Former American Idol season 11 contestant Haley Smith died over the weekend after crashing her motorcycle in Maine.
TMZ reports that the singer passed away early Saturday morning in Millinocket, Maine in a one-vehicle crash after police say it appears she failed to make a sharp turn along a residential road that becomes a highway in certain sections. Police say she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her father, Mike Smith told TMZ that Haley was riding on a country road and her family believes a deer might have caused the accident. He implied that she was a good rider and doubts that she simply lost control of her bike.
On American Idol, Haley made it past the judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler with a rootsy version of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good.” But she was cut during Hollywood Week. She competed in 2012, which was the season Phillip Phillips took the crown.
Although she didn’t make it very far on the show, her audition was aired during the Denver, Colorado episode. The judges were impressed–Steven said it was an honor to hear her sing, because she came out of his “era” with her look, sound and vibe.
In her video package, Haley shares what it’s like being a vegetarian while working in a meat packing plant. At the time, she was living in a log cabin “out of the middle of nowhere” and was holding down three jobs. Describing how she loves nature Haley says that the “landscape is to die for, if you were going to die for anything.”
Haley would have turned 27 this November.
https://youtu.be/jcTm6lw4kWA
