Remember Taylor Hicks? You’ll be surprised what this “American Idol” is up to now

Who could forget Taylor Hicks? With his scratchy voice and typical greying hair, he was the leader of the infamous “Soul Patrol”.

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On May 24, 2006, Hicks was crowned the winner of “American Idol,” defeating Katharine McPhee and receiving a total of over 63.4 million votes.

After his victory in 2006, Hicks signed a record deal and released hits such as “Do I Make You Proud,” which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Unfortunately, this was not enough to keep sales steady and in 2008 Hicks was expelled from the label.

But that didn’t defeat Hicks; in fact, it had the opposite effect. Hicks was able to recover and continues to make music to this day. He also joined the cast of the Broadway musical Grease and had a Las Vegas residency at the Paris Hotel and Casino.

%shareLinks-quote=”Last year (2013) he earned $2.5 million, making him the 7th highest-earning alumni of the show.” type=”quote” author=”Forbes” authordesc=”” isquoteoftheday=”false”%​

Today, Hicks still rocks out on his guitar (and harmonica, of course) and is also a restaurant owner. Hicks is co-owner of Saw’s Juke Joint in Birmingham, Alabama, which is described as an “upscale” BBQ joint.

We also came to the conclusion that Hiccup doesn’t age… a lifetime of “soul patrol”!

Watch Hicks prepare one of his favorite Southern dishes here:

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