Alex Preston Philbrick (born May 6, 1993), better known as Alex Preston, is an American singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as the third-place finalist on the thirteenth season of American Idol. His self-titled debut album was released on July 21, 2015, and his second album, A Work in Progress, was released in 2018.
Alex Preston was born and raised in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. He wrote his first song called "Fish Food" when he was 12. He attended Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire where he played the guitar in a jazz band, and in the percussion section in concert and a marching band. He also formed a band with friends, Dustin Newhouse, Josh Brackett and Tucker Brown, called Undertow. He graduated from high school in 2011, and studied at the University of New Hampshire.
Preston has written songs with his cousin Jo Dee Messina, the rock band Framing Hanley, and Aria Summer. His song was used on the album "Voices for Heroes," a benefit for Sandy Hook. He won the "Open For MixFest" competition organized by a radio station to open for acts such as Backstreet Boys, Gavin DeGraw and Of Monsters and Men. His single "The Light Was Already Here" was released in September 2013.
His debut, self-titled album was recorded in a cabin in Lone Pine, California and was released in 2015. His second album, A Work in Progress, was released in 2018. In 2019, he won a New England Emmy Award in the Special Event Coverage category for the program NH Chronicle Presents New Hampshire Idol.