Born and raised in Montclair, N.J., with his three siblings, Ty Taylor grew up singing in a Baptist church. But in seventh grade, a friend made a fateful introduction, turning Ty on to the music of the Clash. Ty began to fuse his background in gospel with his newfound love of punk rock.

Ty was blessed not only with musical desire, but with the drive and skill to back it up. An honor-roll student at his performing-arts high school, Ty landed a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama and music.

After finishing school, Ty's momentum just kept building. He and his band, Dakota Moon, signed with Elektra Records and had two Top 10 hits in the U.S., as well as countries all over the world. After leaving Dakota Moon, Ty produced and performed his solo project in all of L.A.'s hottest clubs. He has also toured with Eric Clapton, Macy Gray, Fiona Apple and Tina Turner, among others, and lent his talents to countless commercials, voice-overs and jingles.

Those credits might be enough for most people, but there's another side to Ty's musical résumé. He has become an accomplished musical-theater actor, most recently in the Las Vegas version of "We Will Rock You: The Music of Queen," but also in the Broadway productions of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Grease," "Songs for a New World" and "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber Concert."

A guitarist, pianist, martial artist and painter, Ty is also a self-confessed troublemaker. Certainly, he looks ready to cause trouble for his competition here.