American Idol Season Two -- Ruben Studdard

Four years ago, American Idol named Ruben Studdard (a.k.a., Velvet Teddy Bear) the winner of American Idol Season Two. 24 million votes were cast, and Ruben Studdard finished 130,000 votes ahead of the first runner-up, Clay Aiken! Ruben was the first male to win American Idol. Keep reading to find out where the road led for Ruben Studdard. Did he achieve success and many CD sales?

One month after American Idol announced to America that Ruben Studdard had won the second season, the Birmingham, Alabama native released his very first single Flying Without Wings, and it climbed to number two on the Billboard's Hot 100! During this same time, American Idol Season Two's second runner-up, Clay Aiken, released This is the Night, and Clay Aiken's single was the one that took the number one slot on the Billboard's Hot 100.

Ruben Studdard's Flying Without Wings has sold over 700,000 copies! In December of the same year, Ruben Studdard released his debut album, Soulful. Before Soulful reached the stores' shelves, it received one million advanced orders! Furthermore, the album also rose to number one on Billboard's 200 album chart in December 2003. Soulful was the first American Idol album to sell the most copies in its first week of sales (over 400,000). Today, Soulful is a certified platinum record, and Ruben Studdard has successfully sold over one million copies of that album to-date.

I Need an Angel, Ruben Studdard's first gospel album, was released in November of 2004 and has sold over 500,000 copies so far. I Need an Angel hit the number one slot on the Gospel charts just as soon as it was released. Then in 2005, I Need an Angel also rose to number one on the Billboard Year-End Gospel Albums Chart.

Finally, in October of 2006 Ruben Studdard's third album, The Return, was released and sold 71,000 copies during its first week! Unlike his previous albums, The Return declined rapidly after the first week of sales.

Album sales aren't the only success Ruban Studdard has achieved. In 2004, Ruben Studdard was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his song Superstar. Even though he didn't take home the Grammy Award, he did win the NAACP award for Outstanding New Artist in March of 2004.

On October 9, 2006, Ruben Studdard proudly told the Today show host, Meredith Vieira, about his weigh loss. Before losing his weight on a 1,200- 1,500-calorie diet, Ruben Studdard weighed 400 pounds, but when he talked with Meredith Vieira, he announced that he had lost almost 100 pounds.

To conclude, the American Idol Season Two winner, Ruben Studdard, has also appeared on television. Some of his television credits include The Megan Mullally Show (2006), Eve (2006), All of Us (2005), Life on a Stick (2005) and 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter (2005).