An American Idol, Not So Idle: Inside The World of Taylor Hicks

1/29/2015
An American Idol, Not So Idle: Inside The World of Taylor Hicks - Forbes
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Zack O'Malley Greenburg Forbes Staff
The Beat Report: I cover the business of music & entertainment.
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1/15/2014 @ 12:00PM
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An American Idol, Not So Idle:
Inside The World of Taylor
Hicks
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Taylor Hicks: Idol’s Season 5 winner pulled in $2.5 million last year, No. 7 among the show’s alums.
Dusk is closing in on a winter weeknight, but Taylor Hicks’ work day is just
beginning.
The former American Idol champ is driving to his next gig, somewhere in
the middle of Idaho, and his cell phone connection crackles as it tests the
outer limits of its service range. Eventually, he’ll head back to Las Vegas,
where he’s been playing well over 100 shows annually in recent years. That’s
just part of his busy schedule.
“I commute between L.A. and Nashville and Birmingham [and Vegas],” says
the Alabama native. “It’s exhausting, but I love what I do. My work, to me,
never gets old. … I’m coming up on a decade in show business, believe it or
not, and I couldn’t be any prouder of that.”
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An American Idol, Not So Idle: Inside The World of Taylor Hicks - Forbes
The hustle is paying off for Hicks, 37, who won Idol back in 2006. He pulled
in $2.5 million last year, No. 7 among the show’s top-earning alumni. He
may never reach the heights of Carrie Underwood ($31 million ), but he
earned about the same as 2011 champ Scotty McCreery—and Hicks’ path
offers fellow contestants a blueprint for a viable post-Idol career, if not quite
the sort that earns you a role in a live adaptation of The Sound of Music.
Hicks is the first and only Idol to land a residency in Las Vegas, where his
soulful crooning and slightly-offbeat personality seem to be a hit with
audiences. After starting out at Bally’s during the summer of 2012, he
eventually moved to a larger, 200-seat room at Paris Las Vegas. He now
plays there five nights a week, and FORBES estimates the shows accounted
for nearly half of his annual earnings total.
“It’s always good to come to the party first, in all different aspects, whether it
be television or film or a Vegas residency,” says Hicks. “I think this is just
one of those instances where the opportunity to be the first Idol to have a
Vegas show was perfect fit.”
The standing gig in Sin City is an extension of Hicks’ entrepreneurial side,
something that’s not necessarily nurtured by a show whose goal is to
prepackage photogenic music stars. When Arista dropped him in 2008, he
founded record label Modern Whomp and released two albums in two years.
The second sold over 50,000 copies—less than one-tenth of his self-titled
major label debut—but still a respectable amount for an indie launch.
Hicks also owns a handful of rental properties (“Some people get a kick out
of Taylor Hicks being their landlord,” he says) and is part-owner of Saw’s
Juke Joint, a Birmingham barbeque-and-blues bar.
“The great thing about Taylor is he always is thinking about what’s next,”
says Mat Adair, who represents Hicks at Paradigm Talent Agency. “He’s had
a vision since before Idol, and Idol has given him the opportunity to follow it
through. … He is never content to just coast—he is always in high gear, and
always thinking of ways he can be doing more.”
Lucrative live shows, a burgeoning restaurant chain and red state roots is a
recipe for success that’s been perfected by another musician: Toby Keith,
country’s top-earner, who appeared on the cover of FORBES earlier this
year. The singer pulled in $65 million last year, pushing his career total past
$500 million.
That’s a different stratosphere from the one inhabited by Hicks, but the
former Idol will be making additional moves in that direction with his next
album, which is “on the soulful side of country,” he explains. He’ll likely
release it later this year, independently.
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An American Idol, Not So Idle: Inside The World of Taylor Hicks - Forbes
A successful launch could actually net him about as much as a modest major
label release would have back when American Idol used to get a cut from
Hicks’ work. Scotty McCreery said last year that he’d only pocket about onefifth of his earnings once the show, various handlers and Uncle Sam took
their percentages.
Hicks, finally, is free and clear. He couldn’t give specifics on his old Idol deal,
but regardless of how deep the show’s tentacles delved into his finances, he
believes the experience was worth it.
“Without a doubt,” he says, then laughs. “If it wasn’t for winning American
Idol, I definitely wouldn’t be speaking to Forbes right now.”
Want to learn more about the business of music? Follow me
on Twitter and see my Jay Z biography, Empire State of Mind.
My next book, Michael Jackson, Inc., is due out in June. Pre­
order here.
The Top-Earning American Idols 2013
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