The 2008 American Idol champion whose music shifted from pop-rock to more electronic and personal territory.
For the Idol moment, listen to his take on "Always Be My Baby." For where he landed later, try the more personal writing on "Porcelain" or "Come Back To Me."
Cook's version of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" on Idol showed he could rework a pop standard into something with rock grit. His single "Light On" from that debut album had enough radio-ready punch to land at number three on the Billboard 200. Later songs like "Porcelain" and "Lie" reveal a songwriter willing to get quieter and more introspective, often touching on the anxiety and depression he's spoken about publicly.
He won American Idol in 2008 and released a self-titled debut that same year. By the time of 2015's "The Looking Glass," he was working with more electronic sounds, and he doesn't keep a fixed band, preferring to collaborate with different musicians for each project.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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