Rickey Smith, who finished in eighth place on Season 2 of American Idol, was killed in a vehicle accident in Oklahoma Thursday night, TMZ reports.
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According to TMZ, Smith was behind the wheel of his vehicle when another driver reportedly slammed into his auto head-on. The other driver was hospitalized and arrested for a DUI.
Smith, who memorably donned a disco-fabulous Afro wig for a performance of Earth Wind and Fire’s “Let’s Groove” and wound up finishing eighth behind Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, was 36. “Hercules!” during the show, a line from Eddie Murphy’s remake of The Nutty Professor. During a 2008 interview, he revealed he was working at a sports bar called Coach’s Bricktown.
‘I wasn’t ready to accept the fact that I had to come back and give up music.
Justin Kahn/WireImage “American Idol” finalist Rickey Smith, 36, was killed in a wrong-way crash on Thursday.
“Anywhere I go, they tell me I’m still a celebrity”, he said back then.
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Rickey made it to the American Idol live finals in 2003 after wowing judges with his auditioning in Nashville with Brian McKnight’s One Last Cry. How much fun we all had on our very first tour. “I love you and will miss you, Rickey”. “I am blessed to have known you”.
