Bianca Ryan
| Bianca Ryan | |
|---|---|
 Bianca Ryan at Live Nation's Nextfest concert in Irvine, California, July 2007 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bianca Taylor Ryan |
| Born | September 1, 1994 |
| Origin | Philadelphia, U.S. |
| Genres | Gospel, pop, R&B, Christmas music |
| Occupations | Singer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | SYCO Music/Columbia Records (2006-2008) Music Forever (2008-2009) Tuned In Music (2009-present) Contact: Shawn Ryan email: info@biancaryan.com |
| Website | biancaryan.com |
Bianca Taylor Ryan (born September 1, 1994) is an American singer and guitarist, who won the debut season of NBC's America's Got Talent at age 11.[1]
Ryan's self-titled first CD was recorded just after her 12th birthday and released on November 14, 2006; Bianca Ryan broke into the Billboard 200 at #57.[2] One month later, the EP Christmas Everyday! was released as a promotional giveaway.
She has since performed in such countries as Australia and Switzerland.[3] Her first concert tour took her across the United States as the "special guest" artist for Live Nation's Nextfest.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Personal life
Bianca is the second of four children of Shawn and Janette Ryan. Her father, a fan of the Rolling Stones, named her after Mick Jagger's ex-wife. Bianca has an older brother, Shawn, and two younger siblings, Isabella and Jagger.[5] Bianca comes from a diverse ethnic family: Irish, German, and Italian ancestry from her father's side and her maternal grandmother is Japanese.[6][7]
For the 2006–2007 academic year, Ryan was a sixth-grader. "I'm in school most of the time," she said, "and keep up on my work when I have to go on the road."
Just before the release of her CD, Ryan's grandmother, Marie Ryan, who had struggled with Alzheimer's disease for five years, died.[8] The following week, Mayor John F. Street proclaimed November 13 "Bianca Ryan Day" in Philadelphia and presented Ryan with a key to the city.[9]
[edit] America's Got Talent (2006)
 |
11-year-old Bianca Ryan auditions for America's Got Talent (Season 1), belting out a Broadway show tune to a rousing ovation.
|
| Problems listening to this file? See media help. | |
While searching the Internet for auditions early in 2006, Ryan discovered that Idol judge Simon Cowell was serving as executive producer for an upcoming competition titled America's Got Talent. For her audition appearance, she chose the Dreamgirls showtune "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (originally performed by Jennifer Holliday), surprising the audience and the judges with her powerful voice. Simon Cowell was so moved after seeing her performance that he announced during a press conference that, "Bianca Ryan is potentially one of the best singers I have ever heard in my life."[10]
By March 2006, a copy of Ryan's audition had climbed into the 100 "Top Rated (All Time) in Music" videos at YouTube.[11]
For the semi-finals of the show Bianca performed "Piece of My Heart" made famous by Janis Joplin. Although the judges loved the performance they didn't think the song was right for her. America's Got Talent's finale results aired on August 17, 2006, during which Bianca was announced as the winner of the first season of the show.
Ryan made a brief appearance during the show's second season finale. In a video recorded during the Nextfest tour, she wished "the best of luck" to the top two finalists.[12]
[edit] Career
On August 24, 2006, Ryan announced on her website that she had flown to New York to meet with representatives from a "major record label" and some of the recording industry's top songwriters.[13] The Northeast Times reported that same day that Ryan met with Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster and was being managed by Peter Rudge.[14]
On September 18, 2006, Ryan signed a five-album record deal with SYCOmusic as part of Columbia Records.[13] Ryan is the first U.S. artist to sign with SYCOmusic.[15]
The following month, Ryan was in Los Angeles to record her first CD, featuring cover versions of "The Rose" and "I Believe I Can Fly" and original songs like "I Wish That" and "Pray for a Better Day".
Bianca Ryan was released on November 14, 2006; eight days later, the album broke in at #57 on the Billboard album charts, showcasing "her gargantuan chops and sweet charm," wrote Matt Collar of Allmusic. Though he called the arrangements "somewhat over-the-top pop creations" and "grandiose given Ryan's age, her musical aspirations are more than matched by her truly impressive vocal talent".[16] Los Angeles Daily News reviewer Sandra Barrera said that Bianca handled the songs "like the old pro that her big, powerful voice makes you think she is".[17]
The following year, she released the single "That's Not Me" on August 7, 2007.[18] In 2008, she left SYCO/Columbia Records and released her second holiday EP, True Meaning of Christmas on November 3rd, 2009 on the indie Music Forever label.[19]
In 2010, Ryan recorded a song inspired by Twilight: New Moon called "In My Head."[20] The single was released digitally on August 21, 2010 through the indie label, Tuned In Music and Media.[21]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Holiday |
AU | DU | IR | SW | GE | |||
| 2006 | Bianca Ryan | 57 | — | 46 | 52 | 1 | 28 | 45 |
|
[edit] EPs
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Holiday |
AU | DU | IR | SW | GE | |||
| 2007 | Christmas Everyday!
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
| 2009 | The True Meaning of Christmas
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
| "—" denotes the album didn't chart. | |||||||||
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions[22] | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Radio + Records Chart | Dutch Mega Top 50 Chart | Dutch Top 40 Chart | |||
| 2006 | "You Light Up My Life" | — | — | — | Bianca Ryan |
| "Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Every Day?" | 1 | 52 | 15 | Christmas Everyday! | |
| 2007 | "That's Not Me" | - | - | - | That's Not Me (Single) |
| 2010 | "In My Head" | - | - | - | In My Head (Single) |
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Feature films
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 12 and Holding | Singing Girl | Released May 19, 2006 |
[edit] Other
| Year | Type | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Music Video | You Light Up My Life | Released: 2006 |
| 2009 | Music Video | About to Fall - The Wrecking | Released: September 8, 2010 |
[edit] Television
- Star Search
- Showtime at the Apollo
- The Tom Joyner Show
- America's Got Talent – six appearances (June 28, July 26, July 27, August 16, August 17, 2006, and August 21, 2007)
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show – two appearances (September 13 and November 16, 2006)
- The CW Morning Show – November 16, 2006
- Today – November 16, 2006
- The Oprah Winfrey Show – November 5, 2006
- Martha – November 20, 2006
- Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade – December 25, 2006
- 49th Pepsi 400 (from Daytona International Speedway), July 7, 2007
[edit] References
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Mahan, Colin. "Talent shines in finale". tv.com. http://www.tv.com/story/story.html&story_id=5918. Retrieved 20 August 2006.
- ^ "VH1.com : News : Game Clobbers Akon, Takes Albums Chart". vh1.com. http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1546450/20061122/game_the.jhtml?headlines=true. Retrieved 22 November 2006.
- ^ "Bianca Ryan Message Board (official Web site)". biancaryan.com. http://www.biancaryan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1785. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
- ^ "Bianca Ryan Sings "That's Not Me"". youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FviJxue7nwc. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Jeannie. "Bianca hits the high notes for the Eagles". Northeast Times. http://www.northeasttimes.com/2005/0901/singer.html. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
- ^ "Bianca Ryan biography". bianca-ryan.org. http://www.bianca-ryan.org/bianca-biography.html. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ^ "Wow, I've been moved to tears by Bianca ryan - Winner of America's Got Talent". ourstory.com. http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=140335. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
- ^ "Bianca Ryan Message Board (official Web site)". biancaryan.com. http://www.biancaryan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=558. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ^ Rice, William. "Bianca Ryan is honored by the city". newsgleaner.com. http://www.newsgleaner.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17480791&BRD=2340&PAG=461&dept_id=488595&rfi=6. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
- ^ "Philly 11-Year-Old Wows Judges". nbc10.com. http://www.nbc10.com/entertainment/9449871/detail.html. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
- ^ "Top Rated (All Time) in Music". youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/browse?t=a&p=5&s=tr&c=10&l=. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ^ "Bianca Ryan Message Board (official Web site)". biancaryan.com. http://www.biancaryan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17025&highlight=#17025. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
- ^ a b "Bianca Ryan The Official Site (News)". biancaryan.com. http://www.biancaryan.com/. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
- ^ Fritsky, Lauren. "Million-Dollar Baby!". northeasttimes.com. http://www.northeasttimes.com/2006/0824/bianca.html. Retrieved 2 September 2006.
- ^ "Bianca Ryan, 12-Year-Old Winner of America's Got Talent, First U. S. Signing to Columbia Records/SYCO". biz.yahoo.com. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060925/nym218.html?.v=43. Retrieved 25 September 2006.[dead link]
- ^ Collar, Matt. "Billboard.com – Discography – Bianca Ryan – Bianca Ryan". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=797728&aid=814501. Retrieved 16 November 2006.[dead link]
- ^ Barrera, Sandra. "BIANCA RYAN: "Bianca Ryan"". dailynews.com. http://www.dailynews.com/cdreviews/ci_4674585. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Not-Me/dp/B0013G63ZQ/ref=sr_shvl_album_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1323230015&sr=301-3
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SKWN4E/ref=sr_1_album_3_rd?ie=UTF8&child=B004SKWND0&qid=1323230015&sr=1-3
- ^ http://tunedinmusicandmedia.com/?p=573
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/In-My-Head/dp/B0045K0J4I/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323230015&sr=301-2
- ^ "Kelly Clarkson: Charts". acharts.us. http://www.acharts.us/performer/kelly_clarkson. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
[edit] Press
- Associated Press (August 17, 2006). "Pa. Girl Wins America's Got Talent". abcnews.go.com. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2327782. Retrieved 2006-12-16.[dead link]
- Sanner, Ann (December 10, 2006). "Bushes Join 'Dr. Phil' at Christmas Show". Associated Press. abcnews.go.com. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2715163. Retrieved 2006-12-16.[dead link]
[edit] External links
| Preceded by None |
America's Got Talent winner Season 1 (Summer 2006) |
Succeeded by Terry Fator |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- 1994 births
- America's Got Talent contestants
- American child actors
- American child singers
- American female guitarists
- American female singers
- American musicians of Japanese descent
- American musicians of German descent
- American musicians of Irish descent
- American musicians of Italian descent
- American people of German descent
- American people of Irish descent
- American people of Italian descent
- American people of Japanese descent
- Columbia Records artists
- Living people
- Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Participants in American reality television series
- Reality show winners
