Bo Bice
Bo Bice was the runner up in the fourth season of American Idol. The fans loved his deep baritone style as well as his ability to incorporate soul, country, blues, and rock.
Bo was born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1975. His given name is Harold Elwin, but his grandmother nicknamed him Bogart as a child and that was eventually shortened to Bo. Bo grew up in a musical family with his father playing the guitar, banjo, and mandolin, while his mom sang with her cousins in a group called the Singing Jays. Bo’s family moved to London in 1990 for his father’s work, but he dropped out of high school to return to Georgia. He completed his GED and took some classes at Calhoun Community College before dropping out to turn professional. He played the nightclub circuits in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe.
In 2005, he decided to try out for American Idol, even though he was older than most of those auditioning and his style of southern rock didn’t exactly fit the American Idol image. He wowed the judges with his version of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post” early on. During the show, he also sang “Free Bird” by Lynard Skynard and even “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” by Elton John. The fans loved his style and Bo made it into the finale. The finale aired on May 24 and 25 with over 37 million people voting. Bo eventually lost to Carrie Underwood. He received a bit of flack for saying in a Rolling Stone interview that his last thought before going into the finale was “Please God, don’t let me win this thing.”
Bo signed with RCA Records and released his first single, “Inside Your Heaven” a month after the finale. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot Single Sales chart. The B-side of this single was “Vehicle” which featured Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora. Bo sang with Willie Nelson at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. Afterwards, Willie invited him to perform at Farm Aid. In 2005, Bo also appeared on the single “Brown Skin Girl” from the Carlos Santana album All That I Am.
Bo also married his girlfriend Caroline Fisher in June 2005. But, his health suffered in the late summer of 2005. First, he broke his foot while performing in New Hampshire. Then on August 18, he was rushed to the hospital due to an intestinal blockage. He had emergency surgery that sidelined him from the tour for a few shows. Bo had to have surgery again in October 2006 for reoccurring intestinal pain.
In December 2005, Bo released his debut album The Real Thing. It debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 227,000 copies the first week of release. Bo’s band, SugarMoney, appears on three tracks of a DualDisc that was released with the album. In September 2006, Bo released a remake of the 1968 hit “Time Has Come Today” on several online music sites.
Bo currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee and it is rumored that his second album will be titled American Blood. He has also been recording vocals for a compilation album titled Church of Southern Rock. You can find out more about Bo at his official web page.
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