Taylor Reuben Hicks index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=HICKS-IDOL-03-17-06" target="_blank">Gray-haired Hicks brings soul to Idol by Wade Kwon for the Scripps Howard News Service, March 17, 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2006. --> (born October 7, 1976 American Idol - Season 5, episode 29. Aired live on FOX, April 12, 2006. -->) is an _American Soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released two independent albums. He rose to prominence in the year 2006 as the winner of the fifth season of American Idol. Upon winning the music competition, he was signed to Arista Records, under which his self-titled major label debut was released on December 12, 2006. His energetic stage performances and influences derived from classic soul, blues, and R&B music have earned him a following of devout fans, who are dubbed as the "Soul Patrol".

Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over a decade. During that time he released two independent albums, In Your Time (1997) and Under the Radar (2005). His first major label album was Taylor Hicks (2006), released by Arista Records. Hicks rose to sudden prominence as the winner of the fifth seaso