Todrick Hall (born April 4, 1985) is an American singer, rapper, choreographer, and YouTuber. He gained national attention on the ninth season of the televised singing competition American Idol. Following this, he amassed a huge following on YouTube with viral videos including original songs, parodies, and skits. A documentary series about his video-making process titled Todrick aired on MTV in 2015.
Todrick Hall was born on April 4, 1985, in Plainview, Texas, a farming community in the state's panhandle.[7][8][9] He was raised by a single mother until she married when he was a teen, when he gained a brother and stepfather.[8][9] Later the family would move to Dallas.[8]
As a child, he adored The Wizard of Oz. As an adult, he would create Oz, the Musical; the pop song The Wizard of Ahhhs featuring the pop a cappella quintet Pentatonix; and the visual album and tour Straight Out of Oz.[10][8] An elementary teacher in Dallas led Hall toward the arts, including theater, the orchestra, and ballet.
Hall relocated to Los Angeles, eventually living in a four-bedroom "nondescript three-story home in the Hollywood Hills". He joined the video-sharing platform YouTube in May 2006, and made over 300 videos in the next five years.[9][14][1] His first video, filmed while still living in Texas, was "a hilarious clip of him singing his order to a McDonald's drive-through speaker (complete with backup singers)".[9][19] The video has since received over ten million views.[19] In 2008 he uploaded a video of a performance of "Hard to Say Goodbye," which boosted his subscribers to two million.[7] YouTube became a full-time pursuit for Hall in 2011.[14] He says the platform showcases "how I can write a song, create the concepts, execute them, direct, choreograph and do hair and makeup" as well as perform.[1] Some of his popular videos were the basis of later concert tours like "Twerk Du Soleil" and the "Toddlerz Ball."[1]
In August 2009, Hall auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol in Dallas, Texas.[20] He sang a self-composed song mentioning the judges – Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and guest judge Joe Jonas – to make his case for inclusion in the program.[21] Years later, reflecting on his Idol experiences, Hall said his "fondest memory" was the audition song.[22] All four approved of his participation; he went into Hollywood week and eventually the semi-finals. In the Top 24, he sang Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone",[21] and in the Top Twenty performed Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It". He was eliminated in the Top 16 on March 11, 2010, after his rendition of Queen's "Somebody to Love;" he was one of four contestants eliminated in that round, and thus ranked between 13th and 16th overall.[23] Judge Simon Cowell dismissively told Hall he "wouldn't amount to anything beyond a Broadway actor".[24] Later Hall stated that he regretted hiding his sexuality on the show: he had a girl wait for his post-audition walk outside with his golden ticket.[25][26][10]
In August 2010, Hall returned to Broadway in the musical Memphis.[18] Hall feels, in contrast to producing shows and managing staff, that his Broadway work was less stressful as he was an employee who did his job then was done.[27] As a producer he was responsible for every facet of production.[27]
2011–2013: Career growth and YouTube fame
Hall's audience has grown considerably: as of June 2019, Hall currently has 3.1 million subscribers on YouTube, and as of March 2018, his videos have been viewed 531.9 million times.[28] Hall's videos include several of his own original songs and music videos, choreographed flash mobs for Ariana Grande[29] and Beyoncé performed in an actual Target store,[30] the latter of which Beyoncé personally recognized Hall for,[31] musical collaborations with Pentatonix, and personal updates.
In May 2011, he released a video audition for the third season of Glee titled "I Wanna Be on Glee", for possible inclusion in the show.[32] Though the video was popular, Hall was not cast in the program. In November 2013, Virgin America produced a pop-music safety video directed by Jon M. Chu with music by Jean-Yves Decornet. Hall wrote the song and lyrics and starred in the video.[33] In December 2013, Hall released a Christmas album entitled Dear Santa, with covers of "This Christmas" and "Sleigh Bells", produced by wiidope as well as original songs "So Cold" and "SplitsOnXmasTrees".[34]
Hall did a choreographed flash mob in a Target store to Beyoncé's "End of Time" prompting her to hire Hall as a choreographer on her roller-disco video, "Blow" which came out in November 2013.[8][35]
2014–2015: Pop Star High and Todrick docuseries
From April 1 to May 13, 2014, Hall released an eight episode web series on his YouTube channel called Pop Star High. The series takes place in a world where all of the most famous Pop Stars of our day all went to high school together. The series portrays and parodies pop stars like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Tyga, and draws on the tropes of high school comedy movies. The soundtrack for the series was released on April 1, 2014.
On October 22, 2014, MTV announced Todrick, a docuseries following Hall, would premiere in 2015.[36] On December 20, 2014, Hall produced and appeared in a commercial for the series and featured other celebrities' holiday wishes. Eight episodes of the docuseries were ordered and aired throughout 2015.[37] The soundtrack for the show was released on October 13, 2015. In October 2015, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on NBC's Today show hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single "Wind It Up".
In February 2015, he was the first artist featured on VH1's Huge on the Tube series.[38]
2016–2017: Straight Outta Oz, Kinky Boots, and RuPaul's Drag Race
The Straight Outta Oz Tour was interrupted by Hall's casting in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots.[40] They offered the lead in Kinky Boots "without even auditioning, because they felt my story was so similar to that of Lola's", a drag queen cabaret performer.[26] Hall's performance was well received by critics. He performed 155 shows from November 1, 2016, to March 1, 2017.
The Straight Outta Oz Tour was revived in 2017 and ran between March 30, and June 5, in various North American, European, and Australian locations.[41] It was accompanied by an expanded deluxe edition that included songs that were featured on the tour but not on the original version of the album. Additionally, the album included an extended version and new video for "Wrong Bitch" featuring Bob the Drag Queen, and a rerecorded version of Todrick's previous single "Low" featuring RuPaul. In August 2017, he had a cameo as a back-up dancer in the music video for Taylor Swift's song, "Look What You Made Me Do"; the two had become friends in 2015, and would collaborate on several projects.[42][43]
From November 30, 2017, to January 14, 2018, played Billy Flynn in a limited engagement role in Chicago.[44] During his tenure, the show had its best-grossing week in its 21-year Broadway history.[45]
In December he released the documentary film Behind the Curtain about the production behind Straight Outta Oz filmed in conjunction with AwesomenessTV who had released a successful documentary about another gay YouTuber Tyler Oakley.[27][46] It was screened in select theaters and later released on home video. Later that month he had a guest appearance in the Bob's Burgers Season 8 episode "The Bleakening" as drag queen Miss Triple-Xmas (or Cleavage to Beaver) performing the song "Twinkly Lights".[47] He also released a medley of covers of songs from the Pitch Perfect film series that was featured on the Pitch Perfect 3 Special Edition soundtrack.
2018–2020: Forbidden, Haus Party, The Greatest Dancer, and Quarantine Queen
In March 2018 he released his new visual album follow-up to Straight Outta Oz called Forbidden. To promote the album, Hall embarked on Forbidden: The Tour across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.[48]
In May 2019, Hall revealed that he will be releasing a trilogy of extended plays to be released across the next six months. The first EP, Haus Party, Pt. 1, with its first single "Glitter" was released May 16, 2019. The EP also contained the hit "Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels", with a remix featuring Ciara.[49] The EPs were supported by the Haus Party World Tour.[50]Part Two was originally planned to be released in July 2019 but was delayed to September 19, 2019. It was supported by the singles "Wig", "Fag", and "Dripeesha" (the latter featuring Tiffany Haddish).[49][51] Part Three was released in February 2021.
On June 17, 2019, Hall appeared in and co-executive produced the music video for singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's song "You Need to Calm Down".[52] Hall also helped recruit guests for the cameo-filled video.[52] In June 2019, Hall announced that he will be returning to Broadway to play Ogie Anhorn in the musical Waitress opposite fellow YouTuber Colleen Ballinger.[53][54] In August 2019 he joined the panel of Dance Captains for the second series of The Greatest Dancer alongside the other Dance Captains Cheryl, Oti Mabuse and Matthew Morrison.[51][55] From November 2019 to January 2020 Hall will play the lead, Billy Flynn, in the West End version of the musical Chicago.[56]
In February 2020, Hall released a song for Disneyland's new twice daily parade, called "Magic Happens".[57][15] Hall "learned to dance by watching Disney parades".[57] On April 27, 2020, Hall announced on social media that he had spent the past week writing and recording an EP entitled Quarantine Queen (themed around the COVID-19 pandemic).[58] The album was released on April 29, 2020.[59] In May 2020 Hall signed with CAA Management.[60] On November 26, 2020, Hall released a live album of the Haus Party world tour recorded in Atlanta, alongside a full video recording for free on YouTube.
2021–present: Femuline and Algorythm
On February 12, 2021, Hall released the third volume of the Haus Party trilogy after being delayed sixteen months past its original release date. On June 8, 2021, Hall released his fourth studio album, Femuline, which was preceded by the singles "Boys in the Ocean" and "Rainin' Fellas". The album is inspired by gay pride and features appearances from Chaka Khan, Tyra Banks, Brandy, Nicole Scherzinger and Ts Madison.[61]
In September 2021, Hall and Samsung teamed up for a remix video of his breakthrough single, "Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels," centered around the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 foldable smartphone. The reworked lyrics -- "Flip, Fold, Snap, Clack"—reference the phone's ability to flip up and fold down.[62]
In January 2022, it was announced that Hall would be participating in the third season of Celebrity Big Brother as a contestant.[63] He made it into the final three and then placed runner up for the season. During his stint in the show, he was widely criticized for bullying Shanna Moakler and his comments regarding her body, which viewers and critics alike identified as body shaming.[64] Yet another controversy would follow Hall during his stint on the show, after he was heard on camera discussing how he charges $250 for a cameo.com video request, despite "not making [them] too personalized because [he does] so many."[65] Hall received additional backlash after viewers witnessed the unfounded personal attacks and defamation attempts he made towards Chris Kirkpatrick on the live feeds.[66]
On June 1, 2022, Hall released his fifth album, Algorhythm, which was preceded by the single, "Dance Forever".[citation needed]
Personal life
Hall announced a relationship with model David Borum via an Instagram post in May 2021.[67]
Allegations of professional and sexual misconduct
In 2019, several former dancers and collaborators on Hall's YouTube videos and visual albums accused him of never compensating them for their work.[68][69] Hall has denied these allegations.[68]
Also in 2019, Hall's former assistant shared documents alleging Hall was involved in a sexual harassment lawsuit, and that he witnessed predatory behavior. The allegations were reiterated in 2022 following Hall's controversial appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.[69]
"White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. The song both satirizes and celebrates nerd culture, as recited by the subject, who cannot "roll with the gangstas" because he is "just too white and nerdy". It includes many references to activities stereotypically associated with nerds and/or white people, such as collecting comic books and action figures, being fluent in JavaScript and Klingon, editing Wikipedia, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by American author L. Frank Baum. Since its first publication in 1900, it has been adapted many times by L. Frank Baum and others: for film, television, theatre, books, comics, games, and other media.
Nicholas Jerry Jonas is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas formed a band with his older brothers, Kevin and Joe, known as the Jonas Brothers. The group released their debut studio album, It's About Time, through the Columbia label in 2006. After leaving Columbia Records and signing with Hollywood Records, the group released their self-titled second studio album in 2007, which became their breakthrough record. The band became prominent figures on the Disney Channel during this time, gaining a large following through the network, and appeared in the widely successful musical television film Camp Rock (2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), as well as two of their own series, Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream (2008–2010) and Jonas (2009–2010).
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé, from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). Columbia Records released "Single Ladies" as a single on October 8, 2008, as a double A-side alongside "If I Were a Boy", showcasing the contrast between Beyoncé and her aggressive onstage alter ego Sasha Fierce. It explores men's unwillingness to propose or commit. In the song, the female protagonist is in a club to celebrate her single status.
"Sweet Dreams" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé from her third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). Originally titled "Beautiful Nightmare", it leaked online in March 2008. The song was written and produced by Beyoncé, James Scheffer, Wayne Wilkins, and Rico Love. Columbia Records released "Sweet Dreams" as the album's sixth single, to mainstream radio and rhythmic contemporary radio playlists in the United States on June 2, 2009, and elsewhere on July 13. It is an electropop song whose instrumentation includes synthesizers, a keyboard, and snare drums. Beyoncé employs slinky vocals to sing the lyrics, which describe a romantic relationship that the female protagonist believes could be a dream.
Stan Walker is an Australian New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh season of Australian Idol. He subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. It was in December 2009, Walker released his debut studio album, Introducing Stan Walker, which included the hit single, "Black Box". The album debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It also appeared on the New Zealand Albums Chart at number two and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).
Amber Patrice Riley sometimes known mononymously as RILEY, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee (2009–2015). For her performance on the series, she was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards, and won a shared Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. As a member of the cast, Riley charted over 200 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
American singer and songwriter Beyoncé has appeared in numerous music videos, documentaries and films. She has also directed eight full-length films, including five concert films and two musical films. Her films have grossed over $2.5 billion worldwide at the box office. She first appeared in the 1997 music video for Destiny's Child's "No, No, No", after which she made her film debut as the lead in the direct-to-video musical Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001). Beyoncé's first solo music video was the soundtrack single "Work It Out" for Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), which also featured her debut theatrical film role. She released her first music video as a solo artist for "Crazy in Love" from Dangerously in Love (2003).
wiidope is a production group of three musicians, composers and engineers that assembled in 2009 while attending Berklee College of Music for postgraduate studies. Members are Carl Seanté, Kofi Owusu-Ofori and Kyuwon "Q" Kim. Their most notable works include YouTube/MTV personality Todrick Hall, RuPaul, Brandy, Tamar Braxton, Korean Boy-band SHINee and their work on the Grammy Award winning album, The Mosaic Project, with jazz drummer, composer and vocalist Terri Lyne Carrington.
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition starring on the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World (2014–2017), and signed with the Disney-owned Hollywood Records. She released her debut single, "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" in 2014, followed by four studio albums: Eyes Wide Open (2015), Evolution (2016), Singular: Act I (2018), and Singular: Act II (2019); three of her singles—"Alien", "Almost Love", and "Sue Me"—topped the US Dance Club Songs chart.
Victoria Loren Kelly is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of American Idol in 2010 and eventually releasing her debut EP, Handmade Songs (2012).
Madison Elle Beer is an American singer and songwriter. Beer first gained substantial media coverage when Justin Bieber posted a link to one of her covers she posted on YouTube. In 2013, she released her debut single "Melodies". In 2018, she released her debut extended play (EP), As She Pleases, which produced the singles "Dead" and "Home with You".
Superfruit is an American musical and comedy duo consisting of Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying, both known as members of the a cappella group Pentatonix. Superfruit is also the name of their comedy show, featured on their eponymous YouTube channel. Their channel was created in August 2013 with a focus on comedic vlogs and music performances. As of July 2023, the channel has over 2.4 million subscribers and over 481 million views.
Straight Outta Oz is the second solo studio album and original musical, written and produced by American singer-songwriter and YouTube celebrity Todrick Hall with music produced by Jeeve Ducornet and wiidope, released on 23 June 2016. Featured artists include Nicole Scherzinger, Jordin Sparks, Perez Hilton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Amber Riley, Raven-Symoné and Tamar Braxton. It is based on the Wizard of Oz whilst being a semi-autobiographical account of his rise to fame in Los Angeles (Oz).
Jay Armstrong Johnson is an American actor, singer, and dancer, known for starring roles on Broadway in musicals like Parade, On the Town, and The Phantom of the Opera and for his portrayal of Will Olsen in the ABC television series Quantico.
Forbidden is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter and YouTube celebrity Todrick Hall with music produced by Jeeve Ducornet and wiidope, released on March 28, 2018.
The discography of American recording artist and YouTuber Todrick Hall consists of six studio albums, two soundtrack albums, two reissues, one live album, five extended plays, and 36 singles.
Haus Party, Pt. 1 is the second extended play by American singer-songwriter and YouTube personality Todrick Hall. It is the first in a planned trilogy of Haus Party EPs to be released throughout 2019. While it was originally announced that Part Two would be released in July followed by Part Three in September, the release of Part Two was delayed to September, while Part Three was delayed multiple times, eventually releasing in February 2021.
Haus Party, Pt. 2 is the third extended play by American singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTube personality Todrick Hall. It is the second of the Haus Party trilogy. While it was originally announced to be released in July 2019, the release was delayed to September 19, 2019. The EP features six new songs, as well as three remixes.
"Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels" is a song by Todrick Hall, released in 2019 from his EP, Haus Party, Pt. 1.
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