Elliott Yamin

Vocalist Elliott Yamin first gained recognition as the second runner-up on the fifth season of the reality show American Idol. Born in 1978 in Los Angeles to a painter father and former professional singer mother, Yamin eventually moved with his family to Richmond, VA, where he attended middle school and high school. Around the time he turned 14, Yamin's parents divorced, and thus began a period of some personal difficulty for the singer. Already close to 90 percent deaf in his right ear, Yamin was also diagnosed at 16 with Type 1 diabetes. In his sophomore year of high school...