Blake Lewis
Black Lewis is the singer and beatboxer who gained recognition after being the runner up on the massively popular sixth season of American Idol. Born and raised in Washington State, Lewis is an only child. While he was in high school, he participated in quite a few competitions, as well as performing in musicals and creating rap and comedy videos with his friends. Some of these videos can currently be found on YouTube. These videos also introduced an alter ego known as Jimmie Walker Blue.
When he was seventeen, Lewis first started beatboxing, inspired by performer Matthew Selby. He was a member of the a cappella group KickShaw for four years. He also played guitar, keyboard, and drums. He wrote a number of songs himself, though he has also described himself as an "improv musician."
Lewis originally had no interest in American Idol, but he ended up auditioning in Seattle. The judges were not only impressed with his singing, they were blown away by his beatboxing performance during Hollywood week. He was considered and early frontrunner in the competition. He was especially noted for his performance of "You Give Love a Bad Name" during Bon Jovi week; it included a significant amount of beatboxing, making it sound very different from the original song. He was the last male contestant left on the show and ended up as the runner up to Jordin Sparks in the season finale.
After American Idol, a number of Lewis' songs were released to iTunes with strong sale. In particular, his unique version of "You Give Love a Bad Name" was a very popular buy. He appeared on a number of different talk shows and was voted one of the hottest bachelors of the year by People Magazine. He received a record deal with Arista Records and released his first album, A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) in December of 2007. He also appeared in the video for Jordin Sparks' first single, "Tattoo".
Despite the relative success of A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream), Lewis was dropped by Arista Records after the album was released. He quickly signed with Tommy Boy Records, which released his second studio album Heartbreak on Vinyl in October 2009. The lead single "Sad Song" reached No. 11 on the Billboard Dance chart, while the title track hit the top of the Billboard Dance charts. Lewis had hoped to collaborate with an unusual cadre of artists, including Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, but plans did not work out.
Blake Lewis Official Website
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