RJ Helton

By Christopher Heron

RJ Helton always had a dream to sing. And sing he did as a finalist on the first season of the breakout hit TV series, "American Idol.” Now RJ has released his debut CD, Real Life and shares who he is today with GC’s Christopher Heron.

In 2002, RJ sang his way into the hearts of America via American Idol. Raised in a strong church-going family, RJ shares in this interview that he prayed a great deal during the American Idol experience in order to get through those stressful times. An American Idol tour quickly followed and legions of fans anxiously awaited his next move.

The wait is over - RJ’s CD, Real Life, a wonderful meld of pop, R&B, funk and Latin influences, has arrived. B-Rite Music, the pop music imprint of music industry powerhouse Gospocentric Records, understood his need to share his faith as well as his real-life experiences.

With producers who have worked with Kelly Clarkson, CeCe Winans, Black Eyed Peas and Luther Vandross, Real Life gives us a slice of RJ’s talent as a singer as well as a songwriter. On his website, www.rjhelton.com, RJ states: B-Rite… understood that I wanted to sing about my faith, but also other things that were on my heart…love songs, and songs that deal with day-to-day issues as I see and live them."

Listen now as RJ Helton shares that he is determined to not be categorized in his music – he wants to do it all.

GospelCity.com: Let's start with your debut CD, Real Life. Of course, you blew up on the scene with the first season of American Idol. Tell us what inspired you to try out and take on that enormous challenge. You understood that you were going to be against, literally, thousands of other contestants and the opportunity to be seen nationally, if not internationally. How did that take place?

RJ Helton: I was actually living in Nashville for a couple of months before I decided to audition for American Idol. I was trying to fit somehow into the music scene there. And I was just trying to get some sort of a deal, sing background or even sell merchandise for people. I was willing to do anything to get into the industry. I’d come back home to Atlanta and was watching TV one day. There was a commercial that said, “If you want to be the next superstar, come and audition for American Idol.” It’s funny actually, Tamyra (she was also a contestant on my season) and I were talking about this last night; we had dinner together. We were both at home watching TV and saw the audition spot.