Charles William Grigsby, Jr. (born September 15, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and a finalist on the
second 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 ...
.''
Early life
The youngest of six siblings, Grigsby was born in
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students.
The town is the birthplace of th ...
. In high school, he joined the school choir. After high school, Grigsby moved to Detroit, Michigan, and enrolled in school to study computer-aided design.
''American Idol''
Grigsby auditioned for the
second season of ''American Idol'' where he sang "
Overjoyed" by
Stevie Wonder in the first semifinal group and was one of two contestants from the round to automatically advance to the final 12.
In the finals, he sang "
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" is a song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye from his fifth studio album of the same name (1965). It was written in 1964 by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and produce ...
" by
Marvin Gaye and advanced to the top 11, where he was eliminated after singing "
You Can't Win" from ''
The Wiz
''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...
.''
He was a part of the
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2003 which ran from July 8 to August 31, where he sang "
Do I Do" by
Stevie Wonder.
Post-''Idol''
On July 21, 2005, Grigsby released, ''Charles Grigsby'', an EP self-titled consisting of six tracks. In 2008, he joined a local band that performed across northeast Ohio. In September 2010, he then became the lead vocalist of the international band, Centric, in the Hard Rock Cafe in
Pattaya, Thailand.
On September 1, 2011, Grigsby released a music download single. "Headliner." and performed the song on WJW Fox 8 Cleveland News. A benefit concert featuring Grigsby was held at The First Church in Oberlin on September 11, 2011.
After taking vocal rest, Grigsby returned to the music industry and released his album ''Hindsight'' on December 31, 2020 and a single ''Christmas Once Again'' on December 1, 2022.
Discography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigsby, Charles
1978 births
21st-century American singers
Singers from Ohio
American Idol participants
Living people
People from Oberlin, Ohio
21st-century American male singers