Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an African-American singer. He won season 2 of American Idol. His runner up is Clay Aiken.

Performances and results

Week	Theme	Song	Original artist	Result
Top 32	Contestant's choice	Superstar"	Delaney & Bonnie	Advanced
Top 12	Motown	"Baby I Need Your Loving"	Four Tops	Safe
Top 11	Movie Soundtracks	"A Whole New World" - Aladdin	Brad Kane & Lea Salonga	Safe
Top 10	Country rock	"Sweet Home Alabama"	Lynyrd Skynyrd	Safe
Top 8¹	Disco	"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe"	Barry White	Safe
Top 8	Billboard Number Ones	"Kiss and Say Goodbye"	The Manhattans	Safe
Top 7	Billy Joel	Just the Way You Are"	Billy Joel	Safe
Top 6	Diane Warren	"Music of My Heart"	'N Sync and Gloria Estefan	Safe
Top 5	1960s	"Ain't Too Proud to Beg"	The Temptations	Bottom 2²
Top 5	Neil Sedaka	"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"	Neil Sedaka	Bottom 2²
Top 4	Bee Gees	"Nights on Broadway"	Bee Gees	Safe
Top 4	Bee Gees	"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"	Bee Gees	Safe
Top 3	Random	"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"	Stevie Wonder	Safe
	Judges' Choice	"Smile" - Simon Cowell	Charlie Chaplin
	Idol's Choice	"If Ever You're in My Arms Again"	Peabo Bryson
Top 2	Finale	A House Is Not a Home"	Dionne Warwick	Winner
		"Imagine"	John Lennon
		"Flying Without Wings"	Westlife

^Note 1 Corey Clark was taken out of the contest so the Top 9 performances became Top 8 when no one was taken out.
^Note 2 When Ryan Seacrest said the results of this Studdard was at the Bottom 2. He was safe, as Trenyce was taken out of the contest.

Awards and nominations

BET Awards
- 2004, Best Male R&B Artist: (Nominated)
- 2004, Best New Artist: (Nominated)

Billboard Music Awards
- 2003, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Sales Single - "Superstar/Flying Without Wings"
- 2005, Top Gospel Artist
- 2005, Top Gospel Album -I Need an Angel

Grammy Awards
- 2004, Favorite Male R&B Vocal Performance - "Superstar": (Nominated)

Image Awards
- 2004, Outstanding Male Artist: (Nominated)
- 2004, Outstanding New Artist: Won

Soul Train Awards
- 2004, Best New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist: "Superstar": (Nominated)

Teen Choice Awards
- 2003, Choice Male Reality/Variety Star for American Idol: Won

Year	Album	Chart Positions				Certifications (amount sold)	Sales
Year	Album	US	US R&B	US Gospel	US Indie	Certifications (amount sold)	Sales
2003	Soulful Released: December 9, 2003 Label: J Records Format: CD	1	1	—	—	RIAA: Platinum^[1]	US: 1,800,000^[2]
2004	I Need an Angel Released: November 23, 2004 Label: J Records Format: CD	20	6	1	—	RIAA: Gold^[1]	US: 483,000^[2]
2006	The Return Released: October 17, 2006 Label: J Records Format: CD, digital download	8	2	—	—		US: 238,000^[2]
2009	Love Is Released: May 19, 2009 Label: Hickory Records Format: CD, digital download	36	8	—	5		US: 50,000^[3]
2012	Letters from Birmingham Released: March 13, 2012 Label: Shanachie Records Format: CD, digital download	73	12	—	—		US: 22,000 ^[4]
2014	Unconditional Love Released: February 4, 2014 Label: The Verve Music Group Format: CD, digital download	46	11	—	—		US: 6,000^[5]

Ruben has songs on an album that put together from songs on other albums

Year	Album	Sales
2010	Playlist: The Very Best of Ruben Studdard Released January 26, 2010 Label: Sony Legacy	US: 3,500^[3]

Year	Title	Chart positions			Album
Year	Title	US	US R&B	US Urban	Album
2003	"Flying Without Wings"	2	13	27	Non-album single
2003	Superstar"	112	2	—	Soulful
2004	"Sorry 2004"	9	2	—
	"What If"	—	47	—
	"I Need an Angel"	—	—	32	I Need an Angel
2006	"Change Me"	94	18	1	The Return (Ruben Studdard album)\|The Return
2007	"Make Ya Feel Beautiful"	—	32	6	The Return (Ruben Studdard album)\|The Return
2008	"Celebrate Me Home"	—	—	—	single
2009	"Together"	—	60	—	Love Is
2009	"Don't Make 'Em Like U No More"	—	32	40	Love Is
2012	"June 28th (I'm Single)"		73	16	Letters from Birmingham
2014	"Meant to Be"	—	—	—	Unconditional Love

Year	Title	CAN
2003	"Flying Without Wings"	3x Platinum^[6]

American Idol Season 2: All-Time Classic American Love Songs (2003)
- "What the World Needs Now" (with Season 2 Finalists)
- "God Bless the U.S.A. (Proud to Be an American)" (with Season 2 Finalists)
- Superstar
American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics (2003)
- "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
- "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (American Idol Ensemble)
- "This Christmas"
Genius & Friends (2005)
- "Imagine" with Ray Charles and The Harlem Gospel Singers
Ain't Misbehavin' (2009 Cast Recording)
- "Honeysuckle Rose" duet with Frenchie Davis
- "The Jitterbug Waltz" with Patrice Covington & Company
- "Lounging At The Waldorf" with Frenchie Davis, Trenyce Cobbins & Patrice Covington
- "Your Feet's Too Big"

Preceded by Kelly Clarkson	American Idol winner 2003	Succeeded by Fantasia Barrino