Clay Aiken
Bio
Clay Grissom.
Doesn't really have the same ring to it. But that was almost the name Clay Aiken went by, until he changed to his mother's maiden name. The American Idol singer was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As a young boy he trained with the Raleigh Boys choir, and later performed with a local Raleigh band, "Just By Chance." Music has been a passion throughout Clay's life.
Aiken attended Raleigh's Leesville Road High School before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Although his American Idol performances temporarily delayed his academic pursuits, the man was steadfast in his education; he graduated with a bachelor's degree in special education in December of 2003. At 19 , he had served as a substitute teacher for a classroom of students with autism at Brentwood Elementary School and been interested in the field ever since.
While attending college in Charlotte, Clay took a part-time job as an assistant to a boy with autism, and it was this child's mother, Diane Bubel, who urged him to audition for the FOX show.
The rest is beautiful music history.
