Jacob Lusk | |
|---|---|
 Lusk in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | June 23, 1987 |
| Origin | Compton, California, US |
| Genres | R&B, gospel, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, drums |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Website | jacobluskonline |
Jacob Lusk (born June 23, 1987) is an American singer from Compton, California, who finished in fifth place on the tenth season of American Idol . He is also a member of Gabriels.
Lusk was born in 1987 to Anglia and Gregory Lusk, and is from Compton, California. His father worked as a music producer, [1] but he died when Lusk was twelve. Lusk began singing when he was four years old, and performed at his church from the age of five. [2] He attended United Faith Community School in Long Beach, California, [1] and was the lead singer in the school choir, plays and programs. [2]
He is a minister of music at his church. Prior to American Idol, he worked as a spa concierge. [3] In 2007, he joined a gospel group called InNate Praise formed by the late hip-hop singer Nate Dogg, and he performed with the group at churches around Los Angeles County. [4]
He was arrested in November 2010 for missing a court hearing after being cited for riding on an L.A. metro train without buying a ticket, and spent three days in jail. [5] He was also initially sentenced to two years probation but was reprieved after pleading to the judge that the sentence would jeopardize his chance of appearing on American Idol.
His musical influences include his father Gregory Lusk, Billie Holiday, Luther Vandross, Gladys Knight, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, James Moore, and BeBe and CeCe Winans.
Lusk auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in Los Angeles, California.
Lusk was first shown in the group stage of the competition where he performed with fellow finalist Naima Adedapo, Vegas Contestant Sophia Shorai, and Matthew Nuss, and Da'Quela Payne. all advanced to the top 102
He received high praise from Randy Jackson for his performance of "God Bless the Child" during the Hollywood rounds as the best ever seen on Idol. He was one of the top five males in the semi-final round, and therefore advanced to the Top 13. [6] Lusk was eliminated on May 5, 2011, finishing in fifth place. During the finale, he performed with Kirk Franklin and Gladys Knight.
| Episode | Theme | Song choice | Original artist | Order # | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audition | Auditioner's Choice | "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" | The Undisputed Truth | N/A | Advanced |
| "A Change Is Gonna Come" [7] | Sam Cooke | ||||
| Hollywood Round, Part 1 | First Solo | N/A | N/A | N/A | Advanced |
| Hollywood Round, Part 2 | Group Performance | "Get Ready" | The Temptations | N/A | Advanced |
| Hollywood Round, Part 3 | Second Solo | "God Bless the Child" | Billie Holiday | N/A | Advanced |
| Las Vegas Round | Songs of The Beatles Group Performance | "The Long and Winding Road" | The Beatles | N/A | Advanced |
| Hollywood Round Final | Final Solo | "A Song for You" | Leon Russell | N/A | Advanced |
| Top 24 (12 Men) | Personal Choice | "A House Is Not a Home" | Brook Benton | 11 | Advanced |
| Top 13 | Your Personal Idol | "I Believe I Can Fly" | R. Kelly | 8 | Safe |
| Top 12 | Year you Were Born | "Alone" | i-TEN | 12 | Safe |
| Top 11 | Motown | "You're All I Need to Get By" | Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell | 3 | Safe |
| Top 11 1 | Elton John | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Elton John | 10 | Safe |
| Top 9 | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame | "Man in the Mirror" | Michael Jackson | 1 | Bottom 3 2 |
| Top 8 | Songs from the Movies | "Bridge over Troubled Water" — The Pursuit of Happyness | Simon & Garfunkel | 7 | Safe |
| Top 7 | Songs from the 21st Century | "Dance with My Father" | Luther Vandross | 4 | Bottom 3 3 |
| Top 6 | Carole King | Solo "Oh No Not My Baby" | Maxine Brown | 1 | Safe |
| Duet "I'm into Something Good" with James Durbin | Earl-Jean McCrea | 9 | |||
| Top 5 | Songs from Now and Then | "No Air" | Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown | 2 | Eliminated |
| "Love Hurts" | The Everly Brothers | 7 |
Lusk and the rest of the top 11 took part in the American Idols Live! Tour 2011, which began in West Valley City, Utah, on July 6, 2011, and ended in Manila, Philippines on September 20, 2011. [8] He performed on Live with Regis and Kelly on May 9, 2011, and on the Today show on May 10, 2011. In 2016, he formed Gabriels with Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope. [9]
On June 25, 2023, he performed "Are You Ready for Love" alongside Elton John at John's headline performance at the Glastonbury Festival. [10] In October 2023, Lusk won The Breakthrough Award in the 2023 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards . [11]
On Wednesday, March 20, 2024, Lusk performed at the all-star tribute concert for the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song saluting pop music legend and LGBTQ+ advocate Elton John and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. [12] [13] [14] In the duo's acceptance speech, John and Taupin, both born the U.K. paid homage to the American rock-n-roll songbook including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles and more. Elton John stated, "All my heros were American. And I got to meet most of them, too. What can I say? I'm very humbled tonight, especially by everyone who performed." [15] Billed as Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, Lusk received a standing ovation for an unforgettable performance of the 1970s hit "Bennie and the Jetts." He introduced the song with a Holiness-Pentecostal church styled sermonette dedicated to "two masters of the popular genre from the book of the Jetts. And his name is Bennie!"
Lusk identifies as queer. Of his time on American Idol, he says "Even though I wasn’t out, I was pretty, pretty flaming." [16]
Bernard John Taupin is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin is behind the majority of John's songs, dating back to the 1960s.
Madman Across the Water is the fourth studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 5 November 1971 by DJM and Uni Records. The album was his third album to be released in 1971, at which point John had been rising to prominence as a popular music artist. John's first progressive rock album, Madman Across the Water contains nine tracks, each composed and performed by John and with lyrics written by songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman plays Hammond organ on two songs.
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is the ninth studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 23 May 1975 by DJM Records in the UK and MCA Records in the US. The album is an autobiographical account of the early musical careers of Elton John and his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin. An instant commercial success, the album was certified gold before its release, and reached No. 1 in its first week of release on the US Billboard 200, the first album to achieve both honours. It sold 1.4 million copies within four days of release, and stayed in the top position in the chart for seven weeks.
"Step into Christmas" is a Christmas song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was released as a stand-alone single in November 1973 with the song "Ho, Ho, Ho " as the B-side. Upon its original 1973 release, the song peaked at No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart, and it reached a new peak of No. 8 on the same chart in 2019. In the United States, the single reached No. 56 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.
"Your Song" is a song written by musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single.
"Crocodile Rock" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in summer 1972 at the Château d'Hérouville studio in France, where John and his team had previously recorded the Honky Château album. It was released on 27 October 1972 in the UK and 20 November 1972 in the U.S., as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot on 3 February 1973, and staying there for three consecutive weeks. In the U.S., it was certified Gold on 5 February 1973 and Platinum on 13 September 1995 by the RIAA.
Sleeping with the Past is the twenty-second studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 29 August 1989. It is his best-selling album in Denmark and is dedicated to his longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin. The album features "Sacrifice" and "Healing Hands", which were issued as a double A-side and became John's first solo number-one single in his home country of the UK. The single's success helped the album also hit number one there, his first since 1974's Elton John's Greatest Hits. It also became his first platinum album in the UK since 1985's Ice on Fire. In the US it was certified gold in October 1989 and platinum in April 1990 by the RIAA. Sleeping with the Past became John's best selling album of the 1980s.
"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" is a medley of two songs written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It is the opening track of the 1973 double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
"Levon" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was recorded on 27 February 1971, and was released on John's 1971 album, Madman Across the Water. Backing vocals are provided by Tony Burrows. Paul Buckmaster wrote the orchestral arrangements and conducted the orchestra.
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is a song, with music by English musician Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin, from John's 1975 album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. It was released as a single on 20 June 1975, the only single released from the album. Like the rest of the album, the song is autobiographical, and addresses an attempted suicide by John.
DialIdol is both the name of a computer program for Microsoft Windows and its associated website that tracks voting trends for American Idol contestants. The program allows users to automatically vote for the American Idol contestants of their choice using their PC's modem. The program then reports back to the main website, which keeps track of the results based on the percentage of calls for each contestant that result in a busy signal. DialIdol assumes that more busy signals means more callers are attempting to vote for that contestant. DialIdol was created during the fourth season of American Idol and was released to the public at the start of the fifth season.
"Philadelphia Freedom" is a song by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was released as a single on 28 February 1975, credited to the Elton John Band. The song was the fourth of John's six number-one singles in the US during the early and mid-1970s, which saw his recordings dominating the charts. In Canada it was his eighth single to hit the top of the RPM national singles chart.
"Bennie and the Jets" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. The song first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. "Bennie and the Jets" has been one of John's most popular songs and was performed during his appearance at Live Aid.
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The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is an award given to a composer or performer for their lifetime contributions to popular music. Created in 2007 by the United States Library of Congress, the prize is named after brothers George and Ira Gershwin, whose contributions to popular music included songs such as I Got Rhythm, Embraceable You, and Someone to Watch Over Me, the orchestral pieces Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, and the opera Porgy and Bess.
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Stefano Langone, known as Stefano in his recording career, is an American singer and musician from Kent, Washington. Langone placed seventh on the tenth season of American Idol. Post American Idol, Langone pursued his musical career and became an independent artist in January 2014.
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"Rocket Man" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.
Gabriels are a British-American three-piece band consisting of Jacob Lusk, Ryan Hope and Ari Balouzian. The band formed after meeting in Los Angeles in 2016. They were nominated for BBC Radio 1's Sound of... for 2023.