Clay Aiken was born on November 30, 1978 in Raleigh, North Carolina. When Clay was born he was given the name Clayton Holmes Grissom, but he changed his last name to Aiken, his mother's maiden name, when he was in college. Clay's parents, Faye and Vernon, divorced when he was a year old. Besides Clay, Vernon also had a daughter named Deborah from a previous marriage. She was Clay's half-sister. Faye later married Ray Parker, who became Clay's stepfather. Ray's children, Amy and Jeff, are Clay's stepbrother and stepsister. Together, Faye and Ray Parker had a son, Brett, Clay's younger brother.
Clay loved to sing, even as a child. Sometimes his mother would take Clay to her job at Sears, where he would sing for her co-workers and customers. He would stand on stacks of carpet samples and sing and people would give him money.
Clay was different from the other kids when he was growing up. His favorite pair of high top sneakers was bright yellow. He also had a pet goat named Zoey. Clay would put Zoey on a leash and “walk” her around the neighborhood. Also, Clay has lots of allergies. Some of them are chocolate, mint, mushrooms, shellfish, tree nuts, and caffeine. Because he was skinny and wore glasses and didn't dress like other kids, Clay was often bullied at school. He was called names like ‘geek' and ‘nerd' and other bad names.
Although this bothered Clay, one day he decided to just be himself and not listen to the bullies. Other kids noticed that he no longer worried about what other people thought of him, that he was true to himself, and he started making more friends. He found that people learn who you really are and some even want to be your friend when they realize that they have things in common with you. This was a big lesson that Clay learned and it made a huge difference in his life at school. In high school, he continued to sing and perform in school plays and local talent shows. People noticed he was very comfortable onstage and soon he was hosting shows in and around Raleigh. (continued on next page)