Dalton Rapattoni

Early life

Rapattoni was born in Memphis, Tennessee on February 6, 1996 to Kiva Jackson Rapattoni and Fran Rapattoni. When he was two years old, the family moved to Sunnyvale, Texas, where he was raised. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 9. After medications used to treat his condition caused seizures, he was withdrawn from school because of resulting absences.

He began to learn to play guitar at the age of 11, after his grandmother bought him lessons. When he was 12, he started attending the School of Rock in Dallas and also in Frisco, Texas. Later he also worked as a teacher at the School of Rock in Dallas and Rockwall. He formed a local band with friends that was called Fly Away Hero.

When he was 15, he went to Los Angeles to audition for a boy band called IM5 and became part of the band. He lived temporarily in California during his time with IM5. In March 2014, Dalton revealed that he had left IM5. He returned to his band Fly Away Hero and began to write and record an EP with the band, which already had put out a few EPs prior to Dalton's time with IM5.

American Idol

In 2015, Rapattoni auditioned for the final season of American Idol. On April 6, 2016, he finished the show in third place. Rapattoni was eliminated before he could sing Simon Fuller's choice song, "Say Something (A Great Big World song)," and his reprise of "Hopelessly Devoted to You".

Music career

As part of his early training at the School of Rock, he formed a local band with friends called Fly Away Hero. They released two EPs and played various shows around Texas from 2010 to 2012.

Dalton was selected in 2011, as part of a nationwide talent search, to be a member of the boy band IM5, which was created by Perez Hilton, Jamie King, and Simon Fuller. He performed and recorded with the band through March 2014.

Upon his departure, he reformed his old band Fly Away Hero with new members and released a new EP "Lost and Found" on January 6, 2015. The EP charted to #22 on the iTunes alternative chart and #17 on the Billboard Heatseekers.

Dalton chose to audition for the final season of American Idol in August 2015 and placed third.

The song "Strike A Match" was released after his performance on American Idol, and based on just over a day of sales, it reached #38 on Rock Digital Songs, #25 on Alternative Digital Songs, and #46 on Hot Rock Songs, with 6,000 copies sold.

After American Idol during the summer of 2016, Dalton moved to Austin, Texas, to begin working on his album at Orb Recording Studios with Matt Noveskey of Blue October at Orb Recording Studios. On May 6, 2016, he announced the School of Rock Gives Back Tour, where he performed alongside School of Rock house bands throughout the United States and Canada, as well as held free meet and greets to thank those that voted for him in the Idol competition. After the School of Rock Gives Back Tour ended, he announced another tour, The Inspired Attempt Tour. The Inspired Attempt traveled all around America, starting in Boston and ending in Arizona. There are two parts to this tour; West Coast dates have not yet been announced. On October 14, Dalton released his first single "Turn to Stone", which charted #14 on the iTunes alternative chart. Dalton is also planning on releasing his first album as a solo artist in January 2017.

with IM5

with Fly Away Hero