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Jordin Brianna Sparks (born December 22, 1989)
is an American
singer-songwriter from
Glendale,
Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of
American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner. She followed her
American Idol victory with the release of her self-titled
debut album in 2007, which has gone Platinum in the United States, having sold about 2 million copies worldwide. Due to the success of her debut album and its singles, she has won an
American Music Award in 2008 and received her first
Grammy nomination in 2009.
Sparks' sophomore album
Battlefield was released in July 2009 worldwide and debuted at #7 in the United States. The album's first single was also titled "
Battlefield" and peaked in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single "
S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)" has peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard
Hot Dance Club Play.
[www.billboard.com/#/charts/dance-club-play-songs?begin=1&order=position]
Biography
Early life
Sparks was born in
Phoenix, Arizona to Jodi Weidmann-Sparks and former NFL defensive back
Phillippi Sparks. Her mother is Caucasian and her father is of African-American descent. She has a younger brother PJ (Phillippi Sparks, Jr.) who also plays football. She lived briefly in Ridgewood, New Jersey and attended Orchard Elementary School, also spent 3 years in Noecker Elementary in Roseland, New Jersey . After living in New Jersey, Sparks attended Northwest Community Christian School in Phoenix, Arizona through the eighth grade. Sparks attended
Sandra Day O'Connor High School until 2006, then she was
homeschooled to better concentrate on her singing.
Sparks is an
evangelical Christian and attends
Calvary Community Church in Phoenix, Arizona. On her
American Idol biography, she thanks her parents and God for her win.
She wears a
purity ring that symbolizes her desire to remain a virgin until marriage. She also appeared on the cover of
World, an Evangelical Christian news magazine. She won an award for best young artist of the year in Arizona for three years.
Before Idol
Before appearing on
American Idol, Sparks participated in and won such talent competitions as Sprite Rising Star, Gospel Music Association GMA Academy, The Proof Is In The Pudding Contest,
NBC/
PAX America's Most Talented Kids, Colgate Country Showdown and the 2007 Drug Free AZ Superstar Search.
In 2006, Sparks was one of six winners who won the
Phoenix Torrid search for the "Next Plus Size Model." She was flown to
California, where she was used in a number of Torrid ads and promotional pieces.
A full-page ad for Torrid featuring Sparks ran in the December 2006 issue of
Seventeen magazine.
American Idol
In the summer of 2006, Sparks auditioned twice for
American Idol once in Los Angeles, CA (only auditioned for producers) and again in Seattle, WA after winning
KSAZ Fox 10's "Arizona Idol." The Seattle audition is the one seen in the January 17, 2007 broadcast of
American Idol where she earned a "gold ticket" and the right to appear in the Hollywood Round.
American Idol judge
Randy Jackson made the offhand prediction that, "Curly hair will win this year."
While on the show, Sparks gained a loyal fan base known as "Sparkplugs" (even having their own official fan site). On May 23, 2007, Sparks was crowned the winner of the sixth season of
American Idol having never been in the bottom three. She remains the youngest winner in
American Idol history. Sparks was the fourth winner never to have been voted in the bottom three (after Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks);
[Clay Aiken - Biography Also during Sparks' season of 'Idol', 3rd place contestant Melinda Doolittle didn't appear in the Bottom 3 until her elimination.] Cowell said "Jordin was the most improved over the whole season -- didn't start the best, but midway through this was the girl who suddenly got momentum," he included that "Young girl, likeable, and the singer won over the entertainer
[1]."
Sparks twice performed on
seventh season, once on the
Idol Gives Back results show singing her duet with
Chris Brown, "
No Air" and again with "
One Step at a Time" on May 21, 2008, for the finale of
American Idol. She also performed on the May 13, 2009 episode of Season 8 of
American Idol.
Performances/results
Post-Idol
[
Sparks cropped.jpg|thumb|Sparks performing at the [[American Idols LIVE! Tour 2007].]]
Sparks' songs from the
American Idol have been on sale at the
iTunes Store and the
American Idol official website as
Jordin Sparks (EP) (called a "bundle" on Idol official website) shortly after the finale of Idol, along with other songs that did not make the
EP's cut that were being sold as individual singles. According to
SoundScan figures posted in
USA Today,
Blake Lewis sold more digital singles than Sparks, but her mini album sold more than Lewis'.
After the finale of Idol, Sparks has made several appearances on television shows. She performed the finale song, "
This Is My Now" on
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet,
The Today Show,
Live with Regis and Kelly,
The Early Show, and
The View. Sparks had also appeared on
Total Request Live,
The Ellen Show,
The Tonight Show,
Larry King Live with contestants who made into the top ten of American Idol
,Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular
with Lewis and Melinda Doolittle.
Along with television and radio appearances, Sparks has been on the cover of
Entertainment Weekly,
Your Prom and
World and featured in
VIBE,
TV Guide,
Glamour and other publications.
Sparks took part in the
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2007 from July 6 to September 23, 2007, along with other contestants in the top ten. She revealed in an
AOL interview that the concert will be more group collaborations and duets as well as bringing along her acoustic guitar.
Career
2007-2008: Jordin Sparks
[
George W. Bush congratulates singer Jordin Sparks.jpg|thumb|right|Then-President [[George W. Bush] congratulates Sparks after she sang the
U.S. National Anthem Wednesday, February 20, 2008, during the welcome for President Bush and Mrs.
Laura Bush to the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in
Accra, Ghana, by Ambassador
Pamela Bridgewater]].
On August 17, 2007, it was announced Sparks had signed to 19 Recordings/
Jive Records/
Zomba Label Group, becoming the first
Idol winner to join the label group.
David Archuleta (Season 7, runner up),
Kris Allen (Season 8, winner), and
Allison Iraheta (Season 8, 4th place) also joined the label group, making them the only four
Idol contestants who signed a contract with them. All past
Idol winners and runners-up have signed with the RCA Label Group’s J (
Fantasia,
Ruben Studdard), Arista (
Taylor Hicks) or RCA (
Kelly Clarkson,
Chris Daughtry,
Clay Aiken,
Katharine McPhee, and successor
David Cook and
Adam Lambert) labels, with the exception of
Carrie Underwood who signed to
Arista Nashville. Sparks has stated that she recorded some songs with Heath Thurman on drums for the album but the bulk of the recording would be done in
Los Angeles after the tour is over.
She said the album would be "
Top 40, radio-friendly, uplifting stuff" hopefully mixing "the
pop rock sound of inaugural
Idol Kelly Clarkson with the
R&B edge of Beyonce".
Her debut album came out on November 20 and November 27, 2007.
Some critics thought the album's ubiquitous and age-appropriate
American Idol material has helped Sparks to find a secure future.
Along with the label announcement, the first single was revealed to be "
Tattoo", which was released to U.S. radio on August 27, 2007.
The song became the album's first top ten single. Later, on March 11, 2008, "Tattoo" was released on 'Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 27' as the sixth track on the album, along with 19 other chart-topping hits of early 2008.
After the release of "Tattoo", Sparks' official website ran a poll asking fans to vote for what her next single should be, the choices being "
No Air", "Freeze", "
One Step at a Time", or "Shy Boy". On February 3, 2008, it was announced that "
No Air" had won the vote, and was being added to radio stations. The song became a hit before it was officially released as a single, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four consecutive weeks. On June 3, 2008, "
No Air" was released on 'Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 28' as the ninth track on the album, along with 19 other hits from 2008. She performed "No Air" with Chris Brown on the April 10, 2008 results show as part of
Idol Gives Back. Sparks is the only Idol from outside Australia to top the ARIA Singles Chart with "No Air". The song toped the 3 million mark in paid downloads on the week of October 11, 2009. It's the first song by an American Idol alum to reach this sales threshold. It's also Brown's first song to hit the 3 million mark.
[new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/41816/week-ending-oct-11-2009-oprah-saves-the-music-industry/]
In February 2008, Sparks sang the National Anthem at
Super Bowl XLII (the song was then made available on
iTunes the next day). She had also previously performed at Game 1 of the
2007 NBA Finals between the
San Antonio Spurs and
Cleveland Cavaliers.
In February 2008 Jordin performed at the
NBA Rookie game during NBA All-Star Weekend. Jordin also went to
Ghana in February to help with
Malaria No More. She performed in a tribute to
Aretha at the
NAACP Awards in February, as well. She had previously performed in a tribute to
Diana Ross in December 2007.
In March 2008 she appeared on
The Tyra Banks Show. Banks told Sparks that she wanted her for the main role in a scripted television project she was working on. Later in 2008 on the radio show
Johnjay & Rich, Sparks mentioned that she received an email from Tyra, which she expected to be news about the show, but was just a hello. She added that Tyra said she would contact her when the show came up. Sparks states that she would love to break into acting.
Sparks was the opening act for
Alicia Keys on the U.S. leg of her
As I Am tour. Before going on tour, she was to appear on the
GMA Dove Awards as part of a tribute to
Michael W. Smith as well as it was announced Sparks would team up with cosmetics company,
Avon, to become a spokesperson for the teen-focused line
Mark. Before the tour even started, a potentially career-threatening throat injury forced Sparks to cancel a few weeks of shows. Officials said that she was suffering an acute vocal cord hemorrhage, and was ordered strict vocal rest until the condition improved. If it had not improved, it may have required laser microsurgery. Her first concert originally was scheduled as an opener for
Alicia Keys on Saturday, April 19, 2008.
She was back on the road with
Alicia Keys by April 30. She remained on the tour until the last show on June 18.
In an interview with Perez Hilton, it was mentioned that Sparks will co-headline a tour along with
Jesse McCartney in August 2008.
"
One Step at a Time" was the third single from the album and was officially released in the U.S. on June 10, 2008.
Sparks performed "One Step at a Time" at
Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular for the second year in a row. The song peaked in the Top 20 on the Hot 100 and the Top 5 on the Pop 100 chart. She has been on
Regis and Kelly,
So You Think You Can Dance,
Good Morning America, and
Canadian Idol promoting "
One Step at a Time". With the success of "
One Step at a Time", Sparks became the first and only American Idol contestant ever to have their first four singles all crack the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Sparks was appointed on August 12, 2008 by President
George W. Bush to be a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation for a two year term along with other celebrities such as
Corinne Bailey Rae and
Michael W. Smith, with whom she has previously worked.
Sparks appeared at the
2008 MTV Video Music Awards on September 7, 2008 where she was nominated for 2
VMAs for Best Female Video and Best New Artist. She is the second American Idol winner to have 2 or more nominations after the release of one album. The first being Kelly Clarkson with 3 nominations.
Britney Spears for "Piece Of Me"
actually took home the award that night for Best Female Video, while
Tokio Hotel beat out Sparks for the Best New Artist award with "Ready, Set, Go!".
While at the same VMAs, Sparks caused controversy by responding to a joke made by host
Russell Brand during his opening monologue, when he held up a silver ring, claiming to have relieved one of the
Jonas Brothers of his virginity,
saying he would "take them more seriously if they wore it (the ring) around their genitals."
Sparks took umbrage, responding at the start of her introduction of rapper : “I just have one thing to say about promise rings. It’s not bad to wear a promise ring because not everybody -- guy or girl -- wants to be a
slut."
In response to controversy over her "slut" remark, she told
Entertainment Weekly that she doesn't regret the remark, commenting that "I wish I would've worded it differently -- that somebody who doesn't wear a promise ring isn't necessarily a slut -- but I can't take it back now".
While presenting an award at the American Music Awards, she started by stating "I'm gonna stick to the script this time" in reference to the VMA incident.
She has won an
American Music Award for Favorite Artist in the Adult Contemporary Category. This was her first nomination at the
American Music Awards.
In November 2008 Sparks teamed up with Wet Seal to create her own clothing line. The collection, appropriately named 'Sparks', began with an assortment of holiday dresses delivering to stores just in time for the busy Thanksgiving weekend. The collection will later include casual apparel and accessories. Each piece will reflect Sparks' youthful and collected sense of style. The line launched on November 19, 2008 and comes in sizes XS to XL.
Sparks joined Alicia Keys for a second time on an Australian leg of her
As I Am Tour, which began on December 6, 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand at the Vector Arena and ended December 20, 2008.
2009-present: Battlefield
Timbaland said in an interview that Sparks will be one of the collaborations on his forthcoming album
Shock Value 2,
however when the official press release was release, Sparks was not listed as one of the album's collaborators. In an update on her website, she stated that her fans can look forward to seeing more upbeat dance tunes on her second album.
She confirmed that fans could see her at a possible NFL playoff anthem in January, Charity Benefit in February at the Shrine Auditorium and VH1 Save the Music performing with
John Mayer in March. In addition to this an official Sparks fan club would open called "SparksTown", which has since been launched with the release of "
Battlefield".
[[2]] Sparks returned to
University of Phoenix Stadium to again sing the national anthem before the
NFC Championship game between the
Arizona Cardinals and the
Philadelphia Eagles on January 18, 2009.
[
Sparks at Commander-in-Chief's Ball.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Jordin Sparks performs at the Commander-in-Chief's Ball at the [[National Building Museum] in
Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2009. The ball, hosted by President
Barack Obama]], honored America's service members, families of the fallen, and wounded warriors.
Sparks joined several A-List singers performing at the Commander-in-Chief's
Inaugural Ball which was hosted by President
Barack Obama on January 20, 2009
where she performed a new song entitled 'Faith' written by herself. The song was seleted as the 11th track on
Battlefield. Sparks attended the
51st Annual Grammy Awards and was nominated for her first Grammy for "
No Air" in the category "
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals". Sparks sang the National Anthem at the
NBA All Star Game on February 15, 2009 and at an
MLB Spring Training game between the
Los Angeles Dodgers and the
Chicago White Sox on March 1, 2009.
Sparks hired her own personal trainer, Joey London
and began working with choreographer
Laurie Ann Gibson for her upcoming tour with
the Jonas Brothers.
Sparks' second album has a higher profile and better production than her first due to the great success of the album itself and its four singles.
Sparks said she plans on working with
Jesse McCartney and
Ryan Tedder on her new album in an interview on the radio show "Johnjay & Rich" the morning after her appearance at the 2008
American Music Awards. She said the album will be more R&B and dance influenced, and will sound more "
Beyoncé meets
Rihanna." In an update on her MySpace, Sparks stated she was "in the studio and writing amazing songs!" She also told HollyscoopTV that she had spoken to
Leona Lewis and the pair were considering recording a duet along the theme of 'female empowerment'.
In a radio interview on The MJ Morning Show in Tampa Bay, Florida, Sparks revealed news about the highly anticipated album. She announced her label's goal for the release of her second album is in late spring/early summer. At the time of the interview, Sparks had recorded a total of 9 songs. Jordin recorded 30 songs for the album.
Sparks also revealed she was working with some of the same writers as the last album as well as new writers and producers such as
Stargate,
T-Pain,
Dr. Luke,
Max Martin,
[[3]] Claude Kelly,
, and
Toby Gad.
Sparks visited the radio show "Johnjay & Rich", and she previewed four new songs ("Let It Rain", "Walking On Snow", "Faith", and "Paper Cut") which are songs that made her sophomore album.
The first single from the album is called "
Battlefield", which was written and produced by Grammy nominated singer/songwriter/producer
Ryan Tedder. Jordin performed the song during the
American Idol Top 3 results show on May 13 and the song was sent for radio adds on May 25, 2009.
[[4]] The song peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. With this success, the song became Sparks' fifth consecutive top 20 hit and third nonconsecutive top 10 hit. Philip Andelman shot the music video in Los Angeles. Philip has shot videos for the likes of:
Beyoncé Knowles,
Kelly Rowland, and
Jay-Z.
Jordin shot the video on May 12, 2009 and then finished shooting on May 14, 2009.
On May 24, 2009 Jordin headed to Europe with her brother, PJ, to begin promotion for the single.
On May 10, Sparks went to take her photo shoot for her sophomore album.
On May 19, 2009 Jordin announced the title of her sophomore record will be
Battlefield on the Q100 Atlanta Radio Show.
[[5]] The album was released on July 21, 2009.
Jordin also became an endorser for the
Got Milk? organization on May 20, 2009 when she went to take a photo shoot.
It was announced that Jordin would serve as the opening act for the North American leg of the
Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009 on May 11, 2009.
[ www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606734/20090311/jonas_brothers.jhtml] The tour included a concert in
Monterrey,
Mexico. On August 14, 2009 it was announced that Sparks would replace
Ciara on "
The Circus Starring: Britney Spears" tour as a special guest on the second North American leg. Sparks performed on the second North American leg of the tour for most shows.
After weeks of speculation, on August 25, 2009 it was announced that Sparks would be taking part in the 2009
VH1 Divas special on September 17, 2009.
She performed her second single from
Battlefield:
S.O.S. (Let the Music Play) and a duet with
Martina McBride.
In mid October Sparks embarked on a short promotional tour in Europe.
Jordin recently made her acting debut on Disney's
The Suite Life on Deck, guest starring as herself in the "Crossing Jordin" episode.
[www.celebrity-mania.com/news/view/00010085.html][sparkstown.com/news/news.php?uid=41]
Sparks has just recently collaborated in a project with Australian soul and R&B artist
Guy Sebastian. Sebastian wrote the song "
Art of Love" in mind for Sparks. Sebastian traveled to New York to record the tune with Sparks and it is now the second single off the
Like It Like That that was released on October 23, 2009.
[! Take 40 Guy Sebastian and Jordin Sparks record duet October 1, 2009 - Retrieved October 12, 2009][! take40.com News Listen to Jordin Sparks Duet With Guy Sebastian - Art Of Love! October 20, 2009 - Retrieved October 20, 2009]
Discography
col-begin
col-2
- Studio albums
col-2
- EPs
col-end
Tours
Accomplishments
Honors
- Coca Cola Rising Star 2002
- Family Night Talent Show Five-time 1st Place Finals Winner at Mr. Lucky's in Glendale, Arizona, 2003
- Glendale Youth Fest 2003: Teen Talent Show, 1st Place
- GMA (Gospel Music Association) Academy, Washington, D.C., Overall Spotlight Winner & Country/Southern Gospel First Place Winner, 2004
- Country Thunder Young Guns Second Place Winner, 2004
- The Proof Is In The Pudding Talent Winner, Phoenix, Arizona, 2004
- NBC/PAX America's Most Talented Kids, 2005
- Colgate Country Showdown, Arizona state title, 2006
- Runner-up in the 2007 Drug Free AZ Superstar Search, Tempe, Arizona
- Plus-size model search winner for Torrid
- Winner of KSAZ Fox 10's "Arizona Idol" contest, giving her a guaranteed chance to audition in front of the judges
- American Idol Winner, May 2007
- Appointed by President George W. Bush to be a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation for a two year term on August 12, 2008
- First American Idol Contestant, and youngest person in history, to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl
- New Zealand #1 Song of 2008 - No Air
Billboard Year End Charts 2008
- Best New Artist — #2
- Billboard 200 Album Artist of the Year — #30
- Top Artist of the Year — #8
- Mainstream Top 40 Artist of the Year — #4
- Pop Artist of the Year — #5
- Female Artist of the Year — #6
- Hot 100 Artist of the Year (Female) — #5
- Billboard 200 Jordin Sparks — #35
- Hot 100 "No Air" — #6
- Hot Digital Songs "No Air" — #8
- Pop 100 "No Air" — #5
- Mainstream Top 40 "No Air" — #7
- Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs "No Air" — #43
- Rhythmic Top 40 "No Air" — #26
- Hot 100 "Tattoo" — #30
- Hot Adult Contemporary Song "Tattoo" — #12
- Hot 100 "One Step at a Time" — #61
Awards and nominations
start box
end box
Filmography
Footnotes
External links
Jordin Sparks
American Idol 6
American Idol
DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, Jordin
