by Marissa Meleske

Created on: February 20, 2011   Last Updated: February 21, 2011

We've all heard the infamous Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream" speech. We all have a dream, a goal we strive to reach. Yet, how many of us can say we are living our ultimate dream? Too many of us settle for less than our true potential in life. Sure, we may be able to provide for our family, but are we truly happy? At some point in life, we all inevitably reach that point where we can either stay in the status quo, or jump with no parachute and hope we land amongst the stars. Chris Daughtry sure did! As he stated in one of the pre-packages on American Idol, if you ask his parents, they'll tell you he's been performing all of his life...and now he's living his dream. 

Chris was born Christopher Adam Daughtry on December 26,1979 in Lasker, North Carolina to his parents, Pete and Sandra, and older brother Kenneth. At 16 years old, Chris began taking singing seriously. For his first official performance, he sang "Achy Breaky Heart" at his grandfather's bar and during high school, he appeared in two stage productions: The Wiz and Peter Pan. He started taking guitar lessons from blues–rock guitarist, Matt Jagger, at Stacy's Music store in Charlottesville and received advice from Andy Waldeck (frontman for Earth To Andy), whom he credits first on his debut album. Daughtry performed with rock bands at local venues throughout high school, opening for future guitarist Brian Craddock's band, My Dog Lucy, and Matt Jagger.

It was during this time that he also formed his first band, Cadence, in which Daughtry sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar. The band made one album, "All Eyes On You,” which was released in 1999. However, the band did not stay together long and soon went their separate ways. After the band split, Chris continued to sing lead vocals and play rhythm guitar for rock bands in Burlington, North Carolina. His next band went by the name, Absent Element, in which Daughtry sang lead vocals and played guitar, and was accompanied by Mark Perry on lead guitar, Scott Crawford on drums and Ryan Andrews on bass. The band released the album "Uprooted" in 2005. In 2005, Chris Daughtry decided to up the stakes, taking his talent to large-scale auditions. He auditioned for the CBS singing contest Rock Star: INXS, and although he failed to make the cut for the actual filming of the show, there’s no need to feel bad for Chris. In the very near future, he would get an opportunity that would

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