What Every "American Idol" Winner Is Up to Now

Kelly Clarkson was crowned the very first winner of "American Idol" in 2002 and has gone on to have an incredibly successful career. Since then, she's released nine studio albums, and her 10th album, "Chemistry," is out this summer. She's garnered an incredible 15 Grammy nominations and taken home three trophies.

On the TV side, Clarkson's served as a coach on "The Voice" for nine of the show's seasons, and in 2019, her own talk show, "The Kelly Clarkson Show," premiered. It's won 11 Daytime Emmys so far, including three for Clarkson's talents as host. Plus, we couldn't be more obsessed with her "Kellyoke" covers she frequently does on the show.

After beating out Clay Aiken in season two of the show in 2003, Ruben Studdard released seven studio albums, including his debut, "Soulful," which reached No. 1 on the US charts and featured his winner's single, "Flying Without Wings." In December 2018, he made his Broadway theater debut in a show with Aiken called "Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show."

Studdard and Aiken appeared together on the 2023 "American Idol" finale and sang with the show's newest final two contestants.

Fantasia Barrino — who also goes by her married name, Fantasia Taylor — has kept busy since winning season three of "Idol" in 2004. She's released seven albums, headlined three tours, made numerous TV appearances, and brought home a Grammy Award in 2011 for female R&B vocal performance. She starred in the Broadway productions of "The Color Purple" and "After Midnight." She's now set to star in the movie version of "The Color Purple" musical as the older version of Celie.

Carrie Underwood used the launchpad of "American Idol" — which she won in 2005 — to become one of the most successful country singers of all time. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to ever debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. She has released nine studio albums and overall has more than 85 Billboard No. 1s.

Taylor Hicks beat Katharine McPhee to win "Idol" in 2006 and then released his winner's single, "Do I Make You Proud?" He's since released three studio albums and spent a period of time playing Teen Angel in "Grease" on Broadway. He continues to make music and has performed in regional theater.

Jordin Sparks won "Idol" when she was just 17 in 2007, and she's still the youngest winner of all time. Her debut single, "Tattoo," peaked at No. 8 on the US charts and led to her self-titled debut album. In 2009, she was invited to perform at former President Barack Obama's inaugural ball and released her second album later that year. Since then, she's dropped two more albums, made various film and television appearances, and appeared on Broadway as Nina in "In the Heights" and as the lead in "Waitress." In 2021, she competed on "The Masked Singer," and a year later, she was a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars."

Scotty McCreery released his debut album, "Clear as Day," soon after winning the 10th season of "American Idol" in 2011, and it quickly went platinum. He has since released three more studio albums and wrote a book in 2016 titled "Go Big or Go Home" about his life. He married his longtime girlfriend, Gabi Dugal, in the summer of 2018, documenting the big day in his video for "This Is It." That song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. In 2020, he released his new album, "You Time." In March 2023, he was featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's newest exhibit, "American Currents: State of the Music."

Candice Glover auditioned for "Idol" a few times before taking the crown in the 12th season, which aired in 2013. Her debut album, "Music Speaks," was released immediately following her win and reached No. 3 on the US R&B chart. She hasn't yet released another album, but she did take part in a holiday stage production in NY with fellow music-show alums in 2017. Per her Instagram, she graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2022.

Maddie Poppe beat out Caleb Lee Hutchinson to win the first rebooted season of "American Idol," which aired in 2018. She's released two singles since winning the show, "Going, Going, Gone" and "Keep On Movin' On." She released an album called "Whirlwind" in 2019, and in 2020, she released "Christmas From Home." She's released four nonalbum singles since 2022, including "Screw You a Little Bit" and "Good Enough to Let You Go" this year.

Laine Hardy was crowned the victor of season 17 in 2019. In 2021, he released his album "Here's to Anyone."

He was arrested in 2022 for allegedly bugging an ex-girlfriend's dorm room. In April 2023, the East Baton Rouge district attorney's office said he had enrolled in a pretrial diversion program and would not be formally charged if he followed the conditions set for him, per The Advocate.

Chayce Beckham won season 19 of "American Idol" in 2021. The country singer released his EP "Doin' It Right" in 2022.

Iam Tongi was crowned the newest winner on May 21, 2023. His first single is "I'll Be Seeing You."