Kree Annette Harrison (born May 17, 1990) is an American singer and musician, who was the runner-up on the twelfth 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

Kree Annette Harrison was born on May 17, 1990 at St. Mary's Hospital in Port Arthur, Texas. The family moved to

Woodville, Texas Woodville is a town in Tyler County, Texas, United States. The town is intersected by three U.S. highways: U.S. Highway 69, U.S. Highway 190, and U.S. Highway 287. The population was 2,403 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tyler Coun ...

in a home that was given to them by their grandmother. At three, Harrison asked her pastor if she could sing during church. The request was accepted and after she sang, her pastor commented, "I was expecting '' Jesus Loves Me,'' but she belted out '' El Shaddai'' by

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

. I knew then this child had a special gift." Over the next several years, Harrison sang for churches, rodeos, weddings and competitions. At eight, she was the opening act for R&B performer

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 196 ...

. At nine, she won "Artist of the Year" from Kirbyville Playhouse, and at ten, she sang on ''

The Rosie O'Donnell Show ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' is an American daytime variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on May 22, 2002. This talk sh ...

'' and was invited back on three other occasions. She sang in country playhouses all over the area, as a special guest at a Warren Talent Show, and she was second-place winner in the New York Apollo competition held in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. On October 11, 2001, Harrison's father died after the plane he was on crashed off the coast of Spain. After sixth grade, her family moved to Nashville to pursue her singing career. She attended seventh grade there, and was home schooled afterwards to devote more time to her music. On September 22, 2009, Harrison's mother was killed in a head-on traffic collision. Harrison scored a development deal with

Lyric Street Records Lyric Street Records was an American country music record label. It was owned by the Disney Music Group and founded in 1997 by Randy Goodman. The label had its first successes in 1998 with singles by Lari White and Aaron Tippin, both formerly ...

at ten, which resulted in her family moving from Woodville to Nashville. The deal ended two years later without any recordings released due in part to some creative differences. Harrison began writing her own songs at the age of fourteen and often found herself in writing sessions with songwriters such as

Trey Bruce Trey Edwin Bruce is an American songwriter. Bruce has written ten Number One singles on the ''Billboard''. "Look Heart, No Hands", "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man" and "Whisper My Name" by Randy Travis, and "How Your Love Makes Me Feel" by Dia ...

and artist

Rebecca Lynn Howard Rebecca Lynn Howard (born April 24, 1979) is an American country music artist. She has charted seven singles on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, and has released three studio albums. Her highest-charting single, "Forgive", peaked at ...

. She performed across local venues in Nashville such as the

Bluebird Cafe The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

. Harrison signed a publishing deal with Chrysalis Records at sixteen. She was working on an album when her mother died. She would later meet with an executive travel and event coordinator at

Broadcast Music, Inc. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 milli ...

(BMI), and made affiliations with the company. She would go on to perform at BMI showcases in Florida, such as the Key West Songwriters Festival and the San Destin Music Festival. She also sang backup vocals on

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

' album, Same Trailer Different Park, and

Eli Young Band Eli Young Band is an American country music band composed of members who met while students at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas: Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (dru ...

's album '' Life at Best''. Harrison was friends with country singer

Mindy McCready Malinda Gayle McCready (November 30, 1975 – February 17, 2013) was an American country music singer. Active from 1995 until her death in 2013, she recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's ''Ten Thousand Angels'', wa ...

. McCready invited Harrison up to sing her song " Guys Do It All the Time" with her at a 2011 Country Music Association performance in Nashville.

''American Idol''

Overview

Harrison auditioned in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

and performed an original song that she wrote to her mother. In the semi-finals, Harrison performed "

Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

" by

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

. On March 7, 2013, Harrison was voted into the Top 10. Her performance of "

Crying Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secr ...

" by Roy Orbison earned her enough votes to establish her as one of the night's top three contestants, along with Candice Glover and Angie Miller. Harrison once again landed in the night's top three contestants after she performed "

Piece of My Heart "Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles char ...

" by

Erma Franklin Erma Vernice Franklin (March 13, 1938 – September 7, 2002) was an American gospel and soul singer. Franklin was the elder sister of American singer/musician Aretha Franklin. Franklin's best known recording was the original version of " Piece of ...

, along with Lazaro Arbos and Angie Miller. After her Top 6 performance, Harrison earned enough votes to land in the night's top two contestants, along with Candice Glover. For the first time, after her Top 5 performance, she landed in the bottom two. She became the runner-up on May 16, 2013.

Performances and results

* When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Harrison was in the bottom 2, but declared safe as

Janelle Arthur Janelle Oredith Arthur (born December 12, 1989) is an American singer and songwriter, who came in fifth place on the twelfth season of ''American Idol.'' Early life Arthur was born on December 12, 1989, in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, to Gentile ...

was eliminated. * Due to the surprise non-elimination at the top 4, the top 4 remained intact for another week. * When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Harrison was in the bottom 2, but declared safe as Amber Holcomb was eliminated.

Post-''Idol'' career

Harrison took part in the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2013, from July 19 through August 31, 2013. In July 2013, it was announced that Harrison had not been picked up by the

Universal Music Group Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records ...

. On May 6, 2014, Harrison premiered a new song called "Strong and Silent," which she co-wrote with Fancy Hagood and Kate York. She performed on the fifteenth season finale of ''American Idol'' on April 7, 2016. The second single, "Dead Man's House," was released in May 2016, and her debut album, ''This Old Thing'', was released on July 8, 2016. Harrison parted ways with Plaid Flag in early 2018, signing a new record deal with One Vision Music Group. Harrison released a new single "I Love the Lie" in March 2019. "Get Away with Anything" was released in October 2019, and Harrison's second studio album, ''Chosen Family Tree'', was announced for a January 2020 release, but it was later pushed back to a release date of June 12, 2020, although it was pushed back again to August 21, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Kree Harrison
on ''

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Kree 1990 births Living people American blues guitarists American blues singer-songwriters American child singers American country drummers American country guitarists American women country singers American country singer-songwriters American women drummers American women singer-songwriters American Idol participants American Protestants Chrysalis Records artists Lyric Street Records artists Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Port Arthur, Texas People from Woodville, Texas 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee Guitarists from Texas 21st-century American drummers 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Tennessee 21st-century American singers