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Ashley Parker Angel

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Ashley Parker Angel
Angel in 2006
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Musician
  • actor
Years active2000–present
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
LabelsBlackground/Universal
Websiteashleyparkerangel.com

Ashley Parker Angel is an American musician and actor who rose to prominence as a member of the boy band O-Town. After the band dissolved, he had a brief solo music career, and was the only former band member who declined to go on a reunion tour with O-Town in 2011. Parker Angel has acted in several Broadway productions since 2007, and most recently appeared in Wicked as the lead male character Fiyero Tigelaar.

Early years

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Ashley Parker Angel is the son of Darren and Paula Parker, who have German and Irish ancestry. He was named after the character Ashley Wilkes,[1] from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, and its subsequent film adaptation, which was a favorite of his mother. Following his mother’s marriage to Ron Angel, he legally changed his name to Ashley Parker Angel. He has two brothers, Taylor and Justin, and two sisters, Annie and Emily.[2]

From an early age, Ashley studied the piano, influenced by his mother Paula, who was a successful piano teacher. He exhibited an active and adventurous nature. At the age of 9, he accidentally set fire to his elementary school's football and soccer fields due to the explosion of a model rocket he launched on school property, resulting in a misdemeanor charge by local police.[3]

Career

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O-Town and Making the Band

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In 2000 Ashley Parker Angel achieved fame on the hit ABC series Making the Band, which tracked the formation of a pop music group.[4] The MTV production was the first reality show to be picked up by a major television network. Weekly, viewers saw Parker Angel, after first being plucked from tens of thousands of other auditionees,[5] survive each stage of the selection process to become one of the "final five" members of the new vocal group O-Town.[4]

Ratings were strong, and as a result O-Town quickly achieved success; by the end of the first season, the group had signed a record deal with music legend Clive Davis and became the debut act for Davis' new label J Records.[6] The album O-Town, boosted by the weekly TV publicity, debuted at No. 5 on Billboard and went on to multi-platinum status.[citation needed] "Liquid Dreams," the album's first release, crowned the SoundScan singles chart at No. 1, selling over 42,000 units in one week.[7] The group won the 2001 Teen Choice Award for Breakthrough Artist.

Because of O-Town, J Records made musical history as the first label in SoundScan history (1991 and on) to have its first single release debut at No. 1 on the sales charts. Also, O-Town is the first artist in SoundScan history to have its first single come in at No. 1, an achievement recorded in the 2002 Guinness Book of World Records.[8]

In late spring 2001, the second single, "All or Nothing," and became the biggest hit of O-Town's career. The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. top 40 chart and was nominated for numerous awards, including Song of the Year during the 2001 Radio Music Awards.[6]

The group toured internationally, and went on to be the first reality show cast to remain unchanged for a second and third season.[9][non-primary source needed] Near the end of the third season, viewers watched O-Town striving to take their careers to the next level, writing their own music, earning the respect of industry peers, and marketing themselves as more than a "boy band." Unfortunately, by the time of the release of their second album, O2, the teen-pop genre had begun to fade, and they did not find the acceptance they sought. Despite moderate success, O2 got nowhere near the market impact of their first album. In November 2003 J Records dropped the band from the label.

In January 2011, O-Town confirmed their reunion plans,[10][non-primary source needed] four days after confirming the band had gotten back together Ashley released a statement via TMZ.com that he wouldn't be reuniting with the band causing an uproar with the fans and media due to Ashley being a key member during O-Town.

O-Town was one of the greatest chapters of my life, so when the idea of a reunion was brought to me, of course I was intrigued. However I have made the decision not to be a part of an O-Town reunion. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately necessary to move on with the next chapter of my career.[11]

Solo career

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In November 2014,[12] Parker Angel joined the globally award-winning touring version of the musical Wicked, playing the part of the male lead character Fiyero Tigelaar. His debut on the tour was at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, Virginia for 16 shows, he has since gone on to perform at Detroit, MI, Durham, NC, Greenville, SC, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL with the current Munchkinland Tour. He reprised the role in January 2016 in Charlotte for 3 weeks. He returned to the role once again on July 31, 2017, in the Broadway production and remained with the show through July 14, 2018.[13][14]

Acting (2009–)

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On June 20, 2009, Parker guest starred as pop singer Danny Starr in the "Danny Starr / Quinceañera" episode of the children's cartoon Handy Manny on the Disney Channel. In this episode, he sang an original song called "Twisty Turn Twist", which he co-wrote for the show.[15]

Mansions of Arcadia (2012)

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As of 2012, Parker has been working with Xandy Barry on a new joint band project titled MOA standing for Mansions of Arcadia.[16][non-primary source needed] He released a 20-second clip in January 2012 of their debut release "Don't Let Me Down".[17][non-primary source needed]

Turning down O-Town Reunion (2013)

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In 2013, Angel's bandmates from O-Town decided to hold a reunion tour, however Angel declined to join: "It was a difficult decision, but ultimately necessary to move on with the next chapter of my career."[18]

In 2014, Parker Angel confirmed that he was songwriting whilst being signed to EMI Publishing, he will be releasing a second album in the future,[19] although the status of Mansions of Arcadia is currently unknown due to their official website and social pages no longer being active or online.

Other works

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In 2023, Ashley Parker Angel competed in season ten of The Masked Singer as "S'more". He was eliminated on "Disco Night" during the Group A Finals and did an encore performance of "All or Nothing".[20]

Discography

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Albums

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Singles

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  • 2006 – "Let U Go"
  • 2006 – "Soundtrack to Your Life"
  • 2006 – "Where Did You Go"
  • 2012 – "Don't Let Me Down" (with Mansions of Arcadia)
  • 2013 – "Switchblade" (with DJ Danny McCarthy)

Filmography

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Year Film Role Notes
2000 Longshot Ashley Angel Ashley played himself with O-Town
2010 Wild Things: Foursome Carson Wheetly Filmed in 2009 in Miami
Pizza Man Todd Filming began March 2010
2011 Chubby Chaser Benjamin Digital Short, filmed in 2010[21]
2012 Amelia's 25th Jacob Filmed in early 2011
2013 Held Up Steven Digital Short, filmed in 2013.
2014 Trona Tommy Digital Short produced by Ashley, filmed in 2013.
2015 The Wrong Side of Right Michael Ames Filmed in 2014
2016 L.A. Stories Steven Digital Short based on previous short "Held Up", Filmed in 2014.

Television and video games

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Year Film Role Notes
1992 Lunar: The Silver Star Alex Voice of the video game character[22]
1994 Vay Pottle Voice of the video game character
1994 Popful Mail Slick Voice of the video game character[22]
1997 Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio Voice of the video game character[22]
1998 Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Alex Voice of the video game character[22]
2000–2002 Making the Band Himself O-Town's Reality Show
2002 All That Himself Played himself with O-Town, Episode 6
2002 Clone High Himself Voiced himself, Episode 7
2006 There & Back Himself MTV Reality Show
2009–2011 Handy Manny Danny Starr Voice of the character in "Danny Starr", "The Twisty Turn Twist"
2023 The Masked Singer Himself/S'more Season 10 contestant

Theater

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Year Title Role Venue Notes
2007–2008 Hairspray Link Larkin Neil Simon Theatre Broadway replacement
2014–2015 Wicked Fiyero 2nd National Tour Tour replacement
2017–2018 Gershwin Theatre Broadway replacement

References

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  1. ^ Parker, Ashley (May 13, 2007). "Hey, Pop Idol, Surrender My Name!". The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  2. ^ "Ashley Parker Angel (fan bio)". Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  3. ^ "Ashley Parker Angel Biography". The O-Town Fan Page. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "What Are They Up To? Ashley Parker Angel of Making the Band". Buddytv.com. July 24, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  5. ^ "Ashley Parker Angel". Broadway.com. February 15, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  6. ^ a b Sienna Powers (February 2001). "Review | O-Town". Bluecoupe.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  7. ^ "Here's what happened in '2000". All4otown2.tripod.com. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  8. ^ "An O-Town Fantasy v 6.5". 2001. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  9. ^ "O-Town Fanpage". Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  10. ^ "Jacob Tweets about O-Town Reunion". 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  11. ^ "Ashley Parker-Angel – Why I Won't Rejoin O-Town". January 19, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  12. ^ "Tour of Wicked Will Welcome New Glinda, Madame Morrible, Wizard and Fiyero". Playbill. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  13. ^ "Jackie Burns, Amanda Jane Cooper, and Ashley Parker Angel Will Fly into Broadway's Wicked". Playbill. July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  14. ^ "Jessica Vosk Flies into Broadway's Wicked July 16". Playbill. July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  15. ^ "Handy Manny's Sensational Summer Saturdays". StitchKingdom.com. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  16. ^ "Ashley and Xandy start new band Mansions of Arcadia". Facebook. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  17. ^ "Dont Let Me Down Clip (Twitter)". Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  18. ^ "Ashley Parker-Angel - Why I Won't Rejoin O-Town ..." TMZ.com. January 19, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  19. ^ "10Qs: Ashley Parker Angel". Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  20. ^ Huff, Lauren (November 29, 2023). "The Masked Singer's S'more on the Wicked movie and why it was hard being on stage with Lance Bass". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  21. ^ "Digital Short: Chubby Chaser". April 19, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ a b c d "Ashley Parker Angel (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 9, 2022. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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