Rock band Daughtry are far from Idol

Many people in the UAE are gripped with ‘X Factor’ fever at the moment but one band heading to Gulf Bike Week are living proof of why you don’t necessarily need to win a reality show to succeed.

After being formed by ‘American Idol’ season 5 finalist, Chris Daughtry, back in 2006, self-named band Daughtry have gone on to be nominated for four Grammys. They even saw their debut album go straight to No. 1, outselling the album of that year’s Idol winner Taylor Hicks.

For Chris, being able to show his skills on the hit American reality show was just the platform he needed to get his music out there.

He explains: “Sometimes you have to beat the system, especially in the music world. I’d been playing clubs and bars for years but never getting in front of the right people so it was either settle for that or go out and make something happen for myself and I chose that.”

“I have people who know me from Idol and people who don’t have a clue. We’ve been pretty well embraced in the music world and I’m sure my songs speak for themselves when it comes to proving we have talent!”

Having just finished a European tour with Nickelback, Chris and the band are excited to be coming to the Middle East.

They’ve only visited once before to perform at an airforce base in Qatar, Chris says they can’t wait to do some sightseeing.

He adds: “I’m looking forward to coming out and experiencing the culture. We’re slowly but surely finding out where these huge pockets of fans are and it’s really cool to get there and think ‘wow we never realised we had this many fans here!’”

Visit www.livenation.ae for tickets or more information.