Brooke White
Brooke White was born June 2, 1983, in Mesa, Arizona. She currently lives in Van Nuys, California. She was a top ten finalist on the season 7 competition of American Idol, and is currently pursuing her career as a recording artist. Brooke released her single, "Hold Up My Heart" in February of 2009 to rave reviews. Also in February of 2009, Michael Johns, a fellow American Idol contestant, released his single "Life is Okay", which features Brooke White. In 2005, she released one collection of songs called "Songs from the Attic."
Brooke was working as a nanny before the televised competition began. Brooke is married, and as of the date of the competition, has no children.
Brooke startled the judges at her original audition by telling them that neither she nor her husband attended rated-R movies, nor has she tasted alcohol. Utah news broadcasters immediately took notice and interviewed Brooke to see whether she was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes casually called the Mormon Church or LDS Church. Brooke answered in the affirmative. Members of the Church not only live according to a health code, called the Word of Wisdom, which proscribes the use of coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco, but members of the Church are counseled to avoid rated-R movies and other questionable forms of entertainment. Brooke's modest dress standards were also noticeable in the competition.
Brooke plays the guitar and piano and began singing at age 15. She claims to be a "beauty school drop-out"—her musical interests took precedence over her cosmetology studies. She has sung as a solo singer with a back-up band. Simon Cowell has compared her to Carly Simon.
External Links
- An introduction to Mormon beliefs and practices
- Wikipedia article on Brooke White
- Brooke discusses her standards with the press.
- Blogs about Brooke on LDS.net
- Video:Brooke White sings "Here Comes the Sun."
- Brooke White sings "You're So Vain."
- Brooke White sings "Love is a Battlefield."
- Brooke's official website
- Brooke's MySpace page
More at MormonMusic.org