David Roland Cook (born December 20, 1982) is an American rock singer-songwriter. On May 21, 2008, he won the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol. Prior to Idol he released an album entitled Analog Heart. Early life
Cook was born in Houston, Texas, but was raised in Blue Springs, Missouri. His parents are Beth (née Frye) and Stan Cook. He is the middle of three brothers. Adam is the oldest, and Andrew is the youngest.
Cook's interest in music began early in life; he received his first guitar at the age of 2. He began singing in second grade, when his elementary school music teacher gave him a solo in a school choir performance. He proceeded to perform in virtually every Christmas and PTA program. 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.
He was also an avid baseball player during high school. After losing interest in sports, 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 family, "I just want to give myself until I'm 26 years old to get a job."
Musical background
Cook was the lead singer and guitarist of the band Axium from 1999 until 2006. He formed Axium in his junior year of high school with drummer Bobby Kerr. One of the band's songs, "Hold", was picked up by AMC Theatres Movie Tunes and was played before previews on over 20,000 screens nationwide. Axium was also named one of the top 15 independent bands in the country in the "Got Milk?" independent band contest, and it was chosen as the best band in Kansas City in 2004.
In 2006, after the breakup of Axium, Cook relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joined the regional touring band Midwest Kings, playing guitar, bass, and singing backup vocals. He recorded one EP, Incoherent with Desire to Move On, with the band in 2006. He also worked as a bartender at several Tulsa clubs, including Blank Slate and Rehab Lounge.
Cook released a solo independent album, Analog Heart, in 2006, for which he also designed the artwork. The album was chosen as the fourth-best CD released in 2006 by website Music Equals Life. Cook also won the Urban Tulsa Weekly's "Absolute Best of Tulsa" award for "Best Locally Produced, Independent Album" in 2007. He had completed recording his sophomore album before his appearance on American Idol. Over the weekend of April 18 to April 20, 2008, Analog Heart was listed as the number one album for "Today's Top MP3 Albums" on Amazon.com. Soon there after, the album was removed from Amazon. His musical influences include Our Lady Peace, Alice in Chains, Big Wreck, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Switchfoot, Bon Jovi and Collective Soul.
American Idol
Overview
Cook auditioned for American Idol in Omaha, Nebraska, performing Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer." He originally did not plan to try out for the show; he came to the auditions initially to support his younger brother Andrew (who did not make it to Hollywood) and then, at his brother's urging, David tried out himself. For his first Hollywood audition, Cook performed "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Cook took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments. Besides his Hollywood audition, he also accompanied himself on electric guitar for his performances of "All Right Now," "Hello," "Day Tripper," "I'm Alive," "Baba O'Riley," "Dare You to Move," and "Dream Big," and on acoustic guitar for "Little Sparrow," "All I Really Need Is You," and "The World I Know." His white, left-handed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar has the letters "AC" on it; as Cook told TV Guide, "I have two brothers, Adam and Andrew. So, because of superstition, I put their initials on everything growing up." Since the Top 12 week, he has also been wearing an orange wristband to support a 7-year-old fan, Lindsey Rose, with leukemia. Cook's performance of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" was highly praised by all three judges, especially Simon Cowell. Cowell later said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the performance "was in a different league to anything we've heard on the season so far," and although he knew where the arrangement came from (Chris Cornell's remake of the Michael Jackson original), "that doesn't really matter." The performance has received well over 4.5 million views on YouTube. Cook's rendition of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" was also highly praised, receiving a standing ovation from Randy Jackson. Another of Cook's performances, The Beatles' "Day Tripper", was credited to Whitesnake. Seattle-based band Doxology has claimed that Cook's perfo
rmance of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" was based on a version the band recorded over a year ago. On April 1, before performing his self-arranged rendition of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" on American Idol, Cook responded to Ryan Seacrest in the interview session, revealing that his performance of "Eleanor Rigby" was based on Neil Zaza's and Doxology's versions. He also reiterated the credits of Whitesnake and Chris Cornell. Despite the controversy, critics praised Cook for choosing versions of songs that fit his vocal style. His arrangements of "Hello," "Little Sparrow," "Always Be My Baby," "All I Really Need Is You," "Baba O'Riley," "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" were original arrangements.
Cook won the seventh season of American Idol on May 21, 2008, receiving 56% of the votes, with 12 million votes over David Archuleta as the runner-up. Cook then sang "The Time of My Life", the winning song of the 2008 American Idol Songwriter's Competition.
During the finale, Cook appeared in a commercial for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Fellow finalist David Archuleta appeared in a separate commercial parodying the same scene. Both commercials were directed by Brett Ratner.
Post-Idol career
For the Billboard chart week ending May 25, 2008, a week following Cook's American Idol victory, Cook broke several Billboard chart records. Most notable was his record shattering feat of having eleven songs debut on the Hot 100 that week, beating the previous record set by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) in 2006 when she had six songs debut on the chart. Cook's first single, "The Time of My Life" led the pack, debuting at #3 on the Hot 100. Cook's eleven charting songs also gave him the most songs by one artist on the Hot 100 of any week in the Nielsen SoundScan era (which began in 1991), and the most of any era since The Beatles placed 14 songs on the chart the week of April 11, 1964. In addition, that same week Cook also broke the record for the most debuts on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, where he placed 14 debut entries, the record of which was previously six set by Bon Jovi in 2007. Cook's 17 entries had a combined total of 944,000 digital downloads in the first week of selling. In June 2008, Cook became the first ever American Idol winner to have success in the UK singles chart with a winner's single. The song reached #61 due to downloads alone.
Cook has been working with Ed Roland (Collective Soul), Zac Maloy (The Nixons), Jason Wade (Lifehouse), Neal Tiemann (MWK) and Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) on his upcoming album, which is set to be released in November 2008. The producer for the album is Rob Cavallo. According to DirectCurrentMusic.com, Cook's new album has a scheduled BMG street date of November 11, though that date is tentative.
Cook has also signed an endorsement deal with Skechers, that will run through December 2009. At the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, Cook won the Best Reality/Variety Star award.
MP3 Download
You can download the song compilation by clicking the link below. The file is enclosed in a zip file. If you have problems downloading or extracting the file, just read the FAQ.
David Cook Song Compilation - Download here
Cook was born in Houston, Texas, but was raised in Blue Springs, Missouri. His parents are Beth (née Frye) and Stan Cook. He is the middle of three brothers. Adam is the oldest, and Andrew is the youngest.
Cook's interest in music began early in life; he received his first guitar at the age of 2. He began singing in second grade, when his elementary school music teacher gave him a solo in a school choir performance. He proceeded to perform in virtually every Christmas and PTA program. 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.
He was also an avid baseball player during high school. After losing interest in sports, 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 family, "I just want to give myself until I'm 26 years old to get a job."
Musical background
Cook was the lead singer and guitarist of the band Axium from 1999 until 2006. He formed Axium in his junior year of high school with drummer Bobby Kerr. One of the band's songs, "Hold", was picked up by AMC Theatres Movie Tunes and was played before previews on over 20,000 screens nationwide. Axium was also named one of the top 15 independent bands in the country in the "Got Milk?" independent band contest, and it was chosen as the best band in Kansas City in 2004.
In 2006, after the breakup of Axium, Cook relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joined the regional touring band Midwest Kings, playing guitar, bass, and singing backup vocals. He recorded one EP, Incoherent with Desire to Move On, with the band in 2006. He also worked as a bartender at several Tulsa clubs, including Blank Slate and Rehab Lounge.
Cook released a solo independent album, Analog Heart, in 2006, for which he also designed the artwork. The album was chosen as the fourth-best CD released in 2006 by website Music Equals Life. Cook also won the Urban Tulsa Weekly's "Absolute Best of Tulsa" award for "Best Locally Produced, Independent Album" in 2007. He had completed recording his sophomore album before his appearance on American Idol. Over the weekend of April 18 to April 20, 2008, Analog Heart was listed as the number one album for "Today's Top MP3 Albums" on Amazon.com. Soon there after, the album was removed from Amazon. His musical influences include Our Lady Peace, Alice in Chains, Big Wreck, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Switchfoot, Bon Jovi and Collective Soul.
American Idol
Overview
Cook auditioned for American Idol in Omaha, Nebraska, performing Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer." He originally did not plan to try out for the show; he came to the auditions initially to support his younger brother Andrew (who did not make it to Hollywood) and then, at his brother's urging, David tried out himself. For his first Hollywood audition, Cook performed "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Cook took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments. Besides his Hollywood audition, he also accompanied himself on electric guitar for his performances of "All Right Now," "Hello," "Day Tripper," "I'm Alive," "Baba O'Riley," "Dare You to Move," and "Dream Big," and on acoustic guitar for "Little Sparrow," "All I Really Need Is You," and "The World I Know." His white, left-handed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar has the letters "AC" on it; as Cook told TV Guide, "I have two brothers, Adam and Andrew. So, because of superstition, I put their initials on everything growing up." Since the Top 12 week, he has also been wearing an orange wristband to support a 7-year-old fan, Lindsey Rose, with leukemia. Cook's performance of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" was highly praised by all three judges, especially Simon Cowell. Cowell later said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the performance "was in a different league to anything we've heard on the season so far," and although he knew where the arrangement came from (Chris Cornell's remake of the Michael Jackson original), "that doesn't really matter." The performance has received well over 4.5 million views on YouTube. Cook's rendition of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" was also highly praised, receiving a standing ovation from Randy Jackson. Another of Cook's performances, The Beatles' "Day Tripper", was credited to Whitesnake. Seattle-based band Doxology has claimed that Cook's perfo
rmance of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" was based on a version the band recorded over a year ago. On April 1, before performing his self-arranged rendition of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" on American Idol, Cook responded to Ryan Seacrest in the interview session, revealing that his performance of "Eleanor Rigby" was based on Neil Zaza's and Doxology's versions. He also reiterated the credits of Whitesnake and Chris Cornell. Despite the controversy, critics praised Cook for choosing versions of songs that fit his vocal style. His arrangements of "Hello," "Little Sparrow," "Always Be My Baby," "All I Really Need Is You," "Baba O'Riley," "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" were original arrangements.Cook won the seventh season of American Idol on May 21, 2008, receiving 56% of the votes, with 12 million votes over David Archuleta as the runner-up. Cook then sang "The Time of My Life", the winning song of the 2008 American Idol Songwriter's Competition.
During the finale, Cook appeared in a commercial for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Fellow finalist David Archuleta appeared in a separate commercial parodying the same scene. Both commercials were directed by Brett Ratner.
Post-Idol career
For the Billboard chart week ending May 25, 2008, a week following Cook's American Idol victory, Cook broke several Billboard chart records. Most notable was his record shattering feat of having eleven songs debut on the Hot 100 that week, beating the previous record set by Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) in 2006 when she had six songs debut on the chart. Cook's first single, "The Time of My Life" led the pack, debuting at #3 on the Hot 100. Cook's eleven charting songs also gave him the most songs by one artist on the Hot 100 of any week in the Nielsen SoundScan era (which began in 1991), and the most of any era since The Beatles placed 14 songs on the chart the week of April 11, 1964. In addition, that same week Cook also broke the record for the most debuts on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, where he placed 14 debut entries, the record of which was previously six set by Bon Jovi in 2007. Cook's 17 entries had a combined total of 944,000 digital downloads in the first week of selling. In June 2008, Cook became the first ever American Idol winner to have success in the UK singles chart with a winner's single. The song reached #61 due to downloads alone.Cook has been working with Ed Roland (Collective Soul), Zac Maloy (The Nixons), Jason Wade (Lifehouse), Neal Tiemann (MWK) and Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) on his upcoming album, which is set to be released in November 2008. The producer for the album is Rob Cavallo. According to DirectCurrentMusic.com, Cook's new album has a scheduled BMG street date of November 11, though that date is tentative.
Cook has also signed an endorsement deal with Skechers, that will run through December 2009. At the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, Cook won the Best Reality/Variety Star award.
MP3 Download
You can download the song compilation by clicking the link below. The file is enclosed in a zip file. If you have problems downloading or extracting the file, just read the FAQ.
David Cook Song Compilation - Download here
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