Ruben Studdard

S2 · Winner

As of September 6, 2025

Ruben Studdard performs as a solo R&B singer. His official website listed 2025 concert dates from July 30 to September 6, 2025, in Detroit, Temecula, Portsmouth, Old Saybrook and Boston. His latest studio album, The Way I Remember It, came out on SoNo Recording Group (SRG/ILS) in October 2023, and in 2024 he competed with Clay Aiken on The Masked Singer.⁠[1][2][3]

Career

After the show

  1. June 10, 2003His debut single, a cover of "Flying Without Wings" issued with "Superstar", came out in June 2003 and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.⁠[11]
  2. December 9, 2003His debut album Soulful (J Records) was released on December 9, 2003, and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1.⁠[3][8]
  3. November 23, 2004Released the gospel album I Need an Angel, which entered the gospel albums chart at No. 1 and the Billboard 200 at No. 20.⁠[3]
  4. October 17, 2006Released his third album, The Return, which opened at No. 8 on the Billboard 200; its lead single "Change Me" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Urban Contemporary (Adult R&B) chart.⁠[3]
  5. July 23, 2010–August 14, 2010Toured the United States and Canada with Clay Aiken on the joint Timeless tour.⁠[3]
  6. 2011Signed with Shanachie Entertainment, which released his fifth studio album, Letters from Birmingham, in March 2012.⁠[3]
  7. 2013Moved to Verve Records, which released his album Unconditional Love, made with label chairman David Foster, on February 4, 2014; it entered the Billboard 200 at No. 46.⁠[3][14]
  8. March 9, 2018Released Ruben Sings Luther, an album of Luther Vandross songs on SEG Music, and toured to support it.⁠[3]
  9. 2023Signed with the SRG/ILS Group (SoNo Recording Group), which released his eighth studio album, The Way I Remember It, on October 27, 2023.⁠[2][3][15]
  10. 2023Toured the United States and Canada with Clay Aiken on Twenty The Tour, marking 20 years since their Idol season.⁠[3][16]
  11. July 30, 2025–September 6, 2025His official website listed solo concert dates from July 30 to September 6, 2025, in Detroit, Temecula, Portsmouth (Virginia), Old Saybrook and Boston.⁠[1]

Discography

TitleTypeYearLabelRIAA certificationU.S. sales
Flying Without Wings⁠[11][17]Single2003J RecordsGold⁠[3][9][11]
Soulful⁠[3][17]Album2003J RecordsPlatinum⁠[3][8][9]1,792,000⁠[18][19]March 27, 2013
I Need an Angel⁠[3][17]Album2004J RecordsGold⁠[3][9][10]483,000⁠[3][18][20]March 25, 2009
The Return⁠[3][17]Album2006J Records238,000⁠[3][18][20]March 25, 2009
Love Is⁠[3][17]Album2009Hickory Records50,000⁠[3][18][21]date not given
Playlist: The Very Best of Ruben Studdard⁠[3]Compilation2010Legacy Recordings
Letters from Birmingham⁠[3][17]Album2012Shanachie Entertainment22,000⁠[3][22]February 7, 2014
Unconditional Love⁠[3][17]Album2014The Verve Music Group
Ruben Sings Luther⁠[3][17]Album2018SEG Music
The Way I Remember It⁠[2][3][17]Album2023SoNo Recording Group

Awards

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2004Grammy AwardsBest Male R&B Vocal Performance⁠[12][13]SuperstarNominated

Other activity

  • 2008Played Fats Waller as the headliner of a national touring revival of the musical Ain't Misbehavin', with Idol alumni Trenyce and Frenchie Davis, and sang on its 2009 cast recording.⁠[3]
  • 2013Competed as a contestant on the fifteenth season of NBC's The Biggest Loser; the season finale aired on February 4, 2014.⁠[3]
  • December 7, 2018Made his Broadway debut with Clay Aiken in Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show at the Imperial Theatre.⁠[3]
  • 2024Competed with Clay Aiken as the costumed duo "Beets" on season 11 of The Masked Singer and was eliminated in the Group B finals.⁠[3]

Sources

22 sources

  1. Ruben Studdard Official 2025 Tour Dates — RubenStuddard.com. Label or artist. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (2)
    • Tour dates list (July 30 to September 6, 2025): “Ruben Studdard Official 2025 Tour Dates”
    • Tour dates list: “Ruben Studdard Official 2025 Tour Dates”
  2. Ruben Studdard Shares New Album 'The Way I Remember It' — Rated R&B, published October 27, 2023. News report. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (2)
    • Article body: “The Way I Remember It, via SoNo Recording Group (SRG/ILS)”
    • Article body: “10-track project”
  3. Ruben Studdard (Wikipedia revision 1378845648) — Wikipedia, updated October 6, 2026. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (8)
    • Career, 2019-present section: “In 2024, Studdard paired up with Clay Aiken when they competed in eleventh season of The Masked Singer”
    • Lead sentence: “born September 12, 1978”
    • Infobox, Born line (birth_date): {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1978|9|12}}
    • Discography, Studio albums table, Soulful row, Certifications column: “RIAA: Platinum”
    • Discography, Studio albums table, I Need an Angel row, Certifications column: “RIAA: Gold”
    • Discography, Single certifications table, Flying Without Wings row, USA column (Gold)
    • Career, 2006-2008 section: “In December 2007, Studdard had been dropped from his record company, J Records”
    • Career, 2006-2008 section: “He remained under contract with 19 Recordings”
  4. American Idol season 2 — Wikipedia, updated September 16, 2026. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (2)
    • Elimination chart row Ruben Studdard: Pl. 1, Winner in the Finale column (5/21); ratings table episode 'American Idol Season 2 Finale', May 21, 2003
    • Lead section: “The second season was won by Ruben Studdard, who defeated Clay Aiken by 134,000 votes out of the 24 million votes recorded.”
  5. List of American Idol finalists — Wikipedia, updated June 10, 2026. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (1)
    • Contestants table, row Ruben Studdard: season 2, place finish Winner
  6. Ruben wins 'Idol' by slim margin — Lawrence Journal-World (Knight Ridder Newspapers), published May 22, 2003. News report. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (1)
    • Article text: “Ruben Studdard, a mammoth man with dimples and an infectious smile, is the new American Idol.”
  7. TV singing shows fail to create stars — USA Today, published January 14, 2014. News report. Retrieved October 8, 2026.
    Cited parts (3)
    • Table header: “Artist (Year on American Idol) | downloads | album sales”
    • Artist row, album-sales column: “Ruben Studdard (Winner, 2003) | 438,000 | 2,584,000”
    • Table caption: “Top-selling singing-competition artists ranked by career sales in single-track downloads and albums (physical and digital). Source: Nielsen SoundScan”
  8. Soulful (Ruben Studdard album) (Wikipedia revision 1330312705) — Wikipedia, updated December 30, 2025. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (3)
    • Commercial performance section; Certifications table (United States, Platinum, cert year 2004): “was certified Platinum by the RIAA in January 2004”
    • Infobox, Label field (J, 19; released December 9, 2003)
    • Commercial performance section: “The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 417,000 copies in its first week”
  9. RIAA Gold & Platinum search: Ruben Studdard — RIAA. Official record. Cited by another source; not opened by our researchers.
  10. I Need an Angel (album) (Wikipedia revision 1292800777) — Wikipedia, updated May 28, 2025. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (1)
    • Certifications table, United States row (Gold; certification year 2005 in the table source)
  11. Flying Without Wings (Wikipedia revision 1358054752) — Wikipedia, updated June 6, 2026. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (4)
    • Ruben Studdard version, Certifications table, United States row (Gold; certification year 2003 in the table source)
    • Ruben Studdard version infobox, Label field (J, 19, S; released 2003)
    • Ruben Studdard version section: “The single was released on 10 June and charted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 on 28 June”
    • Ruben Studdard version infobox (released 10 June 2003; A-side Superstar; labels J, 19, S)
  12. Ruben Studdard Grammy Awards and Nominations — Recording Academy. Official record. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (1)
    • Grammy record: 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004), Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Superstar, Nominee; totals 0 wins, 1 nomination
  13. 46th Annual Grammy Awards (Wikipedia revision 1378378782) — Wikipedia, updated October 4, 2026. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (1)
    • Lead (ceremony date) and R&B section (Best Male R&B Vocal Performance won by Luther Vandross): “as chosen by the members of the Recording Academy, on February 8, 2004”
  14. Ruben Studdard to Release New CD Unconditional Love on Verve Records Feb 4th — PR Newswire, published November 18, 2013. Label or artist. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (2)
    • First paragraph: “it was announced today by his label, Verve Records”
    • First paragraph: “Ruben Studdard will be releasing Unconditional Love, his first studio album in two years, it was announced today by his label, Verve Records.”
  15. SRG-ILS Group Signs 'American Idol' Winner Ruben Studdard — Music Connection, published March 31, 2023. News report. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (1)
    • Article body: “The SRG/ILS Group welcomes R&B crooner Ruben Studdard.”
  16. Clay Aiken & Ruben Studdard Are Going on Tour Together in 2023: Here Are the Dates — Billboard, published December 12, 2022. News report. Cited by another source; not opened by our researchers.
  17. MusicBrainz release groups for Ruben Studdard (artist 5f5efe60-0461-4c3a-bad9-93d1eaa72da1) — MusicBrainz. Release database. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (8)
    • Release group Flying Without Wings and Superstar (Single, 2003)
    • Release group Soulful (Album, 2003-12-09)
    • Release group I Need an Angel (Album, 2004-11-23)
    • Release group The Return (Album, first release date 2006-09-25)
    • Release group Love IS (Album, 2009-05-19)
    • Release group Letters From Birmingham (Album, 2012-03-13)
    • Release group Unconditional Love (Album, 2014-02-04)
    • Release group Ruben Sings Luther: A Tribute (Album, 2018)
  18. List of American Idol alumni album sales in the United States — Wikipedia, updated September 21, 2026. Reference work (secondary). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
    Cited parts (4)
    • Artists with sales of 500,000 or more albums table, Ruben Studdard row, Soulful cell (footnote: Yahoo Chart Watch, 2013-03-27): “1,792,000”
    • Ruben Studdard row, I Need an Angel cell: “483,000”
    • Ruben Studdard row, The Return cell: “238,000”
    • Artists with sales of 500,000 or more, Ruben Studdard row, Love Is: “Love Is (May 19, 2009) Hickory Records 50,000”
  19. Chart Watch Extra: Phillips Takes Idol Title — Yahoo Music (Chart Watch, Paul Grein), published March 27, 2013. News report. Cited by another source; not opened by our researchers.
  20. Ruben Studdard Reconnects With 'Love Is' — Billboard, published March 25, 2009. News report. Cited by another source; not opened by our researchers.
  21. Does Winning American Idol Even Matter Any More — Yahoo Music. News report. Cited by another source; not opened by our researchers.
  22. Upcoming Releases — Hits Daily Double, published February 7, 2014. News report. Cited by another source; not opened by our researchers.

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