John Bassat Stevens IV (born July 28, 1987) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

classic pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and was the sixth-place finalist on the third season of the television series ''

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 ...

''.

Biography

Stevens was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

and his permanent residence is in nearby East Amherst. He attended

Williamsville East High School Williamsville East High School is one of the three high schools located in the Williamsville Central School District in Williamsville, New York. The other two high schools in the district are Williamsville North High School and Williamsville Sou ...

and sang in a select jazz group. He auditioned for ''

'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, singing "

That's Amore "That's Amore" is a 1953 song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks, and became a major hit and signature song for Dean Martin, who first recorded and released it that year. ''Amore'' () means "love" in Italian. History The song ...

" as an impression of

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

. When the judges asked him to sing in his normal voice, he performed "

The Way You Look Tonight "The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film '' Swing Time'' that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Fields remarked, ...

" and was sent through to the next round. Stevens was a member of the fourth group of semifinalists. He finished first in the voting among his group of eight semifinalists, earning 28% of the vote. At 16, he was the youngest contestant ever to make the finals on ''

''. Stevens' favorite singer is

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

, to whom his vocal style has been compared. He has also earned the nickname "Teen Martin" because of his Dean Martin impersonation and ability to

croon Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...

at such a young age. Stevens' style was not typical ''Idol'' fare, causing him to struggle with unfamiliar genres during the competition. For "Country Week," Stevens sang " King of the Road." During "Elton John Week," he performed "

Crocodile Rock "Crocodile Rock" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in summer 1972 at the Château d'Hérouville studio in France (it was listed as "Strawberry Studios" in the album's credits), where John and his team had previous ...

." The last week in April 2004 was "Latin Week," a tribute to the music of

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has bee ...

. Stevens performed "

Music of My Heart "Music of My Heart" is a song by Cuban American recording artist Gloria Estefan and American boy band NSYNC. The teen pop song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster, for the Wes Craven-directed movie '' Music of the Heart'' (19 ...

," and

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

credited Stevens with "taking every bullet thrown at you like a man." The next day, Stevens was voted off the show, coming in sixth place despite receiving over four million votes. Stevens was signed to

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

and released his debut album ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'' on June 28, 2005. It was produced by Steve Tyrell and executive produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

. It features covers of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " Here, There and Everywhere" and

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

's " This Love," both arranged and performed in a relaxed jazz/lounge style. Its first week sales put it into the top 10 of the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

jazz charts. It sold 18,000 copies as of March 2006. He and Maverick Records have since parted ways. Stevens graduated from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in Boston, Massachusetts in May 2009 and released a Christmas album, "Home for Christmas," on November 1, 2009. Stevens currently sings with the Boston-based

Beantown Swing Orchestra The Beantown Swing Orchestra is a Boston-based 18-piece big band that was formed in 2006 by Frank Hsieh. Initially specializing in performing the classic dance music from the Swing Era, the band has since expanded its repertoire to include transc ...

, focusing on the classic

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

arrangements that were originally performed by

and

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

. Stevens sang "My Way" at the funeral of former Boston Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...

on November 3, 2014.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, John 1987 births Living people 21st-century American singers American child singers American Idol participants Berklee College of Music alumni Musicians from Buffalo, New York Traditional pop music singers 21st-century American male singers