Matt Ballinger

Matt Ballinger
Birth name Matthew Samuel Ballinger
Born (1985-04-22) April 22, 1985
Westchester, New York, United States
Genres Pop
Occupation(s) Actor/Singer
Years active 1995─present
Associated acts Dream Street

Matthew Samuel "Matt" Ballinger (born April 22, 1985) is an American singer and actor best known for being a member of boy band Dream Street.

Life and career

Ballinger was born in Westchester, New York. He was always passionate about music. In fifth grade, he became involved in the Broadway music world. He was in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden for two years, and later had a part in Broadway's plays such as The King and I, Inherit the Wind, and The Sound of Music.[1]

He also did commercials for Sudafed, Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues, AT&T, and Dannon Yogurt.[2] He made TV appearances on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, NBC Today, and 1998 Tony Awards.[3]

Matt has played lacrosse for his school's varsity lacrosse team, The Panthers, since he was eight.[2]

He was a member of the music group Dream Street from 1999 to 2002, along with Frankie J. Galasso, Chris Trousdale, Jesse McCartney and Greg Raposo. While Dream Street were on tour opening for Aaron Carter in the winter of 2002, Ballinger missed three months of school and got tutored while on the road.[1]

After Dream Street broke up, Matt returned to everyday high school life.[1] In 2003 he finished high school and was accepted into Tufts University in Massachusetts. During his study in the university in 2004 he started singing in a new band called "The Juice" consisting of Matt (vocals), Leon Mandler (vocals/harmonica), Mike Vitiello (guitar), Ken Kitchin (other guitar), Jim Govatsos (percussion), and Mikey Haendler (bass). In 2007 their album "See Where it Goes" became available on iTunes and some other online music distribution services.

On November 8, 2008, Matt officially announced on the band's Myspace account that The Juice has indeed broken up, he also announced that he had joined another band, Open Till Midnight. Open Till Midnight is a New York City based rock band consisting of Matt Ballinger (vocals), Ross Deutsch on lead guitar, Mike Cook on rhythm guitar, Keith Gooberman on bass, and Jonathan Chamberlain on drums.

Also known as the "brain of the group" by Jesse McCartney, he just recently graduated from Tufts University in Boston in 2007.

Jesse McCartney also stated in an interview in 2008 that he keeps in touch with Matt and revealed that Matt was working for a law firm.

Matt has recently starred in a short film called Elah and the Moon. (2009)

Matt is living in New York City and currently working as a recruiter in the pharmaceutical division of Green Key Resources, a Manhattan-based executive search & staffing firm.[4] He is engaged to Pennsylvania native, Danielle Manning, as of late 2012.[5]

On August 24, 2013, Matt married Danielle Manning. Their wedding ceremony took place at the Coveleigh Club in Rye, New York.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Tufts Daily
  2. 1 2 IMDB Trivia Section
  3. ↑ Matt Ballinger Fansite
  4. ↑ LinkedIn Profile
  5. ↑ "Dinielle Manning and Mathew Ballinger Engagement Announcement". Ponoco Record. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Danielle Manning and Matthew Ballinger Wedding Announcement". New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
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