dorian holley

Dorian Holley is an American musician, backing singer and a vocal coach. He began his professional career as an on-stage backing vocalist for American entertainer Michael Jackson during his Bad World Tour in 1987. He staged a series of live concerts in front of audiences around the world, including the British royalty. From there, Holley went on to travel with Jackson for all of his subsequent world tours. He also performed with other artists such as Rod Stewart in 1991 and James Taylor in 1994 and 2019. In 1991, Holley was the singing voice of Choir Boy in the Robert Townsend movie, The Five Heartbeats. His stage presence and vocal ability were praised by music critics during such performances.
Holley auditioned prominently to become a featured vocalist on the reality television show Dancing with the Stars. He served in this capacity for the first three seasons of the American series. Holley has also worked for several years as an associate music director and vocal coach for the singing competition American Idol. He worked there with the contestants before and after they appear before the show's judges and the worldwide television audience.
In 2008, Holley released his debut album, Independent Film. Next year he worked with Jackson for the last time, in preparation for the entertainer's ill-fated concert series This Is It. Holley was to serve as a backing vocalist, as well as the vocal director for the shows. Jackson's death forced the concerts to be canceled.
In 2010, Holley host a weekend at the LA Music Academy called "The Art of the Audition". As of 2011, he was the vocalist for the house band on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno led by Rickey Minor. He is also the Artist Development Director at Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music and teaches in the school's vocal department. Dorian is married to trial attorney Shawn Chapman Holley, who once represented Jackson and has been a Chief Legal Correspondent for the E! network.