Corey Clark

Corey Clark was born in San Bernardino, California in 1980, to Duane and Jan Clark, two singers who met on the road in Nashville, Tennessee in early 1978 while following their own musical aspirations. Duane, an R & B and disco singer who sang in San Bernardino nightclubs and opened for Al Wilson and B.B. King, and recorded and performed with the James Last Orchestra and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, is of African American, Cherokee, Apache, and Blackfoot descent. Jan Clark, the Hungarian-Ukrainian, Jewish, Irish, French, Cherokee, and Algonquin great granddaughter of a Budapest concert pianist, met Duane in Nashville while she worked nightclubs specializing in R & B and Barbra Streisand. The multiracial nature of the Clarks’ relationship, and of Corey’s heritage, was a source of racial conflict for the family during the Clarks' early years in Lufkin, Texas, where Corey recalls a story his parents told him about a December 1979 incident in which the couple were driving to church for a Christmas event, with Duane dressed as Santa Claus, when they were pulled over by a white police officer, who, when standing near the rear of the car with Duane, smashed one of the car’s tail lights, and told Duane he was being pulled over and arrested for driving with a broken tail light.Less subtle was the racism at school, where Clark says he and his sister got into fights with schoolmates in the first grade who called them “niggers” and “cottonheads”. Adding to his sense of identity confusion was the fact that African Americans did not accept him either, and called him and his sister “whiggers”, on which Clark comments, “It’s real unsettling when you’re young and don’t know which group you belong to.” Today, Clark reflects on his multiethnic heritage with pride, and says he wishes more people were open-minded about interracial dating, saying, “Our family could claim to be the ultimate melting pot,” and that being of so many different ethnicities gave him the ability to "adapt to any situation."Clark’s interest in music was stimulated at an early age, his first clear memory being of his parents, his aunt Audrey, and his father’s band recording a demo tape in a Denver studio. Having attended concerts by Boyz II Men, TLC, and Montell Jordan, he began singing himself at age 11, without any formal training, at school functions and concerts.Clark received his first professional singing job when he was 13 going on 14, when Debbie Byrd, a family friend and vocal coach who would later go on to work on American Idol, recruited him and his parents to be among the backup singers for Barry Manilow during a week-long appearance in Las Vegas. Although Manilow was not a favorite of Clark’s, he realized his dream during this engagement, saying,“ When the curtain went up the first night, I was floored by the response from the sell-out crowd. I’d never been on stage as a professional singer before, and I got to see someone at the peak of his career working the stage and the audience. Every night he made his performance feel fresh, not just going through the motions. Experiencing the energy of a live show wasn’t at all like listening to a tape or a CD, I realized. It was magical. I was hooked! ”At age 14, Clark started and performed in a R & B vocal group called Envy, for which he was the lead vocalist. The group also included the now-Grammy Award-nominated singer NeYo, Solomon Ridge and Ray Blaylock. Envy performed in several talent contests, and a few years later, won grand prize at a Las Vegas amateur singing contest. Envy also opened major shows for major artists such as Mýa and Destiny's Child, and performed during Amateur Night at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. The group signed a recording deal in 2000, but nothing came of it, and it disbanded after eight years of performances.Clark and his family moved to Nashville, and while working as a stage hand in 2002, joined the local audition for the reality tv music competition show, American Idol, on which he has been described as "one of the most impressive top ten finalists of the talent search’s second season". Clark names making it to the top 32 finalists during that season to be his proudest moment.Clark, along with the other second season finalists, recorded RCA Records' The American Idol Season 2: All-time Classic Love Songs soundtrack. Their version of the song "What the World Needs Now is Love" debuted at 6 on the Hot 100 singles sales Billboard Magazine Chart, beating out Jackie DeShannon's 1965 debut of the same song in at 7. With singles charting at 1 ("God Bless the U.S.A.") and 6 ("What the World Needs Now is Love") that year, Clark and the rest of the second season cast became the first act since Nelly to place two titles in the top ten of BillBoards Hot 100 Singles sales. In the May 17, 2003 issue of Billboard Magazine the soundtrack attained Billboards Top Soundtrack 1 spot, Billboards Top internet Album sales at 14, The Billboard 200 hot shot debut at 2, and the single "God Bless the U.S.A." remained at 1 for 3 weeks. The soundtrack sold more than 500,000 copies domestically, giving Clark and his fellow second season castmates Gold record status, as well as making them all 1 artists on the Billboard Music Charts of May, 2003.Clark's first album, Corey Clark, was released on June 21, 2005. Although the making of the album was highly publicized, the final product received minimal promotion or radio play. Despite high profile superstar featured guest spots from the Black Eyed Peas and Scott Storch, consumers were generally unaware that the album was released and available to the market.[citation needed] Clark claimed that radio conglomerate Clear Channel refused to play his record due to threats Clear Channel received that all American Idol promotional and advertising dollars would be pulled from any station playing Clark's record.Clark signed a one album P.&D. deal with the major label Universal/Bungalo Records, which made him the first American Idol contestant in history to release his own album under his own record company distributed by a major label, which helped him earn a larger share of the album royalties and profits, and made him a partner in the decision-making process into the creative development of the album, which was unprecedented for a first time artist.