Kris Allen
Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and the winner of the eighth season of American Idol.[1]
For the musician's 2009 album, see Kris Allen (album).
Kris Allen
Kristopher Neil Allen
June 21, 1985
Jacksonville, Arkansas, U.S.
Conway, Arkansas, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
2007–present
Prior to Idol, he self-released a 2007 album, Brand New Shoes.[2][3]
Allen's Idol coronation song, "No Boundaries" and his version of "Heartless" both charted within the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Allen's post-Idol self-titled album was released on November 17, 2009, by Jive Records. The album debuted at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album's lead single, "Live Like We're Dying", was released on September 21, 2009, and peaked at number 18 in the U.S. with combined sales of over 1.7 million. Allen's second major-label album Thank You Camellia was released on May 22, 2012, and the lead single "The Vision of Love" was released March 26, 2012.
Allen released his fifth studio album, Letting You In, on March 18, 2016.
Early life[edit]
Allen was born in Jacksonville, Arkansas, to Kimberly (née Wood) and Neil Allen.[4][5] He is the elder of two sons; his younger brother, Daniel, is a college cheerleading coach.[6]
Allen's interest in music began very early. He began playing the viola in elementary school and went on to play the instrument in the Mills University Studies High School orchestra, eventually winning a spot in the Arkansas all-state orchestra.[7] Additionally, he taught himself to play the guitar at age 13, and also plays the piano. His musical influences, as stated in his Idol confessionals, include the Beatles, Jamie Cullum, Jason Mraz, Pat Monahan, John Mayer and Michael Jackson. Allen played publicly for several years before trying out for Idol, even opening for earlier Idol contestant Sean Michel on multiple occasions. He has described his decision to audition for American Idol as a "last hurrah" before giving up his pursuit of a music career.
After high school, Allen moved to Conway, Arkansas, to attend the University of Central Arkansas, where he was a business major and a member of Chi Alpha campus ministries.[8][9] During college, he participated in Christian missionary work around the world, including in Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, South Africa, Spain and Thailand.[8] Allen also served as a worship leader for New Life Church in Conway and Little Rock, AR, as well as for the Chi Alpha campus ministry.[8] He dropped out of college in the middle of his junior year to pursue music professionally, performing in local bars and working as a shoe salesman to make ends meet.[10][11] Allen planned to go back to college to finish his degree and "get a real job",[9][11] but instead was persuaded to audition for American Idol along with his brother Daniel and his friend Cale Mills. Kris stated that "If I had not made it through in American Idol, I would have gone back to college and gotten my business degree."[12]
Career[edit]
Pre-Idol and Brand New Shoes[edit]
Allen realized during college that he wanted to play music professionally and began trying to write music. He played his first gig at a local venue in downtown Conway during his sophomore year, and he went on to drop out of college in the middle of his junior year to follow his dream of becoming a professional musician. He worked as a shoe salesman at a sporting goods store during the day to make ends meet and continued playing gigs in Little Rock and Fayetteville at night.[13] In 2007, Allen wrote and self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes with college friends and bandmates Michael Holmes (drums) and Chase Erwin (bass).[14] The album's title makes reference to Allen's days as a shoe salesman, and only 600 copies of the album were produced, most of which were given to family and friends.[15]
Philanthropy[edit]
Prior to appearing on American Idol, Allen participated in missionary work in several countries around the world, including Burma, Thailand, Mozambique, Morocco, and South Africa with the University of Central Arkansas' Chi Alpha campus ministry.[116] In Morocco, during his first mission trip, Allen contracted a rare form of hepatitis that left him sick for an entire year after returning home. Allen credits this near-death experience with giving him the ability to write songs as he was finally able to compose his first original song while recuperating from his illness.[117] A couple of years later, while on a mission trip in Thailand, Allen became moved when he saw a worship leader struggling with poor music and sound equipment during a church service at a refugee camp. He chose to leave behind a brand new guitar for the church to use even though that was the only guitar he owned at the time.[118][119] His experiences in Thailand inspired the song "Land of Smiles" from his pre-Idol album Brand New Shoes.[120]
Allen is a strong proponent of music education, and since winning Idol, he has become heavily involved with several charitable organizations that promote music education, including the Music Empowers Foundation and Little Kids Rock. He has stated, "To me, music education is vital to every kid's development, and it can change their lives. I know that if I hadn't had access to music programs in school that I wouldn't be where I am today."[121] For his support of music education in schools, Allen was honored by Little Kids Rock in October 2010.[122][123] In November 2011, Allen announced that he would be growing a mustache for four weeks to give his fans an incentive to support DonorsChoose and Music Empowers in their efforts to promote music education in public schools.[124][125] This campaign played a major role in the raising of $80,000 by Music Empowers for music education programs as more than 50% of the donations came from Allen's fans.[126]
Allen has also been a supporter of TOMS Shoes and participated in the company's first shoe drop in Rwanda in March 2010.[127] Following his trip to Rwanda, Allen joined the Barefoot Walk at his alma mater the University of Central Arkansas and performed barefoot to support TOMS shoes and Bridge2Rwanda, an organization that collaborated with TOMS for the Rwanda shoe drop.[128]
In February 2010, Allen traveled to Haiti with the United Nations Foundation to help with relief efforts following the Haiti earthquake.[129] When he returned, he kicked off that year's Idol Gives Back campaign by discussing his trip to Haiti and performing The Beatles' "Let It Be" on the American Idol Season 9 Top 24 results show on February 25, 2010.[130] Allen's rendition of "Let It Be" was made available for download on iTunes with all proceeds going toward the UN Foundation's relief efforts in Haiti. Sales from this performance raised over $250,000 for the UN Foundation.[131]
Allen's humanitarian work has inspired his fans to organize charitable efforts in his honor. To celebrate Allen's 25th birthday, his fans donated over $25,000 to Heifer International, enough to pay for 50 cows to feed families in need.[132] Inspired by Allen's support of music education, his fans also organized a donation of over $28,000 to Music Empowers in December 2010.[133] In honor of Allen's 26th birthday, his fans banded together once again to donate more than $26,000 to Direct Relief toward disaster relief.[134]
In November 2012, Allen visited World Vision's project in Kenya. The visit was part of the True Spirit of Christmas tour, where Allen also made a short video clip singing "Silent Night."[135]
Personal life[edit]
Allen married his high school sweetheart Katy O'Connell on September 26, 2008. The two began dating in Allen's junior year of high school.[136] Their son was born in 2013.[137] Their second child, a daughter, was born in 2016.[138] Their third child, another son, was born in 2019.[139]