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| David Cook |
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 album entitled Analog Heart, and his post-Idol self-titled album, produced by Rob Cavallo, was released on November 18, 2008 and has since been certified platinum by the RIAA.
Cook was born in Houston, Texas, raised in Blue Springs, Missouri, and currently owns homes in Kansas City, Missouri and Los Angeles, California. His parents are Beth Foraker (née Frye) and Stanley Cook. He is the middle of three brothers - the late Adam Cook being older and Andrew younger. He is of German, Irish, and English descent.
Cook's interest in music began at a young age. He began singing in second grade, when his elementary school music teacher gave him a part in a school Christmas performance. He proceeded to perform in virtually every Christmas and PTA program. He received his first guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, at the age of 13. He also participated in choir and drama programs in middle school and high school. At Blue Springs South High School, he performed in musicals, including The Music Man, West Side Story, and Singin' in the Rain. In addition to this, he was an active member in the Blue Springs South High School National Forensics League (or NFL), where he qualified for the national tournament twice for duo interpretation, an event that relies on performance and interpretation of a literary work.
He was also an avid baseball player during high school and once gave up a home run to Albert Pujols in an American Legion Baseball game. After an injury, he focused more on music. He earned a theater scholarship to the University of Central Missouri, but he abandoned theater after two semesters, graduating from the school in 2006 with a degree in graphic design. While in college, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa. After his college graduation, he relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma to pursue a career in music, telling his mother, "I just want to give myself until I'm 26 years old to get a job." He was 25 when he auditioned for American Idol' ' season 7
David Cook formed a band with his friend Bobby Kerr while at high school. The band was initially named Red Eye, later Axium. He wrote his first song, titled "Red Hot", when he was fifteen. He was encouraged by Evan Sula-Goff of 8stops7 to make an album when he went to Cook's school to judge a contest, Mr. Jaguar, where David Cook and his band performed Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City". The band had some success when one of their songs, "Hold", was selected to be played in movie theaters across the country, and they were named one of the top 15 independent bands in the country by "Got Milk?" contest as well as the best Kansas City band in 2004. The band produced three studio albums - Matter of Time, Blindsided, and The Story Thus Far, as well as a number of live albums including Alive in Tulsa.
In May 2008, Cook asked Season 2 American Idol alum and TV Guide Network correspondent Kimberly Caldwell for a dinner date while on the red carpet before the show's seventh season finale. During a radio interview with XL 106.7 on October 13, 2008, Cook revealed that he and Caldwell were "still seeing each other." In a November 2008 interview with PEOPLE magazine, Cook said his relationship with Caldwell was a "nice break from the chaos" of post-Idol fame. They ended their relationship in December 2008.
People reported on March 31, 2009 that David was canceling dates on his current tour due to "family matters". Cook's eldest brother, Adam, had been diagnosed with brain cancer since 1998 and died on May 2, 2009. On May 3, 2009 at the "Race for Hope" in Washington, D.C., Cook announced the death of his brother during the awards speech, and saying he "couldn't imagine being anywhere else right now." He finished the 5k with a time of 28 minutes. His team raised $136,376.16 for the cause. Donations were accepted through September 30, 2009. On the finale of the 8th season of American Idol, Cook sang his song "Permanent" in honor of his brother. Audio of the performance was made available on iTunes, and the proceeds from the sale of it were put toward brain cancer research.