Bo Bice
Harold Elwin “Bo” Bice, Jr. (born November 1, 1975) is an American singer and musician who was the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. Prior to auditioning for American Idol, Bice released a solo album as well as a few albums with his bands while performing in the night club circuit.
Bice charted in 2005 at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 with a rendition of “Inside Your Heaven” from American Idol. He released the album The Real Thing after American Idol to minor success before being dropped by RCA Records. He started his own record label Sugar Money and subsequently released two more albums, See the Light and 3. He is also the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Bice was born in Helena, Alabama to Nancy and Harold Elwin Bice. His mother was a gospel singer as were his grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunts. Bice was nicknamed “Bogart” as a newborn by his grandmother, “Granny Madge”, because she thought he had “Humphrey Bogart eyes”. His family continued to call him Bogart, but when Bice was in kindergarten he shortened it to “Bo” because he did not think Bogart was cool. Bice’s parents divorced when he was very young, and his mother remarried years later. Bice grew up with his mother and step-father, Earle Downes, a Coca-Cola manager, step-sisters Jenny and Sharan Downes, and half-brother John Cohran. Bice has two other half-siblings, Candace and Matthew, on his biological father’s side. The Downes family moved around the South frequently. They lived in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, including the metro area of Atlanta. In 1990 when Bice was 14 years old they moved to England, as part of his step-father’s European assignment with Coca-Cola in London.
Bice spent his teenage years living in Gerrards Cross. Bice attended London Central High School, a Department of Defense school primarily for children whose parents served in the military or worked at the U.S. Embassy. In high school, he carried his guitar everywhere and played football. It was around this time when Bice worked with some English alternative rock musicians.[citation needed] He formed his first band, Spinning Jenny, while living there. Bice would have graduated in 1994, but in the fall of 1993, Bice dropped out of high school just before turning 18 to move back to Alabama, where he earned his GED and attended classes at Calhoun Community College from November 1996 to May 1997.
In June 2005, Bice was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine that his last thought during the Idol finale was, “Please, God, don’t let me win this thing.” In comments during a subsequent appearance on The Today Show, Bice backed off this stance a bit, saying that he thanked all those who had voted for him. He lost the final, ending up runner up to Carrie Underwood. In Alabama, May 24 was declared “Bo Bice Day” by Governor Bob Riley. Two members of the group Lynyrd Skynyrd surprised Bice during his trip home from Idol and performed “Sweet Home Alabama” with him in his home town of Helena, Alabama.
Discography
Studio albums
The Real Thing
Release date: December 13, 2005
Label: RCA Records
4 — 60
US: Gold[22]
US sales: 673,000[23]
2007 See the Light
Release date: October 23, 2007
Label: StratArt Records
150 31 —
US sales: 62,000[24]
2010 3
Release date: May 18, 2010
Label: Saguaro Road
154 — —
US sales: 11,000[25]
“—” denotes releases that did not chart
Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold) Album
2005 “I Don’t Want to Be” — — — — non-album singles
“Inside Your Heaven” 2 — — —
Canada: Platinum[30]
US: Gold[31]
“Vehicle” — — — —
2006 “The Real Thing” 56 17 11 17 The Real Thing
“U Make Me Better” — — — —
2007 “Blades of Glory” — — — — Blades of Glory (soundtrack)
“Witness” — — — — See the Light
2010 “You Take Yourself with You” — — — — 3
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