Sam Woolf

Samuel Joseph Woolf (born April 19, 1996) is an American singer-songwriter from Bradenton, Florida, who finished in fifth place on the thirteenth season of American Idol. Shortly after his participation on the series, he released the EP Pretend, which reached the top ten on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Since then, he has released several non-album singles.

Sam Woolf was born on April 19, 1996 in West Bloomfield, Michigan to Mary and Scott Woolf. His great-grandfather, Sammy Woolf, was a well-known Detroit bandleader, his uncle is composer Randall Woolf, and pianist Kathleen Supové is his aunt (by marriage). His great-uncle, Mickey Woolf, was a musician prominent in Detroit's Jewish community. Woolf was a student at the Scotch Elementary School in West Bloomfield, but moved to North Port, Florida in 2006 when he was 9.When he was 13, his mother remarried and moved to another city in Florida, and Woolf and his older sister Emily remained in North Port with their father. Woolf and his father moved to Bradenton just prior to his sophomore year of high school, where he attended Braden River High School. At the beginning of his junior year, he moved in with his grandparents who also live in Bradenton.

Woolf's first live public performance was at his sixth grade talent show where he performed The Beatles' "Hey Jude."Woolf later became interested in music as a career, took singing lessons from an opera teacher, Bob Lischetti, and performed locally in Bradenton. He also was mentored at the Del Couch Music Education Foundation and went to Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan for four weeks the summer after his sophomore year of high school.In the summer of 2013, Woolf completed a five-week program at the Berklee College of Music and was selected as one of the top four songwriters for their singer showcase, where he performed an original song, "The Same."He has been accepted by Berklee College of Music, where he plans to study "songwriting and more music theory.

While he was in Boston, the audition for the thirteenth season of American Idol was held near Berklee College of Music and at his mother's suggestion, he decided to attend the audition.

Woolf auditioned in Boston, singing "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran. He sang "Waiting on the World to Change" on the first round in Hollywood, and his original composition entitled "I Tried" in the final solo of the Hollywood Round.

• ^Note 1When Ryan Seacrest announced the results in this particular night, Woolf was among the bottom 3, but was declared safe first, as Ben Briley was eliminated.
• ^Note 2When Ryan Seacrest announced the results in this particular night, Woolf was among the bottom 3, but was declared safe, as Majesty Rose was eliminated.
• ^Note 3Woolf received the lowest number of votes; however, the judges decided to use their one save of the season to allow him to remain in the competition.
• ^Note 4Due to the judges using their one save on Woolf, the top 8 remained intact for another week.

After his appearance on Idol, Woolf deferred for one year an offer of admissions to Berklee College of Music until fall 2015, with a full tuition package of grants and scholarships. Woolf held a 'Welcome Home' concert at IMG Academy Stadium on September 27, 2014. Woolf was in a concert on November 8, 2014 at the Capitol Center For the Arts in Concord, New Hampshire with fellow Idol alum Alex Preston. Woolf also performed on February 28, 2015 at WinterFest at Lakewood Ranch, along with The Doobie Brothers, War, Matt Walden and performers from the Del Couch Music Education Foundation.

Woolf wrote and recorded a five-song EP, Pretend, which he released himself on December 18, 2014. The album was funded in part by crowdfunding, and was produced by Danny Blume who co-wrote some of the songs with Woolf.

As of 2016, Woolf is currently working on a set of pop originals. He released the single, "Stop Thinking About It," on September 1.

Extended plays

American Idol digital singles