Kris Allen rose to national fame in 2009 as the winner of American Idol's eighth season, beginning a career built on heartfelt pop songwriting and multi-instrumental musicianship. Born June 21, 1985, in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and raised in Conway, he learned guitar and piano as a teenager and was performing locally before his Idol audition catapulted him to stardom in front of tens of millions of viewers.

Allen's self-titled debut album, Kris Allen (2009), arrived on the heels of his Idol victory and produced his signature hit "Live Like We're Dying," which reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and earned platinum certification. The song's uplifting, carpe-diem message became his calling card and established him as a sincere, songwriter-first pop artist.