Lacey Brown

**Lacey Elizabeth Brown ** (born August 13, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, violinist, painter, model and fashion designer. She is from Amarillo, Texas. She was the twelfth place finalist on the ninth season of _American Idol_.

## Early life

Born on August 13, 1985, Brown is the daughter of the pastors of Victory Church, a local Christian Church, in Amarillo. There, she served as Venue (Victory's college-aged group) director and taught civics and Christian values to Victory's internship students. During her childhood, she learned how to play the violin. She also spent time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she had Bible schooling. Her education includes studying art. Her musical influences include folk and country, as well as rock music, such as Lady Antebellum, Kings of Leon, Coldplay, and U2, apart from Patsy Cline, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, and Pete Yorn.

## _American Idol_

Brown first auditioned for the eighth season of _American Idol_, where she made it into the Top 54 of the Hollywood rounds. Brown later auditioned in Orlando, Florida with the song "Over the Rainbow". The judges all loved her performance, including guest judge Kristin Chenoweth, and she made it through to the next round. During Hollywood week, her performance  single of "What a Wonderful World" was featured as a montage for contestants who made it to the Top 24. She performed her single "Landslide" by   on the first night of the semi-finals but did not impress the judges. The judges did not like her performance of "Kiss Me" during the second week. Despite this, it was well received by the band's lead singer, Leigh Nash. Her single of "The Story", on the final night before the finals, was considered to be better. Brown eventually made it to the Top 12.

Brown's performance of "Ruby Tuesday" described by the judges as not having energy, but Simon Cowell added that there was nothing wrong with her vocals. Brown was eliminated from the show on March 17, 2010. The song "What a Wonderful World" was played at the beginning of the episode, with a montage of the Top 12's journey, setting the tone for her elimination. Her elimination caused problems after Ryan Seacrest tweeted the results. Angry fans did not watch the show which had "the smallest audience among 49 year-olds for a regularly scheduled in-season episode in "Idol" history".

Brown thanked her fans for their support and plans to return to her hometown, after doing interviews in New York. She says she will try _acting_ (from a criticism to her by Simon Cowell) as well as a career in music. In her final moments on the show, she said she might try country music although her MySpace page lists "pop" and "folk" as her genres. A notable line of Brown in the show was: _"You've got to take no's and turn them into yes'es"_

### Performances/results

|Week #|Theme|Song choice|Original artist|Order #|Result||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Audition|Auditioner's Choice|"Over the Rainbow"|Judy Garland|N/A|Advanced||
|Hollywood|First Solo|"First Day of My Life"|Bright Eyes|N/A|Advanced||
|Hollywood|Group Performance|"Get Ready"|The Temptations|N/A|Advanced||
|Hollywood|Second Solo|"What a Wonderful World"|Louis Armstrong|N/A|Advanced||
|Top 24 (12 Women)|rowspan="3"|Billboard Hot 100 Hits|"Landslide"|cmk|7|Safe|
|Top 20 (10 Women)|"Kiss Me"|Sixpence None the Richer|3|Safe|||
|Top 16 (8 Women)|"The Story"|Brandi Carlile|3|Safe|||
|Top 12||"Ruby Tuesday"||4|Eliminated||

## Career after _Idol_

After leaving Idol, Brown gave several media interviews with _Entertainment Weekly_, _USA Today_, _The Los Angeles Times_, _People_, several Fox affiliates, MTV, E!, with Ryan Seacrest on his radio show (_On Air with Ryan Seacrest_), with Ellen DeGeneres on _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_, along with several in New York, including _the Wendy Williams Show_ and _The Late Show with David Letterman_, where she performed "What a Wonderful World". Among the finalists, her closest friends are Paige Miles and Lee DeWyze although she is friends with all of them including Siobhan Magnus and Katie Stevens. She said in these interviews that she is planning to continue her career in music but she is also open to any offers that may come to her. She now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She released an EP entitled _Let It Go_ on May 31, 2011. In 2011, Brown signed a management contract with Tracy Lawrence and she will be touring at the CMA Fest in Nashville in June 2011.

### _Let It Go_ (2011)

The alternative country EP _Let It Go_, with five songs on it, was released on May 31, 2011 through the independent (self-owned) record label LEB Records. Brown's voice was described as a mix "...of sweet, yet haunting tones with a hint of Brenda Lee". Her writing style was described as "...pop lyrics resting on a bed of American Bluegrass."

#### Track listing

The official track listing released through the iTunes Store and Amazon.com on 31 May 2011.

## Other websites

- Lacey Brown  at _American Idol_
- Lacey Brown at FOX News Radio

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Lacey Brown
- **background**: solo_singer
- **birth name**: Lacey Elizabeth Brown
- **birth place**: Amarillo, Texas, United States
- **genre**: Alternative country, Pop music, pop, Christian music, CCM
- **occupation**: Singer-songwriter, painter, Model (person), model
- **instrument**: Singing, Vocals, violin
- **years active**: 2009–present
- **label**: LEB Records (2011-present)
- **url**: [http://www.TheLaceyBrown.com/ www.TheLaceyBrown.com]


## Infobox (album)

- **name**: Let It Go
- **type**: EP
- **artist**: Lacey Brown
- **released**: May 31, 2011
- **recorded**: February-April 2011
- **genre**: Alternative country, Pop music, pop
- **length**: 19:32
- **label**: LEB Records
- **producer**: Lacey Brown