Ayant participé auparavant à la saison 9 d'America's Got Talent où il est éliminé lors de la Judgement Week, il participe à American Idol en 2014 et devient le premier gagnant de l'émission originaire du nord-est des États-Unis, du Connecticut. Il a passé les castings à New York.
Il vend 50 000 exemplaires en une semaine de son premier single Beautiful Life.
↑Initially recorded by country music artist Mark Wills in 2003 on his album And the Crowd Goes Wild, it was covered by Bellefire a year later. However, the first version to be released as a single was by pop singer Jo O'Meara in 2005, from the album Relentless. Later that year, country band Rascal Flatts covered the song as well, releasing it as the first single from the 2006 album Me and My Gang, topping the U.S country and adult contemporary charts with it. German band Cascada later had international chart success with the song in 2007. It was also covered by Eden in 2008.