Lee DeWyze auditioned for the reality music competition American Idol in 2009. He made it onto the show’s ninth season, but wasn’t seen as a front-runner for much of the competition. Yet as the season progressed, DeWyze came from behind as a fan favorite with covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and U2’s “Beautiful Day.” In the final episode, DeWyze beat out the judges’ clear choice, Crystal Bowersox, thanks to the audience’s majority vote. With his victory, DeWyze scored a valuable record contract. His debut single, a cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day,” was released in conjunction with his win, and a full-length album, Live It Up, arrived later that year. Live It Up debuted on the Billboard charts at 19 with DeWyze supporting it with a headlining tour. As the singer/songwriter worked on new material, a collection of old recordings called What Once Was was released in 2012; it contained outtakes from his first two independent albums, 2007’s So I’m Told and 2010’s Slumberland. More recently, DeWyze released Oil & Water in 2016. Lee DeWyze continues to tour all over the world.