Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken (
néNEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer,
songwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
,
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
,
producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and
authorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
who began his rise to fame on the
second seasonThe second season of American Idol premiered on January 21, 2003 and continued until May 21, 2003. The title of show was shortened from American Idol: The Search for a Superstar of Season 1 to just American Idol. Brian Dunkleman quit after the first season, and Seacrest therefore became the lone...
of the
television programA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
American IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
in 2003.
RCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
offered him a
recording contractA recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released in October 2003. He released four more albums on the RCA label:
Merry Christmas with LoveMerry Christmas with Love is Clay Aiken's first Christmas album, released by RCA Records on November 16, 2004. It was certified platinum and was recognized by Billboard as the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of 2004 and the best-selling Christian album of 2005.The album was re-released on...
(2004),
A Thousand Different WaysA Thousand Different Ways is the third studio album by Clay Aiken. The album, which was executive produced by Jaymes Foster, consists of ten covers and four new songs. It was released by RCA on September 19, 2006...
(2006), and the Christmas EP, All is Well (2006).
