**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", from *The Wizard of Oz*, by Judy Garland. 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 of "What a Wonderful World" was featured as a montage for contestants who made it to the Top 24. She performed "Landslide" on the first night of the semi-finals but did not impress the judges. The judges did not like her performance of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer during the second week. Despite this, it was well received by the band's lead singer, Leigh Nash. Her cover of Brandi Carlile's "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" by The Rolling Stones (she stated that her version is the one by Melanie Safka), was 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 18-49 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) | Billboard Hot 100 Hits | "Landslide" | Fleetwood Mac | 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 | The Rolling Stones | "Ruby Tuesday" | The Rolling Stones | 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.

Discography
-----------

### *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.

| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1. | "Let It Go"   | Lacey Brown | Brown | 3:50 |
| 2. | "Okay"   | Brown | Brown | 3:02 |
| 3. | "Day to Day"   | Brown | Brown | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Love is War"   | Brown | Brown | 4:41 |
| 5. | "Boy"   | Brown | Brown | 3:29 |

Other websites
--------------

* Lacey Brown Archived 2011-03-28 at the Wayback Machine at *American Idol*
* Lacey Brown[*permanent dead link*] at FOX News Radio

| Persondata |
| --- |
| Name | Brown, Lacey Elizabeth |
| Alternative names |  |
| Short description | Singer |
| Date of birth | August 13, 1985 |
| Place of birth | Amarillo, Texas |
| Date of death |  |
| Place of death |  |