Drake Milligan | KYGO Performance Studio
Sep 25, 2024, 3:33 PM | Updated: 3:36 pm
“American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent” and most recently, KYGO’s Performance Studio — the path forged by singer-songwriter Drake Milligan, who, during the latter, performed “Over Drinkin’ Under Thinkin,'” Marty Robbins’ “Devil Woman” and “I Got A Problem.”
The 26-year-old, born in Arlington, Texas, and raised in Fort Worth, notes that though his inspirations going up were country greats Merle Haggard, Robbins, George Jones and George Strait, it was Elvis Presley that made a sizable impact on him at age seven. The King not only put into perspective what being an entertainer meant, but also made a career in music doable for Milligan.
He took his love for Presley so far as to try his hand as an Elvis impersonator during his early high school years. He got to be even more intimately intertwined with the “Blue Suede Shoes” singer when he was cast to play a high school-aged Presley in “Nobody,” a film set in Memphis in 1953, which highlighted his formative relationships and his start in show business. Evidently, the Texan did Presley justice in the portrayal because he was picked to play him again in CMT’s “Sun Records,” a 2017 miniseries centered on the inception of rock ‘n’ roll in Memphis at Sun Records recording studio.
Shortly thereafter, Milligan stood in front of judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie on the “American Idol” stage in 2018 and got the Platinum Ticket, affording him the opportunity to advance to the next round in Hollywood. Milligan, only 19 at the time, ultimately decided he wasn’t ready to go forward with the process due to his lack of experience as an artist and dropped out.
Although Milligan originally pursued acting, as he put it, “…this country boy did not last very long in L.A.” “Very long” was defined as longer than three months, which is when he ditched the script and made the choice to fully pursue music in Nashville.
Upon moving to Nashville, he honed in on songwriting, recording and performing live for five years once he was in Music City, and he subsequently signed a recording contract with BBR Music Group and released his first EP in 2021, self-titled.
It didn’t take long before the opportunity came knocking for an audition on “America’s Got Talent” in 2022. He performed an original song, “Sounds Like Something I’d Do” and got a “yes” from each judge and went on to finish third that season. He appeared briefly during the next season’s Results Night to sing “I Got A Problem,” which rose to number 62 on the Billboard Top 100.
Almost immediately after his time on the season concluded, he put out his first full-length album “Dallas/Fort Worth,” the title reflecting the duality of the music on the record.
In 2023, Milligan released two singles: “Honky Tonkin’ About” and “I Got A Problem,” the former released with The Reklaws. In February of this year, a second EP was released entitled “Jukebox Songs.”
