, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum. Additionally, the song will be included on the soundtrack to the 2010 film Country Strong. It debuted at #56 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 2, 2010.

Television work

In April 2004, Evans appeared as a special guest on "Nashville Star". She appeared on the game show "Password" in June 2008.

In September 2006, Evans began competing with other celebrities on the third season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars with (professional) partner Tony Dovolani. Evans launched a new fan web site to provide behind-the-scenes material from her participation on the program. Evans was the first country music singer to ever participate in the show. However, she chose to withdraw from the competition due to her divorce.

Also in 2006, Evans guest starred on Jeff Foxworthy's TV show, Foxworthy's Big Night Out.

Evans made an appearance judging on HGTV Design Star in which she chose which of two redesigned rooms at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center was most like her own style. This aired on July 6, 2008

In October, 2008, Evans also hosted a charity skating fundraiser, "Skating for Life". Olympic skaters skated to Evans' songs.

In March 2009, Evans hosted the ACM GAC Top New Artist Special, which launched the fan voting for the ACMs three new categories: Top New Female Vocalist, Top New Male Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group.

Evans sang "God Bless America" during the All Star Game in St Louis, Missouri on July 12, 2009.

Sara Evans' Band

Current band:

Jim Bloodgood - Drums

Matt Evans - Bass/Band Leader/Harmony Vocals (Sara's brother)

Lesley Evans Lyons - Harmony Vocals (Sara's sister)

Ashley Evans Simpson - Harmony Vocals (Sara's sister)

Jonathan Lawson - Fiddle/Acoustic Guitar/Harmony Vocals

Justin Butler - Lead Guitar/Acoustic Guitar

Brent Wilson - Lead Guitar/Acoustic Guitar/Mandolin/Harmony Vocals

Personal life

for president in 2008]] Evans married Craig Schelske, an aspiring politician, on September 25, 1993, and divorced in September 2007. and Audrey Elizabeth (born October 6, 2004).

On June 14, 2008, Evans married Jay Barker, a former University of Alabama quarterback and current radio show host. They married in Franklin, Tennessee, with their children as their attendants. Evans and her three children now live in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, with Barker and his four children.

Divorce

On October 12, 2006, Evans left Dancing with the Stars, citing personal reasons, and the following day it was revealed that Evans had filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years, Craig Schelske. Documents filed by Evans' husband accused the singer of having close to a dozen affairs, including singer/songwriter Richard Marx, country star Kenny Chesney,Dancing with the Stars partner Tony Dovolani, various members of Evans' band, and four of the five members of the rock band 3 Doors Down. A representative for Chesney called the allegations "ridiculous," and Kirt Webster, a spokesman for the rock band 3 Doors Down, stated that the accusations are "ludicrous" and "untrue" and that the band members "are saddened by what she's going through."

On September 28, 2007, the divorce between Evans and Schelske became final. Evans will pay him a minimum of $500,000 in alimony over a ten-year period. Evans was awarded custody of their three children with visitation rights to Schelske.

An ex-nanny of Evans', Alison Clinton Lee, sued her for $3 million, claiming that Evans has smeared her name by including it in her divorce papers as one of the many women Evans claims her husband had affairs with. The case was settled in July 2009, for $500,000.

On February 25, 2010, Evans obtained a restraining order against Schelske. Documents say Schelske is not allowed to make any derogatory statements about Evans to the media or make allegations about what led to their divorce.

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Result |- | 1997 | Billboard Music Video Awards | Best Country New Artist Video of the Year | |- | rowspan="2"|1999 | rowspan="2"|Country Music Association Awards | Vocal Event of the Year | |- | Horizon Award | |- | 2000 | Country Music Association Awards | Horizon Award | |- | rowspan="5"|2001 | rowspan="5"|Country Music Association Awards | Video of the Year for "Born to Fly" | |- | Single of the Year for "Born to Fly" | |- | Song of the Year for "Born to Fly" | |- | Album of the Year for Born to Fly | |- | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="2"|2002 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | |- | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="3"|2004 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | CMT Flameworthy Awards | Female Video of the Year for "Perfect" | |- | BMI Country Awards | 50 Most Performed Country Songs Award for "Perfect" | |- | rowspan="5"|2005 | CMT Music Awards | Hottest Video of the Year for "Suds in the Bucket" | |- | rowspan="2"|Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | |- | Album of the Year for Restless | |- | rowspan="2"|Country Music Association Awards | Musical Event of the Year for "New Again" (with Brad Paisley) | |- | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="4"|2006 | CMT Music Awards | Female Video of the Year for "A Real Fine Place To Start" | |- | R&R; | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | |- | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="2"|2007 | CMT Music Awards | Female Video of the Year for "You'll Always Be My Baby" | |- | BMI Country Awards | 50 Most Performed Country Songs Award for "You'll Always Be My Baby" | |- | 2008 | BMI Country Awards | 50 Most Performed Country Songs for "As If" | |- | 2010 | Dove Awards | Special Event Album for Glory Revealed II: The Word of God In Worship | |}

Discography

;Albums {|class="wikitable" ! Release date ! Title |- | 1997 | Three Chords and the Truth |- | 1998 | No Place That Far |- | 2000 | Born to Fly |- | 2003 | Restless |- | 2005 | Real Fine Place |- | 2007 | Greatest Hits |- | 2011 | Stronger |}

References

External links

SaraEvans.com (Official site)

SaraEvansFansite.com (Unofficial site)

Category:1971 births Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) participants Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:People from Columbia, Missouri Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:RCA Records artists Category:American Christians

Coordinates	51°53′50″N4°40′58″N
Name	David Archuleta
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	David James Archuleta
Born	December 28, 1990Miami, Florida
Origin	Murray, Utah, US
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, student
Genre	Pop
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	2003–present
Label	Jive
Url	www.DavidArchuleta.com

David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer-songwriter. At ten years old he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances. In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of American Idol. The album, released two months later, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart; it has sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. and over 900,000 Worldwide. In October 2010 he released a second album, The Other Side of Down featuring lead single Something 'Bout Love.

Early life

Archuleta was born in Miami, Florida, to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie Mayorga, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras, however, he speaks very little Spanish. Archuleta has four siblings. His family moved to the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy when he was six. He now lives in Murray where he attended Murray High School and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America.

Archuleta started singing at the age of six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this", he said. He started performing publicly at age ten when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition, singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2, Losing the Junior Grand Champion title to Tiffany Evans. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. and led to appearances on CBS' The Early Show, The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered.

He later recorded two songs written and composed by Merrick Christensen as a featured artist for the small demo titled Fear vs. Faith. It is available on iTunes.

2007–08: American Idol and David Archuleta

Archuleta received his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions at the San Diego tryouts – held at Qualcomm Stadium at the end of July 2007 – with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" with judge Randy Jackson spontaneously joining in to sing the background "waiting" in the song. He was sixteen during the Hollywood auditions and attended school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Crazy", "Another Day in Paradise", and "Angels".

During the 1970s themed week Archuleta sang the John Lennon song "Imagine", omitting the earlier verses in favor of the last one. Los Angeles Times columnist Ann Powers speculated that he wanted to avoid singing "no religion too" because of his faith. "As a Mormon, he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal," she wrote. However, he did sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was thirteen. When asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."

After his performance of "We Can Work It Out", which judge Simon Cowell called "a mess", Entertainment Tonight reported that Archuleta was feeling pressure from his father, Jeff Archuleta, who "reportedly yelled at" his son after a recording session the previous night. Jeff Archuleta, in an interview with Us Weekly, denied the claim. A May 2008 Associated Press article reported that Jeff Archuleta had his son add a lyric from the Sean Kingston song "Beautiful Girls" into an interpretation of "Stand by Me" (from which "Beautiful Girls" samples its bass line), increasing the costs for licensing, and that this had resulted in Jeff Archuleta being banned from American Idol backstage rehearsals. Archuleta defended his father calling him "a great guy" who keeps him .

During the Top 7 results show, the contestants were split into two groups. In one group was Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, and Kristy Lee Cook. In the other group was David Cook, Carly Smithson, and Jason Castro. Archuleta was the only one not sorted into a group. He was declared safe after the groups were formed, then was asked to choose the group he thought was safe. He refused, and sat down on the floor of the stage, much like Melinda Doolittle had done the previous season.

In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment" and "Imagine". Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it", said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, identical commercials featuring Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook 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.

{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Performances: !Week !Theme !Song(s) !Original artist |- ! Auditions | N/A | "Waiting on the World to Change" | John Mayer |- ! Hollywood | N/A | "Crazy" |- ! Top 9 | Songs of Dolly Parton(mentor: Dolly Parton) | "" | Dolly Parton |- ! Top 8 | Inspirational Songs | "Angels" | Robbie Williams |- ! Top 7 | Songs of Mariah Carey(mentor: Mariah Carey) | "When You Believe" | Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston |- ! Top 6 | Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber(mentor: Andrew Lloyd Webber) | "Think of Me" | The Phantom of the Opera |- ! Top 5 | Songs of Neil Diamond (mentor: Neil Diamond) | "Sweet Caroline""America" | Neil Diamond |- ! Top 4 | Music of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | "Stand by Me""Love Me Tender" | Ben E. KingElvis Presley |- ! Top 3 | Judge's Choice (Paula Abdul)Contestant's ChoiceProducers' Choice | "And So It Goes""With You""Longer" | Billy JoelChris BrownDan Fogelberg |- ! Finale | Clive Davis's ChoiceNew SongContestant's Choice | "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me""In This Moment""Imagine" | Elton JohnWritten by Ryan GillmorJohn Lennon |}

Archuleta's first appearances on music ranking charts were with the three songs he performed in the American Idol finale; "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment", and "Imagine", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of June 7, 2008. "Imagine" entered at #36 (giving Archuleta his first top forty hit), "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at #58, and "In This Moment" entered at #60. That same week he had three songs on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart as well, where his versions of "Longer", "Think of Me", and "Angels" debuted at #15, #19, and #24 respectively. In July 2008 So You Think You Can Dance, a dance competition reality show, Archuleta's cover of "Imagine" by John Lennon was the featured music for contestants Katee Shean and William Wingfield with their pas de deux performance.

Archuleta signed with Jive Records in June 2008. His self-titled album, David Archuleta, was released in November 2008. His first single "Crush" was released in August 2008 on Z100, a New York radio station. On August 12 "Crush" became available on iTunes. It debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, beaten only by Rihanna's "Disturbia". It was the best chart debut in more than 18 months. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the track sold 166,000 downloads in the first week in the United States. It has sold 1.92 million digital copies in the US. while serving as Grand Marshal at the Krewe of Caesar Mardi Gras parade in Metairie, Louisiana on Valentines Day, 2009.]] Along with American Idol winner David Cook, Archuleta placed second on Forbes' list of "Breakout Stars of 2008". The two co-presented an award at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards in August 2008.

2009-present: Christmas from the Heart and The Other Side of Down

Since the release of his debut album, Archuleta has released three new songs: "Let's Talk About Love (The Build-A-Bear theme song)," "Save the Day (released only in Japan as a bonus track in his album)," and "Zero Gravity." In February, it was announced that Archuleta will be touring the United Kingdom supporting British band McFly on their "Up Close...And This Time It's Personal" tour. The tour began on April 21, 2009 and continued until May.

On April 22, 2009, Archuleta returned to the American Idol stage in its eighth season and performed the third single from his debut album, "Touch My Hand". On April 30, 2009 he made his first UK television appearance, on the Paul O'Grady Show, performing "Crush" and chatting about his album, which was released there in May. In May, Archuleta and fellow American Idol David Cook, visited the Philippines. Two days later he made live appearances on two of GMA-7's shows, Sis and Eat Bulaga. He also confirmed that month that he was working on two new albums, his sophomore pop album and a Christmas album. In August 2009, Archuleta won three Teen Choice Awards for Breakout Artist, Love Song, and the Music Tour category with Demi Lovato. In September he won the Year in Music – Rising Male Star award at the ALMA Awards and performed a cover of the standard "Contigo En La Distancia."

Archuleta's acting debut was when he appeared as himself for his acting debut on Nickelodeon's show iCarly titled "iRocked the Vote". The episode aired February 7, 2009. He had also made a special guest appearance in Season 3 of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana In the episode "Promma Mia" as himself and he sang a duet: "I Wanna Know You" with Miley Cyrus who plays the title character; the song was featured on the soundtrack, Hannah Montana 3.

On May 16, 2009, Archuleta and David Cook performed in the Mall of Asia: Concert Grounds for their Back-to-Back Concert in Manila, Philippines. On June 1, 2010, Archuleta released , a memoir which refers to "the partial vocal paralysis he suffered in 2004 but has now fully recovered from". He went on a book signing tour beginning in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The book was a bestseller.

Archuleta came back to the American Idol stage on April 7, 2010 on the show's ninth season and performed John Lennon's "Imagine", which David had performed previously when he was a contestant on the show. After his performance, he mentioned that he was working on his third studio album.

Archuleta sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Stand by Me" at the 30th anniversary of the annual A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C. on the Fourth of July. The show was aired on PBS at 8pm EST live and tape delay PT.

Archuleta sang live at the Tejano Music Awards covering Selena's songs, Como La Flor and No Me Queda Más at the event as a tribute on July 11, 2010.

In an interview with AOL's Something Pitchy, Archuleta revealed that the release of his next album is planned for Fall 2010 (he did mention a late September release, but then went back to the Fall). On June 24, 2010 Jive Records announced that his new single would be released on DavidArchuleta.com on July 13, and iTunes on July 20. However, on June 30, 2010 the full version of "Something 'Bout Love" became available to play on his website. His album The Other Side of Down was released on October 5, 2010.

On October 7, 2010, it was announced that David Archuleta would be the guest star at the annual Christmas concert of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Archuleta will sing in performances on December 16-19.

Philanthropy

Along with Do Something and the Dunkin' Brands Community Foundation Archuleta is involved with helping willing teenagers make a difference in others' lives with disaster relief. He is also one of several teen celebrities taking part in Do Something.org's Teens for Jeans charity initiative, which donates denim to homeless teenagers nationwide. In January 2010, Haiti was hit with a major earthquake. On Jan 22, 2010 Archuleta joined other celebrities for a 2-hour fundraising telethon where he answered phones, and even stayed after longer to keep answering the phones.

Archuleta was one of the many Latino singers who participated in Somos El Mundo, the Spanish version of We Are The World 25 for Haiti. The song and video premiered on the Cristina Show in March 2010, funds raised benefit Haiti relief.

Musical influences

Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music."

On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cited his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. Like Elliott Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.

Discography

David Archuleta (2008)

Christmas from the Heart (2009)

The Other Side of Down (2010)

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Films |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! align="center"| Year ! width="170"| Film ! width="150"| Role ! Notes |- |2008 |American Idol |Himself |Runner Up |- |rowspan=2|2009 |iCarly |Himself |iRocked The Vote episode |- |Hannah Montana |Himself |Season 3 - Episode 14: Promma Mia |}

Tours

;As main act

American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008 (2008)

David Archuleta Live In Concert (2009)

Christmas from the Heart Tour (2009)

;As supporting act

Demi Lovato Summer Tour 2009 (2009)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Official website

David Archuleta at MySpace

David Archuleta at Twitter

David Archuleta at YouTube

Video and audio clips from Archuleta's official website prior to 2006.

Category:1990 births Category:American child singers Category:American Idol participants Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:American male singers Category:American pop keyboardists Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American tenors Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American people of Honduran descent Category:Hispanic and Latino American people Category:Idol series runners-up Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Utah Category:Jive Records artists Category:People associated with the Boy Scouts of America Category:Musicians from Miami, Florida Category:People from Murray, Utah

Coordinates	51°53′50″N4°40′58″N
Name	Blake Shelton
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Blake Tollison Shelton
Born	June 18, 1976
Origin	Ada, Oklahoma, USA
Instrument	Vocals, Guitar
Genre	Country
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2001–present
Label	GiantWarner Bros. NashvilleReprise Nashville
Associated acts	Bobby Braddock, Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins
Url	http://www.blakeshelton.com

Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976, in Ada, Oklahoma) is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.

His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer (his first for Warner Bros. proper) and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, were each certified gold as well. Shelton's fourth album, Pure BS, was issued in 2007, and re-issued in 2008 with a cover of Michael Bublé's pop hit "Home" as one of the bonus tracks. This cover was also that album's third single. A fifth album, Startin' Fires, was released in November 2008.

Overall, Shelton has charted seventeen singles on the country charts, including seven Number One hits: "Austin" (2001), "The Baby" (2003), "Some Beach" (2004–2005), "Home" (2008), "She Wouldn't Be Gone" (2009), "Hillbilly Bone" (2010), a duet with Trace Adkins, and "All About Tonight" (2010). Additionally, three more of his singles have reached Top Ten: a cover version of Conway Twitty's "Goodbye Time", "Nobody but Me", and "I'll Just Hold On."

Biography

Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma, and began singing at an early age. By age 12 he learned to play guitar. By age sixteen, Shelton had received a Denbo Diamond Award in his home state.

Instead, Giant released "Austin" as Shelton's debut single. Shortly after its release, however, Giant Records was dissolved, and Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records, the parent company. "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. His self-titled debut album also produced the #18 "All Over Me" (which Shelton co-wrote with fellow country artist Earl Thomas Conley) and the #14 "Ol' Red", which was a cover version of a George Jones song. Although Shelton's rendition of "Ol' Red" was not a major radio hit, he considers it his signature song, and it has become popular in concert. Blake Shelton is certified gold by the RIAA. Both this cover and its followup, "Nobody but Me", reached Top Ten for Shelton as well. As with his first two albums, Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill was certified gold. Accompanying the album's release was a video collection entitled Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill: A Video Collection.

Startin' Fires

"Home" was followed in August 2008 by the single "She Wouldn't Be Gone", his 14th chart entry and his fifth No. 1 hit. It was the first time in his career that he had two consecutive Number Ones. "She Wouldn't Be Gone" is the lead-off to Shelton's fifth studio album, Startin' Fires, which has also produced the single "I'll Just Hold On." This album also includes "Bare Skin Rug," a duet with Lambert. It was produced by Scott Hendricks, except for one track which was produced by Brent Rowan, and another ("I Don't Care", which carried over from Pure BS) was produced by Braddock.

Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight

After "I'll Just Hold On" fell from the chart, in late-October 2009, Shelton released a duet with Trace Adkins titled "Hillbilly Bone." The song is the lead-off single and title track to Shelton's EP, Hillbilly Bone, which was released on March 2, 2010 through Reprise Records Nashville. The song has become Shelton's 16th consecutive Top 40 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.

After "Hillbilly Bone" reached #1 in February 2010, Shelton released "All About Tonight", as the lead-off single to his EP of the same name, which was released August 10, 2010. In September 2010, Shelton released the second single from All About Tonight, "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking", which has since become a Top 15 hit. Blake Shelton released his first greatest hits album, in November 2010.

Shelton was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry during the September 28, 2010 "Country Comes Home" concert celebrating reopening of the Grand Ole Opry House after the Cumberland River flooding the Opry House in May 2010. The formal invitation was extended on Shelton's Twitter account and was announced by Opry star Trace Adkins. Shelton is the first star to be invited to join the Grand Ole Opry using Twitter. Shelton was formally inducted by Adkins at the Saturday, October 23, 2010 Opry performance.

Blake Shelton appeared on the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010 where he performed All About tonight and won Male Vocalist of the Year.

Personal life

Shelton was married to longtime girlfriend Kaynette Williams on November 17, 2003. They were divorced in 2006. As of 2006, he began dating fellow country singer Miranda Lambert, whom he met at the CMT's 100 Greatest Duets Concert. They are now engaged, as he announced on June 9, 2010 at the CMT Video Awards. Lambert also sang background vocals on his cover of Michael Bublé's song, "Home." Shelton's version of the song was a No. 1 single on the Hot Country Songs chart. Blake proposed to Lambert after asking her father for his blessing on May 9, 2010. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on November 24, 2010.

Discography

;Studio albums

Blake Shelton (2001)

The Dreamer (2003)

Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill (2004)

Pure BS (2007)

Startin' Fires (2008)

;Extended plays

Blake Shelton: Collector's Edition (2008)

Hillbilly Bone (2010)

All About Tonight (2010)

;Compilation albums

Blake Shelton - The Essentials (2009)

(2010)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1976 births Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Oklahoma Category:People from Pontotoc County, Oklahoma Category:Reprise Records artists Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:Grand Ole Opry members