Jordin Sparks

A gifted pop and R&B vocalist, Jordin Sparks rose to fame as the winner of season six of American Idol. Just 17 when she won the reality show title in 2007, Sparks quickly built upon that success, cracking the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with her eponymous debut and scoring the Hot 100 hits "Tattoo" and the Grammy-nominated "No Air." Buoyed by the Top Ten Hot 100 title track, she reached number seven on the Billboard 200 with 2009's Battlefield. Along with music, Sparks has appeared on TV and in Broadway productions of The Heights and Waitress. She has also competed on Dancing with the Stars. Among her accolades are an NAACP Image Award, a BET Award, an American Music Award, and a People's Choice Award. In 2015, she released Right Here Right Now, hitting number 11 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. An EP, Sounds Like Me, arrived in 2020, followed by her holiday album, Cider & Hennessy. In 2023, she teased her fifth album with the single "Call My Name."

Born in 1989, Sparks grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the daughter of Phillippi Sparks, former left cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys and former defensive back for the New York Giants. She showed a flair for singing while still a toddler and was drawn to performing of all kinds at an early age. By her early teens, Sparks was singing, acting in plays, modeling, and already winning acclaim for her talents. Along with performing with Alice Cooper and Michael W. Smith, she was Coca-Cola's Rising Star in 2002 and made her recording debut with 2003's For Now EP with CCM artist Matthew Ward and engineer Gary Leach. The following year, she won two awards at the 2004 Gospel Music Association Academy, placed second overall in that year's Music in the Rockies competition, and appeared on America's Most Talented Kids twice. In 2006, she won a plus-size model search held by the Torrid clothing line and appeared in an ad for Torrid in the December issue of Seventeen magazine.

That year, Sparks also auditioned for American Idol, performing in the Los Angeles tryouts; while she didn't make the cut, she later won the American Idol-affiliated contest Arizona Idol, which allowed her to audition again for the show in Seattle. She made it to Hollywood on the strength of her rendition of Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" and found a place among the 12 American Idol finalists early in 2007. Her performances of songs such as "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Hey Baby" showed her charm and versatility, and soon made her a fan favorite. Like fellow American Idols Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Hicks, Sparks was never in the bottom two or three performers throughout the entire competition. Ultimately, Sparks beat out Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle to become the sixth American Idol on May 23, 2007. Her debut single, "This Is My Now," was released soon after the show's May finale, and Sparks spent that summer appearing on the American Idol tour.

She also began working on material for her debut album, reteaming with Leach on songs that were previewed on her website. The single "Tattoo" preceded the eponymously titled Jordin Sparks, which arrived in time for the 2007 holiday season. It also spawned the 2008 hit "No Air," which featured Chris Brown and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sparks returned in summer 2009 with her sophomore full-length, Battlefield. The album hit number seven on the Billboard 200, heralded by its namesake single and paved the way for her first headlining tour of the U.S.

Sparks spent the next five years concentrating on television work, film music, and appearing on compilations, but in 2015 she ended the hiatus on her solo career with a new studio LP, Right Here Right Now, which was issued via her new joint label deal with Louder Than Life/RAL. Led by the single "Double Tap," the album charted on the Billboard 200 and reached number 11 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

Over the next several years, Sparks stayed busy with projects outside of music, including indulging her love of baking with the 2018 web series, Heart of Batter with Jordin Sparks. It was also during this period that she parted ways with Louder Than Life/RAL, eventually returning to music with 1990 Forever, a joint EP with singer Elijah Blake. That same year, she joined the Broadway cast of Waitress, taking over for Jenna Hunterson for a brief run. An EP, Sounds Like Me, appeared in August 2020 and featured the singles "Unknown" and "Red Sangria." That November, she returned with Cider & Hennessy, her first ever holiday-themed album. The following year, she competed on both The Masked Singer and Dancing with the Stars. In October 2023, she released "Call My Name" as the first single off her fifth full-length album. ~ Matt Collar & Heather Phares