American Idol Historical Successes

There was a question posed on EW's website on who was the most successful and least successful American Idol winner. The question was grazed without much thought and not really answered so I jumped on it and ran with the topic.

This list ranks the eleven Idol winners. It is based on CD sales, awards, gold and platinum sales as well as other music success since winning.

The ranking are based on numbers AFTER the person won Idol. Any albums released pre-Idol do not count.

Some are obvious, some are alot more difficult. So let's get started...

#1

What do you have to say about Carrie that hasn't already been said? She has won 116 awards, including five Grammys, sixteen Billboard Music Awards, and an amazing 34 country awards (CMA, ACM, ACA, CMT combined.) she has had sixteen songs hit gold/platinum, all four of his albums have been certified multi-platinum and ever became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. All this plus being an award show host and even the reason for a trade to bring her future husband from Ottawa to Nashville. That all before the age of 30. There was no doubt she is deserving to be on the top of this list.

#2

The original American Idol. Kelly is one of a kind, beautiful and has the best humble attitude. (Just wanted to say all that.) She has won 70 awards, including two Grammys and twelve Billboard Awards. She has had fourteen single skyrocket to the top, and all her albums except one has gone at least platinum. She's now one of the most well know women in pop music and still has a long career to go.

#3

Jordin has quietly become a name in the pop/R&B world. While her sales haven't been amazing, she has had four mega hits, including the star making duet with Chris Brown, No Air. She is currently the last female to win Idol and has made the most of it.

#4

The minute Scotty opened his mouth, everyone knew he would be a star. After he won Idol he entered a built in mega country world looking for a new young star. Since then he has won three country awards and he became the fastest male Idol winner to have an album certified platinum. With such a hot start, his career is already looking amazing.

#5

While I have never been a fan of Fantasia, you can't ignore her moderate success. While she never has had great sales success, she has fifteen awards to her credit into two Billboard Music Awards and awards for her role in The Color Purple on Broadway. She has had a rough life but does deserve her due.

#6

While David never became the rock star he expected to become, he's still a star. With two major hits, he deserves more credit then he gets and should actually be on the same level as Daughtry.

#7

Never is the history of Idol has someone actually had his coronation song get certified double platinum. You can't go anywhere without hearing Home, especially during the Olympics. His first album comes out in November and people are truly looking forward to it. In a world where a male Idol winner usually disappears, this unexpected success is amazing to see.

#8

After a lackluster R&B run, Ruben found his standing in Gospel. Unfortunately he has no real success to show it off. With only one award to his credit and nothing else, he's one of the biggest disappoint in Idol history.

#9

I really like Kris. His most recent album is really good, unfortunately most people didn't buy it or get into it. He has one has one major hit single and is the only Idol winner to pull his coronation song off the Idol tour set list. It's disappointing he's not more popular.

#10

 If you look at the list of Idol winners, you forget Taylor actually won. A fan favorite in his season never truly took off after the moderate success of his first album.

#11

If an Idol winner releases a second album, gets no press and no one buys it, did it really happen? That describes Lee's music career now. He actually did release an album last year and it was virtually unheard from. It's sad what has happened here, but it is fitting for the winner of the season that most fans hated.