• Taylor Hicks set for Saturday Performance • • as part of Champions Lane Pregame Fanfare •

• 2023 Bama Sports 2023 •  Tuscaloosa, AL Taylor Hicks, winner of "American Idol's" blockbuster fifth season, will take the stage Saturday on Champions Lane following the Walk of Champions at approximately 4 p.m. Admission is free. Champions Lane, an extension of Crimson Tide Sports Marketing's pregame entertainment, was added in 2023 and is located to the northwest of Bryant-Denny Stadium on the lawn behind the Tusk statue. In addition to the sound stage, Champions Lane includes food trucks, lounge with casual seating, sponsor activations, LED videoboards for fans to watch other college football games in action, Crimson Tide student-athlete autograph tent and more. Hicks, hailed as "part Stax, part Motown and part honky-tonk" by The New York Times, is a blend of soul, blues, country, and rock 'n' roll and was quickly rendered a household name as he progressed to American Idol's record-breaking finale in 2006, a historic television event which drew an audience of more than 200 million viewers. He immediately followed his "American Idol" victory with a No. 1 Billboard single and an RIAA®-certified platinum debut, and soon went on to make history as both the first male "American Idol" champion featured on a GRAMMY-winning record (Jimmy Fallon's Blow Your Pants Off), and the first to land a prestigious Las Vegas residency. A versatile artist, actor and advocate, Hicks has since ventured into theater, television and film, starring in Serenbe Playhouse's 2019 production of "Shenandoah," touring as Teen Angel in the popular Broadway musical "Grease" in addition to appearing on "Law & Order: SVU" and hosting the INSP series "State Plate," which won the Cynopsis TV Award for Best Reality Series (Travel). Hicks' passion for southern cuisine led him back to his native Alabama, where he opened up SAW's Juke Joint, a restaurant crowned one of the "25 Best Barbecue Spots in America" by Men's Journal. • ROLLING WITH THE TIDE •