Ryan Star

Ryan Star, distinct from the American Idol contestant Ryan Starr who appeared during the program’s debut season, is a rock singer and songwriter whose breakthrough arrived via the 2006 summer edition of Rock Star: Supernova. Competing for the chance to front a supergroup assembled around Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, and ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, he ultimately lost the role yet attracted enough viewers to begin a sustained recording career that reached its first major milestone with the 2010 Atlantic release 11:59.

Raised on Long Island, Star started playing music while still in his teens and joined the band Stage, whose lone album appeared on Maverick in 2003 before commercial indifference prompted the group’s dissolution. Going solo, he issued the independent collection Songs from the Eye of an Elephant in 2005. His decisive early exposure occurred later that year on the CBS series Rock Star: Supernova, where both audiences and producers singled him out, granting him a slot on the season finale. A live recording, Dark Horse—titled after host Dave Navarro’s nickname for the performer—followed in 2006, yet sustained momentum remained elusive until 2009. That year Star supported American Idol victor David Cook on the road and delivered the Last Train Home EP through Atlantic; the complete album 11:59 reached stores the following summer.