Brooke Elizabeth White was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in nearby Mesa, with three younger siblings (Katie, Tyler, and Quinn) and her parents, Brad and Kaylene.

[5] White started singing at 16, when she tried out for the high school musical, Meet Me in St. Louis, and earned the lead role.

During her elimination video on American Idol, White stated "It's probably not a secret that I struggled with my own confidence but I'm stronger than I thought I was and that's a great thing to get out of this."

[8] White auditioned for American Idol, in Philadelphia, where she sang "Like a Star" and received positive reviews from all of the judges.

In the live rounds of the competition, White accompanied herself on guitar for her performances of "You're So Vain", "Jolene", and "I'm a Believer" and on piano for "Let It Be", "Every Breath You Take", "Hero" and "I Am...I Said".

Judge Simon Cowell chose White early as one of his four favorites in the competition when he appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on March 17, 2008.

White performed an acoustic version of "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar, in the next week to good reviews, as well.

Randy Jackson said it was a very heartfelt performance and Simon Cowell said that it was believable and one of the best of the night and that he thought that Brooke had picked good song choices in the past three weeks.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, who served as guest mentor for a show, based on his own music, was particularly impressed by White and predicted a big night for her.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, White stated that she will continue to focus on recording and that she received a call from Carly Simon.

When asked about returning as a nanny of the twins, White said that the family joked that they would give her a raise, if she went back, and she said that she did not mind babysitting every once in a while.

White filmed a commercial with fellow finalists, Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson, she has become the spokeswoman for "Save The World Summer", a campaign launched by Malaria No More and Idol Gives Back.

In the video, she acts out her story as a beauty school dropout who moves to Hollywood to pursue a singing career.

White returned to American Idol to perform her debut single, on the February 26 results show and played the keyboard to accompany the song.

[26] White held a live webcast at 5 pm PST, on July 9, 2009, and announced that she had teamed up with iTunes and her album High Hopes & Heartbreak was to be exclusively digitally released from the iTunes Store on the July 14, as well as the music video of her second single Radio Radio to be available for downloads free on the same date.

A 'backstage pass' was also released in connection with The Republic Project, which allows purchasers to receive and view behind-the-scenes videos of the making of High Hopes & Heartbreak.

It consisted of five songs recorded live during her summer tour with fellow 'Idol' mate Michael Johns and Benton Paul.

[31] White and Jack Matranga teamed up for the second time on a new EP titled Winter, released on January 24, 2012, which included four original tracks and a live acoustic version of "Telephone Games.

"[35] She performed her rendition of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" on NBC's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting in 2012.

[36] In November, White announced she will be recording a lullaby album on PledgeMusic to raise money for the charity Operation Underground Railroad, who rescues children from sexual slavery.

Collaborators include fellow American Idol alums David Archuleta and Carly Smithson, Leigh Nash, Deana Carter, Lucy Schwartz, John Hanson, Mindy Gledhill, Jack Matranga, Daniel Tashian and Chris Seefried.

[39] White cites her musical influences as the "soulful sounds of the 70s", such as the Carpenters, Carole King, Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, the Eagles, America, Carly Simon, the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt and Phil Collins.