Latest news with #BlesstheBrokenRoad
Daily Mail
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Meet Kentucky Oaks trainer Will Walden who sealed success with Bless the Broken after troubled past
This weekend was a proud one for horse trainer Will Walden, who saw his filly Bless the Broken finish third in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. But Walden's life was in a far different place a decade ago, when he was in a Mississippi rehab facility for drug and alcohol abuse. 'I was kind of open to all parties,' Walden told WAVE in Louisville of his substance abuse issues, which began in college. 'From alcohol to fentanyl, to cocaine use, everything. I didn't take any days off. I was a bottom level junkie.' The son of respected horse trainer Elliot Walden, Will always had a love for racing. 'I mean, it's the one passion I've always had is being around horses,' Walden said. 'I think Winston Churchill says it best, that the outside of a horse does something to the inside of a man.' However, he flirted with death at various points - even having to be defibrillated several times - before ultimately beginning his training career three years go. Though it was not his first stay at a rehab center, Walden's time at the facility in Mississippi proved to be significant as he met Ryder Finney, who also grew up with family ties to the racing industry. Finney recalled watching the 2015 Oaks with Walden while they were both in rehab together. '...Now 10 years later we're here, and it's pretty surreal,' Finney told WAVE. Bless the Broken is short for the hit Rascal Flatts ballad 'Bless the Broken Road,' and Finney added to the network that he and Walden were both 'broken' a decade ago. Eventually, Finney - who is now the racing manager for Cypress Creek Equine - used his power to tap his friend as Bless the Broken's trainer. Cypress Creek Equine owns Bless the Broken alongside Madaket Stables LLC. Walden, whose horse returned $4.78 at Churchill Downs, credits horses with saving his life. He is also a graduate of the Stable Recovery program, which reportedly offers substance abuse treatment alongside 'horse therapy' and industry training. However, Walden also went into this weekend with a heavy heart. A friend from Stable Recovery, Josh Bryan, recently passed away due to complications from jaw surgery at just 33 years old (Bryan was born with a facial development defect). 'To know that he was a part of the ride and the journey that we had here is immeasurable,' Walden told ABC 36 NEWS NOW.
Los Angeles Times
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Douglas Kiker reportedly looked so unwell before his death that a passerby called 911 to report it
Douglas Kiker, the 'Singing Garbage Man' of 'American Idol' Season 18, reportedly looked bad enough before he was hospitalized that a pedestrian who passed him on the street decided to call 911. Kiker died March 10 at Colorado's Denver Health Medical Center, a representative of the Denver Medical Examiner's office told The Times on Friday in an email. He had been transported there March 5 by ambulance from a few blocks east of City Center Park. Before Kiker was hospitalized, he appeared to be experiencing an overdose, the caller said, according to TMZ. Kiker, unofficially, suffered a drug-induced heart attack, sources outside of law enforcement told the website. But 'the cause and manner of death are pending investigation,' authorities said Friday. The Mobile, Ala., man, who earned his nickname singing while hanging off of his day-job trash truck, auditioned for 'American Idol' Season 18, charming the judges with his unaffected nature and raw talent. He earned his ticket to Hollywood but was dismissed, as so many are, during the first Hollywood round. Even so, he returned to the competition for the finale episode, doing a virtual performance of his audition song, 'Bless the Broken Road,' with Rascal Flatts, the group that turned the tune first recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band into a hit in 2005. By that time, the world was in COVID-19 lockdown and the televised performance saw the singers, judges and host each in his or her own Zoom-style box, far apart even as Kiker and the band were singing together. 'Wow y'all! I can't believe I actually got to sing with Rascal Flatts,' Kiker wrote on YouTube in May 2020. 'So much has happened since my first audition y'all. I am working on putting together an album!' Kiker, who was 32, was the father of two young girls with Valerie Cook. Sister Faith Evans, who posted word of his death Wednesday afternoon on Facebook, responded later that day to people who had asked about helping the family. '[A]s this was completely unexpected we are completely unprepared and are gonna need a little help getting him home from denver colorado and being able to give the memorial that not only he but anyone deserves,' Evans wrote Wednesday night, referring people to a GoFundMe that has since earned more than the amount that was sought. She apologized for her delay in responding, saying to 'charge it to our mind not our hearts.'
Los Angeles Times
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Douglas Kiker, the ‘Singing Garbage Man' who wowed ‘American Idol' judges, dies at 32
Douglas Kiker, the 'American Idol' contestant known as the 'Singing Garbage Man,' has died, his sisters announced this week. He was 32. 'It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce the passing of my brother Douglas Kiker,' Angela Evans wrote Wednesday on Facebook. 'He was sooo loved and will be missed by so many! [You're] singing with the [angels] now Bubba.' She also asked for prayers for the family as they go through a 'difficult time.' 'It is with heavy hearts that we have to say goodbye to one of the most sincere souls and most hilarious person of all,' his family said on a GoFundMe set up to cover funeral costs and transportation of his body from Denver. 'Douglas, a beloved son, brother, father and friend.' Kiker, who had two children with Valerie Cook, died Monday at Colorado's Denver Health Medical Center, a representative of the Denver Medical Examiner's office told The Times Friday in an email. He had been transported there by ambulance on March 5 from a few blocks east of City Center Park. 'The cause and manner of death are pending investigation,' the email said. Kiker earned his nickname because he sang while working his day job, hanging off the back of a garbage truck in Mobile, Ala. He auditioned for Season 18 of 'American Idol' with zero performing experience under his belt, saying he was doing it for his little girl. He made it to Hollywood Week after charming the judges with his take on 'Bless the Broken Road.' Luke Bryan even jumped on the piano mid-audition to help Kiker figure out his range, challenging him to hit different notes. 'For a man who does not know what his voice can do, for a man who does not have an idea of what key he's singing in, for a man who does not have an idea of who he can be, he's here to do one thing. He's trying to show his daughter that he's somebody,' judge Lionel Richie proclaimed. 'I want us all to let you know, you're a hell of a man.' The judges and host Ryan Seacrest lined up to give Kiker his ticket to Hollywood. As the judges hugged him one by one, Katy Perry wiped away a few tears. Kiker wouldn't make it past Hollywood Week but returned to the show for the finale, doing a virtual performance of his audition song with Rascal Flatts, the group that made 'Bless the Broken Road' — first recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band — a hit in 2005. By that time, the world was in COVID-19 lockdown, hence the televised performance that saw the singers, judges and host each in his or her own Zoom-style box. 'Wow y'all! I can't believe I actually got to sing with Rascal Flatts,' Kiker wrote on YouTube in May 2020. 'So much has happened since my first audition y'all. I am working on putting together an album!' His brother William Kiker posted a remembrance this week on Facebook. 'Dear brother I just want you to know that [no] matter where you are you will always be my baby brother,' he wrote. 'I know you are finally at [peace] I just wish I had more time with you so until I can see you again say hey to bubba for me and tell him I love him rest in peace Douglas Kiker my baby brother.'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Doug Kiker, 'American Idol''s 'Singing Garbage Man,' dies at 32
Doug Kiker, the Alabama native dubbed the "Singing Garbage Man" during his audition for season 18 of American Idol, has died at age 32. Kiker's sisters, Angela Evans and Donna Kiker Carrillos-Ramirez, confirmed his passing in separate Facebook posts on Wednesday. Kiker's ex-fiancée, Valerie Cook, stated that Kiker died on Monday. TMZ reported. An official cause of death is not yet known. Related: Mandisa, American Idol star and Grammy-winning Christian singer, dies at 47 Entertainment Weekly has reached out to a rep for American Idol. "It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce the passing of my brother Douglas Kiker," Evans shared on Facebook. "He was sooo loved and will be missed by so many! Your singing with the Angel's now Bubba. Please pray for our family as we go [through] this very difficult time." In her Facebook post, Kiker Carrillos-Ramirez shared a photo of her brother from his Idol audition and a photo in which she posed with him, writing, "We lost an amazing person today. He had the biggest smile and knew how to make you laugh. I know I didn't raise him but I never stopped loving him. My parents did an amazing job with him. Douglas Kiker you will forever be missed. Fly high. Say hey to grandma." A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Kiker's funeral expenses. "It is with heavy hearts that we have to say goodbye to one of the most sincere souls and most hilarious person of all. Douglas, a beloved son, brother, father and friend," Kiker Carrillos-Ramirez, who organized the fundraiser, wrote on the page. "Thank you for your love, support, and generosity during this incredibly difficult time. We greatly appreciate each and everyone of y'all."Kiker stole hearts when he auditioned before Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan on the season 18 premiere in 2020. The Mobile, Ala., garbage collector sang a resonant version of Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road," which caused Perry to well up with tears. "That was not garbage. It was greatness," she said before the judges unanimously awarded him a golden ticket to the Hollywood audition stage. Though Kiker didn't advance beyond the Hollywood week round, his audition proved so popular with viewers that Idol brought him back to the finale for a virtual encore (the season 18 finale was taped during the pandemic) of "Bless the Broken Road," this time accompanied by Rascal Flatts themselves. Related: Celebrity deaths 2025: Remembering the stars who've died this year A year later, Kiker was arrested on a charge of domestic violence in the third degree. After Idol, Kiker teased a movie being made about him and performed at venues local to his native Mobile. In one of his last posts to Instagram, dated April 21, 2022, Kiker expressed gratitude to "all the people that have shown your love and support," and informed fans, "I may have been down but don't ever count me out I refuse to give up on all the people rooting for the dreamers of the world." Kiker is survived by two children he shared with Cook. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
