Riley Brendan

Riley Austin Brendan
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Riley Brendan
Background information
Born	November 21st, 1974
Origin	New Orleans, USA
Genre	Jazz/Pop/Adult Contemporary
Years active	1993-present
Label	Blacklight Records
Associated acts
Genevere Johnson Veronica Nightshade

Riley Brendan is an American jazz singer and songwriter. His URAPS career began in May of 2010, when he participated in the 11th season of URAPS Idol. He won the judges over with his rendition of 'Haven't Met You Yet' by Michael Bublè, but he didn't really click with audiences, being the first eliminated from the season's top 10. Following his defeat on Idol, Riley recorded a studio version of "Haven't Met You Yet" for the IDOL: Encore compilation album, which was later released as the second single from the album (the first being "Run" by season winner Genevere Johnson). After this he returned to the performance circuit back in America, but in late 2010 he recorded his own solo album, "Days Go By". The album was released in the last week of 2010, charting in 2011 alongside its lead single "Nothing Hurts Like Love". The album spawned additional top 10 hits "Excuse You" and "Eternity". Further singles "Be Good To Me" and "Iscariot's Ashes" were released in the United States.

Personal History

Riley Brendan was born on November 21st, 1974. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Riley grew up listening to vintage jazz and soul records, and developed an interest in playing the piano and the saxophone. From the age of ten he was receiving lessons for both instruments, playing saxophone in his school band and playing piano for his own enjoyment. At the age of eighteen he began performing at local jazz clubs, singing jazz standards and jazz renditions of contemporary songs. Being self-taught on vocals, he impressed audiences with his voice, being able to transition between smooth and husky tones at the drop of a hat. At the age of 23 he began writing his own songs which he added to his repertoire. It was during a performance that he first met his wife; she visited him after the show and asked him out to dinner, and they dated for eight months before finally getting married in 2004. The couple was married for six years, ending when his wife faked a pregnancy in a last-ditch attempt to get him to stay with her. That same year, Riley auditioned for URAPS Idol with 'Haven't Met You Yet', making it through to the top 10. He only performed once on the show, being eliminated in 10th place following a critically-panned jazz version of 'Call Me' by Blondie. During this time, Riley made himself up to appear younger than his actual age, not revealing his true age until he began promoting his second single.

Music

"Days Go By" Era

Following his elimination on URAPS Idol, Riley recorded a studio version of "Haven't Met You Yet" which he sang at his audition for the show. Riley's cover was faithful to the original version by Michael Bublè, and the recording was included on the IDOL: Encore album which featured studio versions of each of the top 10's best performances. Riley was not originally intending to release his song as a single, but when the opportunity presented itself, he self-funded a rush-release campaign to release the song as his debut single. The song was released on July 19th, 2010 and charted at #7. The single was a mini-EP of sorts, featuring three other tracks alongside the main single. These tracks were a cover of "This Love" by Maroon 5, and two originals written by Riley; "All I Need", and "Knight Fall". Riley signed to independent label Blacklight Records in late 2010; he was their first signee and his success was the catalyst that allowed the label to expand their business to major label status.

Riley performed at the album launch gala for Genevere Johnson, performing the material he recorded for his single, as well as duetting with Genevere on a cover of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". Following this, Riley finally set out to record his debut album. The album was completed in November of 2010, and it was announced at the end of the month, along with lead-off single "Nothing Hurts Like Love", which was written by Diane Warren and originally recorded by Daniel Bedingfield in 2004. "Haven't Met You Yet" was included on the album, being his debut single, but "All I Need" and "Knight Fall" were not present on the final tracklisting for the album. "Days Go By" features six original songs written by Riley, and six cover versions. The album was released on December 27th, 2010 and charted in the first chart of 2011. "Nothing Hurts Like Love" was released on January 10th, 2011, two weeks after the album. Both album and single charted at #6 upon entry. The follow-up to "Nothing Hurts Like Love" was "Excuse You", a fan favourite from the album. It became Riley's largest hit to date, entering the chart at #4 and helping the album reach a new peak of #4 as well.

In May, Riley released the Matt Morris cover "Eternity" as the third single from the album; it performed similarly to its predecessor - although it missed the top 5, it held for two weeks at #6 and became Riley's first (and only) UK airplay hit, reaching the top 5. America did not take to so overtly religious a song as a single, so "Be Good To Me" was released as the third US single instead. The video was included on the UK tour edition of "Days Go By" as a bonus feature. A UK release of "Be Good To Me" was planned as the fourth single, but after Riley was attacked in a drive-by shooting, the single was cancelled and Riley returned to the US. Once he was healed, Riley released "Iscariot's Ashes" as the fourth US single, and the final from the album.

Personal Life

Riley has kept in contact with a number of his Idol alumni, including season winner Genevere Johnson, pop singer Lily Clarke and dance diva Veronica Nightshade. Riley is also friends with Mark Charlie Wilson. Riley met his first wife Meredith Gilsig at a show in a New Orleans jazz club; they dated for eight months before finally getting married in 2003. The couple were married for six years, but they divorced when Riley learned that she faked being pregnant with a daughter in an attempt to save their marriage, which was falling apart. After the deterioration of his marriage, Riley dated his high school sweetheart Robyn Lisbon. It was revealed in December, 2010, that Riley used to suffer from severe alcoholism, with fears that he was falling into a relapse as Riley drank several bottles of red wine during the recording process of his album. Riley has been known to drink regularly since his return; signs of an alcoholism relapse begun to show.

In mid-December of 2010, the shocking revelation was brought to light that Riley was in fact re-married - but not to Robyn Lisbon, he was in fact married to Nan, grandmother to Thorn City's Georgina Summers. When exactly the couple was married is unknown, but Riley confirmed that it happened during a night out in Vegas, after Nan had a windfall on the slot machines. Nan performed at the URAPS Christmas Chart Show for 2010, but suffered an accident when a dancer pushed her off the stage, hospitalising her. A friend of Nan's told her of rumours that Riley was cheating, causing a heart-attack induced coma. Nan died before the year was out. The death sparked controversy for Riley when it was insinuated that he was a con artist, and his entire relationship with Nan was a ruse to get a hold of her money. Riley inherited $2 million dollars from Nan's estate according to her last will, which may or may not have been a forgery. The will has supposedly disappeared, so its authenticity cannot be proven after Riley set things in motion that he claimed were according to Nan's last wishes.

As a suspected con artist, Riley's career is said to have spanned several years - dating back to the time he met Meredith Gilsig. It is said that the two are partners in crime, although Riley frequently denies the accusations of his career as a felon and that he has had much contact with Meredith since they divorced. Most recently, Riley has been seen in the company of 4Tune; although both parties claim that the relationship is merely platonic, speculation abounds that Riley is getting close to 4Tune in order to get his hands on her riches.

Discography

Albums

Album	Album details	Peak	Certification	Sales
Days Go By	Debut Studio Album Released: December 27th, 2010 Label: Blacklight	#4	Platinum	474,299

Singles

Year	Single	Peak	Album	Certification	Sales	Digital
2010	"Haven't Met You Yet"	#7	Days Go By	N/A	76,048	3,929
2011	"Nothing Hurts Like Love"	#6		N/A	107,751	33,674
	"Excuse You"	#4		Silver	128,541	47,759
	"Eternity"	#6		N/A	122,244	68,469
	"Be Good To Me"	#33 (US)		Gold (US)	N/A	500,000+ (US)
	"Iscariot's Ashes"	#49 (US)		Gold (US)	N/A	500,000+ (US)