Clay Aiken
From WhatRumors: The Celebrity Gossip Wiki
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Thought of as the biggest long-shot to ever try out for American Idol, Clay Aiken dominated the show up until the finale. His charm, unconventional looks, and amazing voice helped him to shatter record sales, gain a rabid fanbase known as "Claymates", and become one of the most recognizable performers in the history of American Idol.
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Career
American Idol
His rise to media domination almost didn't happen. Clay was convinced he wanted to try out for a reality show but his first choice was The Amazing Race. The mother of the autistic boy Clay worked with told him to give this new show American Idol a try. Clay auditioned and the judges immediately laughed off his chances of advancing based on his nerdy appearance. But that changed when they heard Clay begin to sing and sent him through the first round to Hollywood. He was cut from the top 32 and was sent home by the judges. Given one more chance as a wildcard contestant, Clay chose to sing Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". The viewers responded immediately and voted Clay through to the top 12.
From there, he was unstoppable. When judges questioned his choice in personal style, Clay rolled with the punches and let the Idol crew work his look over. The fans, who dubbed themselves "Claymates", responded and Clay kept moving up until he made the final 2. It wasn't meant to be, as he lost by just 130,000 votes. Over 24 million votes cast the night before. Considering the career of the winner, Ruben Studdard, losing was a good thing.
Music
Recognizing the buying power of fangirls who felt Clay was robbed, Clive Davis sent Clay straight to the studio to work on his first album. Singles released of Clay's performances on Idol immediately went platinum. His first solo release, "Measure of a Man", became an international success and sold over 2 million copies. His next CD, a release full of Christmas music called "Merry Christmas With Love", hit the stores in 2004 and went on to sell over 1 million copies. His third release, a set of covers, debuted in the Billboard top five and he became only the fourth artist ever to have their first 3 releases debut in the top 5. His last release was in 2006 and was a set of four songs exclusive to Wal Mart before hitting iTunes in 2007. While it didn't break records like his first 3 releases, it proved the runner up from a reality television show could sell more albums than most of the actual winners of the singing contest.
While he took a break from working in the studio, Clay decided to head to Broadway. He grabbed the role of Sir Robin in "Spamalot" in early 2008 and signed on for an exclusive 4 month run. Claymates, desperate to see their idol perform up close on Broadway, helped to drive ticket sales higher than before.
Personal Life
A Southern Boy With Talent
A southern boy from day one, Clay was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1978. His parents, Faye Aiken and Vernon Grissom, seemed to be exact opposites of each other. His mother was sweet and loving while his father was a violent drunk. Luckily for both Clay and his mother, Vernon walked out on his family when Clay was barely a year old. His mother remarried a year later to Ray Parker who became the father figure Clay needed. As a teen, he changed his last name to Aiken so he could close the chapter of his life containing his biological father.
Singing was a passion from his early childhood. He stepped up to sing "Islands In The Stream" at the age of 5 for a high school pep rally and his mother's coworkers would pay him to sing at their work when he was just 3. Throughout the rest of his childhood and teenage years, he participated in youth choirs and was a part of any musical or play in the Raleigh area. What free time he had left, he devoted to helping the youth that came from a broken home just like he did and special needs children. This continued on into his college years, as Clay worked to get a degree so he could become a teacher.
Relationships
Is he or isn't he?
Clay has never spoken publicly about his personal relationships. His unwillingness to work his way through the panties of all the hot Claymates sparked a rumor Clay was gay. Clay's publicist refused to even address the rumors until they began to consume internet gossip sites. Clay gave interviews to Rolling Stone, People magazine, and Barbara Walters. When asked bluntly by People if he was gay, he had this to say:
| — Clay speaking to People magazine about the rumors on his sexuality in 2006 |
The question only became more of a media circus when a tabloid published an interview with a man who said he had sex with Clay in 2005. In 2006, the rumors continued in the tabloids as "proof" was published of a chat between Clay and another man that included webcam photos.
In May 2008, TMZ broke the story that Clay's longtime friend and producer was pregnant with his child. Despite this pregnancy, the debate over Clay's sexuality rages on and got so intense his fansites had to shut down their message boards permanently.
He is.
After years of heated arguments, speculation and flat-out denials, Aiken came out of the closet as a gay man on the cover of the October 6th, 2008 edition of People magazine.
See Also
Gallery
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