| Ryan Starr | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Tiffany Montgomery |
| Born: | November 21, 1982 |
| Birth Hometown: | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Years active: | 2002–present |
| Website/URL: | www.sheisryan.co |
Tiffany Montgomery (born November 21, 1982), known professionally as Ryan Starr, is a singer who finished seventh on the first season of American Idol. She went on to release a successful single on iTunes and participated in a handful of other television programs, modeling campaigns, and worldwide music tours.
Early life[]
Ryan Starr was born Tiffany Montgomery in the Sunland neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, a place where she once described as a "middle of nowhere town, up in the hills - like, horse country." Her elementary, middle, and high schools were all about "a block from one another" in her words, and growing up, Starr considered herself to be "a small-town tomboy". She has three sisters. On her mother's side, she is Peruvian and Bolivian. She also has French and Irish ancestry.
Although Starr was named Homecoming Queen, she reminisced in a 2017 blog post that she was "dorky" and "definitely not one of the popular kids" for most of her time in school. She graduated from Verdugo Hills High School in 2000, where she ran track. Before attempting a music career, she worked as a waitress, lifeguard, swim team coach, and at a clothing store.
Around the age of seven, Starr began learning how to sing. Her family was unable to afford formal vocal training, so as a child, Starr developed her voice by singing along to Disney films. Drawn to jazz and blues artists from a young age, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding were among Starr's first musical influences. As Starr got older, she found inspiration in rock musicians, such as Pat Benatar, Chris Cornell, Steve Perry, and Steven Tyler. Shortly after Starr's participation on American Idol, she named Jimmy Eat World, Jars of Clay, Incubus, Hoobastank, and Journey as her favorite bands.
Career[]
After graduating from high school, Starr went on frequent bus excursions into Hollywood from her nearby hometown, and on one of these, she met a girl who suggested that the two of them audition for American Idol's first season together. Starr's performance of "Lean on Me" (by Bill Withers) was the first successful audition ever shown on the series. In his 2003 autobiography, I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But..., Simon Cowell wrote that Starr was "cripplingly shy" at the audition, but that Paula Abdul "saw some potential for stardom in her, and decided to mentor her."
Starr, who auditioned as Tiffany Montgomery, adopted her stage name by Hollywood Week. Placed into Group 1 for the Top 30 semi-finals, her song choice for that round of an old jazz standard, "The Frim-Fram Sauce", puzzled Cowell and Randy Jackson, although the following night Cowell deemed Starr "a dark horse" and predicted that she could excel in the competition with better singing material. After she was voted through to the Top 10, Starr opened the first round of the finals, singing "If You Really Love Me" by Stevie Wonder; this marked the first live performance in the history of American Idol. Starr was well-received by the judges for that performance but was voted off the series two weeks later in seventh place.
The second of Starr's live performances, "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks, was panned by the judges and resulted in a Bottom 2 placement for that week. While Starr's final performance of the competition, "Last Dance" by Donna Summer, was praised by the judges as an improvement over the previous week, it prompted Cowell to reflect on Starr's disparate song choices throughout the competition and express confusion over what kind of artist Starr wanted to be. The judges felt that Starr struggled with aspects of her performances throughout every round of the finals but communicated a shared belief in Starr's potential. Upon Starr's elimination from the competition, Cowell gave Starr an offer to call him anytime for help with pursuing a music career.
Starr returned with the rest of the finalists during the shows' finale and sang "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", and went on a nationwide 52-city tour with the other finalists. RCA, in partnership with American Idol, signed her.
After the tour, Starr went on to work with HBO on the launch of American Idol in South America. She toured Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil before coming home to resume her acting and singing career in Los Angeles.
Performances by Ryan Starr[]
| Week | Theme | Song | Original artist | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions | Contestant's Choice | "Lean on Me" | Bill Withers | Advanced |
| "Fallin'" | Alicia Keys | |||
| Hollywood | "Ain't No Sunshine" | Bill Withers | ||
| Semi-Final Group 1 | Free Choice | "The Frim-Fram Sauce" | Nat King Cole | |
| Top 10 | Motown | "If You Really Love Me" | Stevie Wonder | Safe |
| Top 8 | 1960s | "You Really Got Me" | The Kinks | Bottom 2 |
| Top 7 | 1970s | "Last Dance" | Donna Summer | Eliminated |
| Season finale | N/A | "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" | Nancy Sinatra |
Post-American Idol music career[]
Starr blamed her stalled music career on a two-year restrictive recording contract with RCA. Under this contract, she refused to record an album claiming producers wanted to turn her into an Avril Lavigne type singer. After an intense three year legal battle she was released from contract in 2005.
Upon release from her contract, Starr went on to host "TRL" on "VH1". Starr then released an iTunes Exclusive Single, "My Religion." The song went all the way to number one on the US Billboard Hot Digital Songs Chart, and was noted in the 2005 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records to have sold the most exclusive single downloads in iTunes's history. They also went on to detail the fact that My Religion was slated to be released to stores in early 2006, however, iTunes refused to release Ryan Starr's single from contract. One of the highest selling exclusive singles ever, it sold an estimated 360,000 units worldwide according to MTV and USA Today.
In an interview given to the Today Show in early 2007, Starr revealed that iTunes had expressed interest in Starr releasing another exclusive single to follow up the immense success of "My Religion." Starr claimed that she was reluctant to accept as she wished to release a full album, but hinted she had accepted the very lucrative offer put forth by iTunes. Rumors began to circulate that 'Stranded' would be the next exclusive single when images of a single cover were released on her MySpace.
Reports were previously made that Starr turned down a three-album deal with Sanctuary Records. The deal supposedly required her to record two pop albums before being allowed to record her rock album.
Television and film career[]
Shortly after her run on American Idol, Starr had a guest role on an episode of the hit CBS drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Starr had the lead role in the Direct-To-Video movie, Ring of Darkness
In 2004, Starr made her most prominent appearance since American Idol, appearing in The Surreal Life.
In fall 2008, Starr appeared in Gimme My Reality Show.
Starr also modeled on and off the runway for several fashion brands such as True Religion, Nicolita swimwear, Tori Praver swimwear, and several others. She also starred in a series of Harley Davidson commercials and ended up being the female rider for Harley-Davidson for their Sportster campaign in 2013.
In 2013, Starr moved to Bali, Indonesia where she bought a villa and worked with DJs doing vocals and lyrics and continuing to model. In 2015, Starr moved to the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France where she worked as a part-time fashion model and a lyricist/vocalist for a production house. In 2017 she moved back to Los Angeles and has recently released information on launching a YouTube channel, and a Fashion and lifestyle website and there are talks of her making her long-awaited album slated to begin production end of 2018.