From all the winners at America's Got Talent to some of the best singers on The Voice, plenty of great competition shows have introduced us to some incredible talent over the years. However, nothing quite beats one of the most iconic competition shows of all time: American Idol. With more than twenty seasons under its belt, here are the most successful American Idol contestants, from the audition room to the winners.
Kelly Clarkson
One of the most successful people in American Idol history is Kelly Clarkson. The winner of the first season of the show, she not only went on to have mega-hits like "Since U Been Gone" and "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," she has also worked in television and has her own talk show called The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Kelly Clarkson has also gone on several tours where she headlined, including in 2019 for "The Meaning of Life" tour. Clarkson also had a part of the Trolls World Tour cast, and she appeared as a coach on The Voice from 2018-2021 and then returned in 2023. She's certainly has had an impressive career – and I have a feeling we'll only see more of her.
Katharine McPhee
Katharine McPhee was the runner-up of Season 5 of American Idol, and she has released five studio albums since. McPhee has also appeared in various movies, such as The Tiger Rising and Bayou Caviar, as well as shows like Smash, The Masked Singer and Lip Sync Battle. She also played Jenna Hunterson in the musical Waitress on Broadway.
Kellie Pickler
Kellie Pickler finished sixth on the fifth season of American Idol, and she has released four studio albums. She also competed on Dancing with the Stars with Derek Hough, and she hosted her own show called Pickler & Ben. She's been in a few Hallmark movies as well, including Christmas at Graceland.
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood was the winner of the fourth season, and she became a major star afterward with hits like "Before He Cheats" and "Jesus, Take the Wheel." She has won several Grammy awards, released many studio albums and appeared on TV shows many times. Her album, Denim & Rhinestones, was released in 2022.
Something else that is also essential to bring up is that Underwood actually did a live version of The Sound of Music back in 2013, where she played Maria Rainir in the NBC original production. She had a guest role on the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai too, where she played herself.
Caleb Johnson
Caleb Johnson won the Season 13 of American Idol. He did release a solo album, but he has worked with many bands across the states, and in 2023, released Paradise Found: Bat Out of Hell Reignited with the Neverland Express band.
Todrick Hall
Todrick Hall was on the ninth season of American Idol, and he was eliminated during the Top 16 round. After he was sent home, he went on to have a very successful online career on YouTube, and he has amassed a global fan base. He appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, and in 2023, traveled around the United States on his tour called The Velvet Rage.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson came in seventh place on American Idol in Season 3, but she arguably has had the most success outside the show. Aside from her releasing music, Hudson also went into acting and won an Academy Award for her role in the film Dreamgirls. She's also won a Grammy, Tony and Emmy, which means she's the only American Idol contestant to have achieved EGOT status.
She has since appeared in many other movies, including Sing, Cats, The Three Stooges, The Secret Life of Bees, Chi-Raq, and more. She also starred as Aretha Franklin and led the cast of Respect, and she was in the 2022 movie Tell It Like a Woman. Also in 2022, she premiered her own talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Scotty McCreery
Scotty McCreery won Season 10 of American Idol, and he has released five studio albums so far. He also stepped into writing a bit and co-wrote the Hallmark movie Five More Minutes.
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino won the third season, and she has released seven studio albums since then. Barrino has also made an impact on the stage. Notably, she played Celie in the musical production of The Color Purple on Broadway, a role she was able to reprise for the 2023 The Color Purple musical film.
Haley Reinhart
Haley Reinhart placed third on the tenth season of American Idol, and she has released five studio albums. She's also headlined four tours so far, and she even had a role in the Netflix film We Can Be Heroes, the perfect follow-up to Sharkboy & Lavagirl.
Phillip Phillips
Phillip Phillips won the eleventh season of American Idol, has released four studio albums, and has gone on several tours. Most notably, Phillips had the best-selling American Idol song with "Home," per THR, which broke records when it came out.
Elliott Yamin
Elliot Yamin placed third on the fifth season of American Idol, but he has gone on to release nine studio albums since then. He's also collaborated with several folks in the music industry, including Taylor Hicks, DJ Sanjoy, and more.
Ruben Studdard
Ruben Studdard won Season 2 of American Idol, and he has since released seven studio albums. Studdard has also appeared in several TV shows, including 8 Simple Rules, All of Us, Lifted, Eve, and more.
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks is another major winner from American Idol, taking home the championship in the sixth season. The singer has released four studio albums and has gone on several tours since her time on the famous show. Her biggest songs include major hits like "No Air" and "Battlefield."
She was also a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, and she had a stint on Broadway where she had roles in both In the Heights and Waitress.
Danny Gokey
Danny Gokey placed third place on Season 8 of American Idol, and despite not winning, he has released eight studio albums. Most of his music is related to contemporary and Christian genres, and he has won many awards and earned several nominations, including Grammy Awards.
David Archuleta
David Archuleta finished second in American Idol during the seventh season. Afterward, he went on to create eight studio albums. He's appeared in several shows as himself, including The Masked Singer, and he has also done a lot of philanthropy. Archuleta has opened up about his time on American Idol too, which was a less-than-pleasant experience. But he did end up gaining a wide fanbase from it.
David Cook
David Cook won the seventh season of American Idol, and he has released four studio albums and gone on tour. He was also in a production of Kinky Boots on Broadway.
Kimberley Locke
Kimberley Locke placed third on Season 2 of American Idol, but she's still released six studio albums. Aside from music, Locke has worked with several charities, including the "Pink for a Cure" campaign, and has her own charity called Camp Heartland.
Taylor Hicks
Taylor Hicks is the Season 5 winner of American Idol, and he has done a lot in the music industry since his win. While he released two independent albums before his time on the Idol stage, he released two more studio albums after he won. In 2019, he had a starring role as Charlie Anderson in a stage production of Shenandoah.
Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo was the runner-up of the third season of American Idol, and since her time on the show, she has released two studio albums. Aside from her time in music, she's also worked a decent amount in philanthropy, and she is an ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Something else that is good to know is that DeGarmo actually ended up marrying another Idol contestant, Ace Young.
Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert is one of those stars everyone knows. He was the runner-up of the eighth season, but he has gone on to release five studio albums, and he performs with Queen as their frontman. He was also in a TV production of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Along with that, he had a recurring role on the Ryan Murphy-created series Glee – where he arguably sang some of the absolute best covers on the series. "Marry the Night" stays stuck in my head.
Lauren Alaina
Lauren Alaina was the runner-up of the tenth season of American Idol, and she has since gone on to release three studio albums and headlined three tours. She's also won several awards in country music and was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars during Season 28.
Chris Daughtry
Another major star from American Idol is Chris Daughtry, who actually placed fourth during the fifth season. However, Daughtry went on to release eight studio albums and created the band Daughtry, which has won several awards and has gone on many tours since. He also competed in The Masked Singer in 2019, becoming the first season's runner-up.
William Hung
William Hung is a particular case here. Hung actually never made it past the audition phase of American Idol during Season 3. However, his rendition of "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin ended up becoming so popular that he gained a lot of international fame. Even in that appearance, he went on to pop up in several television programs, including Saturday Night Live. Aside from his appearances on TV, he also has released two studio albums.
Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken ended up finishing second place on American Idol during the second season of the show, but he has still released six studio albums.
However, Aiken is an interesting case because he made a complete career change, went into politics and ran for Congress. But it's not like someone in the entertainment industry hasn't done this before – two pretty big examples are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan, both of whom were in movies before they went into politics.
Kris Allen
Kris Allen won the eighth season of American Idol, and he has gone on to release six studio albums so far. His most famous song is "Live Like We're Dying," which peaked at number 18 in the United States after it came out in 2009. Allen has also done a lot in philanthropy, working with the United Nations Foundation and Heifer International.
Mandisa
Mandisa is another example of someone who finished far behind in American Idol, only placing ninth but has released six studio albums. She is mainly known for her Gospel music, which actually won a Grammy Award back in 2014, so it's clear she's been doing fine on her own even if she didn't place in the top eight.
Blake Lewis
Blake Lewis was the runner-up on Season 6 of American Idol, and he has released four studio albums since his time on the show. Lewis is also known for his collaboration with other American Idol contestants and has since become invested in voice work as well. He even had a role on Generator Rex.
Ace Young
Ace Young came in seventh place on American Idol, and he has released one studio album since. He moved to Broadway and took over the role of Berger in Hair. He is also the contestant who later married former American Idol contestant Diana DeGarmo.
Justin Guarini
Justin Guarini was the runner-up of the first season of American Idol, and he has since released two albums. He's appeared in many TV shows and has done a lot of theater work, including parts in shows such as Chicago, Company, Mamma Mia!, In Transit, and in 2023, Once Upon a One More Time on Broadway.
Crystal Bowersox
Crystal Bowersox was the runner-up on the ninth season of American Idol, and she has released four studio albums so far. She still performs pretty regularly, and she is pretty active on Instagram, so she can stay connected to her fans.
Constantine Maroulis
Constantine Maroulis placed sixth on the fourth season of American Idol, but still released three studio albums. Aside from that, he starred in the Broadway musical Rock of Ages, a role that earned him a Tony nomination.
So many contestants from American Idol have gone on to do great things. One thing for sure is that we will have music for decades from these incredible musicians and performers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel the need to sing "Since U Been Gone" at the top of my lungs again.
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