Brian Evans (singer)

Brian K. Evans (born May 3, 1970)[2] is an American actor, writer, political candidate, and big band singer known mostly as a crooner.[3]

Brian Evans
Born (1970-05-03) May 3, 1970
Haverhill, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (2018–present)
Republican (before 2018)
Musical career
Also known asThe Croonerman[1]
GenresBig band, crooning
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1981–present
Websitebrianevans.com

Evans' singing career began in the late 1980s and later included extended performances in Vancouver, Las Vegas, and Hawaii. After a role in a television commercial, he was hired in other acting roles in the 1990s.

Evans ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and 2014 as a Democrat from Hawaii, before running as a Republican for the U.S. House in 2018. He was the Republican nominee for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district in 2018.[4] Evans ran as a Democrat for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district in 2020.

Early life

Evans grew up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, born in 1970. His parents divorced when he was young and he was raised by his mother, Helen Bousquet, and grandmother, who introduced him to big band music.[1]

In 1986, he and his mother moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career for him in the entertainment industry.[5]

Career

Acting

His first acting role was in a McDonald's commercial. He was later cast in the 1990 pilot of Beverly Hills, 90210 as a "Track Kid", and a 1994 episode of Full House as Kimmy's boyfriend.[6] He also appeared in New Line Cinema's Book of Love (1990)[7] and the 1995 remake of the 1971 film The Barefoot Executive.[8]

Writing

His autobiography, Dreamer, was published in 1994.[9] Evans, Helen Bousquet, and Mark Andrew Biltz are the creators of the novel Horrorscope,[10] which Kirkus Reviews describes as "offbeat but clumsy", noting its "often formulaic" prose.[11]

Music

In 1996, Evans moved to Vancouver where he performed at the Babalu Lounge and released his first album, Quite Frankly. It became the #1 best selling independently released CD in Canadian history.[5] For the next two years he performed throughout Canada.[12] His second Canadian release, Maybe This Time, outsold the first,[5] and Evans was booked for a 377-show run at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas.[1] He is the only artist ever to record a live CD at the Desert Inn.[13] After the hotel was demolished, Evans opened for Jay Leno at The Mirage and then returned to Los Angeles where he made music for television and film.[1][14]

Evans returned to perform in Las Vegas in 2005 as the opening act for Leno at The Mirage Resort and for Joan Rivers, but later moved back to Hawaii in 2010, where he produced and was the opening act for the Maui Celebrity Series.[1]

In 2011, Evans returned to Los Angeles and began work on his album My Turn with producer Narada Michael Walden.[1]

In 2012, he released "At Fenway" at the age of 42. It became the first song to be licensed by Major League Baseball about the park in its history, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame added it to its library.[1][15]

In 2015, Evans filmed a music video for his song "Creature at The Bates Motel", the first time any artist was allowed to reuse the setting of the Alfred Hitchcock film "Psycho". The music video features comedian Carrot Top.[16] By 2016, Evans had returned to Maui and to hosting the Maui Celebrity Series.[17]

In January 2017, Evans said he would finish a record album he had been working on.[18]

Politics
Main articles: 2004 U.S. Senate election in Hawaii, 2014 U.S. Senate special election in Hawaii, 2018 U.S. House elections in Hawaii, and 2020 U.S. House elections in Hawaii

In 2004, Evans moved to Maui and was a candidate for the United States Senate in Hawaii. He lost in the Democratic primary to incumbent Daniel Inouye 95% to 5%.[19] Evans says he ran to bring attention to the lack of dental coverage in health care plans.[20]

In March 2014, Evans announced he would run for United States Senator from Hawaii.[21] According to Evans, he wanted to bring attention to his mother's death and chose to enter the race after he saw how much national media attention it was receiving. He did not think he could win and spent no money on advertising and held only one campaign event.[22] He finished third in the Democratic primary with 2% of the vote.[23]

In addition to his Senate campaigns, Evans has also successfully petitioned several state governors to make proclamations on sleep apnea awareness.[22]

On January 23, 2017, Evans announced that he would run for Congress as a Republican in 2018, stating he had no concerns about being gay and having Republican values.[18] He was the only Republican running in the 2018 race for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district[24] and lost the general election with approximately 23 percent of the vote to incumbent Democratic nominee Tulsi Gabbard's 77 percent.[4]

On February 19, 2020, Evans filed as a Democratic candidate to represent Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, joining several others after incumbent Gabbard announced she would not run for reelection.[25]

Personal life

In June 1991, Evans was convicted of felony theft and sentenced to six months probation after he called a Los Angeles travel agency impersonating Casey Kasem and charged $2,900 in expenses that the agency attempted to collect from the radio host.[26] While on probation, Evans was invited to sing the national anthem at a Baltimore Orioles game. His probation officer told him he could not leave California, but Evans went to the game and was sentenced to a year in prison for violating the terms of his probation. Evans was released in July 1992.[6]

On October 5, 2012, Evans' mother died after knee surgery. Evans stated that his mother, who suffered from sleep apnea, was not monitored by hospital staff, did not have her sleep apnea machine, and "was dosed out on morphine" at the time of her death.[27] Following her death, Evans filed lawsuits against a number of groups and individuals, including Steward Health Care System, Cerberus Capital Management, Governor Deval Patrick, and the Massachusetts Nursing Association.[27][28]

On June 25, 2013, Evans filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Hampton, New Hampshire Board of Selectmen for "conspiracy to commit fraud" and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" after the Board voted 3 to 2 against Evans' request to erect a plaque to honor his deceased mother on a town street corner. He sought $10 million in damages.[27] The court dismissed his case the month after it was filed.[29]

Evans also filed a suit against the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Sports Management, Larry Lucchino, Tom Werner, and John W. Henry. Evans claimed that after he began his public campaign against Steward Health Care System, which owned the hospital where his mother died, Steward, the Red Sox, and a shared public relations firm "conspired to torpedo" his "At Fenway" music video by sullying its reputation with members of the local media and undermining his efforts to sell advertising to major sponsors before the video was launched on YouTube.[28] On September 30, 2014, the judge dismissed the case.[30]

On September 17, 2018, a jury in the Essex County Superior Court in Lawrence, Massachusetts found a Steward Health Care-owned Holy Family Hospital nurse negligent in Evans' lawsuit for wrongful death against the hospital. One defendant settled the case prior to the jury returning its verdict.[31]

References
  1. Burnett III, James H. (July 19, 2012). "Brian Evans feels redemption in hit Red Sox song". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  2. "Brian Evans' Biography". VoteSmart. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  3. "Crooner Brian Evans Lands in Beantown". The Rainbow Times. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  4. "Hawaii Primary Election Results: Second House District". The New York Times. August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  5. Ferguson, Lisa. "Crooner Evans finds his niche". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  6. Israel, Betsy (December 12, 1994). "Caseying the Joint". People. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  7. Willis, John A. (1993). Screen World 1992. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-5578-3135-4.
  8. "Abc's Saturday Night at the Movies the Barefoot Executive". Variety. November 7, 1995. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  9. Oldenburg, Ann (February 13, 1995). "Brian Evans tells his 'horrific' prison tale". USA Today.
  10. Saperstein, Pat (October 15, 2009). "Zenescope snaps up 'Horrorscope'". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  11. "Horrorscope: Kirkus Review". Kirkus. April 16, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  12. "Doing it Frank's way. (singer Brian Evans draws comparisons to Frank Sinatra)". Maclean's. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  13. "Evans goes 'Live' at D.I. — on CD". Las Vegas Sun. March 9, 1999. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  14. Weatherford, Mike (January 14, 2005). "Leno Still Delivers". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on November 20, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  15. "Brian Evans, singer with a checkered past, has an all-night shoot at Fenway". Boston Globe. September 26, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  16. Leach, Robin (April 29, 2015). "Strip Scribbles: Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao tickets; Pamela Anderson's $1M divorce?". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  17. Leach, Robin (January 7, 2016). "Strip Scribbles: Brian Evans, William Shatner, Mecum Auctions, Quick Jet Charter". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016.
  18. Leach, Robin (January 23, 2017). "Brian Evans plans to run for Congress in 2018". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017.
  19. "HI US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 18, 2004". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  20. Duran, Nicole (September 3, 2004). "Evans, a Crooner and Actor, Wants to Play Politician Next". Roll Call. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  21. Rousseau, Morgan (March 13, 2014). "'At Fenway' crooner Brian Evans running for Hawaii's U.S. Senate". Metro. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  22. Moreno, Loren (October 7, 2014). "How a Las Vegas Crooner Won Enough Votes to Help Keep Hawai'i's U.S. Senate Race a Nail Biter". Honolulu Magazine. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  23. "2014 Official Hawaii Primaries Results". Hawaii Office of Elections. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  24. Gaddis, Nate (July 28, 2018). "Hawai'i Elections 2018: Who's Running for What?". Big Island Now. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  25. Tanji, Melissa (February 25, 2020). "More repeat races in county on deck". Maui News. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  26. Tlumacki, John (September 26, 2012). "Brian Evans, singer with a checkered past, has an all-night shoot at Fenway". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  27. Reid, Nick B. (June 28, 2013). "Brian Evans files lawsuit against Hampton selectmen". Seacoastonline. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  28. Convey, Eric (December 26, 2013). "Singer sues Red Sox over music video's performance". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  29. Reid, Nick B. (October 17, 2013). "Singer who wants Hampton Beach street named for late mom rejected in court". Seacoastonline. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  30. Bailey, Lorraine (October 3, 2014). "'At Fenway' Singer Loses Suit Against Red Sox". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  31. "PPAHS Makes Plans To Evaluate Hospitals On Sleep Apnea Preparedness". Sleep Review. September 26, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
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