Clay Aiken was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 30, 1978. As a young boy, Aiken sang in the Raleigh Boy choir, and as a teenager, he sang in school choirs, church choirs, musicals and local theatre productions. Aiken had filled out an application to participate in the reality show Amazing Race when a friend of his insisted that he try out for American Idol instead. Aiken made it to the round of 32 before being cut from the show, but he was invited to return for the "Wild Card" round; his performance of Elton John’s "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me" sent him on to the final 12 as the viewer’s choice. On May 21, 2003, Aiken came in a close second to Ruben Studdard. On October 14, 2003, Clay Aiken released his first solo album, "Measure of a Man", which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was, with 613,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years, and to date the highest debut of any American Idol contestant. The album spawned both the hit single "Invisible" and his first hit song, "This Is the Night". Clay Aiken has gone on to release four more studio albums.
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