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. She was in choir and played flute in the school marching band. Bowersox performed her first professional gig at the age of 10. She appeared at local bars in Toledo, most popularly Papa's Tavern, and The Village Idiot in Maumee, Ohio.
At the age of seventeen, she moved to Chicago, where she played music as a busker at train stations, including the Washington and Lake Redline stops. She frequented open mics, such as the In One Ear show at the Heartland Cafe, and Uncommon Ground Clark and Grace, and Devon locations. She also played extensively in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.
In 2006, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs chose Bowersox to represent Chicago folk musicians in the Sister Cities program "Experience Chicago", held in Birmingham. In 2007, Bowersox traveled internationally on an independent small cafe tour, including Memphis, Oaxaca City, Ankara and Istanbul. She gave birth to a son, Anthony Levi Mason, in 2009; according to Bowersox, his father left her six weeks into her pregnancy.
American Idol Bowersox auditioned for American Idol in Chicago, Illinois. She sang "Piece of My Heart". Guest judge Shania Twain commented that she had a "raw, natural talent."
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 EpisodeThemeSong choiceOriginal recording artistOrder #ResultAuditionAuditioner's Choice"Piece of My Heart"Erma FranklinN/AAdvancedHollywood WeekFirst Solo"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"Aretha FranklinN/AAdvancedHollywood WeekGroup Round"Get Ready"The TemptationsN/AAdvancedHollywood WeekSecond Solo"If It Makes You Happy"Sheryl CrowN/AAdvancedTop 24 (12 Women)Billboard Hot 100 Hits"Hand in My Pocket"Alanis Morissette11SafeTop 20 (10 Women)"Long as I Can See the Light"Creedence Clearwater Revival1SafeTop 16 (8 Women)"Give Me One Reason"Tracy Chapman7SafeTop 12The Rolling Stones"You Can't Always Get What You Want"The Rolling Stones12SafeTop 11Billboard Number 1 Hits"Me and Bobby McGee"Roger Miller5SafeTop 10R&B/Soul"Midnight Train to Georgia"Cissy Houston9SafeTop 9Lennon–McCartney"Come Together"The Beatles5SafeTop 9Elvis Presley"Saved"LaVern Baker1SafeTop 7Inspirational"People Get Ready"The Impressions7SafeTop 6Shania Twain"No One Needs to Know"Shania Twain4SafeTop 5Frank Sinatra"Summer Wind"Wayne Newton3SafeTop 4Songs of the CinemaDuet "Falling Slowly" — Once with Lee DeWyzeGlen Hansard & Markéta Irglová3SafeSolo "I'm Alright" — CaddyshackKenny Loggins5Top 3Contestant's Choice"Come to My Window"Melissa Etheridge2SafeJudges' Choice"Maybe I'm Amazed"Paul McCartney5Top 2Contestant's Choice"Me and Bobby McGee"Roger Miller2Runner-upSimon Fuller's Choice"Black Velvet"Alannah Myles4First Single"Up to the Mountain"Solomon Burke6 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."
Bowersox began a headlining tour in support of the album on March 1, 2013. The band Montë Mar was her concert opener, as well as her backing band on dates through March 31, 2013. 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 Label: Jive/19 Format: CD, digital download 28 2 8 90 US: 205,000 2013All That for This Release date: March 26, 2013 Label: Shanachie Records Format: CD, digital download 71 21 — — US: 8,000 2017Alive Release date: 2017 Label: Mamasox Inc. Format: CD, digital download2022HitchHiker 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 38 US: 5,000 "—" 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 2011. "Mine All Mine"
2019. "The Stuff"
2021. "The Storm"
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
References
External links
Official website
Crystal Bowersox at American Idol