- Born
- Birth nameClayton Holmes Grissom
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Clayton Holmes Grissom was born on November 30, 1978 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Faye Aiken Parker and Vernon Grissom. When Clay was a teenager, he had a love for teaching and helping young children and later on studied to became a school teacher. When he was about 23 years old, a longtime friend persuaded him to audition for American Idol. When he was 25 years old he released his debut album, "Measure of a Man." (singles from his debut album include: "Invisible," "This Is The Night" and "The Way") His debut album sold over 600,000 copies in the USA in its first week of release. It has sold almost 2.5 million in the US as of 4/16/04.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Stephanie Koston
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- His wink
- Was a special education major at UNC-Charlotte
- His biological father, Vernon Grissom, died February 27, 2004. His stepfather, Ray Parker, died on July 4, 2002.
- Shortened Clayton to Clay after a suggestion from the producers of American Idol (2002).
- Was born with a collapsed lung.
- Changed his last name, Grissom, to his mother's maiden name, Aiken.
- It doesn't really matter to me how I make a difference, I just wanna make sure that I do.
- I'm never really comfortable with people cheering for me.
- I think there's a difference between appearance and image. An image is not how you look. It's what you do. It's what you portray. Your personality, the example you set, and that's huge for me.
- American celebrities have an amazing amount of influence on the way America thinks, feels, and acts. I think that such an influence should be used in the most positive way possible.
- I'm religious. I think this is something God had planned for me.
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