{"id":3770,"date":"2025-03-14T17:50:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T17:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/?p=3770"},"modified":"2025-03-14T17:50:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T17:50:36","slug":"remembering-doug-kiker-american-idol-star-and-singing-garbage-man-passes-away-at-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/?p=3770","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Doug Kiker: &#8216;American Idol\u2019 Star and \u2018Singing Garbage Man\u2019 Passes Away at 32"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Doug Kiker, the beloved \u201cSinging Garbage Man\u201d who captured hearts during his <em>American Idol<\/em> Season 18 audition, has passed away at the age of 32. His ex-fianc\u00e9e, Valerie Cook, confirmed that he died on Monday, March 10, though an official cause of death has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kiker\u2019s family shared their grief in a GoFundMe page created in his honor, describing him as \u201cone of the most sincere souls and most hilarious person of all \u2014 a beloved son, brother, father, and friend.\u201d His sister, Angela Evans, also posted on social media, expressing the family\u2019s shock and sorrow. \u201cThis was completely unexpected, we are completely unprepared,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThank you for the continued prayers at this very difficult time. Lord knows we have been through so much these past few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doug first gained national attention during the Season 18 premiere of <em>American Idol<\/em> on February 16, 2020. The then-27-year-old sanitation worker delivered an emotional performance of Rascal Flatts\u2019 \u201cGod Bless the Broken Road,\u201d earning him a golden ticket to Hollywood. His heartfelt audition resonated with viewers and judges alike, with Katy Perry encouraging him, \u201cYou just stay who you are, and you\u2019re going to go so far. And you\u2019re going to take your daughter with you to all those highest heights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kiker\u2019s humble charm and talent earned him the nickname \u201cthe Singing Garbage Man,\u201d and his audition became a viral moment, showcasing his genuine personality and love for music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kiker\u2019s passing has left a void in the hearts of those who knew him, as well as the fans who were inspired by his story. His family and friends are now rallying together to honor his memory and support one another during this difficult time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doug Kiker, the beloved \u201cSinging Garbage Man\u201d who captured hearts during his American Idol Season 18 audition, has passed away at the age of 32. His ex-fianc\u00e9e, Valerie Cook, confirmed that he died on Monday, March 10, though an official cause of death has not been disclosed. Kiker\u2019s family shared their grief in a GoFundMe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[2546,2669,2670,271,354,582,2668,393,2671],"class_list":["post-3770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","tag-americanidol","tag-dougkiker","tag-gofundme","tag-hollywood","tag-hollywoodall-2","tag-hollywoodall-com","tag-katyperry","tag-latest","tag-valeriecook"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2.jpg",1200,675,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-1024x576.jpg",880,495,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2.jpg",1200,675,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2.jpg",1200,675,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"zox-large-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"zox-mid-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-600x337.jpg",600,337,true],"zox-square-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"zox-small-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-100x100.jpg",100,100,true],"in-article-post-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OAK-2-150x100.jpg",150,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Hollywood-All Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/?author=7"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Doug Kiker, the beloved \u201cSinging Garbage Man\u201d who captured hearts during his American Idol Season 18 audition, has passed away at the age of 32. His ex-fianc\u00e9e, Valerie Cook, confirmed that he died on Monday, March 10, though an official cause of death has not been disclosed. Kiker\u2019s family shared their grief in a GoFundMe&hellip;","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3772,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3770\/revisions\/3772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}