R. J. Helton

Helton was born in Pasadena, Texas, on May 17, 1981, as Rolando Alberto de Jesus Rivas, Jr., to a Nicaraguan father. Shortly after their birth, they were adopted and renamed Richard Jason Helton. From the age of three, Helton impressed their parents with vocal imitations of various music artists. Soon after, they were enrolled in a performing arts school. By high school, they were involved in community theater. They transferred schools about a dozen times until they were midway through ninth grade, at which time their family established long-term residency in the Atlanta area. Before moving to Nashville to join Soul Focus, Helton had recorded demo albums that, according to the Mansfield News Journal, had been "turned down by a few record companies." ==American Idol==

Helton auditioned for season one of American Idol in Atlanta. They were the first person to audition in the city. Their performance during the Top 30 semi-finals polarized the judges, causing Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson to break into a lengthy argument. Although the conflict was real, it was partially redubbed and also edited together with staged takes before going to air, so as to make it less heated. In his 2011 book, American Idol: The Untold Story, Richard Rushfield noted that even as the fight was sanitized for broadcast, American Idol "reveled in the altercation" and "was all but turned over to repeating the clips". Rushfield identified this as a defining moment in the early history of reality television, writing, "All of a sudden, here was this renegade show, American Idol, that was celebrating its backstory, playing up its frictions, and openly acknowledging its missteps. Every tabloid brouhaha would be played up on the Idol stage rather than being shoved under the carpet. It was completely unprecedented in American programming." While participating in a photo shoot during the first week of the finals, they fell off a stage and was briefly hospitalized. Helton's performances throughout the finals continued to divide the judges, and they were voted out of the competition in fifth place. A week after they left the competition, Q100 radio hosted a homecoming party for Helton at the Mall of Georgia. The 2005 book Uncloudy days : the gospel music encyclopedia by Bil Carpenter summarized Helton's time on American Idol by writing, "Though he has a pleasant, smooth vocal, he was criticized by the judges for having a somewhat stiff and wooden stage presence." During the competition, Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that Helton "exudes an enduring innocence". However Ho also considered Helton less attention-grabbing than some of the other finalists from American Idol's first season. By the Top 6 round, Zap2It called Helton one of the "longshots" to win the competition. Richard L. Eldredge of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution considered Helton's elimination from the series a "surprise", noting that Helton's performance during Top 5-week had been well received. while Carla Hay of Billboard described them as a "singer with teen Idol looks". An article published by Northwest Florida Daily News at the time likened Helton to The Backstreet Boys. Further boyband comparisons came from Dana Gee of The Province, who wrote that Helton had that "cross between Joey Fatone and Lance Bass thing going on", Julie Hinds of the Detroit Free Press, who wrote that Helton possessed "the peppy personality of a boy-band star", and Jessica Shaw of Entertainment Weekly, who upon Helton's elimination from the competition wrote, "I'm sure there are a few prayer-loving teens who are weeping their eyes out, but the rest of us know what Simon knew all along: This guy was barely good enough to be a boy-band understudy." John Benson of the Mansfield News Journal described Helton instead as "falling somewhere between Boyz II Men and Craig David". Tom Conroy of US Weekly compared Helton to Jon Secada, writing that the two singers shared "the same endearing humility, brimming passion and sturdy-but-not-flashy vocal style." Performances ==Music career==

2002–2003: American Idol tours and related projects Helton returned to American Idol shortly after their fifth-place finish on the series to perform a group medley during the season one finale and to participate in the two-hour American Idol in Las Vegas TV special. Through October and November 2002, they joined their fellow finalists from that season of the series as a performer on the American Idols Live! Tour. During that tour, they reprised their performance of the Stevie Wonder song "Lately", which they'd performed on American Idol during the wild-card round. which charted at number four on the Billboard 200. USA Today considered Helton's track to be one of the album's highlights, describing it as "a sweetly affecting cover". Shortly before the 2002 American Idol tour, The St. Petersburg Times reported that Helton was "talking to record labels" and pursuing a career in Christian music. On November 28, 2002, Helton performed during the lighting of Macy's Great Tree at the Rich's department store in Atlanta's Lenox Square. By the end of 2002, Helton had established a deal to appear alongside other American Idol finalists in commercials for Old Navy. Throughout the Spring of 2003, Helton participated in Coca-Cola's Behind the Scenes With American Idol promotional tour, in which he and a selection of other finalists from the first two seasons of the series performed across the country in shopping malls owned by the Simon Property Group. In May of that year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Helton had been cast "in a local independent film" titled Mrs. Johnson. and in a benefit concert for community service organizations in Forsyth, Georgia. Towards the end of 2003, Helton participated in The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film & TV Music Conference. 2003–2005: GospoCentric Records During their time on American Idol, Helton said that they would likely title a debut album ''I'm Real''. They expressed satisfaction with their fifth-place finish on the series, saying that they were glad to avoid the restrictive contract offered to the winner. At the time, their debut album was scheduled to be released that fall. Leading up to the album's release, Helton was featured on the compilation album Gotta Have Gospel, which was released on November 11, 2003, as a collaboration between GospoCentric Records and Integrity Gospel. "My Devotion", from Helton's then-upcoming debut album, was their featured track on Gotta Have Gospel. According to Billboard, the song "became a hit in the United Kingdom and [was] played in clubs in the United States." After missing its initial Fall 2003 release date, Helton's debut album, Real Life, was set to be released on March 9, 2004. After a second delay, the album was released on March 23 of that year. The album charted on Billboard, peaking at number 14 on the Christian Albums chart and at number 19 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. "Even If" was also released as a single from the album that year. Throughout the Spring of that year, Helton and American Idol season 2 finalist Kimberley Locke both provided commentary on American Idol's third season for USA Today, alongside "Weird Al" Yankovic and Edna Gundersen. On April 29, 2004, Helton performed at the Billboard Latin Music Conference. That same month, they performed at Fort Hood in a homecoming celebration for a portion of the United States Army's 4th Infantry Division, after members of that division participated in the capturing of Saddam Hussein. On May 6 of that year, Helton sang the National Anthem at Daytona International Speedway for a National Day of Prayer event. On June 18, they performed at the 2004 Visalia Chamber of Commerce 51st annual Awards Banquet. Later that month, they performed at Mega Fest, a conference held in Atlanta by Bishop T. D. Jakes. Helton also performed in a concert that month at the Christian Booksellers Association International Convention in Atlanta. and at the KXOJ Freedom Live concert. On July 5, 2004, Helton served as a judge for the Reno Idol singing competition, which was held at the Eldorado Hotel-Casino. On August 28, they served as a judge for another singing competition, this one held, as part of a fundraiser with a Christian ministry, at Prairie du Chien High School. The following year, on July 8, they served as a judge for the Fayette Idol singing competition in Fayetteville. In August 2005, they performed in the 14th annual Powerlight Christian music festival at the Illinois State Fair. That same month, they told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they had begun working on a second album, which, the publication wrote, would go in "an unspecified new direction". Helton said at the time, "Stay with me and hold on tight, because this change in music is about to be a joyous, fun and bumpy ride." Helton later told The Advocate that when they were on American Idol, they had come out to "some of the assistant producers" but had been "advised" to keep their sexuality private. Around the time of the American Idol tour in 2002, Helton had come out to their fellow season one finalist Jim Verraros, who is also gay. After Helton came out publicly, Verraros said, "I can't even imagine how difficult it was dealing with the gospel community and putting out a Christian record; having this kind of secret must have been really trying for him." In November 2006, Helton spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about their decision to come out, saying, "Before it came out in a negative way, I wanted to make sure I was able to tell the public myself the way I wanted to tell them." The publication reported at the time that Helton was "living in New York", "writing an autobiography", and "hoping to get into music producing and songwriting." Later that year, it was reported that they were living in San Francisco. In June of that year, they performed in St. Louis PrideFest, and in July of that year, they performed at the Cathedral of Hope. Over the summer of 2008, Helton joined with former American Idol finalists Haley Scarnato, Brandon Rogers, Scott Savol, Vonzell Solomon, and Carmen Rasmussen for "America's Favorite Finalists", a month long show in Branson, Missouri. Later that summer, they joined with a rotating group of former American Idol finalists for "Idols in Concert", an event organized by American Idol pianist and arranger Michael Orland, which was held at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. The following year, starting in May, Helton joined with former American Idol finalists Nikki McKibbin, Mikalah Gordon, and Jasmine Trias for "Idolized", a show held in Las Vegas. That November, they and Gordon joined with former American Idol finalists Chikezie and Trenyce for a concert at Slippery Rock University. In April 2010, Helton participated in Idol Gives Back by joining with Feeding America and City Harvest to support food banks in New York City. In August of that year, they performed in Madison Wisconsin's Pride Fest. Over the summer of 2012, Helton joined with former American Idol finalists Ruben Studdard, Bo Bice, Vonzell Solomon, and Katie Stevens for The Finalists Live, a fifteen-week music tour. In August 2015, Helton performed in the Stockton Pride Festival. The album Scott Alan Live, released June 26, 2012, features Helton singing the track "Blessing". The song, written by Alan, expresses the experience of coming out as gay to a parent. The Advocate described "Blessing" as an "emotional performance". == Personal life ==

Helton came out as gay in 2006, and non-binary in 2024. Helton uses they/them pronouns. ==Discography==

Albums Demo albums Compilation appearances Singles Promotional singles == Awards and nominations ==