Stan Walker (born October 23, 1990 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian-born New Zealander singer and actor. He is known for being the final winner of Australian Idol in 2009, before The X Factor became an Australian television sensation the next year.
Musically inspired by the likes of Beyoncé, John Legend and Prince, his first two studio albums reflected the soul/R&B path he took on Australian Idol. However, upon releasing his third studio album, Let The Music Play, in 2011, he moved towards a more dance-oriented sound.
In 2013 he became a judge for the New Zealand version of X Factor and star in the film Mt. Zion, about a "young Maori musician" who has a desire to "win the support slot for Bob Marley's 1979 concert in Auckland, but comes into conflict when his ambitions clash with the traditional values of his whānau."
Discography:
- Introducing ... Stan Walker
- From The Inside Out
- Let The Music Play
Tropes:
- Break Up Song: "Black Box", "The One" and many more.
- Celebrity Resemblance: To Guy Sebastian, both physically and vocally. Many people hearing Walker's songs being played on the radio
commonly assume them as being performed by Sebastian. The fact Guy even produced some tracks for him doesn't help matters. - Cover Version: Outside of Idol and his debut album, he recorded a cover of Des'ree's "Kissing You" for From The Inside Out as well as performing Dave Dobbyn's "Welcome Home" and Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird" for Let The Music Play.
- Cover Album: Introducing ... Stan Walker is a one with the exception of "Black Box", the winner's single.
- God-Is-Love Songs: "Unbroken".
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Black Box" might sound like an upbeat pop song at first, but the lyrics tell of a man who is ready to leak personal and private information about his ex-lover in order to protect his name. "Choose You" is also essentially about choosing to stay in a bad relationship due to familiarity.
- Melismatic Vocals
- Silly Love Songs: Oh so many. A few examples include "Choose You", "One Thing", the Beatles-inspired "Love Graffiti", "Homesick" and more.
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: Young Sid in "Stuck In a Box", Kayo in the single mix of "Homesick", Israel Cruz and Miracle in the single version of "Choose You".
