2016 Romance of the Mission Gala Artist –

Clark Beckham first started singing in a gospel trio with his mother and father when he was 8 years old. He started playing Instruments around the same age. Today, he is as much of a profound instrumentalist as he is a vocalist. In 2015, his soulful, bluesy vocals and along with his incredible talent on the piano and guitar took America by storm and Beckham finished as 's Season 14 runner up. While on American Idol, he was mentored by , Nile Rogers, Jason Derulo, and many more. Kelly told Clark he was clearly going to win and jokingly that after she had heard him sing, she thought she was pregnant again. Beckham also performed with Michael McDonald on the finale of American Idol on May 13th, 2015. While on Idol, Beckham outsold every other contestant combined on iTunes and dominated the YouTube Video views of American Idol’s YouTube Channel with 6 of the 10 most viewed videos of the year being of his performances. Beckham also appeared several times on the top 75 charts on iTunes with his American Idol studio performances being the week’s highest new entry twice. Since then he has performed with the Nashville Symphony, written with Brian McKnight and been nominated for a Teen Choice award for Music’s Next Big Thing. Clark is working hard nonstop to continue his progress in the entertainment industry and is working on his premier album with multi Grammy nominated producer Aaron Pearce and Grammy Award Winning producer/writer Jon Bellion. Whether practicing scales, learning songs, or just listening, he considers music the most major part of his life. In regards to music, Beckham states, “I think it, I speak it, I live in and around it, I make it and I do it.” He continues “I feel like music is as much a part of me as my own heart.”