Jared Lincoln Cotter (born June 17, 1981) is an American pop/R&B singer, songwriter and model. He has hosted a number of TV shows, and he co-wrote the number 1 song "Down" by Jay Sean.

Biography

Born and raised on Long Island, Cotter grew up in a family of musicians. Cotter's great grandfather, James Reese Europe was the first African American jazz player to perform at Carnegie Hall. Cotter's father, Robert Cotter, played in the late 1970s with Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards of the Big Apple Band, later known as Chic. Cotter listed as his influence artists such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Brian McKnight.

Cotter's recording career began when he was 15. He performed and released music as JL Cotter, and co-wrote songs such as "Make U Cry", "My Girl", "She Likes It" and the Notorious B.I.G inspired "Somebody's Gotta Go". He has worked with Joshua Thompson, Rob Fusari and Jeremy Skaller, and has also collaborated with other songwriters including Andre Deyo, Teron Beal and worked with producer and songwriter, Quincy Patrick.

Cotter has performed on BET's 106 & Park, and opened for platinum-selling artist Avant. He has also performed at BB King's in Times Square, Village Underground, Soul Café and SOB's. In 2005, he independently released "The Album Before the Album".

American Idol

Cotter appeared on the sixth season of American Idol and reached the semifinal stage of the competition. He sang Stevie Wonder's "Lately" for his audition.

American Idol performances

Week #

Song Choice

Original Artist

Order #

Result

Top 24 (12 Men)

"Back at One"

Brian McKnight

10

Safe

Top 20 (10 Men)

"Let's Get It On"

Marvin Gaye

2

Safe

Top 16 (8 Men)

"If You Really Love Me"

Stevie Wonder

4

Eliminated

Post-Idol career

Television

Immediately after American Idol, in June 2007, Cotter joined as co-host for a daily show The Sauce on the television network Fuse TV. After The Sauce was cancelled in 2008, he hosted You Rock, Lets Roll, a dating game show, in the same time slot. He also hosted Fuse's No. 1 Countdown: Pop where he presented videos and conducted interviews. He has also worked for Fox TV's Good Day New York as a weekly correspondent during later seasons of American Idol. He is currently hosting The Challenge, a quiz show involving teams of high school students, on MSG Varsity cable channel.

Music

After his stint on Idol, he released his album "The Album Before the Album", the album he had previously released independently before Idol, onto iTunes in August, 2007. He released a single "Good Morning" in October, 2008.

Cotter has written songs for other popular artists such as Carl Thomas, Joe, and in particular Jay Sean with whom he has considerable success. He co-wrote a number of songs on Jay Sean's album All or Nothing, including the number one song, "Down", which was the seventh-best selling single of 2009, and for which he received an ASCAP award as a writer for one of the "Most Performed Songs" of the year. He signed a worldwide deal with EMI Music Publishing in 2009. He has been nominated for Best Male R&B Vocalist at the Underground Hip Hop Music Awards..

Discography

Album

• The Album Before the Album

Singles

• "Good Morning"
• "Finding Me"

Charted songs with song-writing credits

Single	Year	Billboard Hot 100
"Down"	2009	1
"Do You Remember"	2010	10
"2012 (It Ain't the End)"	2010	31
"Hit the Lights"	2011	18
"Where Them Girls At"	2011	14

As featured artist

Song	Year	Album
Stuck in the Middle	2009	All or Nothing

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