Ruben Studdard, both first and last names spelled with just a you.
Winning American Idol helped him get a lucrative recording deal and management contract. He has since appeared on various talk shows and does touring on the pop music scene (the same can be said of his Rival who came second in 2003, Clay Aiken). On the back of his 2003 win, Studdard released these albums Soulful (2003, sales ~1.5 million), I Need an Angel (2004, sales ~437,000) and The Return (2006, sales ~ 215,000). He also did some of the music on the 2004 Scooby Doo movie: Monsters Unleashed, where he also had a cameo part.
He's managed to also get in the news for things like suing his manager for money, and going on a vegetarian diet to slim down (still weighs at least 250 lbs, by most reports).
The sales trajectory on his albums has been notably downwards, and it may be that Studdard's star is waning. But he continues to do touring and the chat show circuit (when in demand). He's just appeared (4 April 2007) as the main star at a charity bash for the Helen Keller Foundation in Alabama.
Winning American Idol helped him get a lucrative recording deal and management contract. He has since appeared on various talk shows and does touring on the pop music scene (the same can be said of his Rival who came second in 2003, Clay Aiken). On the back of his 2003 win, Studdard released these albums Soulful (2003, sales ~1.5 million), I Need an Angel (2004, sales ~437,000) and The Return (2006, sales ~ 215,000). He also did some of the music on the 2004 Scooby Doo movie: Monsters Unleashed, where he also had a cameo part.
He's managed to also get in the news for things like suing his manager for money, and going on a vegetarian diet to slim down (still weighs at least 250 lbs, by most reports).
The sales trajectory on his albums has been notably downwards, and it may be that Studdard's star is waning. But he continues to do touring and the chat show circuit (when in demand). He's just appeared (4 April 2007) as the main star at a charity bash for the Helen Keller Foundation in Alabama.
