Kevin Skinner was a country singer sensation who won the popular TV show “America’s Got Talent” in its fourth season in 2009. However, Kevin’s career was not as bright as his performances on the show, so he totally dropped off the radar in 2014.
Early life and family
Patrick Kevin Skinner was born on 25 February 1974, in McCracken County, Kentucky USA, so his zodiac sign is Pisces, and he holds American nationality. He was raised in Mayfield, the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky with his three siblings, Jennifer, Rodney and Michael, by their father Joe Skinner, who was a musician too, so he instilled the love of music and playing various instruments in his kids – he was also a big fan of Hank Williams, the legendary country singer.
Kevin started playing the guitar at the age of 12, but little else is known about his childhood; Kevin once shared music was with him in the hardest moments of his teenage years, helping him to survive his inner battles. He also shared in one of the episodes of the talent show that he started writing songs in the memory of his grandmother he lost when he was a teenager: ‘There are no words to describe how much he loved her’, his father shared in the interview he gave to the “America’s Got Talent” show.
Educational background
Kevin attended Graves County High School, located in Kentucky, matriculating in 1992. Nothing is known about the college he graduated from, if he attended any at all.
Career
Getting onto “America’s Got Talent” show
Kevin auditioned for the fourth season of the popular show “America’s Got Talent”, which happened in August 2009. His performance of the song “If Tomorrow Never Comes”, written and originally performed by the popular country-pop singer Garth Brooks, won the heart of all three judges, who were Sharon Osbourne, David Hasselhoff and Piers Morgan. It also helped him to get enough points to skip the Vegas Round and move straight to the quarter-finals. As soon as he entered the main draw, he also accumulated the audience’s support, especially after his successful performance of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love”. During the semi-finals Kevin performed “Always On My Mind”, written and originally performed by Brenda Lee.
The audience and the judges were deeply impressed by his singing and guitar playing, and Piers Morgan was so touched, that he even gave Kevin a standing ovation. Kevin raised the bar of his performance even higher after his appearance in the finals, when he covered “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”, originally performed by Aerosmith – all three judges saluted him with standing ovations.
So Kevin won the competition, leaving all other participants behind him including The Voices of Glory, Barbara Padilla and The Texas Tenors. His prize of $1 million was put into an annuity, which means he would get partial payments of that sum during the next 40 years. Soon after his win on the talent show, Kevin was invited as a guest star to one of the episodes of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” (2009).
His career after “America’s Got Talent”
At the last episode of the fourth season of the show it was obvious that Kevin had a lot to write, to sing and to perform in the upcoming years, but the reality turned out to be bitter. He signed a contract with the Cypress Tree recording label, and began working on his debut studio album, released on 17 March 2010 entitled “Long Ride”.
To Kevin’s disappointment, the album’s sales went way below than he expected; the singles from the album didn’t get into any charts, and failed to receive positive reviews from the critics, many of whom said that Kevin was a good performer of other singers’ songs, while his own were far from good.
John Lloyd Miller filmed a music video for Kevin’s single “Like It’s the Last Goodbye”, which was released on YouTube in August 2010.
The video has 1.2 million views as of March 2020, though it didn’t boost the growth of interest in Kevin’s music in general. With the help of his producers including several from “America’s Got Talent”, Kevin went on tour with his second album, “Kevin Skinner: Live and Unplugged”, released at the beginning of 2011, but he failed to get the audience’s attention again. The sales of the album were low, and tickets for his shows were hardly sold.
Soon after Kevin’s win on the TV show, his wife, Kristen left him, taking their kids with her. Kristen’s decision shocked Kevin’s audience, as nothing had been said about the difficulties they had in their relationship. Being depressed after his wife’s leaving, and the misfortune in his career, Kevin dropped off the radar in 2012.
Personal life, wife Kristen Skinner
When Kevin got to the show “America’s Got Talent”, he had already been married to Kristen for more than a decade, and the couple had a son and daughter who were studying in secondary school. However, Kristen left, but still kept in touch with him for the sake of the kids, then noticed that he went missing in 2014, but found after a few days.
KEVIN SKINNER following WIN OF AMERICAS GOT TALENT – Produced CD LONG RIDE with TEN original songs! So talented! https://t.co/HTUXDqeho2
— Kevin Skinner WonAGT (@P_Kevin_Skinner) March 26, 2014
He was reported to have troubles with alcohol, as his career turned out to be an absolute mess. There is no information if Kristen officially divorced from Kevin, or they just separated for an indefinite period of time. As of 2020, no updates followed Kristen’s decision to leave Kevin.
Hobbies, favorite things and interesting facts
His first album Kevin had high hopes about was released on his namesake day – St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March 2010. However, it didn’t bring Patrick Kevin any good luck. In the exclusive ‘10 Year Anniversary Special’ episode of the show “America’s Got Talent”, aired on 29 July 2015, Piers Morgan shared Kevin Skinner was still his favorite performer among all the participants.
Appearance, clothing style
Kevin has short brown hair and grey eyes. He is 6ft (1.83m) tall, but his current weight and vital statistics are not available at the moment. As to his clothing style, he prefers wearing patterned shirts and jeans, as a true country singer.
Net worth and salary
As of 2020, Kevin’s net worth is estimated to be less than $1 million, as he already had a quarter of the payments from his prize on the talent show he chose to put into an annuity. As his career didn’t develop the way he wanted it to, it is hard to say whether his net worth is going to grow, or at least to stay stable.