Caleb Perry Johnson (born April 23, 1991) is an American singer who won the
13th season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''. Prior to appearing on the series, he was the front man for the band Elijah Hooker. After ''American Idol'', Johnson released his debut solo album, ''
Testify
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter.
Etymology
The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness.
La ...
'', through
Interscope Records. After leaving his label, he formed another group, Caleb Johnson and the Ramblin' Saints, and in 2019, the group self-released its first album, ''Born from Southern Ground.''
Early life
Caleb Johnson was born on April 23, 1991, to David and Tamra Johnson in
Asheville, North Carolina.
His mother works as an accountant, his father is a former football coach and works for the Parks and Recreation Department of
Buncombe County, North Carolina
Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Asheville ...
, but both have backgrounds in music. He attended Clyde A. Erwin High School in Asheville and graduated in 2009. He played some sports in high school, joined the drama club and chorus, and did some mission work and some volunteering at his church, Calvary Baptist.
Johnson became interested in singing around age 17 when Josh Sawyer, who had a band in his high school, asked him to be the lead singer. The first song he performed in public in his high school was "
Fortunate Son
"Fortunate Son" is a song by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival released on their fourth studio album, ''Willy and the Poor Boys'' in November 1969. It was previously released as a single, together with "Down on the Corner", in ...
" by
Creedence Clearwater Revival. He took part in a talent show while in high school with a band called Gorgon. He considers
Chris Cornell
Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave ...
to be his biggest musical influence, and that
Rush is his favorite band.
Music career
2010: Elijah Hooker
After graduating Erwin High School in Asheville, North Carolina, on June 30, 2009, Caleb Johnson first joined a band called Rock Bottom as its lead singer.
A year later, he joined his friend Josh Sawyer in rock band called Elijah Hooker and became its lead vocalist.
Sawyer is the lead guitarist of the band; the other members of the band included Brian Turner on Keyboard, Shawn Foerst on bass, and Colten Emery on drums.
Elijah Hooker released its self-titled debut album ''Elijah Hooker'' in June 2013. The 10-track album featured "Happiest Man" as its lead track.
2011–14: ''American Idol''
![Jena Irene Asciutto and Caleb Johnson Wolf Trap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Jena_Irene_Asciutto_and_Caleb_Johnson_Wolf_Trap.jpg)
Johnson auditioned for ''American Idol'' three times in four years. He first auditioned for the
tenth season of American Idol in 2011. He was put through to Hollywood Week and was in a Hollywood group with
James Durbin
__NOTOC__
James Durbin FBA (30 June 1923 – 23 June 2012) was a British statistician and econometrician, known particularly for his work on time series analysis and serial correlation.
Education
The son of a greengrocer, Durbin was born in W ...
. In 2012, Johnson auditioned for the
eleventh season and made it to the Top 42. He had difficulties in his performance of "
Old Time Rock and Roll
"Old Time Rock and Roll" is a song written by George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III, with uncredited lyrics by Bob Seger. It was recorded by Seger for his tenth studio album '' Stranger in Town.'' It was also released as a single in 1979. It i ...
" and was cut at the Top 24 selection. He took the following year off from auditioning to improve on his stage presence.
Johnson auditioned again in 2014 for the
thirteenth season and made it to the top 20. In the semi-final round, he was voted by America into the top five male contestants, giving him a spot in the season's top 13. Johnson got positive feedback from the judges every week, had strong performances, and became the only finalist in the season to never land in the bottom 3 prior to reaching the finale. That season, Johnson was declared the winner.
Season 13 of American Idol
2014–present: ''Testify'', ''Born from Southern Ground'' and ''Mountain Mojo Vol. 1''
Soon after Johnson won ''American Idol'' he started working on his debut album. The album was recorded in three weeks and Johnson collaborated with musicians such as
Howard Benson
Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008.
Early life and education
Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philad ...
,
Aloe Blacc
Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles " I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in t ...
,
Brian Howes, Blair Daly and
James Michael
James Andrew Michael is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, singer, sound engineer and mixer. He is currently the lead singer of the rock band Sixx:A.M.
Early life
He took piano lessons while growing up and sang in Holland High ...
. ''
Testify
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter.
Etymology
The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness.
La ...
'' was released on August 12, 2014.
After parting ways with his record label in late 2015, Johnson began working on his second album independently. The album was set to be released in 2016 but failed to. The lead single, "Holding On," was released on February 9, 2016. A second single, "Hanging with the Band," was released on April 7, 2016.
![Caleb Johnson with TSO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Caleb_Johnson_with_TSO.jpg)
In 2018, Johnson joined
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel ...
for their winter tour singing on "Three Kings & I."
On June 14, 2019, Johnson released an album, ''Born from Southern Ground,'' as Caleb Johnson & The Ramblin Saints. Johnson explained the addition of his backing band on the album: "The Ramblin Saints is my band. We decided to add the band name to my name and that would take it more into that rock direction. We used people like Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as a template. The musicians are from Nashville. I have two separate bands a studio band that I use based out of Nashville and my touring band is based out of Asheville." The album was produced by Johnson on his own newly created label, Big Johnson Records.
Johnson's next album, ''Mountain Mojo Vol. 1,'' was released on June 18, 2021. The album has contributions from Jason Bonham, Tyler Bryant, Josh Sawyer, Audley Freed, Tony Lucido, Mike Webb, Damon Johnson, Gale Mayes, Devonne Michele, and Angela Primm.
Discography
Studio albums
;with Elijah Hooker
* ''Elijah Hooker'' (2013)
;Solo
;with Caleb Johnson & The Ramblin' Saints
* ''Born from Southern Ground'' (2019)
Singles
;Release from "American Idol"
*"
The Edge of Glory
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her second studio album, '' Born This Way'' (2011). The song was released on May 9, 2011, as the album's third single. Initially released as one of two promotional singles for ''Bor ...
"
*"
Dazed and Confused"
*"
Chain of Fools
"Chain of Fools" is a song written by Don Covay. Aretha Franklin first released the song as a single in 1967 and subsequently it appeared on many of her albums. It hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues chart and number two on ...
"
*"
Faithfully"
*"
Family Tree
A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms.
Representations of ...
"
*"
Sting Me"
*"
I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" is a song performed by American hard rock band Aerosmith as the official theme song for the 1998 sci-fi disaster film ''Armageddon'', in which lead singer Steven Tyler's daughter Liv starred. It is one of four ...
"
*"
Travelin' Band
"Travelin' Band" is a song written by John Fogerty and originally recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was included on their 1970 album ''Cosmo's Factory''. Backed with "Who'll Stop the Rain", it was one of three double sided singles f ...
"
Music videos
See also
*
List of ''Idols'' winners
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Caleb
1991 births
21st-century American singers
American Idol winners
American rock singers
American heavy metal singers
Interscope Records artists
Living people
Musicians from Asheville, North Carolina
21st-century American male singers