List of American Idol alumni album sales in the United States

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 EPs, digital-only albums, or pre-Idol recordings.

Gold, Platinum, and/or Multi-platinum (US Sales Only)

	Idol Contestant Total Sales	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
1.	Kelly Clarkson (Season 1, Winner) 9,520,000	Thankful (April 15, 2003) RCA 2,710,000^[1] 2x Platinum^[2] Peak: #1	Breakaway (November 30, 2004) RCA 6,030,000^[1] 6x Platinum^[2] Peak: #3	(none)	(none)	My December (June 26, 2007) RCA Records 780,000^[1] Platinum^[2] Peak: #2	(none)
2.	Carrie Underwood (Season 4, Winner) 9,150,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Some Hearts (November 15, 2005) Arista Nashville 6,630,000^[1] 7x Platinum^[3] Peak: #2	(none)	Carnival Ride (October 23, 2007) Arista Nashville 2,520,000^[1] 2x Platinum^[3] Peak: #1	(none)
3.	Clay Aiken (Season 2, Runner-Up) 4,794,000	Measure of a Man (October 13, 2003)^[4] RCA Records 2,780,000 2x Platinum^[5] Peak: #1	Merry Christmas with Love (November 16, 2004) RCA Records 1,370,000^[1] Platinum^[5] Peak: #4	(none)	A Thousand Different Ways (September 19, 2006) RCA Records 528,000^[6] Gold^[5] Peak: #2	(none)	On My Way Here (May 6, 2008) RCA Records 156,000^[1]^[7] N/A Peak: #4
4.	Chris Daughtry/Daughtry (Season 5, 4th Place) 4,310,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Daughtry (November 21, 2006) 19 Recordings/RCA Records 4,310,000^[1] 4x Platinum^[8] Peak: #1	(none)	(none)
5.	Ruben Studdard (Season 2, Winner) 2,493,000	Soulful (December 9, 2003) J Records 1,790,000^[4] Platinum^[9] Peak: #1	I Need an Angel (November 23, 2004) J Records 456,000^[4] Gold^[9] Peak: #20	(none)	The Return (October 17, 2006) J Records/19 238,000^[10] N/A Peak: #8	(none)	(none)
6.	Fantasia (Season 3, Winner) 2,289,000	(not active yet)	Free Yourself (November 23, 2004) J Records 1,770,000^[4] Platinum^[11] Peak: #8	(none)	Fantasia (December 12, 2006) J Records 519,000^[1] Gold^[11] Peak: #19	(none)	(none)
7.	Jordin Sparks (Season 6, Winner) 971,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Jordin Sparks (November 20, 2007) Jive 971,000^[4] Platinum^[12] Peak: #10	(none)
8.	Kellie Pickler (Season 5, 6th Place) 927,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Small Town Girl (October 31, 2006) BNA Records 798,000^[1] Gold^[13] Peak: #9	(none)	Kellie Pickler (September 30, 2008) BNA Records 129,000^[1] N/A Peak: #9
9.	Josh Gracin (Season 2, 4th Place) 771,000	(not active yet)	Josh Gracin (June 15, 2004) Lyric Street 700,000^[1] Gold^[14] Peak: #11	(none)	(none)	(none)	We Weren't Crazy (April 1, 2008) Lyric Street 71,000^[1] N/A Peak: #33
10.	Bo Bice (Season 4, Runner-Up) 734,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	The Real Thing (December 13, 2005) RCA Records 672,000^[15]^[16] Gold^[17] Peak: #4	(none)	See the Light (October 23, 2007) StratArt 62,000^[1] N/A Peak: #150	(none)
11.	Taylor Hicks (Season 5, Winner) 707,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Taylor Hicks (December 12, 2006) Arista Records 703,000^[18] Platinum^[19] Peak: #2	(none)	Early Works (August 12, 2008) Modern Whomp Records 4,000^[1] N/A Peak: did not chart
12.	Elliott Yamin (Season 5, 3rd Place) 610,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Elliott Yamin (March 20, 2007) Hickory Records, RED Distribution 518,000^[1] Gold^[20] Peak: #3 Sounds of the Season (October 14, 2007) Hickory Records, RED Distribution 81,000^[21] N/A Peak: #32	My Kind of Holiday (October 7, 2008) TRP Records, Fontana Distribution 11,000^[1] N/A Peak: did not chart
13.	Jennifer Hudson (Season 3, 7th Place) 504,000	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	(not active yet)	Jennifer Hudson (September 30, 2008) Arista Records 504,000^[1] Gold^[22] Peak: #2

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 EPs, digital albums, or pre-Idol recordings):

	Former Contestant	Total Sales	Albums
1.	David Cook (Season 7, Winner)	582,000^[1]	David Cook (2008) #3
2.	David Archuleta (Season 7, Runner-Up)	430,000^[1]	David Archuleta (2008) #2
3.	Bucky Covington (Season 5, 8th Place)	391,000^[1]	Bucky Covington (2007) #4
4.	Katharine McPhee (Season 5, Runner-Up)	374,000^[1]	Katharine McPhee (2007) #2
5.	Blake Lewis (Season 6, Runner-Up)	304,000^[1]	A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) (2007) #10
6.	Kimberley Locke (Season 2, 3rd Place)	234,000^[16]^[18]	One Love (2004) #16 Based on a True Story (2007) #160
7.	Diana DeGarmo (Season 3, Runner-Up)	167,000^[4]	Blue Skies (2004) #52
8.	Mandisa (Season 5, 9th Place)	154,000^[23]^[1]	True Beauty (2007) #43 It's Christmas (2008) did not chart
9.	Justin Guarini (Season 1, Runner-Up)	143,000^[4]	Justin Guarini (2003) #20 Stranger Things Have Happened (2005) did not chart
10.	Tamyra Gray (Season 1, 4th Place)	123,000^[16]	The Dreamer (2004) #23
11.	LaToya London (Season 3, 4th Place)	58,000^[16]	Love & Life (2005) #82
12.	Chris Sligh (Season 6, 10th Place)	40,000^[23]^[1]	Running Back to You (2008) #190
13.	Phil Stacey (Season 6, 6th Place)	36,000^[1]	Phil Stacey (2008) #43
14.	Mario Vazquez (Season 4, Top 13)	34,000^[24]	Mario Vazquez (2006) #80
15.	George Huff (Season 3, 5th Place)	29,000^[16]	Miracles (2005) did not chart
16.	Kristy Lee Cook (Season 7, 7th Place)	27,000^[1]	Why Wait (2008) #49
17.	Constantine Maroulis (Season 4, 6th Place)	25,000^[10]	Constantine (2007) #75
18.	Paris Bennett (Season 5, 5th Place)	23,200^[10]^[1]	Princess P (2007) #133 A Royal Christmas (2008) did not chart
19.	R. J. Helton (Season 1, 5th Place)	22,000^[16]	Real Life (2004) did not chart
20.	John Stevens (Season 3, 6th Place)	21,000^[16]	Red (2005) did not chart
21.	Jasmine Trias (Season 3, 3rd Place)	14,000^[16]	Jasmine Trias (2005) did not chart
22.	Ace Young (Season 5, 7th Place)	9,000^[1]	Ace Young (2008) #160
23.	Jim Verraros (Season 1, 9th Place)	4,300^[16]	Rollercoaster (2005) did not chart
24.	Carmen Rasmusen (Season 2, 6th Place)	3,100^[16]	Nothin' Like the Summer (2007) did not chart
25.	Ayla Brown (Season 5, Top 16)	3,000^[25]	Forward (2006) did not chart
26.	Corey Clark (Season 2, 9th Place)	2,600^[16]	Corey Clark (2005) did not chart
27.	Jon Peter Lewis (Season 3, 8th Place)	1,600^[16]^[26]	Stories from Hollywood (2006) did not chart Break the Silence (2008) did not chart

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac Idol Chatter 12-17-08
^ ^a ^b ^c RIAA Search - Kelly Clarkson
^ ^a ^b RIAA Search - Carrie Underwood
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Idol Chatter 10-1-2008 Cite error: The named reference "Idol Chatter 10-1-2008" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b ^c RIAA Search - Clay Aiken
^ Idol Chatter 10-29-08
^ Caulfield, Keith. "Neil Diamond Shines With First No. 1 Album". Billboard. May 14, 2008.
^ RIAA Search - Daughtry
^ ^a ^b RIAA Search - Ruben Studdard
^ ^a ^b ^c Idol Chatter 6-11-2008
^ ^a ^b RIAA Search - Fantasia
^ RIAA Search — Jordin Sparks
^ RIAA Search - Kellie Pickler
^ RIAA Search - Josh Gracin
^ Idol Chatter 9-10-2008
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Idol Chatter 1-10-2008
^ RIAA Search - Bo Bice
^ ^a ^b [1]
^ RIAA Search - Taylor Hicks
^ RIAA Search - Elliott Yamin
^ Idol Chatter 1-16-2008
^ RIAA Search - Jennifer Hudson
^ ^a ^b Idol Chatter 12-3-2006
^ Idol Chatter 11-8-2006
^ Idol Chatter 6-25-2008
^ Idol Chatter 8-20-2008

[Idol_Chatter_12-17-2008-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac Idol Chatter 12-17-08

[RIAA_Search_—_Kelly_Clarkson-2] RIAA Search - Kelly Clarkson

[RIAA_Search_—_Carrie_Underwood-3] RIAA Search - Carrie Underwood

[Idol_Chatter_10-1-2008-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Idol Chatter 10-1-2008 Cite error: The named reference "Idol Chatter 10-1-2008" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[RIAA_Search_—_Clay_Aiken-5] RIAA Search - Clay Aiken

[Idol_Chatter_10-29-2008-6] Idol Chatter 10-29-08

[7] Caulfield, Keith. "Neil Diamond Shines With First No. 1 Album". Billboard. May 14, 2008.

[RIAA_Search_—_Daughtry-8] RIAA Search - Daughtry

[RIAA_Search_—_Ruben_Studdard-9] RIAA Search - Ruben Studdard

[Idol_Chatter_6-11-2008-10] Idol Chatter 6-11-2008

[RIAA_Search_—_Fantasia-11] RIAA Search - Fantasia

[RIAA-12] RIAA Search — Jordin Sparks

[RIAA_Search_—_Kellie_Pickler-13] RIAA Search - Kellie Pickler

[RIAA_Search_—_Josh_Gracin-14] RIAA Search - Josh Gracin

[Idol_Chatter_9-10-2008-15] Idol Chatter 9-10-2008

[Idol_Chatter_1-10-2008-16] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Idol Chatter 1-10-2008

[RIAA_Search_—_Bo_Bice-17] RIAA Search - Bo Bice

[Idol_Chatter_7-30-2008-18] [1]

[RIAA_Search_—_Taylor_Hicks-19] RIAA Search - Taylor Hicks

[RIAA_Search_—_Elliott_Yamin-20] RIAA Search - Elliott Yamin

[Idol_Chatter_1-16-2008-21] Idol Chatter 1-16-2008

[RIAA_Search_—_Jennifer_Hudson-22] RIAA Search - Jennifer Hudson

[Idol_Chatter_12-3-2008-23] Idol Chatter 12-3-2006

[Idol_Chatter_11-8-2006-24] Idol Chatter 11-8-2006

[Idol_Chatter_6-25-2008-25] Idol Chatter 6-25-2008

[Idol_Chatter_8-20-2008-26] Idol Chatter 8-20-2008

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