Eddie Island stands out every week on American Idol thanks to his outgoing personality and confident attitude, but he’s also proven to the judges, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, that he can SIIIIIING. The judges have urged him to prove that he’s taking the competition seriously as the number of contestants dwindles down, and he took their advice to do just that. Now, he’s found himself in the Top 20, and is creating major buzz from fans and viewers. Here’s more to know about Eddie:
1. He considers himself the Mayor of Nashville. Before coming on American Idol, Eddie gained social media notoriety thanks to his Instagram handle @NashvilleMayor. He has more than 30,000 followers on the site. Eddie explained during his Idol audition that he got the “Nashville Mayor” handle after a bet, and the idea skyrocketed from there. He began getting buttons made that branded himself as the Mayor of Nashville, and became well known around the city after that.
2. His decision to move to Nashville was totally on a whim. Eddie had visited Nashville and even interned for a magazine in the city, but never made any official plans to move there himself. However, when he attended a Paramore concert in Nashville, he just decided to…never leave. “I just drove to Nashville,” he told Brentwood Home Page. “Called a bunch of people form the alumni network, slept on someone’s couch the night after the show, and then just kind of couch-surfed for a year. I moved around 10 times my first year in Nashville.”
3. He’s a college graduate. Eddie graduated from Trinity Christian School in 2011, then went onto college at Cedarville University in Ohio.
4. He originally recorded music under a different name. Before becoming ‘Eddie Island’ on American Idol, Eddie began his music career under he name Lindenbrook, named after the street he grew up on. “Music is my life,” his Facebook page says. “It’s what I wake up early for and what keeps me awake at night.”
5. He hosted a podcast. Eddie previously hosted a podcast on AnchorFM called Space Station Affirmation, where he went by the name of ‘Cozy Commander.’ On the podcast’s website, Eddie said he’s “not putting too much thought into it” and would be discussing topics like “life, love and what gets us through.”