Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tripp Taylor of American Idol Season 21

American Idol returns to ABC on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Here’s more about Tripp.

* He’s 18-year-old Raymond Taylor from the Florence, S.C., area.

* That said, he’s been going by Tripp for a long time.

* And he’s another of the Season 21 auditioners who’ve amassed quite following on TikTok — 300,000 followers and more than 5 million likes in Tripp’s case.

* His voice has an old-school sound, evident on a recent cover of “Hit the Road Jack,” which you can check out below. Oh, that cover’s been viewed 6.4 million times.

* Two of his other viral videos feature Tripp lending his exuberant and raspy vocals to “Great Balls of Fire” and “Jailhouse Rock.” Clearly, he’s a young guy with an appreciation for the classics.

* Tripp’s been singing for quite a while. When he was in middle school, we was selected for the National Honor Choir, earning him a trip to Minneapolis.

* He wound up attending the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities and graduated from there in 2022.

* Tripp was a member of the drama class at the school and graduated with academic honors as well as a member of the honor council.

* He’s now a member of the Class of 2026 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and is majoring in musical theater.

* He’ll audition with the Ray Charles classic “”I Believe to My Soul,” a fitting choice since he grew up being inspired by his father’s collection of classic music and prefers singing older songs, according to a recently published interview with Patch.com.

Tripp on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube

@trippsings sorry I’ve been MIA recently haha #fyp #singing #raycharles #hittheroadjack #americanidol ♬ original sound – tripp taylor