Ryan Stahr Kulchinsky (born January 7, 1978) is an American rock singer-songwriter from

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, currently signed on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. His first major label record '' 11:59'', released via

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

in 2010, reached No. 31 on Billboard 200 and No. 10 on Billboard Rock albums chart. Star became known to a wider audience as contestant on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

reality TV show '' Rock Star: Supernova'' in 2006. His songs have featured on several TV shows and promotion. His song "Brand New Day", featured as the main theme to

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

TV series ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

'', earned him a BMI TV Music Award in May 2009. His first single for Island Records, "Stay Awhile" reached No. 28 on Billboard Adult Pop Songs, and its music video has logged over 1 million views on YouTube to date. "Stay Awhile" was released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

August 14, 2012.

Early life

Star was born in

Huntington, New York The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, and grew up in nearby

Dix Hills Dix Hills is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 26,892 at the 2010 census. In the past, Dix Hills and some of its neighbors have proposed ...

. He was 14 years old when he formed his first band called Stage. They released four EPs – "Black" in 1997, "Blue" in 1999, "White" in 2000 and "The Final" in 2004, and in 1995 studio album "Historical Underdosing" and a self-titled album on Maverick Records in 2003. While still in high school, the band played

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

's and the

Mercury Lounge The Mercury Lounge is a live music venue in the Lower East Side of New York City. Like its brother venue The Bowery Ballroom, The Mercury Lounge is celebrated as an iconic indie venue due to its acoustics, its fostering and even launching of up ...

. When the band parted ways, Star became the solo artist R.Star and released his independently produced debut solo album '' Songs from the Eye of an Elephant'' on Stone Crow Records in 2005, some songs of Stage was re-recorded for the album (Perfect, Perfect Time Of Night (Back Of Your Car), "O", Sink Or Swim).

Television

Star was a contestant on the second season of CBS' reality show '' Rock Star'' where Tommy Lee's band

Supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

was looking for a lead singer to front the

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

. On the show, Ryan consistently showed his diverse style from melodic and moving piano to rocking, and was nicknamed Ryan "The Darkhorse" Star by show commentator Dave Navarro. He was eventually eliminated, and days later,

Mark Burnett Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a television producer who is the former Chairman of MGM Television, MGM Worldwide Television Group. He is best known for creating and producing the reality shows The Apprentice (American TV series), ''The Ap ...

, the show's producer, set up Ryan and the show's House Band to record a live album, to help Ryan jump start his career. He returned to the show on week 11 with the help of his fans through SMS voting, to perform an encore performance of "Back of Your Car", and was awarded a

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

CR-V The Honda CR-V (also sold as the Honda Breeze in China since 2019) is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by the Japanese automaker Honda since 1995. The early model was built using the same platform as the Civic. Honda began producing the CR ...

. Ryan Star appeared on the

Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program ''Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series '' 30 Minute Meals''. ...

show and performed "Breathe" and "Start a Fire" (aired October 6, 2010). Ryan Star appeared on the

Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ' ...

and performed "Stay Awhile" (aired August 14, 2012) Ryan Star and band performed "Stay Awhile" on VH1 Big Morning Buzz (aired September 7, 2012)

Career

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

released ''

Last Train Home EP ''Last Train Home EP'' is an EP by singer/songwriter Ryan Star including four previously unreleased songs and two music videos. It reached No. 42 on Top Heatseekers chart. The title song was released as the first single off Star's major label deb ...

'' on June 16, 2009, of four songs to appear on Star's album. The music video for "Breathe", premiered on CNN.com October 21, 2009, highlighted 18 unemployed people in various occupations and the website Ryan Star established breathe4jobs.com to allow potential employers to contact those appearing in the video.

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

interviewed Ryan Star on its VH-1 Top 20 show where he spoke of the positive effects of the video for his song "Breathe." One of the people in the video successfully found a job because of the video. Star's first major label studio album, titled '' 11:59'', was released on August 3, 2010, with a sold-out performance that night at New York City's famed

Irving Plaza Irving Plaza (known through sponsorship as Irving Plaza, powered by Klipsch and formerly known as the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza) is a ballroom-style music venue located within the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. ...

. The album debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart, and at No. 31 on Billboard.com. Ryan Star released a free EP to his fans in January 2012, titled

The America EP ''The America EP'' is a four-song EP by American singer-songwriter Ryan Star. It was self-released for free via the internet. The songs "Orphans" and "Somebody's Son" were initially meant to be released on Star's 2010 album '' 11:59''. The EP is ...

via Twitter and Facebook. The songs "Orphans" and "Somebody's Son" were initially meant to be released on '' 11:59''. The EP is dedicated to Star's grandfather who fought in World War II. As Atlantic showed no interest to support his new song, Ryan Star recorded and

self-released Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...

a music video for "Stay Awhile" in February 2012, getting attention from

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Buzzworthy as a breakthrough hit. The video has reached over 1 million views on YouTube as of August 2012. The song also charted on

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

and

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

charts based on radioplay. Eventually, on August 6, 2012, Star and his management announced via Twitter that he had signed on with a new record label

. Ryan Star said that he made his decision after consulting with

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

, whose band has been on Island for 30 years. The label's reaction to his song meant a lot to him as well. His single "Stay Awhile" was released via

August 14, 2012. Ryan and his band made their late night television debut on

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

on the same day. Star will release a 5-song EP ''Animals'', recorded with his touring band in Rhinebeck, New York, on August 5, 2013. The single from the EP, "Impossible" is currently streaming exclusively at Billboard.com.

Touring

Ryan has been on the road in support of "Stay Awhile". Recently opening for

Andy Grammer Andrew Charles Grammer (born December 3, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is signed to S-Curve Records. His debut album, '' Andy Grammer'', was released in 2011 and spawned the singles " Keep Your Head Up" and " F ...

, Ryan has previously toured with Parlotones,

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

The Script The Script are an Irish rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin, consisting of lead vocalist and keyboardist Danny O'Donoghue, lead guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power. The band moved to London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint ...

, Rob Thomas,

Collective Soul Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of lead vocalist Ed Roland, rhythm guitarist Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, drummer Johnny Rabb, and lead guitarist Jes ...

O.A.R. O.A.R. (short for Of A Revolution) is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman, saxophonist/guitar ...

and

David Cook David Cook may refer to: Entertainment * David Cook (game designer) (active since 1980s), American game designer for TSR * David Cook (singer) (born 1982), winner of the seventh season of ''American Idol'' * David Cook (writer) (1940–2015), Briti ...

. Star opened for

on three dates of their Bon Jovi Live tour in March 2011, and for the

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sound, ...

during the October–November 2011 stretch of their Something for the Rest of Us Tour.

Songwriting

"Last Train Home" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie P.S. I Love You (premiered December 21, 2007)
"This Could Be The Year" was featured on the WWE Survivor Series (aired November 23, 2008)
"Losing Your Memory" was featured on the episode 2x13 "Daddy Issues" of the

Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, ...

(aired February 3, 2011)
"Brand New Day" was the theme song for the TV series

(aired January 21, 2009 – January 31, 2011)
Besides his own music, Ryan Star has songwriting credits on other artists' releases, such as: * We are Unbreakable – Hedley * My Oh My –

Tristan Prettyman Tristan Ann Prettyman (born May 23, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter from San Diego, California. She was signed to Virgin Records until 2013 and released her first major label album '' Twentythree'' on August 2, 2005, followed by her sec ...

* Screaming –

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 ...

* Don't Stop – Electric Touch * Right Here With You –

* A Perfect World –

Takida Takida is a Swedish rock band from Ånge formed in 1999. The band's name comes from the character Gohei Takeda in the Japanese anime series '' Nagareboshi Gin''. Takeda's name was mispronounced as "Takida" in the Swedish voiceover of the anime s ...

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Music videos

Other appearances

These songs have been released on albums that were not a studio album released by Star. On December 3, 2010, Ryan Star performed for the 101.9 FM Miracle on State Street in Chicago Illinois, along with Ingrid Michaelson, and Maroon 5.

Songs in other media

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Star, Ryan Living people American rock musicians Singers from New York (state) People from Huntington, New York Rockstar: Supernova contestants Island Records artists People from Dix Hills, New York 1978 births 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers