Who is Alto Moon? 'American Idol' Season 22 singer was 'depressed and broke' before his song hit 2 million streams
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: 'American Idol' Season 22 contestant Alto Moon is an R&B singer who would soon bring his musical talent to the ABC show stage. Alto mixes his electronic sounds with R&B and infuses his music with stylistic flair. He described his music as "everything from alternative-pop and electronic-R&B straight through to bold-and-brassy soul anthems."
Alto took inspiration from artists Prince, Donna Summer, Janet Jackson and Janelle Monae. The ABC show contestant's second single 'Mars' has been an instant hit with nearly 2 million streams on Spotify. Meanwhile, his other songs, 'Beautiful Mind' and lead track, 'Lemonz' from his 2021 album 'ICON' have around a million streams.
However, before amassing millions of streams of his songs, Alto was 'depressed' and 'broke'. He shared a throwback video of his struggles on his Instagram noting "just a couple nostalgic videos that made me teary-eyed." He shared that he "was depressed, broke, and my whole personality was being a frank ocean fan and I first started performing around Texas solo" in 2017.
Alto originally hails from Texas but moved to Atlanta in 2019. He claimed in a social media post that he never regretted his decision to leave Texas as "it just felt right." He added, "Now I realize it was because I was coming home." He further noted that he got his stage name in Atlanta only adding, "Home to friends I grew up with, home to a city that shared my values, and a safe place to become Alto Moon."
'American Idol' contestant Alto Moon gets engaged in 2021
'American Idol' contestant Alto Moon went on to one knee and popped the question to his longtime beau, Colton Jones, in June 2021. Alto shared a series of photos from the proposal and expressed his love for his partner.
Alongside the photos, Alto penned in the caption, " Finally, It’s happening. 8 Years of love, friendship, & so much laughter. Thanks for being the muse to so many songs & the reason for so many great memories." He added, "Here’s the beginning. I love you, Colton Jones."
Alto and Colton appeared to be high school buddies who turned their friendship into love. However, the duo started dating on May 28, 2013.
Alto Moon participates in NPR Tiny Desk
'American Idol' contestant Alto Moon teased his NPR Tiny Desk contestant gig on his social media. He shared on his Instagram, "Hey y’all ~ i’ve been working on something I wanted to do for a long time. which is participate in a contest for NPR Tiny desk..." He elaborated about the contest, "Basically the winner of this contest wins their own NPR performance & a tour."
Alto's performance kicked off a stirring performance and set the stage on fire with his theatrical set and stunning voice. After his successful small gigs, Alto is now ready to audition for 'American Idol' Season 22. He teased his gig in an Instagram post and said, "Next mission: Golden Ticket?! 🚀 I auditioned for @americanidol 💫."
'American Idol' Season 22 premieres on Sunday, February 18, at 8 pm ET on ABC.