Kristy Lee Cook

• Genre: New Country

About

Although Kristy Lee Cook's big break was from season seven of American Idol, it wasn't the singer's first break. Born in Seattle and raised in Oregon, Cook was discovered by LeAnne Rimes' first manager while in her teens, and was signed to Arista Nashville shortly thereafter. Two years later, however, Cook was dropped and moved to Dallas with the hopes that her career would be resuscitated there. Her girl-next-door good looks got her some modeling jobs and in 2005 she released her debut, Devoted, under the name Kristy Lee. Two years later, Cook auditioned for American Idol and made it through to Hollywood. Although she got voted off, Cook was picked up by – you guess it – Arista Nashville! Her album Why Wait was released in 2008.

- Linda Ryan