Hanson is an American pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, formed by brothers Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. Supporting members include Dimitrius Collins, and Andrew Perusi (bass) who have toured and performed live with the band since 2007. They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their debut album released through Mercury, Polygram, Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations. Despite the enormous commercial success of Middle of Nowhere, the band suffered from the merger that eliminated their label, Mercury Records. The group was moved to Island Def Jam Music Group, which they eventually left after a conflict with the label. Hanson has sold over 16 million records worldwide and have had 8 top 40 albums and 5 top 40 singles in the US, as well as 8 top 40 singles in the UK. The band now records under its own independent record label, 3CG Records.
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. He first gained fame when he came in second place on the second season of the reality singing competition American Idol in 2003. His debut album, Measure of a Man, released in October 2003, went multi-platinum. He released four more albums on the RCA label: Merry Christmas with Love (2004), A Thousand Different Ways (2006), the Christmas EP All is Well (2006), and On My Way Here (2008). Since then he has released two more albums, both with Decca Records: Tried and True (2010) and Steadfast (2012). Aiken has also had eleven tours in support of his albums. In all, he has sold over 5 million albums, and is the fourth-highest-selling American Idol alumnus.
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill with their cousin Matthew Followill.
While the music of Oklahoma is relatively young, Oklahoma has been a state for just over 100 years, and it has a rich history and many fine and influential musicians.
Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma, he was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Don Roscoe Joseph III, professionally known as Rocky Frisco and Rocky Curtiss, was an American musician. He was best known as the longtime pianist for J. J. Cale, and for his role in the development of the music style known as the Tulsa Sound.
Paul Steven Ripley was an American recording artist, record producer, songwriter, studio engineer, guitarist, and inventor. He entered the music industry in 1977. He was also the leader/producer of country rock band The Tractors.
The BOK Center, or Bank of Oklahoma Center, is a 19,199-seat multi-purpose arena and a primary indoor sports and event venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. Designed to accommodate arena football, hockey, basketball, concerts, and similar events, the facility was built at a cost of $178 million in public funds and $18 million in privately funded upgrades. Ground was broken on August 31, 2005 and a ribbon-cutting ceremony involving Tulsa musicians Garth Brooks and Hanson took place on August 30, 2008. The arena's schedule of concerts and other events began on August 31 with a community choir hosted by Sam Harris.
Kiyonobu Inoue, better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea. He started his solo career in 1997. Luna Sea disbanded in 2000, and he formed Fake? with Oblivion Dust vocalist Ken Lloyd a year later. In 2005 he left Fake? and founded Tourbillon with Luna Sea vocalist Ryuichi Kawamura and Hiroaki Hayama. He rejoined Luna Sea when they reunited in 2010, and in 2012 formed Muddy Apes with bassist Taka Hirose and guitarist Dean Tidey, both from Feeder, and 8otto's vocalist Maeson.
Ernest Lawrence "Ernie" Fields was an African-American trombonist, pianist, arranger and bandleader. He first became known for leading the Royal Entertainers, which were based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and toured along a circuit stretching from Kansas City, Kansas, to Dallas, Texas. In later years he led a band that recorded in Los Angeles.
Jason René Castro is an American acoustic/folk-pop singer and songwriter. He was the fourth place finalist on season seven of American Idol. After Idol, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records, and his self-titled debut album was released on April 13, 2010.
David James Archuleta is an American singer-songwriter and actor. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, Archuleta became the Junior Vocal Champion on "Star Search 2". In 2008 he finished second on the seventh season of "American Idol".
Axium was a Missouri-based band once headed by American Idol season 7 winner David Cook. Their sound was described as Alice in Chains meets Tantric.
Blindsided is the second studio album by the band Axium, and the first to be released with a label. It features David Cook ; Bobby Kerr (drums); Jerron Nichols (bass); Tom Basile (bass); and Jeff Shrout (guitar); with guest vocals on ‘Hold’ by Andy Skib and Mikey J. The album was produced by Paul Johnson, Tom Basile, and Axium; recorded at “In The Can Mobile Studios” by Paul Johnson; and mixed and mastered by Tom Basile at Holy Toledo.
Declaration Tour is the first solo headline tour of the American rock singer-songwriter David Cook, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol. There were 152 shows in this tour, not including an extra show in Manila in the Philippines, a record for an Idol debut tour. The tour earned an average gross of $46,263 per show.
Neal Tiemann is an American musician, currently the lead guitarist and songwriter of the rock band the Midwest Kings (MWK), and guitarist for groove metal band DevilDriver. From 2008 to 2011 he serve as the lead guitarist for David Cook's band The Anthemic. He spent most of 2009 on the Declaration Tour with Cook and served as the tour's music director. Tiemann played guitar on Cook's major label debut album David Cook (2008) as well as his independently released Analog Heart (2006). He has also played on Burn Halo's 2009 self-titled album and Bryan Jewett's album A Brief Look at the New You. Tiemann and the rest of The Anthemic worked on Cook's second album, This Loud Morning (2011).
Andy Skib is the lead singer of the rock band Midwest Kings (MWK). He spent most of 2009 on the Declaration Tour with American Idol season seven winner David Cook. Skib has previously co-written songs with former David Cook bandmate Neal Tiemann, who also served as lead guitarist for their band, Midwest Kings (MWK). Additionally, he has co-written songs with artists Zac Maloy, Hanson, Graham Colton, and Jaret Reddick. Skib is also known for his most recent solo project, To Have Heroes. Skib is a member of David Cook's band, The Anthemic, providing rhythm guitar, keyboards and backup vocals. Skib and the rest of The Anthemic worked on Cook's second album for 19/RCA Records. The album, entitled This Loud Morning, was released on June 28, 2011.
Union High School is the highest level of secondary education in the Union Public Schools system of Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, for students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades. The school, combined with Union 9th Grade Center, is the second-largest high school in the state of Oklahoma, behind only Broken Arrow High School.
