Nick Fradiani
Nick Fradiani | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nicholas James Fradiani IV |
| Born | (38–39 years old) Guilford, Connecticut, United States |
| Genres | Rock, Pop |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels | Big Machine |
Nick Fradiani (38–39 years old) is an American singer from Guilford, Connecticut.[1] He rose to regional attention as the lead singer of pop/rock band Beach Avenue when they won the Battle of the Bands at Mohegan Sun in 2011. They gained national recognition in 2014 when they competed on the ninth season of the reality talent show America's Got Talent, although only making it to "Judgement Week".[2]
In 2015 Fradiani entered as a solo singer on the 14th season of the singing reality show competition American Idol. Fradiani won the show in May 2015, becoming the first winner from the Northeast region. He will headline the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2015, a 37-city tour over eight weeks featuring the top five contestants. The tour starts in July 2015 in Florida and ends late August in California.
Early life and education
Nicholas James Fradiani IV is the son of Nick Fradiani III, a musician, and Elizabeth Fradiani.[3][4] His father performed in clubs and on cruise ships. He also taught Nick his son to play drums, giving him a drum set when he was two years old, then to play piano, and later how to hold a guitar.[4] Fradiani has a sister, Kristen.
Fradiani has a Bachelor's degree in history from Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.[5] As a musician in a band, he held a daytime job as a computer software salesman.[citation needed] Fradiani was also a high school basketball coach and taught history at the local high school.
Beach Avenue
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: overview. You can help by adding to it. (May 2015) |
Fradiani rose to regional attention as the lead singer of Milford, Connecticut-based pop/rock band Beach Avenue when they won the Battle of the Bands at Mohegan Sun in 2011. The five member band was known to release original materials including Something to Believe In EP in June 2012 and Driving That Road EP in July 2013. In 2014, they released two singles "Coming Your Way" and "Feel the Beat".[6]
The members of the band are:
- Nick Fradiani, IV – lead vocals and guitar
- Nick Abraham – lead guitar, mandoline, and backing vocals
- Nick Fradiani, III (Fradiani's father) – keyboards and backing vocals
- Jonah Ferrigno – bass
- Ryan Zipp – drums
Three members of the band, Fradiani, Abraham and Zipp gained national recognition 2014 when they competed on the ninth season of the reality talent show America's Got Talent, singing their original composed song "Coming Your Way".[7] Fradiani cites singing the original song on the show as his "biggest career break".[8] The audition was aired on NBC in July 2014, and the song entered the iTunes Pop Singles Chart reaching #53; it sold 6,000 copies in the first week after the televised audition.[9] All four judges voted "yes" for the band to go to the next round. The band made it to "Judgement Week"[10] broadcast on July 22 and 23, 2014 before elimination. The song remained in the Top 200 for over two weeks, selling more than 10,000 copies.
American Idol
| This section needs expansion with: overview. You can help by adding to it. (May 2015) |
Fradiani auditioned in New York City and his golden ticket song was Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes".[11] During Hollywood Week, he sang "Babylon" by David Gray. He sang Train's "Drops of Jupiter" during the House of Blues Showcase, earning his spot in the Top 24. He was announced as the winner on May 13, 2015, with Clark Beckham the other contestant/finalist finishing runner-up. Fradiani's winning song was "Beautiful Life".
Performances
| Week | Theme | Song(s) | Original artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions | Contestant's choice | "In Your Eyes" | Peter Gabriel |
| Hollywood Week | Group round | "Rude" | Magic! |
| Hollywood Week | Solo round | "Babylon" | David Gray |
| House of Blues (Top 48) | Contestant's choice | "Drops of Jupiter" | Train |
| Top 24 | Contestant's choice | "Thinking Out Loud" | Ed Sheeran |
| Top 16 | Music of Motown | "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" | Stevie Wonder |
| Top 12 | "Back to the Start" | "In Your Eyes" | Peter Gabriel |
| Top 11 (first week) | "Get the Party Started" | "Wake Me Up" | Avicii |
| Top 11 (second week) | Songs from the Movies | "Danger Zone" from Top Gun | Kenny Loggins |
| Top 9 | Songs from the 1980s | "Man in the Mirror" | Michael Jackson |
| Top 8 | Kelly Clarkson | "Catch My Breath" | Kelly Clarkson |
| Top 7 | Billboard Hot 100 | "Teenage Dream" | Katy Perry |
| Top 6 | "American classics" as deemed by viewers[12] |
"American Girl" "Only the Good Die Young" |
Tom Petty Billy Joel |
| Top 5 | "Arena anthems"[13] | "Harder to Breathe" "Maggie May" |
Maroon 5 Rod Stewart |
| Top 4 | Judges' Hometown Contestant's own soul |
"Bright Lights" "What Hurts the Most" |
Matchbox Twenty Mark Willis[14] |
| Top 3 | Scott Borchetta's Choice Judges' Choice Hometown's Choice |
"Because the Night" "Back Home" "I'll Be" |
Patti Smith Andy Grammer Edwin McCain |
| Top 2 | Simon Fuller's Choice Favorite Performance Winner's Single |
"Bright Lights" "I Won't Give Up" "Beautiful Life" |
Matchbox Twenty Jason Mraz Nick Fradiani |
| Finale | Encore with original artist | "Back Home" "Honey, I'm Good." |
Andy Grammer |
Discography
EPs
- as part of Beach Avenue
| Title and details | Track listing | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Something to Believe In
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Driving That Road
|
|
Singles
Beach Avenue
| Year | Title | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "Songman" | |
| 2014 | "Coming Your Way" (also performed during America's Got Talent) |
|
| "Feel the Beat" |
Solo
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [15] |
US Digital | |||
| 2015 | "Beautiful Life" | 93 | 22 |
|
References
- ^ Southern, Rodney. "American Idol 14: Interesting Facts About Top 24 Finalists". Celebrity Dirty Laundry. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ Susan Dunne (January 16, 2015). "Guilford Singer Nick Fradiani Is An 'American Idol' Hopeful This Week". Hartford Courant.
- ^ http://www.nhregister.com/arts-and-entertainment/20150118/west-havens-nick-fradiani-trying-to-make-his-mark-on-american-idol
- ^ a b "American Idol's Nick Fradiani Jokes About Neil Diamond". 2paragraphs. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ Susan Dunne (March 4, 2015). "CT's Nick Fradiani Credits Journey To 'American Idol' To Musical Dad". Hartford Courant.
- ^ iTunes: Beach Avenue page
- ^ Scott Gargan (July 2, 2014). "Milford band Beach Avenue on 'America's Got Talent'". CTNews. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ Fortier, Hope-Denee. "Getting Up Close With CT's 'American Idol' Contestant Nick Fradiani". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ a b http://heavy.com/entertainment/2014/07/beach-avenue-americas-got-talent-judgment-week/
- ^ Susan Dunne (January 16, 2015). "Guilford Singer Nick Fradiani Is An 'American Idol' Hopeful This Week". Hartford Courant.
- ^ Kate Ramunni (January 18, 2015). "West Haven's Nick Fradiani trying to make his mark on American Idol". New Haven Register.
- ^ Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari. "'American Idol' Recap: Top 6 Perform American Classics". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ^ Ho, Rodney. "'American Idol' bits: Power 6 rankings, top 6 song spoilers, Quentin vs. Harry". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ Initially recorded by country music artist Mark Wills in 2003 on his album And the Crowd Goes Wild, it was covered by Bellefire a year later. However, the first version to be released as a single was by pop singer Jo O'Meara in 2005, from the album Relentless. Later that year, country band Rascal Flatts covered the song as well, releasing it as the first single from the 2006 album Me and My Gang, topping the U.S country and adult contemporary charts with it. German band Cascada later had international chart success with the song in 2007. It was also covered by Eden in 2008.
- ^ a b http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6575747/fifth-harmony-first-top-20-hit-hot-100-chart-moves