SINCE its inaugural season, American Idol has gone on to crown several winners.
Although most of the show's singers didn't finish in first place, some of them still saw success after they were eliminated.
Winning American Idol doesn't guarantee that the singer will always have the most success that season.
Unlike Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, or Jordin Sparks, who have won and have had worldwide success, other winners have not.
Many past winners have not made new music in years.
A ton of talent has walked onto the Idol set, but only a select few actually make it.
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These contestants, such as Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry, Katharine McPhee, and more, overcame their losses and still made an impression on America.
The twenty-first season of the show crowned its latest winner on May 21, 2023, on ABC.
American Idol is currently hosted by Ryan Seacrest and has Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan as judges.
Here are the top American Idol contestants, who did not win the show, but still made it big.
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JENNIFER HUDSON
Jennifer Hudson competed on the third season of Idol and shockingly came in seventh place.
Fantasia Barrino went on to win season three of the show.
She did not have as much success as Jennifer, who later became an EGOT winner.
Two years after competing on Idol, Jennifer started her acting career.
In 2005, she was cast as Effie White in the film adaptation of Dreamgirls, which also starred Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles and Eddie Murphy.
For that role, the Idol alum racked up 29 awards, including a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award, and even the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Jennifer went on to star in other films and shows such as Sex and the City, Sing, Cats, Hairspray Live!, The Color Purple, and more.
She did all of this while still having a successful singing career, with three studio albums to date.
The singer went on to win an Emmy award for the series Baba Yaga, and Grammy Awards for her self-titled album and The Color Purple soundtrack.
In 2022, Jennifer became the 17th EGOT winner when she won the Tony Award for the musical, A Strange Loop.
Currently, Jennifer is the host of the talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show.
ADAM LAMBERT
The entire country was in shock when Adam Lambert did not win season eight of American Idol.
Instead, Ryan declared Kris Allen as the winner.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Adam is currently worth $45 million.
He has earned that much money but being successful in both his solo career and by touring the world with the rock band, Queen.
His debut album, For Your Entertainment, debuted at number three on the US BIllboard 200.
The singer even received a Grammy nomination for his single, Whataya Want From Me.
Adam went on to release four more studio albums, with his most recent, High Drama, released this year.
He has come back many times to mentor contestants and perform on Idol, as recently as a few weeks ago.
The Idol runner-up has also been a judge on Clash of the Cover Bands and The X Factor.
Adam starred in five episodes of Glee and played Eddie in the TV movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.
In 2014, he started to tour with the band Queen around the world.
They dubbed themselves as Queen + Adam Lambert.
He took over as the lead singer, since Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991.
Currently, the band is set to tour North American in the fall.
KATHARINE MCPHEE
Katharine McPhee lost against Taylor Hicks on the fifth season of American Idol.
She captivated fans with her breath-taking cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, but just fell short of winning the title.
The Idol runner-up released her debut album in 2007, which sparked a Billboard Top 30 hit called Over It.
Katharine went on to release four more albums after that, as well as a Christmas album.
She also turned to acting to jumpstart her career, and starred in an episode of Ugly Betty and CSI:NY, and the film, The House Bunny, which also starred Anna Faris.
Katharine landed her breakout role in the show, Smash, in 2011.
Sadly, the show was canceled in 2013, after only two seasons.
After Smash ended, Katharine starred in the CBS Show, Scorpion.
The Idol runner-up went on to star in many other roles and made her Broadway debut in Waitress in 2018.
In 2021, Katharine went on to compete on the sixth season of The Masked Singer as the Banana Split with her husband, David Foster.
They were eliminated in the Group B Finale.
CHRIS DAUGHTRY
Right behind Katharine McPhee was Chris Daughtry in fourth place on season five.
Aside from Adam, Chris is the only Idol to be part of a successful band.
Daughtry released their self-titled album in 2006 and sold over six million copies in the United States alone.
The band received a Grammy nomination for their song, It's Not Over, at the 50th award show.
To this day, Daughtry is still currently together.
They have released six albums, with their most recent in 2021.
In 2019, Chris appeared on The Masked Singer at the Rottweiler.
He placed second, losing to Wayne Brady.
KELLIE PICKLER
Season five sparked a lot of Idol superstars, and Kellie Pickler is one of them.
She finished in sixth place that season.
Kellie released her debut album, Small Town Girl, in 2006, which later became certified gold by the RIAA.
The country singer went on to release three more albums, with her latest being in 2013.
Kellie's fame picked up again 2013 when she competed on the 16th season of Dancing With The Stars.
Unlike Idol, she won that competition show with six-time winner, Derek Hough.
From 2017 to 2019, Kellie co-host the talk show, Pickler and Ben, with comedian, Ben Aaron.
Currently, the Idol alum is a DJ on SiriusXM's country music station, The Highway.
TODRICK HALL
Most people might not know that dancer Todrick Hall competed on the ninth season of American Idol.
He made it to the top 16 contestants.
Lee DeWyze was declared the winner that season.
After losing the competition show, Todrick found fame in other ways, despite releasing four studio albums.
He created a successful YouTube channel, where he made comedy and singing videos.
In 2015, Todrick was part of the reality TV series, Todrick, which chronicled his work in the industry.
After that, the Idol alum became a choreographer and judge on RuPaul's Drag Race.
In 2019, he starred in Taylor Swift's You Need to Calm Down music video, alongside other members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Todrick was the runner-up on the sixth season of The Masked Singer, where he performed as the Bull mask.
Most recently, he competed on the third season of Celebrity Big Brother US, where he came in second place as well.
American Idol winners
American Idol is a reality TV show that currently airs on ABC.
TORI KELLY
Another successful singer that many people forget competed on Idol was Tori Kelly.
She made it to Hollywood Week on season nine, but was sadly eliminated by the judges.
Tori went on to release three studio albums, one Christmas album, and two EPS.
Her second album, Hiding Place, won her two Grammy awards.
Tori went on to voice Meena in the animated film, Sing, and its 2021 sequel, Sing 2.
The Idol alum auditioned for The Voice, but did not win.
She also competed on season four of The Masked Singer as the Seahorse and placed fourth.
JIMMIE ALLEN
Before making a name for himself in country music, Jimmie Allen competed on season 10 of American Idol.
Scotty McCreery took home the win that season.
Jimmie auditioned in Nashville and was voted through to the next round.
He made it to Las Vegas, although his audition was not televised.
The judges later told him that he did not make the Top 24.
Jimmie has released three albums so far, with his latest being in June 2022, as well as two EPs.
He became the first Black solo performer to win New Male Artist of the Year at the 2021 ACM Awards.
Jimmie also competed on the 30th season of Dancing With The Stars.
Him and his partner, Emma Slater, placed seventh.
GABBY BARRETT
Gabby Barrett might just be the most successful Idol contestant since the show was rebooted from FOX to ABC.
She finished third on the sixteenth season and lost against Maddie Poppe.
However, Gabby had major success with her debut single, I Hope.
The song became a top three hit on Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified 7x platinum.
She later released a version with Charlie Puth in April 2020.
So far, Gabby has only released one album, Goldmine, but has had much success with it.
She has won American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and Country Music Awards.
Gabby is married to fellow Idol contestant, Cade Foehner, and they have two children together.
Alan Ritchson
Although Alan Ritchson is known for his role in HBO's Titans, he made his TV debut in Idol season 3.
Ultimately, the competition wasn't for Alan; he was cut from the show during the second round of auditions in Los Angeles.
Regarding his short stint on Idol, he recalled to the Wall Street Journal: "Even though I was cut, I was enamored of the passion people had there for their art."
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Alan also admitted that his time on the program persuaded him to stay in Los Angeles.
He went on to appear in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Smallville, Fast X, and Reacher.
