Cook’s musical journey began early. He grew up watching his father play guitar.
But David’s first instrument of choice was the violin. “I tried that first because there was
a girl in the school orchestra I thought was pretty.” When he was in seventh grade, his
dad bought him a Fender Stratocaster. “I was bad at it because I never took a lesson.
Gradually I got better.”
He was exposed to many different genres of music. “My parents had eclectic record
collections. My mom liked Kenny Rogers and my dad was more into Boston, Kansas and
Dire Straits. The first cassette tape I ever bought was by Kris Kross. I was into Boyz II
Men for a while. When I was 13, someone played me the song ‘Closer’ by Nine Inch
Nails and once I got past the audacity of the lyrics, I really enjoyed the song. So I
backtracked through rock, which got me to where I am now.”
David formed a band in high school with a friend and appeared in three musicals: “West
Side Story,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Music Man.” He also loved sports and played
baseball throughout high school. Ultimately his love for music brought his attention
back to his band. David enrolled at Central Missouri State, changed the name of the
band from Redeye to Axiom to Axium and had some local success.
With his friends chipping in financially, David recorded “Analog Heart.” The album sold
well regionally and won an URBY award from Urban Tulsa Weekly for Best Independent
Album. David was in the early stages of recording a second album when his younger
brother Andrew asked him to accompany him to Omaha and lend moral support while
he tried out for “American Idol.” David was reluctant, but his brother and mother did
their best to persuade him. He recalls, “At the last minute I decided to do it. Andrew and
I were in the same group of four for the first audition and he didn’t make the cut. It was
very awkward. I turned to him and said, ‘Is this something you want me to do? Because
if you don’t, I won’t.’ And his response was, ‘If you don’t, I’ll beat your ass.’ So it’s
entirely his and my mother’s fault that this happened to me, and I’m very grateful.” We
all know how the story went from there.
After winning the Idol crown in season 7, Cook went on to sell over 1 million copies of
his self-titled debut album and set out on a yearlong nationwide tour in support of his
multiple hit singles. Released on November 18th, 2008, David Cook (19 Recordings / RCA
Records) entered the Billboard charts at #3 and the digital album charts at #1, marking
the best debut from an American Idol winner since 2006. Collectively the songs from
David Cook have sold over 2 million tracks and ringtones combined. Cook’s coronation
single, “The Time of My Life” was certified platinum and is not only the biggest single
debut but the highest selling coronation single in the show’s history. Cook’s sophomore
album, “This Loud Morning” was Executive produced by Matt Serletic (Rob Thomas,
Matchbox Twenty, Collective Soul), This Loud Morning features tracks written and cowritten
by Cook along with many acclaimed songwriters including, David Hodges, Ryan
Tedder, Kevin Griffin and Marti Frederiksen.
David recently relocated to Nashville, TN and submerged himself in the creative
environment. He has spent the last year working on new material. He returned to the
American Idol stage to debut a sample of his forthcoming music, his new single, “Laying
Me Low”.