Loveable Idol Kellie Pickler was born on June 28, 1986, in Albemarle, North Carolina. Pickler’s mother, Cynthia Morton, gave birth to her at age eighteen, and abandoned Pickler when she was two years old. Her father, Clyde "Bo" Pickler Jr., battled a lifelong problem with substance abuse, and served time at Florida State Prison for aggravated assault and battery. Pickler’s mother reemerged in her life at various points during her childhood; however, she was an abusive parent, and in 1997, the court declared Pickler’s grandparents as her legal guardians. Pickler was raised by her grandfather, Clyde Pickler Sr., and her grandmother, Faye Pickler, who died in January 2002.
In 2004, Pickler graduated from North Stanly High School in New London, NC, where she was a cheerleader, dancer, and sang at her graduation ceremony. At age seventeen, she was crowned "Miss Stanly County," and went on to compete for Miss North Carolina 2004.
In the fall of 2005, nineteen-year-old Pickler auditioned for the fifth season of American Idol, advancing to Hollywood, and eventually, the Top 12. At this time, Pickler earned the hard-won approval of judge, Simon Cowell, who praised her affable personality in comparison to past Idol winner, Carrie Underwood. Not everyone, however, was convinced that Pickler’s southern charm and unapologetic ditzy demeanor were genuine. Rumors circulated on the Internet that Pickler was putting on an act to charm voters, which she later denied on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show.
After her elimination from American Idol at 6th place, Pickler set her sights on Nashville, where she quickly landed a recording deal with 19 Recordings/BNA Records. To promote the album’s release, Pickler appeared on such shows as CMT Insider, CNN Showbiz Sitdown, The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The View. Pickler’s debut album, Small Town Girl, was released on October 31, 2006, and landed at #9 on the Billboard Top 200, selling 79,000 copies in its first week.
In addition to singing, Pickler has proven to be adept at improvisational interviewing, which she demonstrated as a guest correspondent for Jay Leno during the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. Several seasoned celebs were taken with Pickler’s fresh approach, and Sandra Bullock even suggested that she go into comedy. Pickler also charmed the likes of Keanu Reeves, Will Ferrell, Zach Braff, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake on the red carpet.
Pickler is currently developing her own half-hour sitcom with 20th Century Fox and 19 Entertainment, in which she will play a naive, small-town Southern girl who discovers that the state's governor is actually her biological father.
YUDDY
