Beau Davidson
Encyclopedia
Beau Davidson is an American recording artist, actor, and model. He has appeared on Country Music Television
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...

 (CMT), Great American Country
Great American Country
Great American Country , is a Nashville, Tennessee-based country music cable television network.-History:The station launched December 31, 1995 and Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" was the first video to air on GAC....

 (GAC), MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

, and Vh1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

, as well as television shows and print magazines.

Early life and education

Davidson was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

 and began taking classical piano lessons at age four. In spite of his classical training, he learned to play popular music by ear. He was a finalist in the Mid-South Fair
Mid-South Fair
The Mid-South Fair is a fair that was held for many years held in Memphis, Tennessee, every year in late September and early October. It is now held in neighboring northwest Mississippi. It hosts many shows and attractions, as well as different types of rides and concession stands...

 Youth Talent Contest
, held annually in Memphis. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 and Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

 were also veterans of this contest.

In 1999, Davidson graduated from the all-male private preparatory Memphis University School
Memphis University School
Memphis University School is an all-male private school for grades 7–12, located in Memphis, Tennessee.-History:MUS was founded in 1893 by Edwin Sidney Werts and James White Sheffey Rhea. MUS is a college-preparatory school. The school's colors, red and blue, were chosen by the founders to...

.

Educational background

Davidson attended Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

, graduating in 2003. He studied opera and vocal performance with renowned baritone Bruce Hall and was coached by Richard Boldrey. At Northwestern, Davidson appeared in the role of Danny Zuko in Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...

, and as the leading man in many other productions, including the Chicago Premiere of Titanic
Titanic (musical)
Titanic is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical...

(Barrett) and Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...

.

During his Northwestern days, Davidson began writing music, primarily for Northwestern's student-produced revue, The Waa-Mu Show. In his junior year, he wrote and performed his first country-inspired song, "The Dixie in Me".

In the summer of his junior year, Davidson starred as "Frid" in the Ravinia Festival
Ravinia Park
Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1936...

's production of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...

's A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...

with George Hearn
George Hearn
George Hearn is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Early years:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with actress turned acting...

, Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...

, Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...

, and Marc Kudisch
Marc Kudisch
Marc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...

. Upon graduation, Davidson starred in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a non-profit, professional theater company located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Its more than six hundred annual performances performed 48 weeks of the year include its critically acclaimed Shakespeare series, its World's Stage touring productions, and youth...

's production of The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...

, playing the role of the Prince.

Professional background

Rather than move to New York to pursue a career on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

, Davidson moved to Los Angeles. He guest-starred on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 daytime drama
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

and The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...

's Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...

.

In between projects, Davidson wrote music that he later released as a digital EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 titled The Good Hurt. His debut single, "More Than I Can Give", was the song that catapulted his career. Independent of any record label or production company, the corresponding music video landed on the websites of CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...

, Great American Country
Great American Country
Great American Country , is a Nashville, Tennessee-based country music cable television network.-History:The station launched December 31, 1995 and Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" was the first video to air on GAC....

, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

, and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

, indicative of the fact that Davidson's music appealed to a diverse audience from contemporary country to pop/rock. The song was featured on the in-flight audio programs of Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...

, Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

, and Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport, although the airline's registered office is on the 33rd floor of One Pacific Place...

 Airways, as well as the Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...

 sandwich franchise's own radio station. This success gave rise to interviews and performances on radio stations all across the country.

In 2008, Davidson moved to Nashville and won CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...

's Music City Madness original song contest with his song "Mr. Wrong", and opened for Josh Gracin
Josh Gracin
Joshua Mario "Josh" Gracin is a country music singer. A former member of the United States Marine Corps, he first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of the Fox Networks talent competition American Idol.After his elimination from the show, Gracin completed his...

 and Craig Morgan in Southaven, Mississippi
Southaven, Mississippi
-Households And Families:As of the census of 2000, there were 28,977 people, 11,007 households, and 8,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 857.9 people per square mile...

.

Davidson also travels with a vocal group called Day One Next Edition, which performs for corporate functions (Amway
Amway
Amway is a direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos...

), leading their Christian worship services.

Philanthropy and community service

In August 2008, Davidson was featured in Country Weekly
Country Weekly
Country Weekly is an American tabloid style weekly magazine established in 1994. The magazine focuses on country music stars and events, and regularly features exclusive interviews with recording artists and country music news...

 magazine and gained international media attention when asked to write an honorary lullaby for Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...

 and Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...

's daughter, Sunday Rose. This lullaby aired on New Zealand and Australia's number one morning television show, Sunrise.

Davidson has partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, performing at the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk in Atlanta.

In 2010, Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 and Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...

 selected Davidson to perform at the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon
The MDA Labor Day Telethon is an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association . The first MDA telethon was during the Thanksgiving Day weekend of 1952 and titled Party for MDA. It has been held annually since 1966...

 live in Las Vegas over Labor Day. Davidson's other philanthropic involvement and performances include National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over four million members and supporters, and 48 state and territorial affiliated organizations...

, Old West Special Trails, Eating Disorders Coalition
Eating Disorders Coalition
The Eating Disorders Coalition is a Washington, D.C. advocacy organization working to advance the federal recognition of eating disorders as a public health priority. The EDC was founded in 2000 and is incorporated in Massachusetts. The full legal name of the organization is the Eating Disorders...

 of Tennessee, and The American Spirit Pageant, benefiting the HAVlife Foundation.

Appearances

In 2008, Davidson was named one of Nashville's "25 Most Beautiful People" by Nashville Lifestyles magazine, along with fellow recording artists Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...

 and Chuck Wicks
Chuck Wicks
Charles Elliott "Chuck" Wicks is an American country music artist. He was one of the participants on the American reality series Nashville, which aired on Fox Networks for two episodes before its cancellation in mid-2007...

. Davidson was also named one of Cosmopolitan Magazine
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...

's "51 Hottest Bachelors of 2009", representing his home state of Tennessee. As a result, he appeared and/or performed on The Today Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...

, Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

's Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends is an American morning television show on the Fox News Channel.-History:The show begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the latest Fox News Live headlines and analyzes the news of the morning...

and The Strategy Room, Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

, and the nationally syndicated morning TV show, The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz is a nationally syndicated breakfast television news and infotainment program. The show is produced by Fisher Communications and is owned and distributed by ACME Communications; it is broadcast every weekday morning from studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida...

. He also performed at the 2010 Outback Bowl
2010 Outback Bowl
The 2010 Outback Bowl was the 24th edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The game started at 11 AM US EST on Friday, January 1, 2010. The game was telecast on ESPN and matched Auburn University against Northwestern University...

 in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, as his alma mater Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern may refer to:* Northwestern University, a private American research university, with campuses in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois* The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program-Other colleges and universities:...

 was playing Auburn
Auburn
-Geographical locations:Australia* Auburn, South Australia* Auburn, New South Wales** Auburn Council, the local governing body** Electoral district of AuburnBritish Isles...

. Davidson was a featured music pick in In Touch Weekly
In Touch Weekly
In Touch Weekly is an American celebrity gossip magazine. The magazine is focused on celebrity news, fashion, beauty, relationships and lifestyle, and is geared towards a younger readership, billing itself as "fast and fun", along with making claims about their lower cover price on their front...

magazine's "Can't Miss Guide" in 2009, and an "Artist to Watch" on Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...

's iheartradio
Iheartradio
iHeartRadio is a Clear Channel Radio network to aggregate local radio brands, personalities and on-demand content. It is best known as a mobile application...

 playlist, where his song "More Than I Can Give" charted at #6.

In May 2009, Davidson was featured on Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....

, due to their mutual love of Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...

.

In April 2010, Davidson guest starred as himself on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 daytime drama, The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....

, where he performed a song written by his producer, Frank J. Myers
Frank J. Myers
Frank Joseph Myers is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer. In his career, he has written songs for John Michael Montgomery, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Lonestar and others...

, called "You're All I Ever Wanted".

In 2011, he became a vocalist on the Season 3 cast of The Singing Bee
The Singing Bee
The Singing Bee may refer to the game show franchise:* The Singing Bee , the original US version* The Singing Bee , the Australian version* The Singing Bee , Philippines version...

 on CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...

.

Beau performed with Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...

 for her Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...

 debut in 2011, as well as with her for 2011 CMA Fest at the Wildhorse Saloon
Wildhorse Saloon
The Wildhorse Saloon is a country/western-themed restaurant, live music venue, and dance club located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Gaylord Entertainment Company. Originally opened on June 1, 1994 in a converted warehouse, the Wildhorse initially capitalized on the line dancing...

 and on television for the finale of CMT's Next Superstar
CMT's Next Superstar
CMT's Next Superstar is a new music competition series specializing in country music. It is launched by American Country Music Television specialty station CMT in partnership with producer Nigel Lythgoe and his son, Simon Lythgoe...

.

In 2011, Beau will host the Miss Louisiana USA
Miss Louisiana USA
The Miss Louisiana USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Louisiana in the Miss USA pageant.Louisiana is one of the most successful states at Miss USA and is one of only seven states to have had three or more Miss USAs.Three Miss Louisiana USA titleholders...

 pageant, the Miss South Carolina USA
Miss South Carolina USA
The Miss South Carolina USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state South Carolina in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant has been produced by RPM Productions since 1980....

 pageant, and the Miss North Carolina USA
Miss North Carolina USA
The Miss North Carolina USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state North Carolina in the Miss USA pageant. This state is part of the RPM Productions group....

 pageant, under the direction of Paula Miles' RPM Productions.
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