Crystal Lynn Bowersox (born August 4, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter and actress who was the runner-up on the ninth season of '' American Idol''. She was the first female finalist in three years. Bowersox's debut album, '' Farmer's Daughter'', was released on December 14, 2010 by

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

. Bowersox released her second album, '' All That for This,'' on March 26, 2013.

Early life

Bowersox and her twin brother, Karl, were born in Elliston, Ohio to Kelly Lynn Bowersox (née Bowlander) and William Lester Bowersox. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. At age six, Bowersox was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She attended Oak Harbor High School in Oak Harbor, Ohio and later attended the

Toledo School for the Arts Toledo School for the Arts is a public charter school in downtown Toledo, Ohio founded by former director Martin Porter. It was first sponsored by the Toledo Board of Education. In 2008 the school was chartered by Bowling Green State University. ...

in Toledo, Ohio. She was in choir and played flute in the school marching band. Bowersox performed her first professional gig at the age of 10. She appeared at local bars in Toledo, most popularly Papa's Tavern, and The Village Idiot in

Maumee, Ohio Maumee ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Maumee River, it is about 10 miles southwest of Toledo. The population was 14,286 at the 2010 census. Maumee was declared an All-America City by the National Civic L ...

. At the age of seventeen, she moved to Chicago, where she played music as a busker at train stations, including the Washington and Lake Redline stops. She frequented open mics, such as the In One Ear show at the Heartland Cafe, and Uncommon Ground Clark and Grace, and Devon locations. She also played extensively in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. According to Bowersox, she lived in

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

at this time, and had to resort to begging for

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

at a pharmacy to manage her diabetes after her health insurance expired. In 2006, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs chose Bowersox to represent Chicago folk musicians in the Sister Cities program "Experience Chicago", held in Birmingham. In 2007, Bowersox traveled internationally on an independent small cafe tour, including Memphis, Oaxaca City, Ankara and Istanbul. She gave birth to a son, Anthony Levi Mason, in 2009; according to Bowersox, his father left her six weeks into her pregnancy.

''American Idol''

Bowersox auditioned for ''American Idol'' in Chicago, Illinois. She sang " Piece of My Heart". Guest judge Shania Twain commented that she had a "raw, natural talent." On March 2, 2010, Bowersox was hospitalized due to Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) from type 1 diabetes, forcing a last minute switch in scheduling to give her extra time to recuperate. Bowersox confirmed the illness on the May 19, 2010 results show during an interview with host

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...

. The men competed that day instead of the women. She sang the next day and impressed all of the judges. The following week, her strong performance prompted Simon Cowell to state, "Right now, you are the one everyone has to beat." After

Siobhan Magnus Siobhan Evelyn Magnus (born March 15, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter who was the sixth place finalist on the ninth season of ''American Idol''. Biography Early life Siobhan Magnus was born on March 15, 1990, to parents Alan and Collee ...

's elimination from the top 6 of '' American Idol'', Bowersox became the last remaining female contestant in the competition. Bowersox was the first female contestant to make it to the finale since Jordin Sparks won the title in 2007. She is also the first contestant in ''American Idol'' history to have one of their original songs played on the show, or at least during their hometown package. Crystal's original song "Holy Toledo" was played on the May 19 Top 3 Results show as the background music for her homecoming package - when she returned to Toledo, Ohio and Elliston, Ohio the previous weekend - and segued into her live performance of the same song at "Bowerstock". During her time on ''Idol'', Bowersox dated Tony Kusian, but the couple broke up just hours before the ''Idol'' finale. On the final performance day, in Simon Cowell's final critique on ''American Idol'', he called her performance of "

Up to the Mountain "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" is a contemporary folk song written by Patty Griffin. The song touches upon emotions surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, given the day before his assassination in ...

" "outstanding" and "by far, the best performance and song of the night". On May 26, 2010, Bowersox was named runner-up to winner Lee DeWyze. She announced that after her ''Idol'' career, she wants to bring more awareness to type 1 diabetes. Bowersox is the third ''Idol'' Runner-Up (preceded by Clay Aiken and

David Archuleta David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he becam ...

) to never be in the Bottom 3 or Bottom 2.

Performances

* Due to the judges using their one 'save' for Michael Lynche, the Top 9 remained intact for another week. * Though Crystal Bowersox was the last contestant announced to be 'safe' and moving on to the Top 3,

stressed on the Top 4 Results Night that 'safe' contestants would be announced "in no particular order." Thus, the audience has no way of knowing which of the Top 3 was the second-lowest vote-getter that night after Michael Lynche, who was eliminated. * Song selected by Ellen DeGeneres.

Post-''Idol'' career

On May 27, 2010, one day after Bowersox's second place ''Idol'' finish, it was announced that she had signed with

19 Entertainment 19 Entertainment is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced ''Pop Idol'' in the United Kingdom with Thames Television in 2001. The ''Idol serie ...

. Her single "

" has since been released to radio stations and iTunes.

2010–12: ''Farmer's Daughter''

Bowersox's debut album, '' Farmer's Daughter'', was released to stores and iTunes on December 14, 2010. Bowersox performed her single " Farmer's Daughter" on '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' on December 16, 2010. On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding

along with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

and J Records. With the shutdown, all other artists previously signed to these three labels would see their future material released under the RCA Records brand. However, Bowersox was not one of the artists who made the move, and was instead left without a record label. She made her acting debut on a second-season episode of '' Body of Proof''. An EP of pre-''Idol'' recordings was called ''Once Upon a Time...'' was self-released in June 2012. She was a guest on the

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...

album, ''

Suzie Cracks the Whip ''Suzie Cracks the Whip'' is American jam band Blues Traveler's eleventh studio album, released on June 26, 2012. The album debuted at #91 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest position on the chart since 2001. Track listing #"You Don't Have ...

'', performing vocals with John Popper on the song "I Don't Wanna Go", and appeared with them in concert at their concert of July 4, 2012 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

2012–present: ''All That for This''

In October 2012, Bowersox signed a recording deal with

Shanachie Records Shanachie Records is an American, New Jersey-based record label, founded in 1975 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. The label is named for the Gaelic word ''seanchaí'' (anglicised as shanachie), an Irish storyteller. It was previously distribu ...

. On January 7, 2013, it was confirmed that Bowersox's second studio album, '' All That for This,'' would be released March 26, 2013. The album was produced by Steve Berlin of

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, ...

and features Jakob Dylan. Bowersox debuted the first single from the album, "Dead Weight", on '' On Air with Ryan Seacrest'' on February 5, 2013. Bowersox told Seacrest, "This song means more to me than even I can completely comprehend." Bowersox began a headlining tour in support of the album on March 1, 2013. The band Montë Mar was her concert opener, as well as her backing band on dates through March 31, 2013. On March 25, 2013, Bowersox appeared on '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and performed her song "Movin' On" to promote the album. It was announced here that Bowersox will play Patsy Cline in the Broadway production of ''Always, Patsy Cline.'' It was announced on June 11, 2013 that Bowersox would be headlining the Lancaster Festival in Lancaster, Ohio on June 27, 2013

Personal life

Bowersox and musician Brian Walker were married on October 10, 2010, at Uncommon Ground Café in Chicago, the restaurant where the couple had met six years earlier while both were performing at Open Mic Night. It was announced on May 6, 2013, that they were ending their marriage. While appearing on '' Good Day L.A.'' to promote her Christmas album on November 26, 2013, Bowersox came out as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

. "I have been bisexual as long as I can remember," she said. Bowersox then performed her song "Coming Out For Christmas" which explores the subject matter.

Discography

Studio albums

Digital albums

Extended plays

Singles

Digital singles

Music videos

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website
*
Crystal Bowersox
at '' American Idol'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowersox, Crystal American multi-instrumentalists 1985 births Living people American acoustic guitarists American blues singers American country guitarists American women country singers American country singer-songwriters American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American folk guitarists American folk singers American harmonica players American pop guitarists Bisexual actresses Bisexual singers Bisexual songwriters LGBT people from Ohio American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters American street performers American Idol participants Jive Records artists RCA Records artists 19 Recordings artists People with type 1 diabetes People from Ottawa County, Ohio Actresses from Ohio Guitarists from Ohio Singer-songwriters from Ohio 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Ohio 21st-century American singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people