A countdown of "American Idol" alums' biggest Hot 100 hits ever - and the untold stories behind the songs.
When “American Idol” premiered on Fox-TV on June 11, 2002, it was far from certain that the “Search for a Superstar” (the show’s subtitle) was going to produce one. Music critics didn’t give the series much credibility and radio did not go out of its way to play songs by “Idol” finalists. The industry should have known better, based on the success of “Pop Idol” in the United Kingdom. The first of that show’s two seasons did produce two superstars, in Will Young and Gareth Gates. Young’s first record, “Anything Is Possible” / “Evergreen,” became the fastest-selling single in U.K. history and is the best-selling single of the 21st century. Gates’ first release, a remake of “Unchained Melody,” debuted at No. 1 on the official U.K. singles chart and was certified double platinum. The stage was set for similar success in America but there was no guarantee.
Then along came Kelly Clarkson, though the singer from Burleson, Texas, was not an obvious winner in the early days of season one of “American Idol.” Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe says, “Justin Guarini and Tamyra Gray, we all said right from the beginning, those two. Tamyra was going to win. Kelly didn’t come through. The only thing that stood out was her humor. It was only when we got into the top 10 that all of a sudden, [when Kelly sang] people would stand there open-mouthed.”
Clarkson demonstrated her sense of humor by switching places with Randy Jackson during her audition, but later, when she walked out on the set for the first time, Jackson leaned over to Paula Abdul and said “Who is that? Who is she??” Debra Byrd, vocal coach on “Idol” from season one to the beginning of season 11, explains, “They didn’t remember her. Kelly later said that was her fault. She had changed her look and her hair. But she just wasn’t on their radar.”
Eleven years later, Clarkson is still very much on the radar, dominating the list of “Idol’s” top 100 songs on the Hot 100. She has 18 songs in the top 100, including six in the top 10, two of which rank No. 1 and No. 2.
Clarkson isn’t the only “Idol” to become a superstar. When the top 11 of season four were assigned the theme, “Billboard’s number one hits,” Carrie Underwood sang Heart’s “Alone.” After her performance, Simon Cowell made a bold prediction: “Not only will you win this show, you will sell more records than any other previous Idol winner.” Turns out, he was right. (“I’m sure he must love that,” Underwood laughs). Underwood is the best-selling Idol in the U.S. (Clarkson is tops internationally) and has more songs on the Idol 100 than anyone, with 20.
The success of “Idol” is even bigger than Clarkson and Underwood. The franchise has produced 379 No. 1s to date, counting all national and domestic charts compiled by Billboard. So far, 68 finalists from the first 11 seasons have appeared on the Billboard charts.
To coincide with the first live shows of season 12, here are the top 100 songs by Idols based on chart performance on the Hot 100, with the stories behind the songs, many of them being told for the first time.
20
"Walk Away" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 12 (2006)
"'Walk Away' is so much fun to sing," says Clarkson. "To me, it's like a Prince/Annie Lennox/Aerosmith song. It's very in-your-face. I absolutely love the Annie Lennox part in the bridge. The label didn't like this guitar part in the whole song, but I do that anytime I perform it. The guitar part is ridiculous. That's where it brings in Prince. It's a little all over the place, very feisty."
19
"Already Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 13 (2009)
Clarkson wrote the song with Ryan Tedder but wasn't happy when she heard another song he had written – "Halo" by Beyoncé. Clarkson accused Tedder of using the same musical track for both songs. The OneRepublic frontman issued a statement denying that the tracks were the same: "They are two entirely different songs conceptually, melodically and lyrically and I would never try to dupe an artist such as Kelly Clarkson or Beyoncé into recording over the same musical track; the idea is both hurtful and absurd."
18
"Inside Your Heaven" - Carrie Underwood
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for one week (2005)
When songwriter Andreas Carlsson heard one of his songs was going to be recorded by the winner of season three, he thought it was "The Best of Me," written with Desmond Child and John Reid. Then he was told it was a song he had written a year and a half earlier, "Inside Your Heaven." Child produced the recording and says, "Carrie can sing a song from beginning to end without stopping. She doesn't make any mistakes and it's perfectly in tune and then she sings it again even better than before. She's stunning. She's also prepared. She goes in there and she knows the song. That's rare."
17
"Wait for You" - Elliott Yamin
Hot 100 Peak: No. 13 (2007)
When Danny Strick from Sony/ATV Music gave Yamin this song written by Taj Jackson and Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen of the Stargate production team, the season five finalist wasn't crazy about it. "My manager urged me to give it a chance and go into the studio with Stargate. Everyone smelled a hit," says Yamin. Once he heard the finished track, Yamin agreed. One change the producers made from Jackson's demo: they lowered the key for Yamin. "I performed the song at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards," he recalls. "I invited Taj to sing it with me. We did it in my key and he adapted."
16
"Miss Independent" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 9 (2003)
Destiny's Child had this song on hold for their "Survivor" album and Christina Aguilera was also interested. "She helped start the lyric for the verse and part of the chorus," says producer and co-writer Rhett Lawrence. "The song didn't have lyrics for the chorus yet, so I wrote that with Christina. We decided to make the title 'Miss Independent.' The verse starts off as a song about a girl who's independent minded, then I decided to slip it in the opposite direction for the chorus. Then Christina decided not to record it. I played the track for Kelly without any lyrics, just the original track and she immediately said she wanted it to be her first single." Lawrence flew to Miami where Clarkson was filming the "From Justin to Kelly" movie. "We wrote the bridge and lyrics together because I wanted her to be part of it and she did a great job."
15
"Sorry 2004" - Ruben Studdard
Hot 100 Peak: No. 9 (2004)
Clive Davis was looking for a song that would garner radio airplay for Studdard and please "Idol" fans at the same time. Harvey Mason, Jr. and a team of writers composed this tune especially for the second season winner at a late-night writing session. "We called it 'Sorry 2004' because it was about Ruben apologizing for everything he did in the previous year and saying how he was going to spend 2004 making up for what he did," says Mason. The single was recorded over two days in Los Angeles and Mason found Studdard to be very mellow and easy-going. "He gave a great vocal performance."
14
"This Is the Night" - Clay Aiken
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (2003)
The top four finalists from season two met with Clive Davis at his Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow and he played two songs for them without revealing which contestant would be singing which song. Aiken recalls, "He played 'This Is the Night' first and we realized this is going to be the 'A Moment Like This' of this year. I almost cried. 'This Is the Night' gave me chills. Then he played 'Flying Without Wings' and it was a great song and I loved it, but it didn't do what 'This Is the Night' did for me. And then he said, 'The first song I played, I'm going to assign…' and I had my fingers crossed, "Please God, let it be me, let it be," and he said, 'That's the song for Clay and Josh [Gracin].' Yes!" "This Is the Night" debuted at No. 1 the same week Ruben Studdard's "Flying Without Wings" debuted at No. 2, the first time in Hot 100 history that the top two songs on the chart were new entries.
13
"Home" - Daughtry
Hot 100 Peak: No. 8 (2007)
"I had already auditioned for 'Idol' and knew I was leaving for Hollywood," says Chris Daughtry, who had been writing songs since he was 16. "I was sitting on my couch – oddly, I wrote 'Home' at home. I felt it was a song that could go on pop radio." A year later, when his group Daughtry recorded the song for their debut album, it had the same structure and chords that Chris had fashioned at home in North Carolina. When the producers of "Idol" asked to use "Home" for the season six exit song for eliminated contestants, Chris' reply was an enthusiastic, "Absolutely, please use it."
12
"Tattoo" - Jordin Sparks
Hot 100 Peak: No. 8 (2007)
Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, better known as the Stargate production team, met with Amanda Ghost and Ian Dench at Battery Studios in New York to write "Tattoo," a title suggested by Ghost. "Amanda comes from a more artistic side. She does her best writing when she’s having fun," says Hermansen, adding, "Jordin was a pleasure to work with. She was wide-eyed and happy to be there. That’s one of the fun things about 'Idol.’ The singers are getting a chance of a lifetime and they’re really into it."
11
"A Moment Like This" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (2002)
"'A Moment Like This' is one of the most difficult songs I've ever had to sing," says Justin Guarini, who performed the song on the season one finale, as did Clarkson. "No conspiracy theory, it was written before anyone knew I going to be part of the finale. It's just not written for someone who does what I do. I struggled and struggled with it in the studio….There was a point after the finale when I was with Kelly and I said, 'Baby, I did everything, but you're going to win tomorrow night. I love you.'" "A Moment Like This" was the first "Idol" song to go to No. 1 on the Hot 100. When it jumped 52-1 the week of Oct. 5, 2002, it broke the Beatles' 38-year-old record for the biggest leap to the top ("Can't Buy Me Love" rocketed 27-1 the week of April 4, 1964).
10
"It's Not Over" – Daughtry
Hot 100 Peak: No. 2 (2005)
Ace Young and Chris Daughtry met when they both auditioned for "Idol" in Denver. One year later, they were in Columbus, Ohio, on the summer live Idols tour. Daughtry was in his dressing room working on a song written by Gregg Wattenberg and Mark Wilkerson that they had submitted to Pete Gabarg, who was doing A&R for Daughtry's first album. "Chris needed a chorus for 'It's Not Over,' and we came up with it literally right before we went on stage," says Young. "It was the first thing I sang when I heard it. We came up with a couple of lyrics and the song was done. I had no idea it would become the number one rock song of the year. We were nominated for a Grammy and lost to Bruce Springsteen. It was amazing."
9
"Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood
Hot 100 Peak: No. 8 (2007)
When Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear wrote this song, they didn't have Underwood in mind. "I was thinking Gretchen Wilson, who had just had a big success with 'Redneck Woman,'" says Tompkins. After Underwood won "Idol," Tompkins' publisher said she was going to pitch the song to her. "Carrie flew into Nashville on a jet and all the song pluggers went on the jet and played her songs." The demo of "Before He Cheats" was more lighthearted and "cabaret," according to Tompkins. "It wasn't a big vocal, like Carrie. They made it a better song – I think it was Mark Bright's production, the musicians and Carrie's vocal." The song crossed over to pop, even though there was no remix for pop radio. "It's completely driven by that fiddle," says Tompkins. "I'm glad they realized whatever magic the single had translated to everyone." As a result of its pop crossover, the single remained on the Hot 100 for 64 weeks, the fifth longest run for any song in the chart's history.
8
"My Life Would Suck Without You" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (2009)
Co-producer/co-writer Dr. Luke credits Max Martin for coming up with the title of the song. "The chorus was written a long time ago," he says. "We wrote it after 'Since U Been Gone' and 'Behind These Hazel Eyes,' thinking, 'Hey, we'll write stuff for Kelly's next record.' The verse came about a long time later." Co-writer Claude Kelly was sleeping when he was awakened by a phone call from his manager. "He said, 'Dude, the song jumped from 97 to 1. It broke a record.' I had a feeling it was going to do okay, but I had no idea that it was going to jump that fast and jump that big."
7
"Because of You" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 7 (2005)
Clarkson wrote the song with David Hodges and Ben Moody of Evanescence. "Ben came over to my apartment in L.A. and my wisdom teeth had just been taken out and I looked horrible and we just started talking about a couple songs I wanted to do with him. He heard 'Because Of You' and fell in love with it and said, 'I so want to work with you. I love this song. It's so passionate and so very much from the heart.' I didn't think that one was going to catch him. I thought he was going to say, 'that's a little sappy.'"
6
"Home" - Phillip Phillips
Hot 100 Peak: No. 6 (2013)
Drew Pearson and Greg Holden had never met when their publishers arranged a one-day songwriting session. Pearson recalls, "He walked in my studio and we shook hands, talked for a few minutes and then sat down and wrote 'Home.’ I don't know if I ever told him, but after he sang the demo I secretly wanted Greg to take the song. He said in the session that he felt like the song was something he could sing. Then a few months later he sent me a video of him performing the song live, but that was as far as it got." Pearson’s publisher, Pulse Recording, sent "Home" to Jimmy Iovine at Interscope and that’s how it became Phillips’ finale song. To date, "Home" has topped 10 different Billboard charts, including Hot Digital Songs, Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40 and Rock Digital Songs. It is the highest-ranked coronation song on the Idol 100. "Having a song in Billboard has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, so I had to keep pinching myself over the last year," says Pearson. "It’s been really exciting to see the song connect with so many people."
5
"Breakaway" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 6 (2004)
"I was about to go on stage and my manager said, 'Before you go on, there was an idea that was thrown to us about "The Princess Diaries 2" movie,'" Clarkson recalls. "The first movie was really cute…so I listened to it and what I love about 'Breakaway' is it's not a big power ballad. It's not like 'Miss Independent' or Usher's 'Yeah.' It's a really simple little lullaby anthem, and it's just pretty and the lyrics fit me to a 'T.' I thought it might be a great bridge song to hold the audience over until my next album."
4
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 6 (2005)
The last song recorded for Clarkson's second album was based on real life. "I wrote a song about a relationship that I thought was going really well and then all of a sudden, it wasn't, and you find out that the person is not that into you and you're like, 'Wow, we spent so much time together.' The lyrics are perfect for what I was feeling at that moment. The song hits more personally than a lot of the other ones."
3
"No Air" - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
Hot 100 Peak: No. 3 (2008)
"No Air" was created for a male artist to sing but co-writer Harvey Mason, Jr. played it for Sparks as an example of his work. "She reacted like she thought the song was average but then called Jeff Fenster, her A&R man, raving about it, saying 'I love it.' Jeff stalked us for six months. We agreed to give it to Jordin on the condition that they make it an event duet record." Mason and his team had been working with Chris Brown and suggested him as a singing partner. Mason spent time working on Sparks' vocal track, both in New York and Los Angeles. Then Brown recorded his part, and later, Sparks went back in the studio to "toughen up" her vocals, according to Mason.
2
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (2012)
The second single from Clarkson's "Stronger" album set new records by going to No. 1 on 15 different Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, Hot Digital Songs, Hot Dance Club Play, Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 and by becoming the best-selling "Idol" single of all time. As of July 2012, "Stronger" had sold 3,510,000 copies, one thousand more than the previous record holder, Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats."
1
"Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 2 (2005)
Clarkson went to Sweden for two days to record "Since U Been Gone." "I'd love to tell you that I knew anything about Max Martin. I didn't even know that he had written a lot for Britney or Backstreet Boys. I was so in the dark but he's a heavy hitter, really talented and such a nice guy. He and Dr. Luke, they're both great guys." Clarkson remembers the first time she heard the song. "I said, 'This is really poppy. Do you mind if we rock the track up a little?' They put in some heavier guitars and harder drums. It's just a really fun song to sing. It's very explosive and a great contrast to a lot of the other songs on the album."
You can check the full top 100 here:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/li...me?list_page=0