List of American Idol alumni album sales in the United States
Appearance
This article provides a list of top-selling albums recorded by alumni of the popular American televised singing competition American Idol.
RIAA Certified Albums
This first list only includes contestants with at least one certified album, and the totals do not include EP's or pre-Idol recordings.
Idol Contestant Total Sales |
First Album | Second Album | Third Album | Fourth Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Kelly Clarkson (Season 1, Winner) 9,500,000 |
Thankful (April 15, 2003) RCA 2,800,000 2x Platinum Peak: #1 |
Breakaway (November 30, 2004) RCA 5,900,000 6x Platinum Peak: #3 |
My December (June 26, 2007) RCA Records 759,000 Platinum Peak: #2 |
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2. | Carrie Underwood (Season 4, Winner) 8,260,000 |
Some Hearts (November 15, 2005) Arista Nashville 6,356,000 7x Platinum Peak: #2 |
Carnival Ride (October 23, 2007) Arista Nashville 1,960,000 2x Platinum Peak: #1 |
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3. | Clay Aiken (Season 2, Runner-Up) 4,777,000 |
Measure of a Man (October 13, 2003) RCA Records 2,800,000 3x Platinum Peak: #1 |
Merry Christmas with Love (November 16, 2004) RCA Records 1,400,000 Platinum Peak: #4 |
A Thousand Different Ways (September 19, 2006) RCA Records 524,000 Gold Peak: #2 |
On My Way Here (May 6, 2008) RCA Records N/A N/A N/A |
4. | Chris Daughtry/Daughtry (Season 5, 4th Place) 3,940,000 |
Daughtry (November 21, 2006) 19 Recordings/RCA 3,940,000 3x Platinum Peak: #1 |
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5. | Ruben Studdard (Season 2, Winner) 2,467,000 |
Soulful (December 9, 2003) J 1,779,000 Platinum Peak: #1 |
I Need An Angel (November 23, 2004) J 451,000 Gold Peak: #20 |
The Return (October 17, 2006) J/19 237,000 N/A Peak: #8 |
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6. | Fantasia (Season 3, Winner) 2,311,000 |
Free Yourself (November 23, 2004) J 1,800,000 Platinum Peak: #8 |
Fantasia (December 12, 2006) J 511,000 Gold Peak: #19 |
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7. | Kellie Pickler (Season 5, 6th Place) 742,000 |
Small Town Girl (October 31, 2006) BNA Records 742,000 Gold Peak: #9 |
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8. | Bo Bice (Season 4, Runner-Up) 716,000 |
The Real Thing (December 13, 2005) RCA 670,000 Gold Peak: #4 |
See the Light (October 23, 2007) StratArt 46,000 N/A Peak: #150 |
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9. | Josh Gracin (Season 2, 4th Place) 713,000 |
Josh Gracin (June 15, 2004) Lyric Street 695,000 Gold Peak: #11 |
We Weren't Crazy (April 1, 2008) Lyric Street 18,000 N/A Peak: #33 |
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10. | Taylor Hicks (Season 5, Winner) 701,000 |
Taylor Hicks (December 12, 2006) Arista Records 701,000 Platinum Peak: #2 |
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11. | Jordin Sparks (Season 6, Winner) 631,000 |
Jordin Sparks (November 20, 2007) Jive 631,000 Gold Peak: #10 |
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12. | Elliott Yamin (Season 5, 3rd Place) 584,000 |
Elliott Yamin (March 20, 2007) Hickory Records, RED Distribution 503,000 Gold Peak: #3 |
Sounds of the Season (November 2007) 81,000 N/A Peak: #32 |
Uncertified Albums
The following is a comprehensive list of other American Idol alumni album sales and reflects that commercial success can be achieved through association with American Idol and with post-Idol promotion, although the degree of success varies considerably (this list only includes contestants who have numbers available, and again does not include EP's or pre-Idol recordings):
Former Contestant | Total Sales | Albums | |
---|---|---|---|
13. | Katharine McPhee (Season 5, Runner-Up) |
370,000 |
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14. | Bucky Covington (Season 5, 8th Place) |
335,000 |
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15. | William Hung (Season 3, Rejected at Auditions) |
295,000 |
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16. | Blake Lewis (Season 6, Runner-Up) |
286,000 |
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17. | Kimberley Locke (Season 2, 3rd Place) |
234,000 |
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18. | Diana DeGarmo (Season 3, Runner-Up) |
166,000 |
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19. | Justin Guarini (Season 1, Runner-Up) |
143,000 |
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20. | Tamyra Gray (Season 1, 4th Place) |
123,000 |
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21. | Mandisa (Season 5, 9th Place) |
76,000 |
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22. | LaToya London (Season 3, 4th Place) |
58,000 |
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23. | George Huff (Season 3, 5th Place) |
48,000 |
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24. | Constantine Maroulis (Season 4, 6th Place) |
25,000 |
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25. | Mario Vazquez (Season 4, Top 13) |
23,000 |
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26. | RJ Helton (Season 1, 5th Place) |
22,000 |
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27. | John Stevens (Season 3, 6th Place) |
21,000 |
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27. | Paris Bennett (Season 5, 5th Place) |
21,000 |
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29. | Jasmine Trias (Season 3, 3rd Place) |
14,000 |
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30. | Carmen Rasmusen (Season 2, 6th Place) |
5,400 |
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31. | Jim Verraros (Season 1, 9th Place) |
4,300 |
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32. | Ayla Brown (Season 5, Top 16) |
3,000 |
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33. | Corey Clark (Season 2, 9th Place) |
2,500 |
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34. | Jon Peter Lewis (Season 3, 8th Place) |
1,100 |
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Footnotes