Ruben Studdard

**Ruben Studdard** (born September 12, 1978) is an African-American singer. He won season 2 of American Idol. His runner up is Clay Aiken.

## Performances and results

|Week|Theme|Song|Original artist|Result|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Top 32|Contestant's choice|"Superstar (Delaney and Bonnie song)|Superstar"|Delaney & Bonnie|Advanced||||
|Top 12|Motown|"Baby I Need Your Loving"|Four Tops|Safe|||||
|Top 11|Movie Soundtracks|"A Whole New World" - _Aladdin_|Brad Kane & Lea Salonga|Safe|||||
|Top 10|Country rock|"Sweet Home Alabama"|Lynyrd Skynyrd|Safe|||||
|Top 8|Disco|"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe"|Barry White|Safe|||||
|Top 8|Billboard Number Ones|"Kiss and Say Goodbye"|The Manhattans|Safe|||||
|Top 7|Billy Joel|"Just the Way You Are (Billy Joel song)|Just the Way You Are"|Billy Joel|Safe||||
|Top 6|Diane Warren|"Music of My Heart"|'N Sync and Gloria Estefan|Safe|||||
|rowspan=2|Top 5|1960s|"Ain't Too Proud to Beg"|The Temptations|rowspan=2|Bottom 2|||
|Neil Sedaka|"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"|Neil Sedaka|||||||
|rowspan=2|Top 4|rowspan=2|Bee Gees|"Nights on Broadway"|Bee Gees|rowspan=2|Safe||
|"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"|Bee Gees||||||||
|rowspan=3|Top 3|Random|"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"|Stevie Wonder|rowspan=3|Safe|||
|Judges' Choice|"Smile" - _Simon Cowell_|Charlie Chaplin|||||||
|Idol's Choice|"If Ever You're in My Arms Again"|Peabo Bryson|||||||
|rowspan=3|Top 2|rowspan=3|Finale|"A House Is Not a Home (song)|A House Is Not a Home"|Dionne Warwick|rowspan=3|Winner|
|"Imagine"|John Lennon||||||||
|"Flying Without Wings"|Westlife||||||||

- <small> Corey Clark was taken out of the contest so the Top 9 performances became Top 8 when no one was taken out.</small>
- <small> When Ryan Seacrest said the results of this Studdard was at the Bottom 2. He was safe, as Trenyce was taken out of the contest.</small>

## Awards and nominations

- American Music Awards
    - 2004, Favorite Male R&B Artist: (Nominated)

- BET Awards
    - 2004, Best Male R&B Artist: (Nominated)
    - 2004, Best New Artist: (Nominated)

- 2005, Best Gospel Artist: (Nominated)

- Billboard Music Awards
    - **2003, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Sales Single - "Superstar/Flying Without Wings"**
    - **2005, Top Gospel Artist**
    - **2005, Top Gospel Album  -_I Need an Angel***

- Grammy Awards
    - 2004, Favorite Male R&B Vocal Performance - "Superstar": (Nominated)

- Image Awards
    - 2004, Outstanding Male Artist: (Nominated)
    - **2004, Outstanding New Artist: Won**

- Soul Train Awards
    - 2004, Best New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist: "Superstar": (Nominated)

- Teen Choice Awards
    - **2003, Choice Male Reality/Variety Star for _American Idol_: Won**

### Studio albums

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Album|colspan="4"|Chart Positions|rowspan="2"|Certifications (amount sold)|rowspan="2"|Sales|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2003|***Soulful*** * Released: December 9, 2003 * Label: J Records * Format: CD|align="center"|1|align="center"|1|align="center"|—|align="center"|—|* RIAA: Platinum|* US: 1,800,000|
|2004|***I Need an Angel*** * Released: November 23, 2004 * Label: J Records * Format: CD|align="center"|20|align="center"|6|align="center"|1|align="center"|—|* RIAA: Gold|* US: 483,000|
|2006|***The Return*** * Released: October 17, 2006 * Label: J Records * Format: CD, digital download|align="center"|8|align="center"|2|align="center"|—|align="center"|—||* US: 238,000|
|2009|***Love Is*** * Released: May 19, 2009 * Label: Hickory Records * Format: CD, digital download|align="center"|36|align="center"|8|align="center"|—|align="center"|5||* US: 50,000|
|2012|***Letters from Birmingham*** * Released: March 13, 2012 * Label: Shanachie Records * Format: CD, digital download|align="center"|73|align="center"|12|align="center"|—|align="center"|—||* US: 22,000|
|2014|***Unconditional Love*** * Released: February 4, 2014 * Label: The Verve Music Group * Format: CD, digital download|align="center"|46|align="center"|11|align="center"|—|align="center"|—||* US: 6,000|

### Compilation albums

Ruben has songs on an album that put together from songs on other albums
|rowspan="1"|Year|rowspan="1"|Album|rowspan="1"|Sales|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2010|***Playlist: The Very Best of Ruben Studdard*** *<small>Released January 26, 2010</small> *<small>Label: Sony Legacy</small>|* US: 3,500||||

### Singles

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Title|colspan="3"|Chart positions|rowspan="2"|Album||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2"|2003|"Flying Without Wings"|align="center"|2|align="center"|13|align="center"|27|Non-album single||
|"Superstar (Carpenters song)|Superstar"|align="center"|112|align="center"|2|align="center"|—|rowspan="3"|_Soulful_||
|rowspan="3"|2004|"Sorry 2004"|align="center"|9|align="center"|2|align="center"|—|||
|"What If"|align="center"|—|align="center"|47|align="center"|—|||||
|"I Need an Angel"|align="center"|—|align="center"|—|align="center"|32|_I Need an Angel_||||
|2006|"Change Me"|align="center"|94|align="center"|18|align="center"|1|rowspan="2"|_The Return (Ruben Studdard album)|The Return_|
|2007|"Make Ya Feel Beautiful"|align="center"|—|align="center"|32|align="center"|6||||
|2008|"Celebrate Me Home"|align="center"|—|align="center"|—|align="center"|—|single|||
|rowspan="2"|2009|"Together"|align="center"|—|align="center"|60|align="center"|—|rowspan="2"|_Love Is_|
|"Don't Make 'Em Like U No More"|align="center"|—|align="center"|32|align="center"|40|||||
|2012|"June 28th (I'm Single)"|align="center"||align="center"|73|align="center"|16|_Letters from Birmingham_|||
|2014|"Meant to Be"|align="center"|—|align="center"|—|align="center"|—|_Unconditional Love_|||

### Single certifications

|Year|Title|<small> CAN</small>|
| --- | --- | --- |
|2003|"Flying Without Wings"|3x Platinum|

### Other albums

- ***American Idol Season 2: All-Time Classic American Love Songs*** (2003)
    - "What the World Needs Now"  (with Season 2 Finalists)
    - "God Bless the U.S.A. (Proud to Be an American)" (with Season 2 Finalists)
    - Superstar
- ***American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics*** (2003)
    - "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
    - "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (American Idol Ensemble)
    - "This Christmas"
- ***Genius & Friends*** (2005)
    - "Imagine" with Ray Charles and The Harlem Gospel Singers
- ***Ain't Misbehavin**_' (2009 Cast Recording)
    - "Honeysuckle Rose" duet with Frenchie Davis
    - "The Jitterbug Waltz" with Patrice Covington & Company
    - "Lounging At The Waldorf" with Frenchie Davis, Trenyce Cobbins & Patrice Covington
    - "Your Feet's Too Big"

## Movies

- _Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed_ (2004)
- _Natural Born Komics_ (2006) (direct-to-DVD)
- _Lifted_ (2011)
- _The Perfect Gift_ (2011)

## Other websites

- Official Foundation site