James Durbin Performs ‘Higher Than Heaven’ on American Idol

James Durbin just visited his musical alma-mater, American Idol, tonight to take the stage and play 'Higher Than Heavan,' the opening track from his debut album 'Memories of a Beautiful Disaster.'

Durbin, a self-professed metalhead, made a name for himself by singing Judas Priest's 'You've Got Another Thing Comin,' Muse's 'Uprising' and various Beatles tracks. Now that he has his own album, Durbin was able to sing one of his own songs, which he co-wrote, on American Idol.

'Higher Than Heaven' doesn't offer much in terms of the originality or experimentation that the songs he sang on 'Idol' possess, but Durban's vocal performance was strong and the crowd ate it up. Durban also revealed after his performance, that 'Memories of a Beautiful Disaster' just broke 100,000 units sold.

Although Durbin's music is much more pop rock than metal, but hey, at least he didn't ride onto the stage in a Ford Escape.