This is a list of songs released for sale from the show American Idol , consisting of recordings of coronation songs by winners and runners-up of the show, live and studio recordings by contestants, songs from the American Idol CDs, as well as special singles released by the show such as those for Idol Gives Back and specially-recorded boot songs. Songs released by Idol alumni in post-Idol career are not included here. See American Idol alumni single sales for a list of some of those releases.
In the first few seasons, songs were released as physical CD single which may contain one cover song and one original song. However, after Season 5 physical singles were no longer released, and songs were available only as digital downloads starting Season 6. The digital downloads were only available initially via American Idol official website during the season towards the end of Season 5 and all the final rounds of Season 6, but were then made available from iTunes after the Season 6 ended. In all subsequent seasons all performances were made available in iTunes during the season and after the season has ended.
The digital songs sold during the season were not eligible to chart, and their sales figures were not released. Any number listed for those songs would be solely based on units sold after the finale.
The following Idol songs have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Entry date | Single | Artist | Peak | Sales | RIAA cert. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 21, 2002 | "A Moment Like This" (b/w "Before Your Love") | Kelly Clarkson (Season 1, Winner) | [1] | 1738,000 (Digital) [2] 627,000 (Physical) [3] | [4] | Gold
May 3, 2003 | "God Bless the USA" | American Idol Finalists (Season 2 Finalists) | [5] | 4[6] | 310,000 (Physical)[7] | Gold
June 28, 2003 | "Flying Without Wings" (b/w "Superstar") | Ruben Studdard (Season 2, Winner) | [8] | 2[9] 737,000 (Physical) [3] | 790,000 (Physical + Digital) [10] | Gold
"This Is the Night" (b/w "Bridge over Troubled Water") | Clay Aiken (Season 2, Runner-Up) | [11] | 1[3] 52,000 (Digital) [12] | 960,000 (Physical) [13] | Platinum|
July 10, 2004 | "I Believe" | Fantasia (Season 3, Winner) | [14] | 1[9] 406,000 (Physical) [3] | 559,000 (Physical + Digital) |
July 17, 2004 | "Dreams" (b/w I Believe/Don't Cry Out Loud) | Diana DeGarmo (Season 3, Runner-Up) | 14 [15] | 23,000 (Digital) [3] | 202,000 (Physical)|
May 7, 2005 | "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" | American Idol Finalists (Season 4 Finalists) | 39 [16] | [17] | 115,100 (Physical)|
July 2, 2005 | "Inside Your Heaven" (b/w "Independence Day") | Carrie Underwood (Season 4, Winner) | [18] | 1[9] 459,000 (Physical) [3] | 880,000 (Physical + Digital) [19] | Gold
July 9, 2005 | "Inside Your Heaven" (b/w "Vehicle" featuring Richie Sambora) | Bo Bice (Season 4, Runner-Up) | [20] | 252,000 (Digital) [3] | 349,000 (Physical)[21] | Gold
June 10, 2006 | "Wanted Dead or Alive" | Chris Daughtry (Season 5, 4th Place) | 43 [22] | [23] | 103,000 (Digital)|
"Takin' It to the Streets" | Taylor Hicks (Season 5, Winner) | 69 [24] | [25] | 71,000 (Digital)||
July 1, 2006 | "Do I Make You Proud" | Taylor Hicks | [24] | 1[9] 464,000 (Physical) [3] | 709,000 (Physical + Digital) |
July 15, 2006 | "Over the Rainbow" | Katharine McPhee (Season 5, Runner-Up) | 12 [26] | [27] | 131,000 (Digital)|
"My Destiny" | Katharine McPhee | 60 [26] | 98,000 (Digital) [3] | 169,000 (Physical)||
May 12, 2007 | "I'll Stand by You" | Carrie Underwood | [28] | 6[29] | 339,147|
"Up to the Mountain" | Kelly Clarkson featuring Jeff Beck | 56 [28] | [30] | 46,196||
June 9, 2007 | "This Is My Now" | Jordin Sparks (Season 6, Winner) | 15 [31] | [9] | 334,000|
"You Give Love a Bad Name" | Blake Lewis (Season 6, Runner-Up) | 18 [32] | [33] | 192,000||
"A Broken Wing" | Jordin Sparks | 66 [34] | [33] | 52,000||
"I (Who Have Nothing)"" | Jordin Sparks | 80 [35] | [33] | 44,000||
"Time of the Season" | Blake Lewis | 99 [36] | [33] | 39,000||
April 26, 2008 | "Praying for Time" | Carrie Underwood | 27 [37] | [38] | 87,286|
"Shout to the Lord" | American Idol Finalists (Season 7 Top 8 Finalists) | 43 [37] | [39] | 55,745||
"Many Rivers to Cross" | Annie Lennox | 80 [37] | [39] | 29,159||
June 7, 2008 | "The Time of My Life" | David Cook (Season 7, Winner) | [40] | 31,482,000 [41] | [42] | Platinum
"Dream Big" | David Cook | 15 [43] | [44] | 145,000||
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" | David Cook | 22 [43] | [44] | 125,000||
"The World I Know" | David Cook | 28 [43] | [44] | 96,000||
"Imagine" | David Archuleta (Season 7, Runner-Up) | 36 [40] | [44] | 80,000||
"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" | David Cook | 42 [45] | [46] | 60,000||
"Billie Jean" | David Cook | 47 [47] | [46] | 56,300||
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" | David Archuleta | 58 [48] | [44] | 61,000||
"In This Moment" | David Archuleta | 60 [49] | [44] | 61,000||
"Always Be My Baby" | David Cook | 67 [50] | [46] | 46,600||
"Hello" | David Cook | 73 [51] | [46] | 42,300||
"The Music of the Night" | David Cook | 77 [52] | [44] | 36,000||
"Eleanor Rigby" | David Cook | 92 [53] | [44] | 28,000||
"I'm Alive" | David Cook | 99 [54] | [44] | 25,000||
June 6, 2009 | "No Boundaries" | Kris Allen (Season 8, Winner) | 11 [55] | [9] | 343,000|
"Heartless" | Kris Allen | 16 [55] | [56] | 412,000||
"Mad World" | Adam Lambert (Season 8, Runner-Up) | 19 [57] | [58] | 256,000||
"Ain't No Sunshine" | Kris Allen | 37 [55] | [56] | 125,000||
"A Change Is Gonna Come" | Adam Lambert | 56 [57] | [59] | 63,000||
"Apologize" | Kris Allen | 66 [55] | [59] | 59,000||
"No Boundaries" | Adam Lambert | 72 [57] | [60] | 68,000||
"One" | Adam Lambert | 82 [57] | [59] | 46,000||
"Falling Slowly" | Kris Allen | 94 [55] | [59] | 38,000||
March 13, 2010 | "Let It Be" | Kris Allen | 63 | [61] | 86,000|
June 12, 2010 | "Beautiful Day" | Lee DeWyze (Season 9, Winner) | 24 [62] | [9] | 186,000|
"Hallelujah" | Lee DeWyze | 44 [62] | [63] | 118,000||
"Up to the Mountain" | Crystal Bowersox (Season 9, Runner-Up) | 57 [62] | [64] | 63,000||
"Falling Slowly" | Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze | 66 [62] | [65] | 85,000||
"The Boxer" | Lee DeWyze | 88 [62] | [64] | 37,000||
June 11, 2011 | "I Love You This Big" | Scotty McCreery (Season 10, Winner) | 11 [66] | [67] | 915,000[68] | Platinum
"Like My Mother Does" | Lauren Alaina (Season 10, Runner-Up) | 20 [66] | [69] | 398,000||
June 9, 2012 | "Home" | Phillip Phillips (Season 11, Winner) | [70] | 65,400,000 [71] | 4× Platinum [72] |
"We've Got Tonite" | Phillip Phillips | 97 [70] | [73] | 58,000||
June 1, 2013 | "I Am Beautiful" | Candice Glover (Season 12, Winner) | 94 [74] | [74] | 48,000|
May 20, 2015 | "Beautiful Life" | Nick Fradiani (Season 14, Winner) | 93 [75] | [75] | 50,000|
The following songs failed to reach the Hot 100, but managed to make the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles charts.
Entry Date | Single | Artist | Peak | Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 5, 2003 | "Superstar" | Ruben Studdard | 12 [76] | |
June 10, 2006 | "Moody's Mood for Love" | Elliott Yamin (Season 5, 3rd Place) | 1 [77] | 25,000 [23] |
"Think" | Katharine McPhee | 21 [78] | 21,000 [79] | |
June 9, 2007 | "This Love" | Blake Lewis | 2 [80] | 38,000 [33] |
"When the Stars Go Blue" | Blake Lewis | 10 [81] | 31,000 [33] | |
"I Need to Know" | Blake Lewis | 19 [82] | 23,000 [33] | |
April 26, 2008 | "Don't Stop The Music" | American Idol Finalists | 23 | 14,040 [39] |
June 7, 2008 | "Little Sparrow" | David Cook | 1 [83] | 24,000 [44] |
"Hungry Like the Wolf" | David Cook | 3 [84] | 23,000 [44] | |
"Innocent" | David Cook | 4 [85] | 23,000 [44] | |
"Hallelujah" | Jason Castro (Season 7, 4th Place) | 13 [86] | 19,000 [44] | |
"Day Tripper" | David Cook | 14 [87] | 19,000 [44] | |
"Longer" | David Archuleta | 15 [88] | 19,000 [44] | |
"All Right Now" | David Cook | 18 [89] | 18,000 [44] | |
"Think of Me" | David Archuleta | 19 [90] | 18,000 [44] | |
"Angels" | David Archuleta | 24 [91] | 17,000 [44] | |
"Happy Together" | David Cook | 25 [92] | 17,000 [44] | |
June 6, 2009 | "Cryin'" | Adam Lambert | 2 [93] | 35,000 [59] |
"Slow Ride" | Allison Iraheta (Season 8, 4th Place) and Adam Lambert | 5 [94] | 34,000 [59] | |
"What's Going On" | Kris Allen | 7 [95] | 21,000 [96] | |
"To Make You Feel My Love" | Kris Allen | 13 [95] | 26,000 [59] | |
"The Tracks of My Tears" | Adam Lambert | 17 [93] | 26,000 [59] | |
"Feeling Good" | Adam Lambert | 21 [93] | 25,000 [59] | |
"You Are So Beautiful" | Danny Gokey (Season 8, 3rd Place) | 25 [97] | 15,000 [96] | |
June 12, 2010 | "Everybody Hurts" | Lee DeWyze | 4 | 22,000 [98] |
"Black Velvet" | Crystal Bowersox | 24 | 15,000 [98] | |
"Me and Bobby McGee" | Crystal Bowersox | 25 [99] | 14,000 [98] | |
June 9, 2012 | "Volcano" | Phillip Phillips | 9 [100] | 49,000 [73] |
"Stand by Me" | Phillip Phillips | 24 [100] | 24,000 [101] | |
April 30, 2015 | "Falling" | Trent Harmon (Season 15, Winner) | 16 [102] | 52,000 [103] |
The following songs ranked in the Year-End charts for the Billboard Hot 100.
Year | Single | Artist | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | "A Moment Like This" | Kelly Clarkson | 39 [104] |
2003 | "This Is the Night" | Clay Aiken | 47 [105] |
"Flying Without Wings" | Ruben Studdard | 88 [106] | |
2005 | "Inside Your Heaven" | Carrie Underwood | 71 |
2006 | "Do I Make You Proud" | Taylor Hicks | 99 [107] |
2008 | "The Time of My Life" | David Cook | 69 [108] |
2012 | "Home" | Phillip Phillips | 49 [109] |
2013 | "Home" | Phillip Phillips | 46 [110] |
Starting Season 5, when contestants in the final rounds are eliminated, a video of their journey through the contest was shown, accompanied by a song as a send-off. The song is also commonly called the "boot song".
Season | Single | Artist | Peak | Sales | RIAA cert. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | "Bad Day" | Daniel Powter | 1 [111] | 3,000,000 [112] | 3× Platinum [113] |
6 | "Home" | Daughtry | 5 [114] | 2,349,000 [115] | Platinum [116] |
7 | "Celebrate Me Home" | Ruben Studdard | — | ||
7 | "Hollywood's Not America" | Ferras | 62 [117] | ||
7 | "Best Days" | Graham Colton | — | ||
8 | "Home Sweet Home" | Carrie Underwood | 21 [118] | 300,000 [119] | |
9 | "Leave Right Now" | Will Young | 81 [120] | 50,000 [98] | |
10 | "Don't You (Forget About Me)" | David Cook | — | 33,000 | |
11 | "Please Remember Me" | Scotty McCreery | — | 58,000 [121] | |
12 | "Gone Gone Gone" | Phillip Phillips | 24 | 2,000,000 [122] | Platinum [72] |
13 | "Breakaway" | Eliminated contestant | — | — | — |
"—" denotes the song did not chart in Hot 100. | |||||
"Inside Your Heaven" is a song written by Andreas Carlsson, Pelle Nylén, Savan Kotecha, and produced by Desmond Child. Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice, the final two contestants on the fourth season of American Idol, each released a version of the song in June 2005.
Some Hearts is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood, released on November 14, 2005, by Arista Nashville. The album contains the number one country singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Don't Forget to Remember Me", "Wasted", and "Before He Cheats". The album contains the Billboard Hot 100 number one single, "Inside Your Heaven", as a bonus track.
"Before He Cheats" is a song by American singer Carrie Underwood from her debut studio album, Some Hearts (2005). Written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, it was released as the fourth single from the album. The song tells the story of a woman taking revenge on her unfaithful partner.
American singer and songwriter Pink has released nine studio albums, one live album, five video albums, six compilation albums, 59 singles, six promotional singles, and 51 music videos. Throughout her career, Pink has sold 60 million albums, 75 million singles and 2.4 million DVDs worldwide. According to RIAA, she has sold 18 million albums and 13.5 million digital singles. She is also UK's second best-selling female artist of the 21st century. Billboard ranked her as the fifth top female artist of the 2000s, eighth top female artist of the 2010s and the 59th greatest artist of all time. Official Charts Company hailed her as UK's most played female artist of the 21st century.
The studio albums in the American Idol compilation series are compilations of songs by American Idol contestants normally released every year towards the end of the season or after the season has ended. For the first five seasons, the albums consist of cover songs from all the finalists of the season, and is released as CDs before the last episode by RCA Records. After season 5, such compilations were released only sporadically. Compilations for individual contestants were released digitally starting season 6. No compilations were released in season 7.
American country music singer Carrie Underwood has released nine studio albums, one greatest hits album, and 29 singles. Underwood rose to fame after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was released in 2005 and is the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. It also became the best-selling solo female country debut in Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) history, as well as the top-selling debut album of any American Idol contestant in the United States.
This is the discography of American rock band Daughtry. The band was created following the participation of singer Chris Daughtry in the fifth season of American Idol and has so far released six studio albums and an EP.
American singer David Archuleta has released eight studio albums, six extended plays, 24 singles, and 21 music videos.
American singer David Cook has released four albums, 3 EPs, and 17 singles. Before appearing on American Idol, Cook self-released an album Analog Heart in 2006. During his run on the show, it was removed from sale. As of 2009, the album has sold fewer than 5,000 units in the United States.
The discography of Katharine McPhee consists of five studio albums, ten singles, ten music videos, and other miscellaneous songs and albums.
Blown Away is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States and Canada on May 1, 2012, by Arista Nashville. After finishing her successful Play On Tour in December 2010 to promote her third studio album Play On, Underwood started working on the album, but took her time, as she "wanted to change things up", and needed to step away from the "celebrity bubble" to "have real things to write about and to sing about". It took her over one year to finish the album, which, according to Underwood, ended up having a "darker storyline" than her previous efforts.
"Home" is the debut single and coronation song from American Idol season 11 winner Phillip Phillips. The song was co-written by Drew Pearson and Greg Holden, and produced by Drew Pearson. Phillips first performed the song on the season's final performance night on May 22, 2012, and then again on the finale after he was declared the winner. His recording of "Home" was released as a single on May 23, 2012 and included as a track on the compilations American Idol Season Finale - Season 11 EP and Journey to the Finale released at the same time. The song was also included on his debut album, The World from the Side of the Moon, released later in November that year.
American rock singer Phillip Phillips has released four studio albums, one compilation album, three extended plays, ten singles, and seven music videos. He won the eleventh season of American Idol in 2012, earning a recording contract with Interscope Records. His winner's single, "Home", became the highest selling single from the Idol in the show's history, with 5.4 million in sales in the United States alone as of 2015.
"Gone, Gone, Gone" is a song recorded by American recording artist Phillip Phillips from his debut album The World from the Side of the Moon. It was released on February 11, 2013, by Interscope Records as the second single from the album. The song was co-written by Derek Fuhrmann, Todd Clark, and Gregg Wattenberg, Wattenberg also produced the song himself. "Gone, Gone, Gone" became a commercial success in the United States as it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold more than two million digital copies since its release.
American country music singer Scotty McCreery has released six studio albums, two compilation albums, two extended plays, ten singles, and ten music videos. McCreery rose to fame after winning the tenth season of American Idol in 2011.
"The Fighter" is a song by New Zealand Australian country music singer Keith Urban featuring American country music singer Carrie Underwood. It was released on 6 February 2017 as the fifth and final single from Urban's 2016 album, Ripcord. Urban co-wrote and co-produced this song with busbee. The song has entered the record charts of Australia, Canada, the United States, Belgium, and Scotland, where it became Urban's first song to enter the Scottish and Belgian charts.
American singer and songwriter Lauren Alaina has released three studio albums, three extended plays, ten singles plus three as a featured artist, and eight music videos. Alaina rose to prominence in 2011 as the runner-up on the tenth season of American Idol. Her debut studio album, Wildflower, released in the fall of 2011, debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200. In 2017, Alaina became the only female to top both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Hot Country Songs chart in 2017. She achieved a further two number ones as a featured vocalist on Hardy and Devin Dawson's "One Beer", and Dustin Lynch's "Thinking 'Bout You". Her third album, Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, was also released in 2021.
Brantley Gilbert is an American country music artist. His discography consists of six studio albums—A Modern Day Prodigal Son (2009), Halfway to Heaven (2010), Just As I Am (2014), The Devil Don't Sleep (2017), Fire & Brimstone (2019), and So Help Me God (2022) He has also released a total of 17 singles, 5 of which hit number one on the US Country Airplay chart.