Casey Abrams (born February 12, 1991) is an American musician from
Idyllwild, California, who finished in sixth place in the
tenth season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
,'' five weeks after being saved from elimination by the judges. A
self-titled debut album was released in 2012 through
Concord Records
Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists ha ...
. ''Tales from the Gingerbread House'' was released on January 29, 2016.
Early life
Abrams was born on February 12, 1991, in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, to Pam Pierce and Ira Abrams.
His father is
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and his mother is from a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
background, and Abrams grew up in an interfaith family. He spent his early years in the Chicago area, first in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...
, then in
Wilmette, where he attended McKenzie Elementary School.
Abrams later moved to California and attended middle school and high school there. He was a student at
Idyllwild Arts Academy
Idyllwild Arts Academy is a private school located in Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto Mountains and San Bernardino National Forest, within western Riverside County, California. The school was founded in 1946. It was previously known as Idyllwil ...
in
Idyllwild, California, where his father taught
film production
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
.
At Idyllwild Arts, he studied classical bass instruction and improvisation, and participated in the jazz ensembles, gaining a foundation in music history,
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
, and
jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...
, and learning to write musical scores for films.
After graduating from Idyllwild in 2009, he attended
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
at
Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
as a music major. He worked as a film camp counselor at Idyllwild Arts Summer Camp prior to his appearance on ''American Idol.''
Abrams suffers from
ulcerative colitis
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the other type being Crohn's disease. It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary sympto ...
, an inflammatory disease which causes ulceration and inflammation of the colon, and that occasionally requires blood transfusions, which resulted in his having to be hospitalized while on ''American Idol''.
Abrams lists as his musical influences
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
,
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
,
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...
, and
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...
, as well as Marshall Hawkins, head of the jazz department at Idyllwild Arts Academy.
''American Idol''
Overview
Abrams auditioned for the tenth season of ''American Idol'' in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. He was selected as one of the Top 24 semi-finalists, but two days before he was due to perform for the semi-finals, he suffered severe stomach pains and was rushed to the hospital. He was well enough to perform on performance night, and was one of the five male vote receivers to advance to the Top 13; however, he missed the Top 13 results show due to his illness. He was the lowest vote receiver on the Top 11 result show, but was saved by the judges; they chose to save him immediately, stopping his supposedly last performance on the show halfway through it. He is the third finalist to be saved by the judges in three seasons.
Abrams was eliminated from the competition on April 28, 2011, finishing in sixth place. During his last performance he sang "
I Put a Spell on You" by
Screamin' Jay Hawkins, a song he had performed during the semi-finals. During the performance he kissed audience members, rolled onto the stage, thanked the judges, and sang the last two words ("you're mine") to fellow contestant
Haley Reinhart.
On May 25, 2011, Abrams sang "
Fat Bottomed Girls
"Fat Bottomed Girls" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song appears on the band's seventh studio album ''Jazz'' (1978) and later on their compilation album '' Greatest Hits''. When released as a singl ...
" with
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...
on the ''American Idol'' finale.
Performances and results
*
Abrams received the lowest number of votes; however, the judges decided to use their one save of the season to allow him to remain in the competition, resulting in two eliminations the following week.
*
Due to the judges using their one save on Abrams, the Top 11 remained intact for another week.
Post-''Idol''

Abrams appeared and performed on ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...
'' in April 2011, and ''
Live with Regis and Kelly'', ''
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...
'', and
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's ''The Seven'' in May of the same year. He was one of the performers in the
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011, which began in
West Valley City, Utah, in July 2011, and ended in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
in September 2011.
In August 2011, Abrams became a spokesman in a national campaign called IBD Icons to raise awareness of
inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...
.
Abrams and former ''American Idol'' season 10 contestant Haley Reinhart recorded a holiday song, "
Baby, It's Cold Outside", in November 2011
—also released on video.
In January, 2012 Abrams signed with
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
label
Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On Apri ...
. His first album is self-titled, ''
Casey Abrams''. The album was executive produced by
Randy Jackson
Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013.
Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...
and ''
American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwri ...
'' writes that "co-writers on the album include ''American Idol'' co-producer Iain Pirie and mega-hit songwriters
Jason Mraz
Jason Thomas Mraz ( ; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't Wo ...
,
Rune Westberg,
Martin Terefe, and
Toby Gad." The first single from the album "Get Out" was released on June 5, 2012. The album was released June 26, 2012. Performing on the show gave sales of his album a boost of nearly 2,000% over the previous week.
Abrams appeared on several YouTube videos (e.g.,) with
Scott Bradlee's
Postmodern Jukebox and toured with them in Europe.
In 2015, Abrams and the Gingerbread Band began work on his independently funded second album, an
EP ''Tales from the Gingerbread House''.
He has also added the album to
PledgeMusic and offered pre-order incentives in order to help fund the album's release.
The EP contains five songs including "Cougartown", which contains background vocals by
Haley Reinhart, and "Never Knew What Love Can Do", a duet with Reinhart.
In 2018, Abrams recorded and released his second full-length album, ''
Put a Spell on You,'' whose title track is a reprisal of his final performance on ''American Idol.'' The album was recorded in just two days in Brooklyn's Hirsch Center. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard Jazz Charts.
In 2019, Abrams released ''
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
'', marking a full-fledged return to his jazz roots, featuring standards like "I've Got the World on a String" and "Girl from Ipanema".
Like ''Put a Spell on You'', ''Jazz'' was also recorded at the Hirsch Center, with Abrams calling the decommissioned church's acoustics "magic."
The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Jazz Charts.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Live albums
Singles
Collaborations
Videography
Music videos
See also
*
List of people diagnosed with ulcerative colitis
References
External links
Official websiteCasey Abramson ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
''
Casey AbramsDiscography
Casey AbramsCasey Abrams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrams, Casey
1991 births
Living people
American Idol participants
Jewish American musicians
Singers from Illinois
Singers from California
American multi-instrumentalists
Jewish jazz musicians
21st-century American Jews
People with ulcerative colitis