Tyler James Hilton (born on November 22, 1983, in Palm Springs, California) is a singer-songwriter and actor. Hilton, while still somewhat unknown, began his professional career in music in 2000.
Rolling Stone Magazine compared him to his contemporary, Howie Day, while others have compared Hilton to Elton John, both vocally and instrumentally. Since the release of his debut album, Hilton has ventured into acting, guest starring on The CW's television show
One Tree Hill as the talented but somewhat pompous Chris Keller, and playing the role of Elvis Presley in the Johnny Cash biopic
Walk the Line. Hilton has just finished filming his role in the upcoming film
Charlie Bartlett.
Early years
Raised in Bermuda Dunes, CA, Hilton grew up around music and began teaching himself Elvis Presley songs at an early age. After a brief stint in Northern California, his family moved back to the Palm Springs area, where he wrote his first song about a girl with whom he attended school. Hilton's family made another move back to Coachella Valley for high school, where, at La Quinta High School, he started a band with some of his classmates. The band didn't go anywhere, so Hilton began to enter open mic nights and went to local coffee shops to play his own music.
Establishment
Hilton heard a local radio station was giving away Jonny Lang concert tickets and called into the Mark & Brian radio show on KLOS in Los Angeles at the age of 16. While on the phone, he sang an a cappella version of Jonny Lang?s song "Breakin' Me." Mark & Brian were so impressed with Hilton's performance that they gave him a spot at the station's Christmas concert. Word of Hilton caught the ear of Maverick Records, who signed him up with a record deal shortly after. Work started on Hilton's debut major label record,
The Tracks of Tyler Hilton, and the songs were recorded quickly. The album was released on September 28, 2004. After the release of his album, Hilton joined the likes of Avril Lavigne, Jet, 50 Cent, and Josh Groban as an artist chosen by AOL Breaker for his star potential. Over the past several years Hilton has opened shows for Michelle Branch, Gavin DeGraw, The Wreckers, The Neville Brothers, Hilary Duff, Blues Traveler and the Goo Goo Dolls . Hilton plays various venues for live shows, and allows attendees to tape his performances. These performances are available on the internet, and Archive.org.
Hilton is reportedly working on an upcoming second album.
Acting
Hilton's character on
One Tree Hill, Chris Keller, was originally written to only appear in two episodes, but series creator Mark Schwahn liked both Hilton and the character so much that the role was extended to a recurring part throughout much of the second and third seasons of the show, with a single appearance in the fourth season.
After his stint on
One Tree Hill, Hilton went on to appear in the Academy Award-winning film
Walk the Line as a young version of Elvis Presley. For the part, Hilton was given the opportunity to cover two Elvis songs for the film, "Milk Cow Blues" and "That's All Right." Both songs are featured on the film's award-winning soundtrack.
Hilton recently finished up filming his starring role in the upcoming movie
Charlie Bartlett and can currently be seen playing the love interest in country music artist Taylor Swift's music video for her song "Teardrops on my Guitar." Hilton met his current girlfriend, Canadian actress Megan Park, on the set of
Charlie Bartlett.
Discography
In addition to these solo albums, Hilton has also appeared on each of the three different
One Tree Hill soundtrack albums, usually with a track or two that have not been released anywhere else. Most notably, the cover of the Ryan Adams song "When the Stars Go Blue," which was arranged into a duet with
One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Galeotti for the show; also, a cover of "Missing You" by John Waite and the original track "You'll Ask For Me."
Hilton released a self-titled EP on April 6, 2004. All four songs were included on his first album
The Tracks of Tyler Hilton released on September 28, 2004. He is in the process of recording a second album in Nashville, TN.
External links
1983 birthsActor-singersAmerican male singersAmerican pop singersAmerican television actorsLiving peopleCalifornia musicians
Tyler HiltonTyler HiltonTyler Hilton