Crystal Bowersox

Crystal Lynn Bowersox (born August 4, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter and actress who was the runner-up on the ninth season of American Idol. She was the first female finalist in three years.

Bowersox's debut album, Farmer's Daughter, was released on December 14, 2010 by Jive Records. Bowersox released her second album, All That for This, on March 26, 2013.

Early life Bowersox and her twin brother, Karl, were born in Elliston, Ohio to Kelly Lynn Bowersox (née Bowlander) and William Lester Bowersox. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. At age six, Bowersox was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She attended Oak Harbor High School in Oak Harbor, Ohio and later attended the Toledo School for the Arts in Toledo, Ohio.

On March 2, 2010, Bowersox was hospitalized due to Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) from type 1 diabetes, forcing a last minute switch in scheduling to give her extra time to recuperate. Bowersox confirmed the illness on the May 19, 2010 results show during an interview with host Ryan Seacrest. The men competed that day instead of the women. She sang the next day and impressed all of the judges.

The following week, her strong performance prompted Simon Cowell to state, "Right now, you are the one everyone has to beat."

After Siobhan Magnus's elimination from the top 6 of American Idol, Bowersox became the last remaining female contestant in the competition.

Bowersox was the first female contestant to make it to the finale since Jordin Sparks won the title in 2007. She is also the first contestant in American Idol history to have one of their original songs played on the show, or at least during their hometown package. Crystal's original song "Holy Toledo" was played on the May 19 Top 3 Results show as the background music for her homecoming package - when she returned to Toledo, Ohio and Elliston, Ohio the previous weekend - and segued into her live performance of the same song at "Bowerstock".

During her time on Idol, Bowersox dated Tony Kusian, but the couple broke up just hours before the Idol finale.

On the final performance day, in Simon Cowell's final critique on American Idol, he called her performance of "Up to the Mountain" "outstanding" and "by far, the best performance and song of the night".

On May 26, 2010, Bowersox was named runner-up to winner Lee DeWyze. She announced that after her Idol career, she wants to bring more awareness to type 1 diabetes.

Bowersox is the third Idol Runner-Up (preceded by Clay Aiken and David Archuleta) to never be in the Bottom 3 or Bottom 2.

Performances Due to the judges using their one 'save' for Michael Lynche, the Top 9 remained intact for another week. Though Crystal Bowersox was the last contestant announced to be 'safe' and moving on to the Top 3, Ryan Seacrest stressed on the Top 4 Results Night that 'safe' contestants would be announced "in no particular order." Thus, the audience has no way of knowing which of the Top 3 was the second-lowest vote-getter that night after Michael Lynche, who was eliminated. Song selected by Ellen DeGeneres.

Post-Idol career On May 27, 2010, one day after Bowersox's second place Idol finish, it was announced that she had signed with 19 Entertainment/Jive Records. Her single "Up to the Mountain" has since been released to radio stations and iTunes.

2010–12: Farmer's Daughter Bowersox's debut album, Farmer's Daughter, was released to stores and iTunes on December 14, 2010. Bowersox performed her single "Farmer's Daughter" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on December 16, 2010.

On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, all other artists previously signed to these three labels would see their future material released under the RCA Records brand. However, Bowersox was not one of the artists who made the move, and was instead left without a record label.

She made her acting debut on a second-season episode of Body of Proof.

An EP of pre-Idol recordings was called Once Upon a Time... was self-released in June 2012.

She was a guest on the Blues Traveler album, Suzie Cracks the Whip, performing vocals with John Popper on the song "I Don't Wanna Go", and appeared with them in concert at their concert of July 4, 2012 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

2012–present: All That for This

In October 2012, Bowersox signed a recording deal with Shanachie Records.

On January 7, 2013, it was confirmed that Bowersox's second studio album, All That for This, would be released March 26, 2013. The album was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and features Jakob Dylan. Bowersox debuted the first single from the album, "Dead Weight", on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on February 5, 2013. Bowersox told Seacrest, "This song means more to me than even I can completely comprehend." On March 25, 2013, Bowersox appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and performed her song "Movin' On" to promote the album. It was announced here that Bowersox will play Patsy Cline in the Broadway production of Always, Patsy Cline. It was announced on June 11, 2013 that Bowersox would be headlining the Lancaster Festival in Lancaster, Ohio on June 27, 2013

Personal life Bowersox and musician Brian Walker were married on October 10, 2010, at Uncommon Ground Café in Chicago, the restaurant where the couple had met six years earlier while both were performing at Open Mic Night. It was announced on May 6, 2013, that they were ending their marriage.

While appearing on Good Day L.A. to promote her Christmas album on November 26, 2013, Bowersox came out as bisexual. "I have been bisexual as long as I can remember," she said. Bowersox then performed her song "Coming Out For Christmas" which explores the subject matter.

Discography

Studio albums Year Album details Peak Certifications US USRock USDigital CAN 2010Farmer's Daughter Release date: December 14, 2010 2013All That for This Release date: March 26, 2013 2017Alive Release date: 2017 Label: Mamasox Inc. Release date: 2022 Label: Mamasox Inc. Format: CD, digital download

Digital albums YearAlbum PeakSalesUSHeatUSIndie 2010Season 9 Favorite Performances Release date: May 2010 Label: 19 Format: digital download 6 "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Extended plays +List of EPs with relevant detailsYear Title EP details2012 Once Upon a Time... Released: May 29, 2012 Label: self-release Format: Digital download, CD 2014 Promises Release date: September 23, 2014 Label: Mamasox Format: CD, digital download

Singles Year Single Peak Album US CAN2010 "Up to the Mountain" 57 47 Non-album single "Farmer's Daughter" — 73 Farmer's Daughter2013 "Movin' On" — — All That for This "Dead Weight" — — "Coming Out for Christmas" — — Non-album single "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Digital singles Year Single Peak Album US CAN2010 "Falling Slowly" (with Lee DeWyze) 66 70 non-album single "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos Year Song Director(s) 2010 "Farmer's Daughter" Meiert Avis 2013 "Dead Weight" Tiger Tiger 2017 "Until Then" Steven Rosenfeld

Filmography Year Title Role Other notes 2011 Body of Proof Zoe Brant Episode: "Second Chances"

Awards and nominations Year Presenter Award Result 2010 Teen Choice Awards Female Reality/Variety Star