Born on November 30, 1978 to father Vernon Grissom and mother Faye Aiken Parker in Raleigh, North Carolina, Clay Aiken’s birth name was Clayton Holmes Grissom. His parents marriage ended in divorce when he was just a kid and his mother went on to marry Ray Parker. Clay is the step-brother of Jeff and Amy. He also has a half-brother named Brett. After her parents separated, Clay Aiken changed his last name to her mother’s maiden name. His interest in singing ignited at a very young age and he was the part of many choir groups including Raleigh Boychoir. He did his schooling from the Leesville Road High School and while in school he also started working with the YMCA. He then went on to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. While in college, he participated in the reality show American Idol which delayed his education, but he graduated in the year 2003 with a degree in special education from the University.
After his selection to the further rounds of American Idol, he got eliminated in the round 32 of the show. He then came back on the show as a wild-card entry and became on of the finalists of the show. He was then signed by RCA records along with the winner of the show Ruben Studdard.
In the year 2003, he went on to release his first album titled Measure of a Man with RCA records. The song This is the Night from the album became a big hit. The album gained the status of Double Platinum by RIAA and sold millions of copies. He then went on to release another album titled Merry Christmas With Love in the year 2004 which went on to become a big hit and also received the Platinum certification by RIAA.
His next album A Thousand Different Ways in the year 2006 contained several songs which Clay co-wrote. He released another album titled On My Way Here in the year 2008. The theme and the name of the album were inspired by the song written by Ryan Tedder titled On My Way Here. This album was not able to create the same magic his previous album did and received a medicore response. After this album, he left RCA records and joined Decca Records in the year 2009. He went on to release the album Tried and Tune in the year 2009 with Decca Records. In the year 2012, he released another album titled Steadfast.
He joined politics in the year 2014 when he was selected the candidate of the Democratic Party for the second congressional district election of North Carolina. He has also appeared several times on television and has also been seen in several minor roles in many television shows. He has a son named Parker Foster Aiken with his then girlfriend Jaymes Foster. In the year 2008, he admitted to being gay in an interview. According to his biography, his salary is pretty high with a net worth of $1.5 million.
| Birth Date: | 30 Nov, 1978 |
| Age: | 41 yrs |
| Occupations: | Singer Musician Politician Actor |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Raleigh |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | Singer-songwriter, actor, record producer |
| Net Worth 2021: | 6 million |
