Ruben Studdard, the First Idol Winner to Be Axed from Record Label

The FOX TV reality singing contest American Idol has become America's most watched television show in history. The show began in 2002 when it only auditioned 10,000 people. In the end, Kelly Clarkson won the first season. Week after week, we voted for her to win the contest for her natural raw talent. Never making the bottom few each week, her successes are also American Idol success. Without her powerful vocal chords and writing talent to boot, the shows success stories would not be validated until she walked away with two Grammys in 2006.

In 2003, the second season of American Idol began, beginning the show on a regular January to May schedule. Clay Aiken was favored to win when surprisingly Ruben Studdard of Birmingham, Alabama beat out the odd pop singer to 134,000 out of 24 million. The "Velvet Teddy Bear" then went on to be congratulated by the original winner of Idol during his victory.

Hoping to follow in Clarkson's footsteps, he released his debut single, a cover by U.K. based band Westlife, "Flying Without Wings." Due to its popularity and the freshness of the show, it debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100, which now consists of digital download sales, on-demand online streaming and radio airplay. Soulful, released December 9^th of 2003, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart selling over 400,000 copies in his first week. The record sold 1.78 million copies to date.

A year later, he released a gospel effort titled I Need An Angel. The album, though it made No. 1 on Billboard's 2005 year-end gospel chart, the record only sold a little over 500,000 copies, certifying it by the RIAA as a Gold album.

After a few lawsuits for personal matters and a weight loss program in which he lost 70 pounds, he recorded his third studio effort titled The Return.

Going back to his R&B roots, the album debuted at No. 8 on the Top 200 Albums chart but quickly and steadily declined in sales. The album to date has sold only 235,000 copies. Both disappointing and falling short of expectations, J Records has decided to cut ties with "Velvet Teddy Bear" as of December 2007.