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‘American Idol’ Winners Are Still Making Music — See What the Singers Are Doing Now!

During American Idol‘s past 21 seasons, the reality show has seen its fair share of winners. Of course, some singers stand out among the crowd like the first winner of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson. Since winning the show, she’s gone on to have a successful career in the music industry. But, what most would be surprised to know is that Kelly didn’t want to win Idol during her season due to a certain contractual obligation — and she’s not the only one out of the past winners of American Idol to feel this way.

“I do remember Justin [Guarini] and I having the conversation before, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to win, I don’t want to win,’ because we found out we had to do a movie,” the “Love So Soft” singer told Entertainment Weekly in 2017. “He really wanted to do a movie. And I really didn’t want to do a movie. I was like, ‘It would be really super cool if I got second and you got first, because the winner has to do the movie and the second one doesn’t.'”

kelly clarkson 'american idol' getty images

But, Kelly did end up beating Justin on Idol‘s debut season. Then they both starred in their movie, From Justin to Kelly, which she vowed to never show her children. Now, Kelly gets to witness the journey on the other side as a coach on The Voice. “It’s such a cool thing to have that leverage, to have an audience into you before you even have a record deal. I want to give someone that opportunity.”

There’s no denying that Kelly is one of the most successful American Idol winners in the show’s history, but what happened to the rest of the elite group of singers?

In addition to coaching on The Voice, Kelly has continued her successful singing career, with her 10th studio album, Chemistry, coming in June 2023. She’s also the host of her own daytime talk show, aptly named The Kelly Clarkson Show, on NBC.

There’s no denying that Kelly is among the most successful American Idol winners in the show’s history, but she’s certainly not the only one. Carrie Underwood, who won American Idol season 4, became another huge country name after her time on the competition. She went on to release nine studio albums and headline seven tours, including her “Denim & Rhinestones” tour from October 2022 to March 2023.

In May 2022, Carrie celebrated the 17th anniversary of her win by posting a journal entry from that night on her Instagram.

“I immediately started crying,” Carrie, then 22 years old, wrote in her diary of the moment her name was called. “It was a beautiful moment. All the other contestants were sent out to hug me. I was crying the whole time. Then I was asked to sing. I blubbered through ‘Inside Your Heaven.’”

In the caption of the post, Carrie wrote, “I still feel the excitement through the pages! Happy anniversary to me and a forever ‘thank you’ to all who voted!”

Not every winner has been as lucky as Kelly and Carrie, though. In May 2023, season 18 winner Samantha “Just Sam” Diaz, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, revealed via Instagram Stories that they are busking in New York City subways to make ends meet.

In the post’s caption, Just Sam revealed they were initially “super embarrassed” and “didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money” and that it wasn’t “optional.”

“I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry,” Just Sam wrote. “Since then, I have learned so much and I’ve been able to take my experiences and share them with other artists in hopes that they don’t experience the same things that I did when it comes to making it in this life.”

Curious about other Idol winners? Scroll through the gallery below to see what each season’s champion is up to today!