Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and the winner of the eighth season of American Idol.
Prior to Idol, he self-released a 2007 album, Brand New Shoes.
Allen's Idol coronation song, "No Boundaries" and his version of "Heartless" both charted within the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Allen's post-Idol self-titled album was released on November 17, 2009, by Jive Records. The album debuted at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album's lead single, "Live Like We're Dying", was released on September 21, 2009, and peaked at number 18 in the U.S. with combined sales of over 1.7 million. Allen's second major-label album Thank You Camellia was released on May 22, 2012, and the lead single "The Vision of Love" was released March 26, 2012.
Allen released his fifth studio album, Letting You In, on March 18, 2016.
Early life Allen was born in Jacksonville, Arkansas, to Kimberly (née Wood) and Neil Allen. He is the elder of two sons; his younger brother, Daniel, is a college cheerleading coach.
Allen's interest in music began very early. He began playing the viola in elementary school and went on to play the instrument in the Mills University Studies High School orchestra, eventually winning a spot in the Arkansas all-state orchestra. Additionally, he taught himself to play the guitar at age 13, and also plays the piano. His musical influences, as stated in his Idol confessionals, include the Beatles, Jamie Cullum, Jason Mraz, Pat Monahan, John Mayer and Michael Jackson. Allen played publicly for several years before trying out for Idol, even opening for earlier Idol contestant Sean Michel on multiple occasions. He has described his decision to audition for American Idol as a "last hurrah" before giving up his pursuit of a music career.
After high school, Allen moved to Conway, Arkansas, to attend the University of Central Arkansas, where he was a business major and a member of Chi Alpha campus ministries. During college, he participated in Christian missionary work around the world, including in Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, South Africa, Spain and Thailand. Allen also served as a worship leader for New Life Church in Conway and Little Rock, AR, as well as for the Chi Alpha campus ministry. He dropped out of college in the middle of his junior year to pursue music professionally, performing in local bars and working as a shoe salesman to make ends meet. Allen planned to go back to college to finish his degree and "get a real job", but instead was persuaded to audition for American Idol along with his brother Daniel and his friends Cale Mills, Robbie Busick and Andee Walker. Kris stated that "If I had not made it through in American Idol, I would have gone back to college and gotten my business degree."
Career
Pre-Idol and Brand New Shoes Allen realized during college that he wanted to play music professionally and began trying to write music. He played his first gig at a local venue in downtown Conway during his sophomore year, and he went on to drop out of college in the middle of his junior year to follow his dream of becoming a professional musician. He worked as a shoe salesman at a sporting goods store during the day to make ends meet and continued playing gigs in Little Rock and Fayetteville at night. In 2007, Allen wrote and self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes with college friends and bandmates Michael Holmes (drums) and Chase Erwin (bass). The album's title makes reference to Allen's days as a shoe salesman, and only 600 copies of the album were produced, most of which were given to family and friends.
American Idol
Allen auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol in Louisville, Kentucky, with his brother Daniel, who did not make it to Hollywood. In the early stages of the season, he was among the finalists (along with Allison Iraheta) that received the least amount of screen time. Only several seconds of his first audition (and neither of his Hollywood Week solo performances) were shown, although his group performance with White Chocolate (including fellow finalist Matt Giraud) was aired in its entirety. The judges also asked him to participate in an un-aired sing-off with another contestant, Kenny Hoffpauer, before they allowed him to enter the semifinals round.
Throughout the competition, Allen received many compliments for his folk-inspired interpretations of modern pop songs. He played several instruments during his performances, including the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the keyboard, and the piano. His performance of "To Make You Feel My Love" as part of the Top 11 earned praise from the judges, with Simon Cowell commenting, "I am genuinely beginning to think you have a shot of doing well in this competition." In the finals, he performed his own arrangement of "Ain't No Sunshine" on a keyboard, with a few musicians on stage, which earned praise from the judges. Cowell lauded it as Allen's "best performance so far."
On the first Top 7 night, Allen chose to sing the Oscar-winning song "Falling Slowly" from the indie film Once. While Randy Jackson described it as "pitchy from note one", Kara DioGuardi declared it "one of your best moments ever." Due to time constraints, Paula Abdul and Cowell did not comment, but on the following night's results show, Cowell stated "Kris, you were brilliant." Allen subsequently received a signed record and other gifts from the original artists, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. On the second Top 7 show, Allen brought back the guitar for the fourth time and performed an original, acoustic version of "She Works Hard for the Money", complete with bongo drums and the band on stage. This earned praise from all four judges, with Abdul remarking "There aren't many men who are willing to shop in the women's department. You shopped and found a perfect fit." For his second Top 3 performance, Allen impressed the judges with an acoustic arrangement of Kanye West's "Heartless", prompting Jackson to state that he preferred it to West's original and The Fray's cover version. Cowell agreed and said, "I had written you out of the competition but that has changed after that performance." This performance helped Kris move on to the finals and win.
After being voted into the Top 3, Allen returned to Arkansas, filming the hometown material needed for the next two American Idol episodes. Allen's homecoming parade was greeted by a crowd estimated to be greater than 20,000. Allen performed at three concerts in Little Rock and Conway, Arkansas, playing many of his popular songs during the competition, including "Man in the Mirror", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Falling Slowly" and "She Works Hard for the Money" at the venues, as well as "Come Together" at the studio of local Fox affiliate KLRT-TV. He accompanied himself on all of these songs with his guitar.
During the final performance show, Allen performed a reprise of "Ain't No Sunshine", Simon Fuller's choice of "What's Going On" and the coronation song, "No Boundaries". During the final results show, he performed a duet with Keith Urban, singing Urban's single "Kiss a Girl", as well as a series of medleys with his fellow Season 8 contestants. Before the results were announced, Allen performed "We Are the Champions" with eventual runner-up Adam Lambert and Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen.
On May 20, 2009, Kris Allen was declared the winner of the eighth season of American Idol, becoming the first married contestant to claim the title, as well as the sixth winner from the show's inception from the Southern United States. Allen also became the first winner to accept a trophy shaped like a microphone. Nearly 100 million votes were cast during the finale, setting a new world record for a televised singing competition. Unlike the previous season, the winning margin was undisclosed. Numerous sources, including the Associated Press, claimed that the margin "wasn't even close". Allen has admitted that the alleged disparity in votes was a "total surprise" to him.
Certain commentators labeled the win as an "upset" since runner-up Adam Lambert had received a significant amount of media attention throughout the season and was widely perceived to be the show's front-runner. Allen's victory was seen as highly controversial as viewers and the media speculated about the details of the result. However, during the Top 3 results show, host Ryan Seacrest had revealed that the margin between Allen and Lambert was fewer than a million votes. Fox and AT&T have stated that they "stand by the outcome" and are "absolutely certain" that "Kris Allen is the American Idol".
Performances and results Week Theme Song choice Original artist Order # Result Audition Auditioner's Choice "A Song for You" Leon Russell N/A Advanced Hollywood Rounds, Part 1 First Solo "For Once in My Life" Stevie Wonder N/A Advanced Hollywood Rounds, Part 2 Group Performance "I Want You Back" The Jackson 5 1 Advanced Hollywood Rounds, Part 3 Second Solo "Everything" Michael Bublé N/A Advanced Top 36/Semi-Final 2 Billboard Hot 100 Hits to Date "Man in the Mirror" Michael Jackson 6 Advanced Top 13 Michael Jackson "Remember the Time" Michael Jackson 6 Safe Top 11 Grand Ole Opry "Make You Feel My Love" Bob Dylan 3 Safe Top 10 Motown "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" Marvin Gaye 2 Safe Top 9 Top Downloads "Ain't No Sunshine" Bill Withers 9 Safe Top 8 Year They Were Born "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" Don Henley 2 Safe Top 7 Songs from the Cinema "Falling Slowly" Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová 6 Safe Top 7 Disco "She Works Hard for the Money" Donna Summer 2 Safe Top 5 Rat Pack Standards "The Way You Look Tonight" Fred Astaire 1 Bottom 3Top 4Rock and Roll Duet "Renegade"with Danny Gokey Styx 3Safe Solo "Come Together" The Beatles 4Top 3 Judges' Choice "Apologize" OneRepublic 2Safe Contestant's Choice "Heartless" Kanye West 5Top 2 Contestant's Choice "Ain't No Sunshine" Bill Withers 2Winner Simon Fuller's Choice "What's Going On" Marvin Gaye 4 Coronation Song "No Boundaries" Kris Allen 6 Due to the judges using their one save to save Matt Giraud, the Top 7 remained intact for another week. When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Allen was among the Bottom 3, but declared safe first.
After winning Idol, Allen made his Billboard Hot 100 debut with five songs charting within the top 100. His coronation single "No Boundaries" debuted at number 11, followed by "Heartless" at number 16, "Ain't No Sunshine" at number 37, "Apologize" at number 66, and "Falling Slowly" at number 94. "No Boundaries" also topped the iTunes singles chart following the Idol season finale. On June 7, 2009, Allen performed the National Anthem at Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals to a packed house including Adam Levine, Jack Nicholson, Rihanna, Paula Abdul and Leonardo DiCaprio. Following the performance, which was described as "executed to perfection", the announcement was made that Allen had signed a record deal with Jive Records (along with fellow finalist Allison Iraheta). His major label debut was quickly scheduled for a Fall 2009 release.
Kris Allen (2009–2011)
On his self-titled debut album, Allen collaborated with Claude Kelly, David Hodges, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, Salaam Remi and Joe King of The Fray. He also worked with Toby Gad, Alex Band of The Calling, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Chris Daughtry and Mat Kearney for the album. Allen's debut single, "Live Like We're Dying" was released via Z100 in New York on September 21, 2009. On November 6, 2009, his music video for "Live Like We're Dying" premiered on AOL's PopEater.com. "Live Like We're Dying" would go on to peak at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieve platinum status with over 1.7 million in combined sales.