Jason René Castro (born March 25, 1987) is an American acoustic/

folk-pop Folk-pop is a broad Music genre#Subtypes, musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop music, pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic music, acoustic-based folk music, folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been ...

singer, songwriter, and real estate agent. He was the fourth place finalist on season seven 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 ...

''. After ''Idol'', he signed a recording contract with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, and his self-titled debut album was released on April 13, 2010.

Early years

Castro was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and raised in

Rowlett, Texas Rowlett (, traditionally ) is a city in Dallas and Rockwall Counties in Texas, United States, and an eastern suburb of Dallas. It is a growing, upscale community with nearly $1.5 billion in development in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, loc ...

. His parents, René and Betsy Castro, are Colombian and also had two other children, Michael and Jackie. Their father, René, is an architectural swimming pool designer. He attended Rowlett High School where he was a left winger on his school's soccer team and an honor student. He received a 1340 out of 1600 on his

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

. Castro was a junior majoring in

Construction Science Construction management (CM) aims to control the quality of a construction project's scope, time, and cost (sometimes referred to as a project management triangle or "triple constraints") to maximize the project owner's satisfaction. It uses proj ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in College Station on a full academic scholarship when he auditioned for ''American Idol''. Castro has sported

dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a Hairstyle, hairstyle made of rope-like strands of matted hair. Dreadlocks can form naturally in Hair#Texture, very curly hair, or they can be created with techniques like twisting, Backcombing, ba ...

since his senior year of high school. In 2014, symbolic of a spiritual reawakening, he cut his dreadlocks and has since worn his hair much shorter. Castro performed as a drummer with the rock band Charlemagne, which later became Keeping Lions. He has stated that his musical influences include

Ray LaMontagne Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne (; born June 18, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released nine studio albums: '' Trouble'', ''Till the Sun Turns Black'', '' Gossip in the Grain'', '' God Willin' & the Creek Don ...

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

Carlos Vives Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born 7 August 1961) is a Colombians, Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. One of the List of best-selling Latin music artists, best-selling Latin music artists of all time, with over 20 million records world ...

and Kirk Baxley.

''American Idol''

Overview

Castro auditioned for ''

'' in

, singing the

version of the song "Crazy". During a March 17, 2008 appearance on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'', judge

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

chose Castro as one of his four favorites in the competition, along with David Cook,

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

, and Brooke White. On April 12,

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest is the host of '' Wheel of Fortune'', having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and ser ...

and the three judges appeared in

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

revealed the results of his website poll which asked "Whom do you want to win

?" and said that Castro was in the lead. Castro played the guitar during the Top 24 performance night when he sang "

Daydream Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction. Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...

". He was also the first contestant to play the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

on the show, playing the instrument while singing "

Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role ...

". Castro also sang in Spanish in a combination of Sting's "Fragile" and "Fragilidad" on March 25, 2008. He was voted off the competition on May 7, 2008.

''Hallelujah''

Castro's rendition of the song " Hallelujah", which he performed on ''American Idol'', led to a surge of popularity for the

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a cult following in the early 1990s performing at venues in ...

cover of the

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

song from the iTunes Store. Buckley's version of the song sold 178,000 digital downloads in the week following Castro's performance, to debut at number one on ''

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 advertis ...

''s

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking so ...

chart. According to the March 22, 2008, issue of ''Billboard'', this was the highest boost in digital sales a song had ever received after being performed by a contestant on ''American Idol''. It was the first time Buckley's version of the song charted on a ''Billboard'' chart, as well as the first U.S. number-one song on any chart for Buckley. Jason Castro's rendition of the song propelled Jeff Buckley's version to be certified gold and platinum as a single on April 22, 2008.

Performances

* Castro was the first person declared to be safe on this elimination night.

Post-''Idol''

After his elimination Castro made a number of television appearances including 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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

Castro returned to the Idol stage for the seventh-season finale and was the only top-12 finalist who performed a solo. He sang " Hallelujah". When he returned to his hometown of Rockwall, Texas, Thursday, May 29, 2008, he had the experience of having the day declared "Jason Castro Day". Castro was honored with a parade and a ceremony/concert, one of the largest events in the city's history. Castro completed the '' American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008'' with his fellow contestants during the summer. The tour ran from July 1, 2008, to September 13, 2008. He recorded "Hallelujah" in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, for an indie film, '' Amar a morir,'' which premiered in the spring of 2009. In 2008 he also took part in the "I Am Second" campaign, openly discussing his Christian faith. Castro signed a management deal with Hard8Mgt. On November 29, 2008, Castro performed a live concert with his band, The Heavy Steadies, at the Flytrap Music Hall in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

; the concert included new songs from his album. On December 15, Castro released the Christmas song, " White Christmas" as a free download through

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

as a gift for his fans. On December 24, 2008, Castro performed "White Christmas" at Lake Pointe Church's Christmas program. Castro performed the full version of "Hallelujah" at the world premiere of '' Amar A Morir'' on January 23 at the

Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California in February annually, since 1986. The festival screens over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. ...

. On April 12, 2010, on

he released his self-titled album '' Jason Castro.'' He worked with songwriter, producer, and ''Idol'' judge, Kara DioGuardi and producer John Fields. Fellow Atlantic Records artist Serena Ryder appears with Castro on a duet titled "You Can Always Come Home". Castro sang "Over the Rainbow" and his second single "That's What I'm Here For" at the wedding of '' The Bachelor'' stars Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney on February 27, 2010, for ABC's taping of ''The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding''. In July 2010, Castro appeared in two episodes of ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

'' as himself. Castro appeared in a small role in the GMC television movie ''The Perfect Summer'' in 2012.

2009–2010: Debut album, EP, singles and promotion

On August 18, 2009, Castro performed his new single "Let's Just Fall in Love Again" on a live video webchat from his website, as well another song titled "It Matters to Me". Castro's label,

, released presales of the album and offered the single as a free download to buyers. Castro's album was to be released in November 2009 but was pushed to an early 2010 release date. "Let'sJust Fall in Love Again" entered Billboard's Heatseekers Songs chart at No. 15 and Hot Digital Songs at No. "Let's Just Fall in Love Again" was used by

Overstock.com Beyond, Inc. (formerly known as Overstock, Inc.) is an American internet retailer, online retailer that owns the "Bed Bath & Beyond" brand except for within Mexico and the "Overstock" brand, and runs online stores named with those brands. The M ...

for a television commercial. 57. A music video for the single premiered on October 14, 2009. Castro released a debut EP in January 2010 titled ''The Love Uncompromised.'' Castro completed a tour with Matt Hires and Caitlin Crosby and traveled to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, Singapore and the

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 ...

to promote his EP and album. He then toured a second time with band

Camera Can't Lie Camera Can't Lie was an American rock music, rock band based in Minneapolis, United States. They were discovered and were managed by the Grammy, Grammy Award-winning record producer, Stephen Short (record producer), Stephen Short. The band is mo ...

and his younger brother Michael as his opening acts to promote his album.

2012–2013: ''Only a Mountain''

Castro released a five-song EP on August 28, 2012. His third album, '' Only a Mountain'', was released on January 15, 2013. Castro also toured on the Christian tour, ''Winterjam,'' in connection with this album.

Music with younger siblings and transition into real estate

Castro has released covers on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

with his two younger siblings, Michael and Jackie, both of whom are also singer-songwriters. The three siblings also formed a group called Castro, and in May 2015 they released their first music video for the original song "Rock and Roll". The band released their first album ''Diamond Dreams'' with

Fervent Records Fervent Records is a contemporary Christian music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Fervent was bought by Word Records in 2005. Current artists * Chris August * Francesca Battistelli * Big Daddy Weave * Everfound * For King & ...

in 2016. Jackie left Castro in mid-2018 to pursue a solo career in Nashville, Tennessee. After the band broke up, Castro returned to Dallas and began work as real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Two years later, he formed Castro Property Group with his brother.

Personal life

Castro was the love interest of Cheyenne Kimball on her

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 ...

reality show, ''Cheyenne'' and was also featured in her music video for "Hanging On". On October 31, 2009, Castro proposed to Mandy Mayhall, his girlfriend of a year and a half. They were friends in high school and began dating in 2008. Mayhall made a cameo in Castro's music video for "Let's Just Fall in Love Again". Castro and Mayhall were married on January 2, 2010, in his hometown and now reside in Dallas. The couple has five children.

Charity

When a former Castro fansite erroneously claimed that Castro's charity was GLOW Ministries, the organization based in Zeeland, Michigan received a lot of donations and attention to their cause. Castro's father, Rene Castro, had been instrumental in starting a soccer ministry at Lake Pointe Church to reach out to the community. Jason played soccer in high school and has been to Russia three times with Higher Goal Soccer Ministry. On December 13, 2008, Castro performed alongside

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

for a Christmas concert in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a ...

, benefiting the Best Education Foundation, an organization that supports the city's school district. He also auctioned himself off for charity courtesy of the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Foundation and

MusiCares MusiCares Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1989 and incorporated in 1993 by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Meant for musicians to have a place to turn in times of financial, pers ...

Discography

* '' Jason Castro'' (2010) * '' Who I Am'' (2010) * '' Only a Mountain'' (2013)

Filmography

*''The Perfect Summer'' (2013) *''Jason Castro The Perfect Tour'' (2015)

References

External links

*
''American Idol'' profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Jason Rene 1987 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters American acoustic guitarists American male guitarists American Idol participants American male singer-songwriters American multi-instrumentalists American people of Colombian descent American performers of Christian music American ukulele players Hispanic and Latino American musicians Hispanic and Latino American people Atlantic Records artists Living people Singers from Dallas People from Rowlett, Texas Spanish-language singers of the United States Texas A&M University alumni Word Records artists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas 21st-century American drummers People from Rockwall, Texas 21st-century American male singers Rowlett High School alumni Drummers from Dallas American male drummers