Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken’s soaring voice and boyish charm propelled the singer to pop stardom in the early 2000s. Born Clayton Grissom in North Carolina in 1978, Aiken took to singing at a very young age, performing live by the time he was five years old and eventually finding his place in theatre. He was on the path to a master’s degree in administration when a friend urged him to audition for American Idol, and, in 2003, he stole the hearts of millions of viewers with a gospel-indebted take on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” that helped him earn the runner-up spot. Capitalising on the momentum, Aiken put out the sweeping, romantic “This Is the Night” shortly thereafter, and it became the fastest-selling single since Elton John’s “Candle In the Wind (1997 Version)”. He capped the year by releasing his debut album, Measure of a Man, dense with dramatic, symphonic pop. Since then, he’s proven a deft hand with holiday classics (2004’s Merry Christmas With Love), old-school standards (2010’s Tried & True) and Broadway comedy as Sir Robin in Spamalot, on top of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and running for public office.