On March 20th, Paul Grein at Chart Watch published an interesting list about American Idol artists. There are 15 former contestants that have sold 500,000 or more albums. Of the top five, only three won the crown of American Idol. The following is the list of top Idols in sales of albums.
| 1. | Kelly Clarkson | 9,836,000 |
| 2. | Carrie Underwood | 9,408,000 |
| 3. | Clay Aiken | 4,896,000 |
| 4. | Daughtry | 4,413,000 |
| 5. | Ruben Studdard | 2,487,000 |
| 6. | Fantasia | 2,309,000 |
| 7. | Jordin Sparks | 1,053,000 |
| 8. | David Cook | 1,029,000 |
| 9. | Kellie Pickler | 990,000 |
| 10. | Josh Gracin | 780,000 |
| 11. | Bo Bice | 735,000 |
| 12. | Taylor Hicks | 719,000 |
| 13. | Jennifer Hudson | 669,000 |
| 14. | David Archuleta | 665,000 |
| 15. | Elliott Yamin | 630,000 |
There are many more Idols that have recorded albums. Many have had moderate success and some have sold less than 5,000
There are some interesting facts that show up when you see a list like this.
Clay Aiken has sold more albums than any other male singer in Idol history. He has also sold more albums than any other singer that didn’t win the competition.
Country artists seem to have had more overall success than any other genre.
Idol contestants have sold LOTS of albums and there are a lot of very talented young artist that have come through the the Idol Machine.
Congratulations to each musical star. They are seeing their dreams come true.