Meet Allen Stone, Grammy-Nominated Jury Vote Winner on ‘American Song Contest’
Trae Patton/NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
Allen Stone received the fourth jury vote on last night’s qualifier episode of American Song Contest. Like many artists in the competition, Stone had a career ahead of the series. Here’s everything you need to know about Allen Stone representing Washington state on American Song Contest.
Early in the episode, Kelly Clarkson shared her excitement for Allen Stone in the series. During this conversation the host explained that Stone had received a Grammy Award nomination ahead of American Song Contest.
How Did Allen Stone Get His Start in Music?
Stone began singing at the age of three in church. By the age of 14, he was leading his church’s worship and playing the guitar. He found his love for soul music as a teenager, at the time he collected classic albums from the 1960s and 1970s. Allen’s aspired to have a career similar to his friend who found success as a teen. Since she watched her career bloom, he knew he could accomplish the same.
At 18 years old Stone moved to Spokane to attend Moody Bible Institute for a year. Following the year, he attended community college for a semester and decided to drop everything to pursue a music career. He moved to Seattle to launch his music career.
In present day, Stone has released five albums. The beginning of his discography was released independently, while his 2016 album released under Capitol Records, and newer releases have gone out under ATO Records. Stone’s music hit the charts for the first time with the release of his self-titled album. The album peaked at No. 2 on the R&B/Soul charts on iTunes, hit numbers 9 and 35 on the Billboard Heatseekers and R&B/Hip Hop Album charts.
This album opened doors for the artist including a performance on Conan, a collaboration with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and more including a record deal. Reports state that Stone signed with Capitol Records following his success, but soon left due to creative differences.
His Grammy Nomination, Present Day Endeavors
Stone received his first and only Grammy Award nomination in 2014. The award was for album of the year for his collaboration on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s album, The Heist. While Stone’s song, “Neon Cathedral,” didn’t receive loads air time compared to the hits “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” It’s one of the hidden gems of the album.
In recent years, Stone’s song “Perfect World” was featured on the trailer for the Netflix series Dear White People he later appeared on American Idol after releasing the single “Brown Eye Lover.” In 2021, he released his most recent album, APART. He is now launched into the semi finals of American Song Contest and arguably has one of the best songs in the competition. America, did we find our winner?
I voted for Allen Stone after hearing his song before the show started. I didn’t expect him to get the jury vote at the end. I love ASC so far, but I’ve finally had enough with the jury. The jury votes for each heat are totally unfair and biased. If ASC gets renewed for Season 2, the jury rules must change or the jury must be eliminated.