DAVID COOK

BIOGRAPHY

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.

Early life

Cook was born in Houston, Texas, raised in Blue Springs, Missouri, and currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His parents are Beth Frye and Stanley Cook. He is the middle of three children Adam being the elder and Andrew the youngest of the three. People reported on March 31, 2009 that David was canceling dates on his current tour due to "family matters". David's eldest brother, Adam, battled brain cancer since 1998 and died at 11:52 P.M. on Saturday, May 2, 2009. David was en route via airplane. Though not there, he had canceled several performances weeks earlier to see Adam and say their goodbyes. On May 3, 2009 at the "Race for Hope" in Washington, D.C., David announced the death of his brother during the awards speech. Then, 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. 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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cook_(singer)