Kellie Pickler is making waves in Nashville as a bubbly southern girl with a dynamic voice and a troubled past.
Kellie Pickler's Early Years
She was born on June 28, 1986 at Stanley Memorial Hospital in Albemarle, North Carolina to Clyde (Bo) Pickler and Cynthia Morton, who was only eighteen at the time. When Kellie was two years old her mother gave her up. Kellie and her brother Eric were raised their grandparents, Clyde and Faye Pickler in the small town of Palestine, North Carolina.
She attended North Stanly High School in New London, North Carolina where she was a cheerleader and a dancer. At seventeen she won the Miss Stanly County pageant and moved on to the Miss North Carolina competition but dropped out to go to college to become a paralegal. The next year in 2005, she placed second in the WSOC-TV Gimme The Mike! Charlotte contest.
American Idol
Later that year Kellie went to Greensboro, North Carolina to audition for the fifth season of American Idol. After advancing into the Top Twelve, she became one of Simon Cowell’s favorites, and he predicted that she would make it into the final three. She was however voted off in sixth place on April 26, 2006. On May 6, 2006 she returned to Albemarle where a parade was held in her honor on "Kellie Pickler Day" and she was given a key to the city.
Small Town Girl
She signed with 19 Recordings/BNA Records on July 17, 2006 and while on the American Idol Tour she recorded her debut album wherever the tour took her. The first single "Red High Heels" was released on September 13, 2006 and was followed by the release of her album "Small Town Girl" a month later. The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard charts and made her the best selling new country solo artist of the year, and while appearing on The View on January 18, 2007, Rosie O’Donnell presented her with a gold record.
The follow up single "I Wonder" was released on October 31, 2006. At the 2007 CMA awards she performed a tearful rendition of the song, at the time she was going through a breakup and she had got a call right before heading on stage that her mom was talking to the media in her hometown, nevertheless the performance received a standing ovation. September 10, 2007 marked the release of her third single "Things That Never Crossed a Man’s Mind."
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader
Kellie was a contestant on the celebrity edition of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader to raise money for the American Red Cross and the AARP’s Grandparenting Program. She failed to know that Budapest was the capital of Hungary and that a piccolo belonged to the woodwind family. During interviews since then she has remarked that the media criticized her answers instead of focusing on the fact that she won $50,000 for charity.
Kellie Pickler
On May 18, 2008 she debuted "Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful", the leadoff single from her second album on the ACM Awards. Her self-titled album was released in September of the same year and debuted on the Billboard charts at number nine making it her second consecutive Top Ten album. Her second single "Best Days of Your Life" was premiered at the 2008 CMA Awards on November 12, 2008 where she was also nominated for "Best New Artist".
"Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You," which was also recorded on "Small Town Girl," was released on August 30, 2009 and has already reached number twenty-seven. She hs also recently appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition where she helped to build a house and performed a free concert for the family and everyone who worked on the home.
Kellie Pickler Summary
Kellie Pickler continues to burn up the charts with genuine lyrics and a sweet southern voice and could possibly become one of Nashville’s next superstars.
Sources:
KelliePickler.com
Answers.com
Loni Perry - Hello I have been writing since I was in high school, and currently have 3 screenplays in the works. About two years ago due to unforseen ...
Join the Conversation