The best careers of 'American Idol' alumni

As time ticked away at "Idol," each new season yielded fewer and fewer household names, memorable performances, and one-off bits of wackiness that became viral in their own right. So Lee DeWyze ended up in many ways being one of the more memorable later-year winners, setting the strum-and-sing template that would later be embraced by the likes of Philip Phillips. His post-"Idol" set "Live It Up" was his only release to make any real chart action, but in 2014, his "Blackbird Song" was used very memorably in an episode of "The Walking Dead," showing that even though you probably didn't realize he put out an album in 2018, DeWyze will go down as one of the more memorable winners in the show's back half.

Love him or hate him, Sanjaya's faux-hawked presence during the show's sixth season definitely made an impression. Although the coordinated campaign to try and get him to win despite some arguably lesser performances dominated headlines for weeks on end, Sanjaya has done a good job of mitigating his career since then, showing up a variety of reality shows and even doing a full stint on "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" While his music never garnered much attention, Sanjaya lived out his 15 minutes of fame, even penning a book about his time on there called "Dancing to the Music in My Head: Memoirs of the People's Idol."

While "Idol" has never been short on developing country superstars, McCreery was much more of a traditionalist than his other contemporaries, frequently citing the likes of Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and George Strait as his heroes. Despite the awkward title of his coronation song "I Love You This Big," McCreery drove his singles hard, with a multitude of them going platinum. Despite his "Idol" pedigree, the country community embraced him in turn, soon giving him both ACA and CMT Awards. Scotty even scored a Gold-certified single in 2017, showing that he has no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Pickler stood out from the rest of her fellow "Idol" contestants due to her distinct, bubbly personality, which was unfortunately not something totally reflected on her subsequent records. However, that didn't stop Pickler from turning into a household name, soon putting her efforts into "Dancing With the Stars," eventually winning season 16 of that show with dance partner Derek Hough. Nowadays she hosts a daytime talk show with Ben Aaron called, appropriately enough, "Pickler & Ben," proving that she really is living out the best days of her life.

Soul Patrol unite! The silver-haired winner of the fifth season of "Idol" holds a tie for being the oldest champion (season 14 victor Nick Fradiani was also 29 when he won), but his post-"Idol" career has been a whirlwind. While the expected "Idol" curse of having an album followed by diminishing returns still holds true, Hicks got himself out there, making surprise appearances during Jimmy Fallon tapings and even poking fun at himself by being a judge on a fictional singing competition show on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU." Also, "Weird Al" Yankovic did a parody of his coronation song, turning "Do I Make You Proud" to "Do I Creep You Out," which is a surefire wat to make sure you have a permanent place in the pop music firmament.

There are coronation songs, and then there's "Home" by Phillip Phillips. Arriving at the perfect pop moment when the Mumford & Sons/Lumineers brand of stomp-and-strum folk-pop was in vogue, Phillips launched onto the scene with a single that didn't just have a great starting week: it legit got picked up by Top 40 radio, the song staying on the charts and eventually going platinum four times over. Followup "Gone, Gone, Gone" also hit the Top 40 and went platinum, making everyone wonder if Phillips really was going to be as big as Kelly or Carrie. That didn't prove to be the case, but Phillips has nonetheless been able to put out multiple records and tour behind them with genuine fan support. Some have gone as far as to say that he was the last truly memorable late season winner, which is certainly a bold claim but not without merit.

Despite looking like a Nick Kroll character, season seven champ David Cook had a genuine classic hard-rock vocalist scream, and he wasn't afraid to use it. His coronation song "The Time of My Life" was pretty MOR pop balladry, but his first true-blue solo single "Light On" was a true-blue pop hit, hitting the Billboard Top 40 (as did his charity single "Permanent," which he performed during season eight). His albums since his big self-titled effort have faced the kind of slump typical of most "Idol" winners, but it was recently announced that after teasing new music for most of 2017, he'll start off 2018 by performing in "Kinky Boots" on Broadway. Sounds like he's Cookin' up something good for the next phase of his career.

The season three winner of "American Idol" has proven to be nothing but a powerhouse in all the years since her victory. Her albums regularly debut within the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts, her Broadway and touring credentials are never in question, and she's managed to net herself an astounding 12 Grammy nominations, so far winning once in 2010 for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" for her single "Bittersweet." We all believed she'd turn into a genuine star, and she has proven us right ever since.

At first, Katharine McPhee fell into the typical post-"Idol" trappings: she was runner-up in her season, so of course put out an album that did moderately well, only to run into diminishing returns since then – we know that. What makes McPhee a special case is that she managed to pivot into acting with remarkable ease. First, she appeared in the loved/derided musical TV show "Smash," then ended up leading the CBS investigative drama "Scorpion" and will soon take over the lead role in "Waitress" on Broadway. And she's still putting out music on top of that. She seems to have truly found her destiny.

In some people's minds, Clay Aiken was the real winner of season two over the Velvet Teddy Bear himself, Ruben Studdard. However, in the post-"Idol" world, Aiken has been making nothing but headlines. While his singing career resulted in a few platinum certifications, he's been active in multiple mediums. In the culture, he famously came out as gay in 2008, ending years of speculation. In television, he was the runner-up (again) in a season of "The Celebrity Apprentice." In politics, he actually won the 2014 Democratic primary in running for North Carolina's 2nd congressional district, but lost the general election. He's always got something in the works, so it looks like Clay won't be going invisible on us any time soon.

A lot of singers tend to bask in their post-"Idol" glow for about a year or so. Their album usually goes platinum, they have a song in the Top 40, but after that – well, you got to make some smart choices. While Chris Daughtry came in fourth during his season, he's transformed into a genuine rock star, landing no less than eight Top 40 hits and seeing his debut album go platinum four times over. As if that wasn't enough, he also portrayed Judas in the 2016 live Fox musical "The Passion." He is looking to keep charging forward as well, as his 2016 greatest hits compilation was somewhat pompously called "It's Not Over....The Hits So Far."

After winning season six of "Idol," Sparks' coronation song was "This is My Now." However, it was everything she did since that "now" that cemented her legacy, as her self-titled debut, released in 2007, was chock full of hits, the most notable of which was her Chris Brown duet "No Air," which still gets radio play even to this day. That song netted her a Grammy nomination, but that was nothing compared to her next big project: the 2012 film "Sparkle," where she starred as the main character (a struggling singer) across from none other than Whitney Houston.

To have a list like this and not include Adam Lambert? The Glamberts would be furious! But truly, the fiercely gay, mega-talented Lambert has navigated his post-"Idol" career well, with his fan base showing up in force for every album release. His debut set "For Your Entertainment" had songs written by Justin Hawkins of the Darkness, Pink, and Lady Gaga, showing the kind of people who were drawn to Lambert's forceful energy. Yet of all his endeavors, he's perhaps struck no greater chord than in collaborating with the rock band Queen, proving to be an adept fill-in for the late, great Freddie Mercury on a variety of tours over the past few years.

Jennifer Hudson has become such a force of nature in the entertainment industry that you almost forget that she placed seventh during her run in season three of "Idol." Of course, her role in the 2006 film "Dreamgirls" is most notable of all, earning her both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She won a Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2008 and then won another one for Best Musical Theater Album in 2016 for her revival of "The Color Purple." These days she can be seen in everything from Spike Lee films to brief arcs on "Empire" to even playing Motormouth Maybelle during "Hairspray Live!" It's been well over a decade since we saw J-Hud on "Idol," and we're happy that we're going to be talking about her for years to come.

In many ways, Kelly is still "the" American Idol. Go ahead: get all your "From Justin to Kelly" jokes out of the way now, because everything else since then is nothing short of impressive. She has too many hits to name in one article, fought her record label for artistic freedom (look it up – it's really a fascinating tale), has three Grammy wins off of an astounding 14 nominations, and even showed up recently on the chart-topping "Hamilton Mixtape." Having sold over 25 million albums worldwide, it's safe to say that our lives would suck without her.

Todrick has become such a force of pop culture unto himself that you can be forgiven if you actually forgot that he first showed up on "Idol." While his original composition that he sang during his audition endeared himself to the judges, his career since then has been unstoppable: his YouTube channel is filled to the brim with clever music videos and cultural parodies, he's been a guest on countless TV shows (both as himself and as an actor), MTV had a docuseries made about him, and he now is playing iconic characters on Broadway staples like "Chicago." Oh, and he guested in one of the biggest pop music videos of 2017. We'll be hearing about Todrick for a long time to come.

While William Hung's ill-advised, horrifically off-key audition of "She Bangs" went down in infamy during his audition round in season three his kind and accepting attitude towards the critiques he received endeared him to a nation. Thus, when you think of "American Idol," you're more likely to think of Hung than, say, virtually anyone off of the last three seasons. Hung played his part well, putting out an album that didn't do the worst and even a holiday-themed EP called (wait for it) "Hung for the Holidays." And let's not forget his great "Arrested Development" bit where he headed up the band "The Hung Jury" to sing the theme song to the imaginary court TV show "Mock Trial with Judge Reinhold." Now that's a career (that he's since retired from).

Constantine could've very well gone down as an "American Idol" also-ran, spinning off his sixth-place finish in season four into a middling rock-vocalist career (and, to be fair, he did put out two lackluster and already-forgotten albums). However, Maroulis found his calling in going to Broadway. While more than a few "Idol" alums have taken this route, few have had quite the level of success that Constantine had, originating the role of Drew Boley for the original Broadway production of "Rock of Ages." Outside of his stellar notices – in which he turned a hair metal jukebox musical into something actually substantial – Maroulis ended up scoring a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Few other "Idol" alums can boast this distinct triumph.

While Kelly Clarkson set the template for what a successful post-"Idol" career can look like, it was Carrie Underwood who perfected it, transforming herself from contest winner into one of the reigning queens of country music. Worldwide, she's sold some 65 million records, making her the undisputed most successful "Idol" winner of all time. Hell, even the negative reviews of her Maria von Trapp in 2013's "The Sound of Music Live!" didn't stop her reign: the following year she won a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance – her seventh win out of 14 nominations. There's just no stopping Carrie.

Some of you might be thinking "...who?" – but bear with us. Yet another alumnus of the star-making machine that was "American Idol" season three, Ritchson's extremely personal audition for Paula Abdul was enough to get him through to Hollywood, even though he flamed out there. However, this handsome model soon spun off his national TV exposure into a bit of an acting career, eventually playing Aquaman in "Smallville," having a recurring role on the show "Blue Mountain State," voicing Raphael in the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies, playing Gloss in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," and even had a small but notable role in the "Black Mirror" episode "Nosedive" with Bryce Dallas Howard. His time on "Idol" was brief, but his acting career is anything but.