Bucky Covington

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Bucky Covington
Bucky Covington in The American Idol Experience motorcade at Walt Disney World.
Background information
Birth name	William Joel Covington III
Born	November 8, 1977 (1977-11-08) (age 32)
Origin	Rockingham, North Carolina, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Lyric Street
Associated acts	Sawyer Brown
Website	buckycovingtonmusic.com

William Joel "Bucky" Covington III (born November 8, 1977) is an American country music singer. He placed eighth on the 5th season of the Fox Network's talent competition series American Idol. In December 2006, he signed a recording contract with Lyric Street Records. His self-titled debut album, produced by Mark Miller of the band Sawyer Brown, was released on April 17, 2007. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and produced three hit singles on the Hot Country Songs charts: "A Different World" at #6, "It's Good to Be Us" at #11, and "I'll Walk" at #10.

Biography

Personal life

Bucky Covington was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, to Gene Covington and Deborah Gates on November 8, 1977 - along with his identical twin brother, Robert David "Rocky" Covington. Bucky is the nickname derived from his grandfather "Buck".^[1] He graduated in the class of 1996 from Scotland High School in Laurinburg, NC. He worked at Covington's Body Shop in Hamlet, North Carolina.

At the age of 18, Covington taught himself how to play the guitar and began performing at clubs. He is also a bassist, drummer and songwriter. Over the years, Covington has expanded his talents, both country and rock. After some time, he elected to perform both original and cover material in a cross-genre vein. Rocky is also a musician and is the former lead singer of the North Carolina band Swamp Cat.

In 1998 when the Covington twins were 20 years old, they were in a minor automobile mishap. Bucky allegedly pretended to be Rocky. They were arrested for deceiving the authorities. The plaintiff failed to identify which twin was driving, since the twins were identical.^[2]

After Idol, Bucky bought a house in Franklin, Tennessee, near Nashville, which he shared with Rocky and his wife Terra. Rocky also joined Bucky's band as a drummer. On February 13, 2007, he and his wife Crystal separated after more than seven years of marriage.^[3]

American Idol

In the 2005-06 season, the Covington twins auditioned for American Idol in Greensboro, NC individually. Of the two, Bucky advanced to the final twelve. On March 22, Bucky remained in the bottom three, along with Lisa Tucker and Kevin Covais. On April 12, when Covington was in the bottom three with Ace Young and Elliott Yamin, the votes went to the latter two.

In the Top 8 results show of season six of American Idol, he appeared in one of the front rows. Since being on Idol he has had his teeth capped.

Debut album: Bucky Covington

In November and December 2006, Bucky Covington performed on the GAC Country Music Christmas tour, making him the first Idol from the 5th season to be part of a major non-American Idol concert tour.^[4]

Covington negotiated with Buena Vista Music Group's country label, Lyric Street Records. His debut single, "A Different World," was released to country radio on January 16, 2007, coinciding with the premiere of American Idol (season 6).^[5][6][7] Its initial debut on radio was on Sirius Satellite Radio's New Country channel in late December 2006.

His debut album, Bucky Covington, was released on April 17, 2007, to positive reviews. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at #4 selling 61,000 copies. It also debuted at #1 on the Top Country Albums chart, making the album the best opening week for a debut album by a male on the chart since Billy Ray Cyrus' 1992 debut with Some Gave All.^[8] Covington's debut surpassed the previous record held by Jason Michael Carroll's Waitin' in the Country.^[9] He performed selections from his album during a nationwide tour in 2007, and the track "Empty Handed" appeared in NASCAR 08 as part of the in-game soundtrack. Overall, Bucky Covington accounted for three singles. "A Different World" peaked at #6, followed by "It's Good to Be Us" at #11 and "I'll Walk" at #10.

Second album: I'm Alright

In January 2009, Lyric Street noted that Covington has been in the studio recording his second album. The lead-off single, "I Want My Life Back" was released to radio in April 2009 and it peaked at #32. The album is expected for release sometime in 2010. In early October 2009, Covington released a cover version of Nickelback's hit single "Gotta Be Somebody". The song is the second single from Covington's upcoming album, I'm Alright.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Music videos

Other appearances

• "Superstition" from American Idol Season 5: Encores (2006)

Filmography

American Idol performances

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Semi-finals

• February 22, 2006: "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• March 1, 2006: "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks
• March 8, 2006: "Wave on Wave" by Pat Green

Finals

• March 14, 2006: "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
• March 21, 2006: "Oh Boy" by Buddy Holly (Bottom 2)
• March 28, 2006: "Real Good Man" by Tim McGraw
• April 4, 2006: "Best I Ever Had" by Gary Allan
• April 11, 2006: "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen (Bottom 3, Eliminated)

See also

• List of twins
• American Idol (season 5)

References

External links

• Bucky Covington Official Website
• Bucky Covington at American Idol
• Bucky Covington at TV.com
• Bucky Covington at CMT Music.
• Bucky Covington at MySpace