Ashley Parker Angel

Ashley Parker Angel is an American musician and actor who rose to prominence as a member of the boy band O-Town. After the band dissolved, he had a brief solo music career, and was the only former band member who declined to go on a reunion tour with O-Town in 2011. Parker Angel has acted in several Broadway productions since 2007, and most recently appeared in Wicked as the lead male character Fiyero Tigelaar.

Early years

Ashley Parker Angel is the son of Darren and Paula Parker, who have German and Irish ancestry. He was named after the character Ashley Wilkes, from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, and its subsequent film adaptation, which was a favorite of his mother. Following his mother’s marriage to Ron Angel, he legally changed his name to Ashley Parker Angel. He has two brothers, Taylor and Justin, and two sisters, Annie and Emily.

Career

O-Town and Making the Band In 2000 Ashley Parker Angel achieved fame on the hit ABC series Making the Band, which tracked the formation of a pop music group. The MTV production was the first reality show to be picked up by a major television network. Weekly, viewers saw Parker Angel, after first being plucked from tens of thousands of other auditionees, survive each stage of the selection process to become one of the "final five" members of the new vocal group O-Town. The album O-Town, boosted by the weekly TV publicity, debuted at No. 5 on Billboard and went on to multi-platinum status. "Liquid Dreams," the album's first release, crowned the SoundScan singles chart at No. 1, selling over 42,000 units in one week.. The group won the 2001 Teen Choice Award for Breakthrough Artist.

Because of O-Town, J Records made musical history as the first label in SoundScan history (1991 and on) to have its first single release debut at No. 1 on the sales charts. Also, O-Town is the first artist in SoundScan history to have its first single come in at No. 1, an achievement recorded in the 2002 Guinness Book of World Records.

In late spring 2001, the second single, "All or Nothing," and became the biggest hit of O-Town's career. The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. top 40 chart and was nominated for numerous awards, including Song of the Year during the 2001 Radio Music Awards. Near the end of the third season, viewers watched O-Town striving to take their careers to the next level, writing their own music, earning the respect of industry peers, and marketing themselves as more than a "boy band." Unfortunately, by the time of the release of their second album, O2, the teen-pop genre had begun to fade, and they did not find the acceptance they sought. Despite moderate success, O2 got nowhere near the market impact of their first album. In November 2003 J Records dropped the band from the label.

In January 2011, O-Town confirmed their reunion plans, four days after confirming the band had gotten back together Ashley released a statement via TMZ.com that he wouldn't be reuniting with the band causing an uproar with the fans and media due to Ashley being a key member during O-Town.

O-Town was one of the greatest chapters of my life, so when the idea of a reunion was brought to me, of course I was intrigued. However I have made the decision not to be a part of an O-Town reunion. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately necessary to move on with the next chapter of my career.

Solo career In November 2014, Parker Angel joined the globally award-winning touring version of the musical Wicked, playing the part of the male lead character Fiyero Tigelaar. His debut on the tour was at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, Virginia for 16 shows, he has since gone on to perform at Detroit, MI, Durham, NC, Greenville, SC, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL with the Munchkinland Tour. He reprised the role in January 2016 in Charlotte for 3 weeks. He returned to the role once again on July 31, 2017, in the Broadway production and remained with the show through July 14, 2018.

Acting (2009–) On June 20, 2009, Parker guest starred as pop singer Danny Starr in the "Danny Starr / Quinceañera" episode of the children's cartoon Handy Manny on the Disney Channel. In this episode, he sang an original song called "Twisty Turn Twist", which he co-wrote for the show.

Mansions of Arcadia (2012) As of 2012, Parker has been working with Xandy Barry on a new joint band project titled MOA standing for Mansions of Arcadia. He released a 20-second clip in January 2012 of their debut release "Don't Let Me Down".

Turning down O-Town Reunion (2013) In 2013, Angel's bandmates from O-Town decided to hold a reunion tour, however Angel declined to join: "It was a difficult decision, but ultimately necessary to move on with the next chapter of my career."

In 2014, Parker Angel confirmed that he was songwriting whilst being signed to EMI Publishing, he will be releasing a second album in the future, although the status of Mansions of Arcadia is currently unknown due to their official website and social pages no longer being active or online.

Other works In 2023, Ashley Parker Angel competed in season ten of The Masked Singer as "S'more". He was eliminated on "Disco Night" during the Group A Finals and did an encore performance of "All or Nothing".

Discography

Albums 2006 – Soundtrack to Your Life

Singles 2006 – "Let U Go" 2006 – "Soundtrack to Your Life" 2006 – "Where Did You Go" 2012 – "Don't Let Me Down" (with Mansions of Arcadia) 2013 – "Switchblade" (with DJ Danny McCarthy)

Filmography Year Film Role Notes 2000 Longshot Ashley Angel Ashley played himself with O-Town 2010 Wild Things: Foursome Carson Wheetly Filmed in 2009 in Miami Pizza Man Todd Filming began March 2010 2011 Chubby Chaser Benjamin Digital Short, filmed in 2010 2012 Amelia's 25th Jacob Filmed in early 2011 2013 Held Up Steven Digital Short, filmed in 2013. 2014 Trona Tommy Digital Short produced by Ashley, filmed in 2013. 2015 The Wrong Side of Right Michael Ames Filmed in 2014 2016 L.A. Stories Steven Digital Short based on previous short "Held Up", Filmed in 2014.

Television and video games Year Film Role Notes 1992 Lunar: The Silver Star Alex Voice of the video game character 1994 Vay Pottle Voice of the video game character 1994 Popful Mail Slick Voice of the video game character 1997 Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio Voice of the video game character 1998 Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Alex Voice of the video game character 2000–2002 Making the Band Himself O-Town's Reality Show 2002 All That Himself Played himself with O-Town, Episode 6 2002 Clone High Himself Voiced himself, Episode 7 2006 There & Back Himself MTV Reality Show 2006 Punk'd Himself MTV Reality Show, Season 7, Episode 1 2009–2011 Handy Manny Danny Starr Voice of the character in "Danny Starr", "The Twisty Turn Twist" 2023 The Masked Singer Himself/S'more Season 10 contestant

Theater