Bio : Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken most recently joined forces with friend and fellow American Idol Ruben Studdard for  a highly anticipated North American, 82-date concert tour, reuniting the pair twenty years after  their appearance on the show. Clay starred on Broadway in Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas  Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show at the Imperial Theater. The New York Times  called the production ‘A Christmas Miracle’. This came ten years after Clay’s critically lauded  Broadway debut in Monty Python's Spamalot. Catapulting to fame on season two of American  Idol, he became the first Idol alum in history to have his first single debut at #1 on Billboard's Hot  100 chart, to have a single certified platinum and to have an album certified triple platinum. As a  concert artist he’s played some of the most iconic venues in North America, including on the 2003  Independent Tour which Clay co-headlined with Kelly Clarkson. Clay’s album, Measure Of A Man,  also debuted at #1 with the highest first week sales by a debut artist. His 2004 holiday release, Merry Christmas With Love, set a record for the fastest selling holiday album of the SoundScan  era and remains tied for the highest charting debut of a holiday album in Billboard history. He  served 9 years as a UNICEF Ambassador and in 2003, he co-founded, with Diane Bubel, what is  now the National Inclusion Project to advocate and increase opportunities for children with  disabilities to be included in extracurricular activities (such as summer camps and after-school  programs) with their non-disabled peers. Additional TV appearances include: 30 Rock, The Office,  Scrubs, Days Of Our Lives, and Law & Order: SVU. Additional 2nd place finishes include: The  Celebrity Apprentice in 2012 and the NC 2nd District US House race in 2014. Beyond all of his  successes (and near successes) his proudest accomplishment remains his son, Parker.