ClaySpots' Summary of Clay's Post-AI Career Thus Far

In this lull of any real news, we thought we'd share with you ClaySpots' nice little summary of Clay's post-Idol career thus far. To read more about this, head over to ClaySpots' post titled "American Idol... Will you be watching this year?"

Clay Aiken is, arguably, the star that emerged from American Idol, Season Two. His debut single, ‘This is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water’, and first CD, ‘Measure of a Man’ both went straight to Number One, selling 1.3 million and 2.8 million, respectively. His holiday album, ‘Merry Christmas, with Love, the fastest selling holiday album in the Soundscan era, sold over 1 million copies in six weeks, and debuted at #4, the highest debut for a holiday album by a new artist. His newest album, ‘A Thousand Different Ways’, debuted at #2, in September, 2006, selling 489,000 copies through the end of the year. His 4th album, an EP consisting of four songs, was released as an exclusive to Wal-Mart. No sales figures are available, but there are reports of it having sold out across the country.

Aiken also wrote a book, ‘Learning to Sing, Hearing the Music in Your Life’, that went to #2 on the New York Times best-seller list. In 2004, he starred and executive-produced his first TV Special, ‘A Clay Aiken Christmas’. Aiken has won both an American Music award, for ‘Fan Favorite’ and a Billboard award for ‘Best-Selling Single of 2003’.

Aiken has toured eight times since 2003, co-headlining with Clarkson for the ‘Independent Tour’ in 2004. He’s sold out many of his concert appearances since then.

As important to him as his music career, Aiken is well-known for his charitable works. He co-founded The Bubel/Aiken Foundation with Diane Bubel in 2003, which supports the integration of children with disabilities into the life environment of their non-disabled peers. With the support of his fans and many corporate sponsors, the BAF has been very successful in spreading their mission of inclusion around the country.

Aiken has also been appointed a United States Fund for UNICEF National Ambassador in 2004 and has been to both Banda Aceh and Uganda in support of UNICEF. He was the ‘Toys for Tots’ spokesperson in 2004 and an ambassador for Ronald McDonald charities. He has testified before Congress on behalf of UNICEF, and was the 2005 spokesperson for ‘Trick or Treat for UNICEF’. In September of 2006, Aiken was appointed by President Bush to to the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, ATDW, All Is Well, Merry Christmas With Love, Invisible