Jason Castro
Encyclopedia
Jason René Castro is an American
acoustic
/folk-pop
/contemporary Christian singer-songwriter
and was the fourth place finalist on the seventh season
of American Idol
. After Idol, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records
and his self-titled debut album
was released on April 13, 2010.
, and raised in Rowlett, Texas
, he currently resides in Rockwall, Texas
. His parents, René and Betsy Castro, are Colombian
, and he is the first person in his family to be born in the United States, followed by younger siblings Michael and Jackeline (Jackie), both of whom are singer-songwriters as well.
Spanish was his first language as a child. Though he doesn't speak the language very often, he has considered making a Spanish album. Their father, René, is an architectural swimming pool designer and singer-songwriter.
He attended Rowlett High School
where he was a left winger on his school's soccer team and an honor student. He received a 1340 out of 1600 on his SAT
. Castro was a junior majoring in Construction Science at Texas A&M University
in College Station
on a full academic scholarship when he auditioned for American Idol.
Castro has sported dreadlocks
since his senior year of high school.
. He taught himself to play the guitar in college. He had no formal voice training before auditioning for American Idol and had previously sung only 5 times in public, mostly during church services.
Castro performed as a drummer with the rock band Charlemagne, which later became Keeping Lions. He has stated that his musical influences include Ray LaMontagne
, Ben Harper
, Bob Marley
, Carlos Vives
and Kirk Baxley.
on her MTV
reality show, Cheyenne and was also featured in her music video for "Hanging On".
On October 31 on Halloween
in 2009, Castro proposed to Mandy Mayhall, an alumna of the University of Oklahoma
, a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma
and his girlfriend of a year and a half. Castro proposed to her at a tailgate party
before the Oklahoma
/Kansas State
football game in Norman, Oklahoma
. The two were dressed as Disney characters Belle and The Beast from the animated film Beauty and the Beast
as their Halloween costumes. Castro and Mayhall began dating in 2008 when Castro's Idol stint began but first became friends in high school at Rowlett High School
. Mayhall made a brief cameo in Castro's music video for "Let's Just Fall In Love Again".
As of January 2, 2010 Castro and Mayhall were married in his hometown near Dallas, TX. Castro and Mayhall now reside together in Dallas. Castro and his wife had their firstborn daughter Madeline Emilia Castro, born August 28, 2011.
in Dallas, Texas
, singing the Ray LaMontagne
version of the song "Crazy". He was not shown on the television series until the final 24 due to legal restrictions on the songs he chose to perform. During a March 17, 2008 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
, judge Simon Cowell
chose Castro early as one of his four favorites in the competition, along with David Cook
, David Archuleta
, and Brooke White
. On April 12, Ryan Seacrest
and the three judges appeared in Larry King Live
, Larry King
revealed the results of his website poll which asked "Whom do you want to win American Idol
?" and said that Castro was in the lead.
Castro is the first contestant in the history of American Idol to ever play an instrument on the American Idol stage. He played the guitar during the Top 24 performance night when he sang "(What A Day For A Daydream)". He was also the first contestant to play the ukulele
on the show. He played the instrument while singing Over The Rainbow
, after learning to play it in less than a week. Castro also sang in three languages on American Idol, supplementing English songs with Spanish (a combination of Sting's "Fragile" and "Fragilidad" on March 25, 2008) and French (Paul McCartney
's "Michelle" on March 12, 2008).
Before he was eliminated, Castro was in the bottom three only once. He was voted off the competition on May 7, 2008.
cover of the Leonard Cohen
song from the iTunes Store
, propelling it to the number-one spot on the iTunes singles chart. Buckley's version of the song sold 178,000 digital downloads in the week following Castro's performance, to debut at number one on Billboard
's Hot Digital Songs
chart. According to the March 22, 2008 issue of Billboard, this was the highest boost in digital sales a song had ever received after being performed by a contestant on American Idol. It was the first time Buckley's version of the song charted on a Billboard chart, as well as the first U.S. number-one song on any chart for Buckley, who died May 29, 1997 at age 30. Jason Castro’s rendition of the song propelled Jeff Buckley’s version to be certified gold and platinum as a single on April 22, 2008.
Castro's version of the song "Hallelujah" briefly appeared in the number-one spot on the iTunes
chart before it was removed due to the producers of American Idol
not wanting any contestant to be favored.
Castro has also bumped the sales of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s "Over the Rainbow
" to #6 on the iTunes Top 20. Castro is the only Idol finalist ever to bump another artist’s single to the iTunes Top 10 or to the Billboard chart.
group based in Zeeland, Michigan
that helps the poor in Haiti
. Their website is usually quiet, but before long they had hits from 15 different countries with many online donations. "Before this we weren't really hearing from people online," said Snyder. "And didn't get a whole lot of contributions online." The problem was, Castro didn't even know about GLOW. Jason was referring to the GLOW 5K run in Texas, a charity where money that goes to various service agencies for children. Snyder said the mistake has brought a lot of money and attention to her cause. Castro stated he was glad the Zeeland nonprofit got some well-deserved donations.
Castro's father had been instrumental in starting a soccer ministry at Lake Pointe Church to reach out to the community. Jason played soccer in high school and has been to Russia three times with Higher Goal Soccer Ministry.
He has also done charity work during his university career. In 2007, he joined Aggie Men's Club, a fraternity
organization.
On December 13, Castro performed alongside R&B singer Patti LaBelle
for a Christmas
concert in Garland, Texas
, benefiting the Best Education Foundation, an organization that supports the city's school district. He also auctioned himself off for charity courtesy of the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares
. The bid ended on the 11th of December, earning $5,689 for the charity. The winner of the auction had a lunch date with Castro.
On April 8, 2010, Jason was named the inaugural "Staying Alive" Ambassador for Malaria No More Foundation.
Castro was the first person declared to be safe on this elimination night.
After his elimination Castro made appearances on Live with Regis and Kelly
, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Sauce
, The Ellen Degeneres Show
, Access Hollywood
, Today, Best Day Ever
, Larry King Live
, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
as well as dozens of local FOX television affiliates and numerous radio stations across the country. Castro has been the subject of articles in newspapers and magazines including People, Star Magazine, US, OK!, USA Today
, Rolling Stone
, Entertainment Weekly
and Billboard
.
Castro returned to the Idol stage for the season finale, and was the only top 12 finalist who performed a solo. He sang "Hallelujah".
Upon returning to his hometown of Rockwall, TX, Thursday, May 29, 2008 was declared "Jason Castro Day". Castro was honored with a parade and a ceremony/concert. He was presented with a key to the city by the mayor of Rockwall and a US flag that flew over the nation's capital by Texas congressman Ralph Hall
. Castro also performed 4 songs for the crowd, including an original song that he had written. The parade and concert was estimated to have attracted close to 15,000 fans and was the largest event in the city's history.
Castro completed the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008
with his fellow contestants during the summer. The tour ran from July 1, 2008 to September 13, 2008.
He recorded "Hallelujah" in Toronto, Canada for the Mexican
-Colombia
n indie film, Amar a Morir, which premiered in the spring of 2009. On November 3, Castro shot a homemade video of himself performing the song "Sweet Medicine", an original song he had written and put the video up on his YouTube
account. However, it is unknown if this song will be released on his upcoming album. He recently took part with the "I Am Second" campaign and openly discussed his Christian faith.
Castro signed a management deal with Hard8Mgt, a firm that manages other musicians such as Jakob Dylan
, Dashboard Confessional
, Augustana
and others.
On November 29, 2008, Castro performed a live concert with his band, The Heavy Steadies at the Flytrap Music Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma
which included new songs from his album. On December 15, Castro released the Christmas
song, "White Christmas
" as a free download through Amazon.com
as a gift for his fans. On December 24, 2008, Castro performed "White Christmas" at Lake Pointe Church's Christmas program. Castro performed the full version of "Hallelujah" at the world premiere of Amar a Morir on January 23 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
.
A download of the song "Love Uncompromised" and an appearance on Idol were both scheduled for March 3. Due to time constraints, both plans were canceled.
Castro helped co-write "Be Yourself Tonight" with Canadian singer Gerald Eaton
for his brother Michael's self-titled debut EP.
Castro released April 12, 2010 on Atlantic Records
his self-titled album Jason Castro
. He worked with songwriter, producer and Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi
and producer John Fields On the album he also worked with DioGuardi, Guy Chambers
, Martin Terefe, Dave Lichens (a member of The Heavy Steadies), Jason Reeves
, Sacha Skarbek
and Espionage
. Fellow Atlantic Records artist Serena Ryder
appears with Castro on a duet titled "You Can Always Come Home", which Castro debuted at the Texas State Fair in a live performance, his sister Jackie in Ryder's place.
Castro sang "Over the Rainbow" and his second single "That's What I'm Here For" at the wedding of The Bachelor stars Jason Mesnick
and Molly Malaney on February 27, 2010 for ABC
's taping of The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding.
Castro will perform in an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful
. It is scheduled to air in July 2010.
The Texas based singer/songwriter confirms his Christian faith in his new release called "Who I Am". Five of the tracks are favorites from Jason's debut record, while the others are original songs exploring life, love, and God. The first single, “You Are”, is one Jason calls his "first love song to God." Castro also appeared in a testimonial video on I Am Second
, in which he shares his story of his faith in Jesus Christ.
, released presales of the album and offered the single as a free download to buyers. Castro's album was to be released in November 2009 but was pushed back for an early 2010 release date. "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" entered Billboard's Heatseekers Songs chart at No. 15 and Hot Digital Songs at No. "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" was used by Overstock.com
for a television commercial.
57. A music video for the single premiered on October 14, 2009. Castro released a debut EP in January 2010 titled The Love Uncompromised EP. The EP has sold over 7,000 copies to date. Castro completed a tour with Matt Hires
and Caitlin Crosby
and traveled to Malaysia, Singapore
and The Philippines to promote his EP and album. He then toured a second time with band Camera Can't Lie
and his younger brother Michael as his opening acts to promote his album.
iTunes Exclusive "American Idol Studio Performances"1
Demos and live recordings (pre-Idol songs)
Soundtracks
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
/folk-pop
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
/contemporary Christian singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and was the fourth place finalist on the seventh season
American Idol (season 7)
The seventh season of American Idol, the annual reality show and singing competition, began on January 15, 2008 and concluded on May 21, 2008. Ryan Seacrest continued to host the show with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returning as judges...
of American Idol
American Idol
American 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...
. After Idol, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and his self-titled debut album
Jason Castro (album)
Jason Castro is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by Jason Castro. The album was released April 13, 2010.-Background:On April 12, 2009, Jason signed to Atlantic Records, and released his first official single, "Let's Just Fall in Love Again," which peaked at #113 on Billboard Hot 100 and...
was released on April 13, 2010.
Early years
Born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, and raised in Rowlett, Texas
Rowlett, Texas
-External links:*...
, he currently resides in Rockwall, Texas
Rockwall, Texas
Rockwall is a city in Rockwall County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas. It is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 37,490 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Rockwall County. Rockwall County is the second wealthiest county in the state of Texas in terms...
. His parents, René and Betsy Castro, are Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
, and he is the first person in his family to be born in the United States, followed by younger siblings Michael and Jackeline (Jackie), both of whom are singer-songwriters as well.
Spanish was his first language as a child. Though he doesn't speak the language very often, he has considered making a Spanish album. Their father, René, is an architectural swimming pool designer and singer-songwriter.
He attended Rowlett High School
Rowlett High School
Rowlett High School is a public secondary school located in Rowlett, Texas . Rowlett High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Garland Independent School District. The school opened in the fall of 1996 with Dr. Marlene Hammerle as principal...
where he was a left winger on his school's soccer team and an honor student. He received a 1340 out of 1600 on his SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
. Castro was a junior majoring in Construction Science at Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
on a full academic scholarship when he auditioned for American Idol.
Castro has sported dreadlocks
Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...
since his senior year of high school.
Musical background
Castro grew up playing drumsDrum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. He taught himself to play the guitar in college. He had no formal voice training before auditioning for American Idol and had previously sung only 5 times in public, mostly during church services.
Castro performed as a drummer with the rock band Charlemagne, which later became Keeping Lions. He has stated that his musical influences include Ray LaMontagne
Ray LaMontagne
Raymond "Ray" Charles Jack LaMontagne is a Grammy-award winning American singer-songwriter. LaMontagne has released four studio albums, Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain and God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after...
, Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, Carlos Vives
Carlos Vives
Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...
and Kirk Baxley.
Personal life
Castro was the love interest of Cheyenne KimballCheyenne Kimball
Cheyenne Nichole Kimball is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her debut album, The Day Has Come was released in July 2006 coinciding with an MTV reality series following her entry into the music industry...
on her MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
reality show, Cheyenne and was also featured in her music video for "Hanging On".
On October 31 on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
in 2009, Castro proposed to Mandy Mayhall, an alumna of the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma is a collegiate women's fraternity, founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois, USA. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted that October 13, 1870 should be recognized at the official Founders Day, because no...
and his girlfriend of a year and a half. Castro proposed to her at a tailgate party
Tailgate party
In the United States, a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating often involves consuming alcoholic beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas, before and occasionally after games and...
before the Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
/Kansas State
Kansas State Wildcats
Kansas State University's athletic teams are called the Wildcats. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools that have only one official color; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.Kansas State participates in...
football game in Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
. The two were dressed as Disney characters Belle and The Beast from the animated film Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
as their Halloween costumes. Castro and Mayhall began dating in 2008 when Castro's Idol stint began but first became friends in high school at Rowlett High School
Rowlett High School
Rowlett High School is a public secondary school located in Rowlett, Texas . Rowlett High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Garland Independent School District. The school opened in the fall of 1996 with Dr. Marlene Hammerle as principal...
. Mayhall made a brief cameo in Castro's music video for "Let's Just Fall In Love Again".
As of January 2, 2010 Castro and Mayhall were married in his hometown near Dallas, TX. Castro and Mayhall now reside together in Dallas. Castro and his wife had their firstborn daughter Madeline Emilia Castro, born August 28, 2011.
American Idol
Overview
Castro auditioned for American IdolAmerican Idol
American 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 Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, singing the Ray LaMontagne
Ray LaMontagne
Raymond "Ray" Charles Jack LaMontagne is a Grammy-award winning American singer-songwriter. LaMontagne has released four studio albums, Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain and God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after...
version of the song "Crazy". He was not shown on the television series until the final 24 due to legal restrictions on the songs he chose to perform. During a March 17, 2008 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, judge Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
chose Castro early as one of his four favorites in the competition, along with David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
, David Archuleta
David Archuleta
David Archuleta, is a former United States Air Force Airman of Okinawan stationary troops and is currently an American male kickboxer.-Biography:...
, and Brooke White
Brooke White
Brooke Elizabeth White is an American indie pop/folk-pop singer-songwriter and actress from Mesa, Arizona who was the fifth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. In 2005, White released her first studio album, called Songs from the Attic.White's first post-Idol album High Hopes &...
. On April 12, Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
and the three judges appeared in Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
revealed the results of his website poll which asked "Whom do you want to win American Idol
American Idol
American 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...
?" and said that Castro was in the lead.
Castro is the first contestant in the history of American Idol to ever play an instrument on the American Idol stage. He played the guitar during the Top 24 performance night when he sang "(What A Day For A Daydream)". He was also the first contestant to play the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
on the show. He played the instrument while singing Over The Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
, after learning to play it in less than a week. Castro also sang in three languages on American Idol, supplementing English songs with Spanish (a combination of Sting's "Fragile" and "Fragilidad" on March 25, 2008) and French (Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's "Michelle" on March 12, 2008).
Before he was eliminated, Castro was in the bottom three only once. He was voted off the competition on May 7, 2008.
iTunes
Castro's rendition of the song "Hallelujah," which he performed on American Idol, led to a surge of popularity for the Jeff BuckleyJeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
cover of the Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
song from the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
, propelling it to the number-one spot on the iTunes singles chart. Buckley's version of the song sold 178,000 digital downloads in the week following Castro's performance, to debut at number one on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
chart. According to the March 22, 2008 issue of Billboard, this was the highest boost in digital sales a song had ever received after being performed by a contestant on American Idol. It was the first time Buckley's version of the song charted on a Billboard chart, as well as the first U.S. number-one song on any chart for Buckley, who died May 29, 1997 at age 30. Jason Castro’s rendition of the song propelled Jeff Buckley’s version to be certified gold and platinum as a single on April 22, 2008.
Castro's version of the song "Hallelujah" briefly appeared in the number-one spot on the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
chart before it was removed due to the producers of American Idol
American Idol
American 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...
not wanting any contestant to be favored.
Castro has also bumped the sales of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s "Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
" to #6 on the iTunes Top 20. Castro is the only Idol finalist ever to bump another artist’s single to the iTunes Top 10 or to the Billboard chart.
Charity
A mix-up led a sudden rise in donations for a West Michigan-based charity. The blog Castrocopia.com suggested that fans donate money to Castro's favorite charity. The former Castro fansite, Daydreamingboy.com, claimed Castro's charity was GLOW Ministries, a ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
group based in Zeeland, Michigan
Zeeland, Michigan
Zeeland is a city in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,805 at the 2000 census. The city is located at the western edge of Zeeland Charter Township which is politically independent. Its name is derived from the Dutch province of Zeeland...
that helps the poor in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. Their website is usually quiet, but before long they had hits from 15 different countries with many online donations. "Before this we weren't really hearing from people online," said Snyder. "And didn't get a whole lot of contributions online." The problem was, Castro didn't even know about GLOW. Jason was referring to the GLOW 5K run in Texas, a charity where money that goes to various service agencies for children. Snyder said the mistake has brought a lot of money and attention to her cause. Castro stated he was glad the Zeeland nonprofit got some well-deserved donations.
Castro's father had been instrumental in starting a soccer ministry at Lake Pointe Church to reach out to the community. Jason played soccer in high school and has been to Russia three times with Higher Goal Soccer Ministry.
He has also done charity work during his university career. In 2007, he joined Aggie Men's Club, a fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
organization.
On December 13, Castro performed alongside R&B singer Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
for a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
concert in Garland, Texas
Garland, Texas
-Climate:* The average warmest month is July.* The highest recorded temperature was in 2000.* On average, the coolest month is January.* The lowest recorded temperature was in 1989.* The maximum average precipitation occurs in May....
, benefiting the Best Education Foundation, an organization that supports the city's school district. He also auctioned himself off for charity courtesy of the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares
MusiCares
The MusiCares Foundation, Inc., was established in 1989 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Meant for musicians to have a place to turn, in times of financial, personal, or medical crisis, its primary purpose is to focus the resources and attention of the music industry on human...
. The bid ended on the 11th of December, earning $5,689 for the charity. The winner of the auction had a lunch date with Castro.
On April 8, 2010, Jason was named the inaugural "Staying Alive" Ambassador for Malaria No More Foundation.
Performances
| Week # | Theme | Song choice | Original artist | Order # | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 24 (12 Men) | 1960s | "Daydream" | The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name... |
11 | Safe |
| Top 20 (10 Men) | 1970s | "I Just Want to Be Your Everything I Just Want to Be Your Everything "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" was a hit song by pop singer Andy Gibb. The first single released from his debut album, Flowing Rivers, it became the first of three consecutive number one Billboard Hot 100 singles for Gibb... " |
Andy Gibb Andy Gibb Andy Gibb was an English singer and teen idol, and the youngest brother of the family whose other male siblings formed the Bee Gees: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb.-The early years:... |
2 | Safe |
| Top 16 (8 Men) | 1980s | "Hallelujah" | Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships... |
7 | Safe |
| Top 12 | Lennon/McCartney Lennon/McCartney The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is one of the best-known and most successful musical collaborations in history... |
"If I Fell If I Fell "If I Fell" is a song by The Beatles which first appeared in 1964 on the album A Hard Day's Night in the United Kingdom and on the North American album Something New... " |
The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr... |
4 | Safe |
| Top 11 | The Beatles | "Michelle Michelle (song) "Michelle" is a love ballad by The Beatles, mainly written by Paul McCartney, with the middle eight co-written with John Lennon. It is featured on their Rubber Soul album. The song departs from most of The Beatles' other recordings in that some of the lyrics are in French... " |
The Beatles | 8 | Safe |
| Top 10 | Year They Were Born | "Fragile Fragile (song) "Fragile" is a song composed by English musician Sting from his 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun. Released as a single the following year, it placed to number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. Sung additionally in both Spanish and Portuguese under the title Fragilidad, it appeared twice more on his... " |
Sting | 2 | Bottom 3 |
| Top 9 | Dolly Parton Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk... |
"Travelin' Thru" | Dolly Parton Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk... |
4 | Safe |
| Top 8 | Inspirational Music | "Over the Rainbow Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie... " |
Judy Garland Judy Garland Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage... |
3 | Safe |
| Top 7 | Mariah Carey Mariah Carey Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993... |
"I Don't Wanna Cry I Don't Wanna Cry "I Don't Wanna Cry" is a song written by Mariah Carey and Narada Michael Walden, and produced by Walden for Carey's debut album, Mariah Carey . The ballad was released as the album's fourth single in the second quarter of 1991. It became another U.S. number 1 single for Carey... " |
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993... |
7 | Safe |
| Top 6 | Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of... |
"Memory" | Elaine Paige Elaine Paige Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16... |
2 | Safe |
| Top 5 | Neil Diamond Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.... |
"Forever in Blue Jeans Forever in Blue Jeans "Forever in Blue Jeans" is a song by Neil Diamond which was co-written with his guitarist Richard Bennett. This up-tempo track, released as a single by Columbia in February 1979, was taken from the previous year's Neil Diamond album You Don't Bring Me Flowers.The song officially peaked at #20 on... " "September Morn" |
Neil Diamond Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.... |
1 6 |
Safe |
| Top 4 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,... |
"I Shot the Sheriff I Shot the Sheriff "I Shot the Sheriff" is a song written by Bob Marley, told from the point of view of a man who admits to having killed the local sheriff, but claims to be falsely accused of having killed the deputy sheriff. He also claims to have acted in self defense when the sheriff tried to shoot him. The... " "Mr. Tambourine Man Mr. Tambourine Man "Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and... " |
Bob Marley Bob Marley Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers... Bob Dylan Bob Dylan Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly... |
3 7 |
Eliminated |
Castro was the first person declared to be safe on this elimination night.
Post Idol
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Sauce
The Sauce (TV series)
The Sauce is a daily live interactive show that aired on the music network Fuse. It was hosted by Steve Smith and Jared Cotter and aired weekdays at 6PM EST/3PM PST and premiered on April 2, 2007 and ended on May 22, 2008....
, The Ellen Degeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
, Today, Best Day Ever
Best Week Ever
Best Week Ever is a weekly television program on the United States cable/satellite network VH1. It started airing in 2004 and was put on hiatus in the summer of 2009...
, Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet is an American syndicated morning talk show. Produced by Fox, the show first aired on January 22, 2007 to a number of markets originally through Fox and MyNetworkTV, most in the Fox Television Stations Group...
as well as dozens of local FOX television affiliates and numerous radio stations across the country. Castro has been the subject of articles in newspapers and magazines including People, Star Magazine, US, OK!, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
and Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
.
Castro returned to the Idol stage for the season finale, and was the only top 12 finalist who performed a solo. He sang "Hallelujah".
Upon returning to his hometown of Rockwall, TX, Thursday, May 29, 2008 was declared "Jason Castro Day". Castro was honored with a parade and a ceremony/concert. He was presented with a key to the city by the mayor of Rockwall and a US flag that flew over the nation's capital by Texas congressman Ralph Hall
Ralph Hall
Ralph Moody Hall is a United States Representative from . First elected in 1980, Hall is the chairman of the Science Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee...
. Castro also performed 4 songs for the crowd, including an original song that he had written. The parade and concert was estimated to have attracted close to 15,000 fans and was the largest event in the city's history.
Castro completed the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the top 10 contestants of the seventh season of American Idol, which aired in 2008. This tour followed in the tradition of other American Idol summer tours following the completion of the season...
with his fellow contestants during the summer. The tour ran from July 1, 2008 to September 13, 2008.
He recorded "Hallelujah" in Toronto, Canada for the Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
-Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n indie film, Amar a Morir, which premiered in the spring of 2009. On November 3, Castro shot a homemade video of himself performing the song "Sweet Medicine", an original song he had written and put the video up on his YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
account. However, it is unknown if this song will be released on his upcoming album. He recently took part with the "I Am Second" campaign and openly discussed his Christian faith.
Castro signed a management deal with Hard8Mgt, a firm that manages other musicians such as Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
, Dashboard Confessional
Dashboard Confessional
Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, led by singer-songwriter Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" from the debut album The Swiss Army Romance....
, Augustana
Augustana (band)
Augustana is an American rock band from San Diego, California who are signed to the Epic Records record label. They are best known for their singles, "Boston" and "Sweet and Low."-Beginning years:...
and others.
On November 29, 2008, Castro performed a live concert with his band, The Heavy Steadies at the Flytrap Music Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
which included new songs from his album. On December 15, Castro released the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
song, "White Christmas
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
" as a free download through Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
as a gift for his fans. On December 24, 2008, Castro performed "White Christmas" at Lake Pointe Church's Christmas program. Castro performed the full version of "Hallelujah" at the world premiere of Amar a Morir on January 23 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival...
.
A download of the song "Love Uncompromised" and an appearance on Idol were both scheduled for March 3. Due to time constraints, both plans were canceled.
Castro helped co-write "Be Yourself Tonight" with Canadian singer Gerald Eaton
Gerald Eaton
Gerald Eaton is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and music producer, originally from Jamaica.He is the lead singer for the R&B-pop group The Philosopher Kings, which reached its peak popularity in the 1990s...
for his brother Michael's self-titled debut EP.
Castro released April 12, 2010 on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
his self-titled album Jason Castro
Jason Castro (album)
Jason Castro is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by Jason Castro. The album was released April 13, 2010.-Background:On April 12, 2009, Jason signed to Atlantic Records, and released his first official single, "Let's Just Fall in Love Again," which peaked at #113 on Billboard Hot 100 and...
. He worked with songwriter, producer and Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi
Kara DioGuardi
Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, composer and TV personality. She writes music primarily in the light pop-rock, dance, and R&B genres. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; her songs have appeared on more than 159...
and producer John Fields On the album he also worked with DioGuardi, Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
, Martin Terefe, Dave Lichens (a member of The Heavy Steadies), Jason Reeves
Jason Reeves (songwriter)
Jason Reeves is an ASCAP award-winning, American singer-songwriter and musician. He grew up in Iowa City, Iowa before locating to California in 2005, where he began a long-standing working relationship with producer Mikal Blue and singer Colbie Caillat. He co-wrote many songs with Caillat, most...
, Sacha Skarbek
Sacha Skarbek
-Early life:Sacha Skarbek showed early talent as a musician, winning many piano competitions from the age of seven. Awarded music scholarships to Northbourne Park and King's School Canterbury, Sacha was taught by the distinguished pianist Ronald Smith and played French horn, clarinet and percussion...
and Espionage
Espionage (production team)
Espionage is a New York-based Norwegian songwriting and music production team consisting of Espen Lind and Amund Bjørklund. Their breakthrough came in 2006 as co-writers of Beyoncé's worldwide smash "Irreplaceable", which was number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks and the best...
. Fellow Atlantic Records artist Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter raised in Millbrook, Ontario.Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music, Ryder possesses a five-octave range...
appears with Castro on a duet titled "You Can Always Come Home", which Castro debuted at the Texas State Fair in a live performance, his sister Jackie in Ryder's place.
Castro sang "Over the Rainbow" and his second single "That's What I'm Here For" at the wedding of The Bachelor stars Jason Mesnick
Jason Mesnick
Jason Scott Mesnick is the runner-up on Season 4 of The Bachelorette and the Bachelor of the 13th season of the reality dating show The Bachelor.-Biography:Mesnick is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Washington at the age of eight...
and Molly Malaney on February 27, 2010 for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's taping of The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding.
Castro will perform in an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....
. It is scheduled to air in July 2010.
The Texas based singer/songwriter confirms his Christian faith in his new release called "Who I Am". Five of the tracks are favorites from Jason's debut record, while the others are original songs exploring life, love, and God. The first single, “You Are”, is one Jason calls his "first love song to God." Castro also appeared in a testimonial video on I Am Second
I Am Second
I Am Second is an evangelical Christian multimedia movement and not-for-profit organization that is designed to inspire people to live for Jesus Christ and others...
, in which he shares his story of his faith in Jesus Christ.
Debut album, EP, singles and promotion
On August 18, 2009, Castro performed his new single "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" on a live video webchat from his website, as well another song titled "It Matters to Me". Castro's label, Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, released presales of the album and offered the single as a free download to buyers. Castro's album was to be released in November 2009 but was pushed back for an early 2010 release date. "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" entered Billboard's Heatseekers Songs chart at No. 15 and Hot Digital Songs at No. "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" was used by Overstock.com
Overstock.com
Overstock.com , also known by its shortcut, O.co, is an online retailer headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Founded in 1997 by Robert Brazell, under the name D2: Discounts Direct, it was a pioneering online seller of surplus merchandise which, upon its failure in 1999,...
for a television commercial.
57. A music video for the single premiered on October 14, 2009. Castro released a debut EP in January 2010 titled The Love Uncompromised EP. The EP has sold over 7,000 copies to date. Castro completed a tour with Matt Hires
Matt Hires
Matt Hires is an American singer-songwriter from Tampa, Florida. Drawing inspiration from influences as disparate as The Band, Sufjan Stevens, Wilco and Ryan Adams, Matt became the first artist to sign with F-Stop Music, an imprint of Atlantic Records.- Biography :As a cabinet store worker by day...
and Caitlin Crosby
Caitlin Crosby
Caitlin Crosby is an American singer-songwriter and actress.-Life and career:While in junior high school, Crosby began playing music in church bands. During her teenage years, she was accepted into Beverly Hills High School theater program, where she first began her acting career...
and traveled to Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and The Philippines to promote his EP and album. He then toured a second time with band Camera Can't Lie
Camera Can't Lie
Camera Can't Lie is an American rock band based out of Minneapolis. They were discovered and are currently managed by the Grammy Award-winning record producer, Stephen Short. The band is constantly on tour and have so far released a debut full-length album, Love the Noise, along with a...
and his younger brother Michael as his opening acts to promote his album.
Band members
A large audition was held during the fall of 2009 in Hollywood, California for Castro's band. The band played their first live show together on September 25, 2009 when they headlined the opening night of the Texas State Fair. His band members are as followed:- Stephen Kanicka (Lead guitar, vocals)
- Jordan Critz (Keys, rhythm guitar, Vocals)
- Ben Davis (Bass, vocals)
- Jason Dering (Drums)
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|||
| 2010 | Jason Castro Jason Castro (album) Jason Castro is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by Jason Castro. The album was released April 13, 2010.-Background:On April 12, 2009, Jason signed to Atlantic Records, and released his first official single, "Let's Just Fall in Love Again," which peaked at #113 on Billboard Hot 100 and...
|
18 |
|
| Who I Am
|
198 |
|
|
EPs
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|||
| 2010 | The Love Uncompromised EP
|
94 |
|
Who I Am EP
|
— | ||
Changing Colors: Live From Studio 1290
|
— |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Pop Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
US Christ Hot Christian Songs Christian Songs is a Billboard chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.... |
US Christ AC |
||||
| 2008 | "White Christmas White Christmas A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere... " |
— | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| 2009 | "Let's Just Fall in Love Again" | 113 | 94 | — | — | — | — | The Love Uncompromised EP | |
| 2010 | "That's What I'm Here For" | 121 | — | 17 | — | — | — | Jason Castro | |
| "Over the Rainbow Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie... " |
— | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "You Are" | — | — | — | 84 | 11 | 20 | Who I Am | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Other releases
iTunes Exclusive "American Idol Live Performances"- "Daydream"
- "I Just Want To Be Your Everything"
- "Hallelujah"
iTunes Exclusive "American Idol Studio Performances"1
- "If I Fell"
- "Michelle"
- "Fragile"
- "Travelin' Thru"
- "Over The Rainbow"
- "I Don't Wanna Cry"
- "Memory"
- "Forever In Blue Jeans"
- "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Demos and live recordings (pre-Idol songs)
- "The Other Side"
- "Someday" (with Jackie Castro)
- "A Song About Stars"
- "So Fast"
- "I'm Not Who I Was"
- "CrazyCrazy (Gnarls Barkley song)"Crazy" is the debut single from Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere...
" (live) - "SanteriaSanteria (song)"Santeria" is a song by Sublime on the album Sublime. The song includes the bassline and guitar riff from Sublime's earlier song "Lincoln Highway Dub" off the album Robbin' the Hood...
" (live) - "Clumsy" (live)
Soundtracks
- "Hallelujah", Amar a Morir soundtrack
External links
- Official website
- American Idol profile
- Jason Castro at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...