Brian Evans (singer)


Brian K. Evans is an American actor, writer, and big band singer known mostly as a crooner.
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. Evans is running 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.
In 1986, he and his mother moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career for him in the entertainment industry.

Acting career

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. He also appeared in New Line Cinema's Book of Love and the 1995 remake of the 1971 film The Barefoot Executive.

Writing career

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

Singing career

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. For the next two years he performed throughout Canada. His second Canadian release, Maybe This Time, outsold the first, and Evans was booked for a 377-show run at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He is the only artist ever to record a live CD at the Desert Inn. 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.
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.
In 2011, Evans returned to Los Angeles and began work on his album My Turn with producer Narada Michael Walden.
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.
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. By 2016, Evans had returned to Maui and to hosting the Maui Celebrity Series.
In January 2017, Evans said he would finish a record album he had been working on.

Politics

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%. Evans says he ran to bring attention to the lack of dental coverage in health care plans.
In March 2014, Evans announced he would run for United States Senator from Hawaii. 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. He finished third in the Democratic primary with 2% of the vote.
In addition to his Senate campaigns, Evans has also successfully petitioned several state governors to make proclamations on sleep apnea awareness.
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. He was the only Republican running in the 2018 race for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district and lost the general election with approximately 23 percent of the vote to incumbent Democratic nominee Tulsi Gabbard's 77 percent.
Evans filed on February 19, 2020 as a Democratic candidate to represent Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, joining several others after incumbent Gabbard announced she would not run for reelection.

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. 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.
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. 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.
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. The court dismissed his case the month after it was filed.
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. On September 30, 2014, the judge dismissed the case.
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.