According to The Hollywood Reporter, the rock band, Hinder (“Lips of an Angel”) had approached both David Cook and James Durbin to take over for frontman Austin Winkler who entered rehab for the second time. Also, David is reportedly considering a record deal from Verve.
American Idol season seven winner David Cook was approached to be the frontman of hard rock band Hinder, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Cook turned down the offer so he can continue to work on his own music, but is said to have been “very interested” in filling in for singer Austin Winkler, who recently entered rehab for the second time.
“David Cook was at the top of our list,” Hinder manager Kevin “Chief” Zaruk of Chief Music Management tells THR. And fan favorite Cook wasn’t the only Idol the band reached out to – season 10’s James Durbin was also in the running, Zaruk reveals. “We would’ve loved to have either, but the timing didn’t work out.”
Well Hinder is kind of old news at this point, and a pretty awful band. I think both James and David are fine on their own, rather than fronting some washed up post-grunge outfit. Members of the band are fans though. They were in the audience when David was crowned winner at the season 7 finale. The band was very enthusiastic about writing with him.
In other news, The Hollywood Reporter hears that Verve has offered David Cook a recording contract. The label is under the Universal Music Group umbrella and is run by music producer, David Foster, who has not only appeared on American Idol, but has worked with many of the alums, including Ruben Studdard, Katharine McPhee and Michael Johns. He’s also Uncle Davy to Clay Aiken’s son. His baby momma is David’s sister.
Cook is “considering” the terms of the deal, according to THR’s source. I hope he signs somewhere. It’s going to be tough getting his music out there without decent promotion.
