Christopher Ruben Studdard (born
September 12,
1978) is an
American pop,
R&B, and
gospel singer. He rose to fame as winner of the
second season of
American Idol.
Biography
Early life
Studdard, who was born in
Frankfurt,
Germany while his father was stationed there with the U.S. Army, grew up in
Birmingham,
Alabama.
[Birmingham man The "American Idol" brings his Bible-Belt charm to Hawaii by Burl Burlingame, Star Bulletin, January 2, 2007, retrieved December 10, 2007] The youngest son of two teachers, at the age of three he sang for the first time at the Rising Star
Baptist Church in his hometown of
Birmingham,
Alabama. He continued singing
gospel in church, performing solos as a child while his mother sang in the local choir. While at
Huffman High School, he played
football and received a scholarship in that sport to
Alabama A&M University. While there he joined the
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity.
After growing up listening to his mother's
Donny Hathaway albums,
Fred Hammond, and gospel music, Studdard began to pursue a career in the music industry, majoring in voice studies at Alabama A&M, graduating in 2000. He sang with
Just a Few Cats, a popular local Birmingham jazz and R&B band founded by members of
Ray Reach's
UAB Jazz Ensemble, along with other local musicians. "A lot of people don't realize how hard I was trying to get into the business before
American Idol," Studdard related several years later. "I was making demos and just working so hard."
["The Idol's Idol", The Asbury Park Press, January 26, 2007.] A back-up singer from Just a Few Cats asked him to accompany her to
Nashville, Tennessee for an audition on the 2003 second season of "American Idol".
Personal life
On June 28, 2008, Studdard married Surata Zuri McCants in a short, private ceremony outside of Birmingham, Alabama. There was no singing during the 30-minute ceremony - just an exchange of vows, prayers and music provided by a string ensemble. Studdard wore a black tuxedo with white bow tie for the ceremony. His bride wore a white and ivory wedding gown.
[ ]
American Idol 2003
When auditioning, Studdard sang
Stevie Wonder's "
Ribbon in the Sky." This guided him to being one of the local finalists. On
American Idol, he impressed viewers with his performances of the
Leon Russell/
Bonnie Bramlett song "
Superstar" (originally a hit for
The Carpenters and
Luther Vandross) and the
Peabo Bryson/
Regina Belle duet "
A Whole New World"; during his time on the show, Studdard received praise from music legends such as
Lionel Richie,
Neil Sedaka,
Robin Gibb of the
Bee Gees,
Luther Vandross, and
Gladys Knight.
During the televised competition, Studdard gained the nickname "Velvet Teddy Bear" and was noted for his shirts printed with "205", the telephone
area code of his hometown of Birmingham. Studdard also did a
cover version of "For All We Know", originally recorded by Donny Hathaway, whose music he grew up with.
He won the contest over runner-up
Clay Aiken by only 134,000 votes out of 24,000,000 cast in the May 2003 finale
[ "American Idol Outrage: Your Vote Doesn't Count" by Deborah Starr Seibel, Broadcasting & Cable, 5/17/2004, retrieved April 8, 2006], becoming the second
American Idol winner and the first and only male (as well as the oldest winner) to hold that title until 2006, when fellow Birmingham native
Taylor Hicks won
Idols season five. On April 21, 2003, he also became the first American Idol
winner to end up in the bottom 2 or 3, while Fantasia Barrino was also in the bottom 2 or 3 twice in the following season.
Alabama Governor
Bob Riley declared
11 March 2003 as "Ruben Studdard Day".
[Ruben Studdard]
2003-2004: Soulful
Studdard released his first single, a cover of
Westlife's "
Flying Without Wings" (which he had sung on the show's finale), produced by the
Underdogs and Face, a month later in June 2003. Fueled largely by sales, it debuted at #2 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In December 2003, advance orders for his album
Soulful topped the 1 million mark before it was released into stores. The album debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 album chart that month, selling over 400,000 copies in its first week and attaining the highest first-week sales of any
American Idol winner. The single "
Sorry 2004" from this album found substantial airplay, reaching #9 in the
Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard
R&B singles chart. Studdard received a
Grammy Award nomination in December 2003 for
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Superstar", nominated with his idol
Luther Vandross (Vandross won that category). In March 2004, Ruben won the NAACP Outstanding New Artist award.
2004: I Need An Angel
Studdard released the gospel album
I Need an Angel on
November 23,
2004. The title track and first single "
I Need an Angel" was a cover of a
2002 single performed by
R&B singer
Daniel DeBourg and written by
R. Kelly. The
album sold over 96,000 copies in its first week, it also entered the Gospel charts at #1, opened at #20 on the
Billboard 200 chart, it since has sold over 500,000 copies. It was also #1 on the 2005 Billboard Year-End Gospel Albums Chart. As of June 2007, Studdard is the fifth-best selling
American Idol performer with more than 2.4 million albums sold in the U.S.
In
March 2005, Studdard filed a lawsuit against his godfather and business advisor Ronald Edwards. The suit alleges that Edwards ran up $156,000 on Studdard's credit cards and stole $90,000 from his checking account. Edwards filed a countersuit. On June 15, 2006, Studdard was awarded $500,000 for personal losses and another $1.5 million in punitive damages.
[Studdard wins lawsuit against ex-manager, The Baltimore Sun, June 17, 2006, accessed June 17, 2006]
Studdard has worked as an
actor in several, mostly minor, roles, including single-episode appearances on the television series
8 Simple Rules,
Life on a Stick,
All of Us, and
Eve, as well as a cameo appearance in the film
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. He has also appeared on a television commercial for a Birmingham-area
Kia dealer.
Between his second and third albums, Studdard began a diet and fitness program to deal with his weight, out of concern for a family history of
diabetes and
hypertension. Studdard lost over 70 pounds on a
vegetarian diet.
[An 'Idol' slims down, starts over, CNN, October 25, 2006] [Ruben Studdard slims down by going vegetarian]
2006-2008: The Return
Studdard's third album,
The Return was released in October 2006; it goes back to his R&B roots, but is different from his previous efforts. Studdard is collaborating with the artist
Ne-Yo on this album, along with a variety of producers. The single "
Change Me" was released ahead of the album.
The Return sold 71,000 copies in its first week to open at #8 on the
Billboard 200 album chart, but sales declined rapidly after that, not approaching those of his earlier albums. However, Studdard did have good success on the Urban Contemporary chart with "Change Me" (which reached #1) and its successor "
Make Ya Feel Beautiful". Studdard continued to tour saying he would play a variety of music: "Coming out to my show is like coming to my house. I'll play the songs I love. It's like a party. For me, a party has all different types of music happening."
Studdard appeared on
the finale of American Idol season 6 in May 2007. He spent a few weeks touring with
Robin Givens in the comedy-drama
Heaven I Need a Hug and prepared to take on the role of
Fats Waller in a national tour of
Ain't Misbehavin' in 2008.
[Ruben Studdard tours with Robin Givens in play, says he'll star in 'Ain't Misbehavin by Mary Colurso, AL.com, November 30, 2007, retrieved December 16,2007] The tour is scheduled to begin November 17, 2008 in Atlanta, GA and end May 14, 2009 in Syracuse, NY.
[Dates and Venues Announced for Studdard and Davis Ain't Misbehavin' Tour By Andrew Gans, Playbill, April 28, 2008, Retrieved 2008-06-11]
In December 2007, it was announced that Studdard had been dropped from his record company,
J Records, due to poor sales of
The Return and "
[1] short of expectations."
[SOHH Exclusive: J Records Drops Ruben Studdard | Daily Hip-Hop News | SOHH.com /] He remained under contract with 19 Recordings, however.
[Ruben Returns For 'Idol' Farewell Track by Ann Donahue on BillBoard.com (02-29-2008)] As such he was assigned the high-profile position of performing the
American Idol season 7 farewell song, a recording of
Kenny Loggins' "
Celebrate Me Home", in a new version produced by
Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam.
Studdard performed "Celebrate Me Home" live on
May 20,
2008 at the
Nokia Theatre for the first night of the two-night
Grand Finale of American Idol's seventh season.
Acting
Ruben appeared in an episode of
One On One as himself & in an episode of
All Of Us as an older Bobby. He also appeared in the
8 Simple Rules episode where CJ's dad comes; Ruben played a delivery boy who CJ mistakes for his father. He greets him by hugging him and saying, "You have always been my idol," referring to his win on
Idol. Studdard also appeared on an episode of
Eve as Paul, Janie's younger brother who has a huge crush on Shelly.
Awards and nominations
- BET Awards
- 2005, Best Gospel Artist: (Nominated)
- 2004, Best New Artist: (Nominated)
- 2004, Best Male R&B Artist: (Nominated)
- Grammy Awards
- 2004, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Superstar" (Nominated)
Discography
Albums
1
| —
| U.S sales: 1,700,000
RIAA: Platinum
|
| 2004
| I Need an Angel
| 20
| 1
| U.S sales: 450,000
RIAA: Gold
|
| 2006
| The Return
| 8
| —
| U.S sales: 413,000
RIAA: N/A
|
Singles
Filmography
end box
