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.
Starting season 10, compilation albums are released for sales on iTunes straight after the contestants' performances during the season. Sales figures are not released during the season for these album so all numbers are for sales after the season is over.
Albums
Season 1 YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2002American Idol: Greatest Moments4 (Billboard 200)Chart Beat Thursday: Fox-TV's Lee & "Glee"643,000Idol anthology: Best initial sales ever After Idols debut season, the top four finalists (Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Nikki McKibbin, Tamyra Gray) each recorded a version of the song in the event that they won; but only the winner (Clarkson) released it as a single. The single was included in Clarkson's debut album Thankful.
Season 2 In addition to the compilation album by season 2 contestants, a Christmas album American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics was released later in the year featuring recordings of Christmas songs by contestants from both season 1 and season 2. Both compilation albums were certified gold.RIAA Search - American Idol YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2003American Idol Season 2: All-Time Classic American Love Songs2 (Billboard 200)648,000.American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics28 (Billboard 200)
After season two, the winner (Ruben Studdard) and runner-up (Clay Aiken) each released simultaneously a single containing two songs of one original and one cover. The originals are "This is the Night" (Aiken) and "Flying Without Wings" (Studdard); and the covers are "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Aiken) and "Superstar" (Studdard)
Season 3 YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2004American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics 10 (Billboard 200) 266,000
After season three, the winner (Fantasia Barrino) and runner-up (Diana DeGarmo) each released a single containing three songs of which one was a rendition of "I Believe." Barrino's debut album, Free Yourself, included "I Believe" and "Summertime." DeGarmo's debut album, Blue Skies, included "Dreams" and "Don't Cry Out Loud."
Season 4 YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2005American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers 6 (Billboard 200)332,000 After season four, the winner (Carrie Underwood) and runner-up (Bo Bice) each released a single for "Inside Your Heaven" and which included one cover song from the show, "Independence Day" (Underwood, also on Showstoppers) and "Vehicle" (Bice). Underwood's debut album Some Hearts also included "Inside Your Heaven" and achieved 7 times Platinum certification.
Season 5 YearAlbum titleChart PositionSales2006American Idol Season 5: Encores 3 (Billboard 200)381,075Billboard 200 September 2, 2006
After season 5, winner Taylor Hicks and runner-up Katharine McPhee each released a single with an original song and a cover rendition. The original songs are "Do I Make You Proud" (Hicks) and "My Destiny" (McPhee). The covers are "Takin' It to the Streets" (Hicks) and "Over the Rainbow" (McPhee, renamed to "Somewhere over the Rainbow").
Season 6 For the first time, the compilation album was made available as digital downloads only. Compilations of individual finalist's performances were also released. On the day after the season six finale, the winner Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis released 5-song EPs exclusively to iTunes. Sparks's contained the winner's single, "This Is My Now", as well as four songs she performed on Idol: "I (Who Have Nothing)", "A Broken Wing", "To Love Somebody" and "Wishing on a Star". Lewis's EP did not contain "This Is My Now", but instead all the songs on the EP were songs he performed on the show: "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Time Of The Season", "I Need To Know", "Love Song" and "When The Stars Go Blue". Compilations for other contestants were released to iTunes later a few weeks later, and it was also possible to download all the recordings this season as a collector's edition.
YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2007American Idol Season 6: Greatest HitsJordin Sparks EP2 (Digital Albums)Billboard Digital Albums chart June 09, 200749,000Idol Chatter 01-10-2008 The Ultimate SoundScan Sales/Download ChecklistBlake Lewis EP 3 (Digital Albums)46,000Melinda Doolittle EP3,400Chris Richardson EP900LaKisha Jones EP700Sanjaya Malakar EP600Phil Stacey EP500Haley Scarnato EP100
Both Jordin and Blake also released several other songs as singles. These studio-recorded tunes are available both on iTunes and americanidol.com. For Jordin Sparks, these singles were "If We Hold on Together", "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Rhythm is Gonna Get You", "On a Clear Day", and "Hey Baby". For Blake Lewis, these singles were "You Should Be Dancing", "Mack the Knife", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", "Imagine", and "This Love".
Season 8 After season 8, an album was released exclusively to Wal-Mart which contained songs from the show from various top ten finalists. The album included both Kris Allen's and Adam Lambert's version of "No Boundaries". Another Wal-Mart exclusive a 5-track EP was also later released with songs from the Top 4 finalists: Kris Allen and Danny Gokey's Renegade, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert's Slow Ride, as well as Adam's Whole Lotta Love, Danny's What Hurts the Most and Kris' Ain't No Sunshine. On iTunes, digital albums of recordings from the two finalists were released.
YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2009American Idol Season 834 (Billboard 200)Idol Chatter 07-08-200977,616Billboard charts - Top Soundtrack, December 12, 2009American Idol Season 8: The 5 Song EP17 (Billboard 200)57,176Kris Allen, Season 8 Favorite Performances50 (Billboard 200)16,000Idol Chatter 06-17-2009Adam Lambert, Season 8 Favorite Performances33 (Billboard 200)37,514Billboard YTD Current Digital Album 12-12-2009
Season 9 YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2010American Idol Season 977 (Billboard 200) 21,000Idol Chatter 06-09-2010Lee DeWyze, Season 9 Favorite Performances9 (Heatseekers Albums)[ Billboard chart - Heatseekers albums]5,000Idol Chatter 06-16-2010Crystal Bowersox, Season 9 Favorite Performances6 (Heatseekers Albums)Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart May 12 20105,000
Season 10 In this season compilation albums of studio recordings of all contestants' songs were released digitally on iTunes after the performances every week apart from top 3 and top 2. After the top 2 performances, compilations of 14 selected songs from the season by each of the two finalists were released on iTunes and in other retailers. Special five-song EPs from each of the Top 4 finalist were released for sale in Wal-Mart on June 28, 2011.
YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2011American Idol Top 13 Season 10American Idol Top 12 Season 10American Idol Top 11 Season 10American Idol Top 11 Redux Season 10American Idol Top 9 Season 109 (iTunes top albums)Idol Chatter Apr 12, 2011American Idol Top 8 Season 10American Idol Top 7 Season 10American Idol Top 6 Season 10American Idol Top 5 Season 10American Idol Top 4 Season 10American Idol Season 10: Lauren Alaina42 (Billboard 200)Idol Chatter 06-01-2011 17,000American Idol Season 10: Scotty McCreery12 (Billboard 200) 42,000American Idol Season 10 Highlights EP: James Durbin31 (Billboard 200)Idol Chatter 07-06-201171,000American Idol Season 10 Highlights EP: Haley Reinhart37 (Billboard 200)59,000American Idol Season 10 Highlights EP: Lauren Alaina24 (Billboard 200)85,000American Idol Season 10 Highlights EP: Scotty McCreery10 (Billboard 200) 201,000
Season 11 In this season compilation albums of studio recordings of all contestants' songs were released digitally to iTunes after the performances every week. After the Top 2 performances, compilations of 11 selected songs from the season by each of the two finalists were released. A compilation album by the Top 10 finalists and an EP from each of the Top 5 finalists was released for sale in Wal-Mart on July 3, 2012, and the Phillip Phillips' EP was released to other retailers on July 17, 2012, with one different track.
YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2012American Idol - Top 13 Season 11American Idol Top 12 Season 11American Idol: Top 10 - Season 11American Idol, Season 11 - Top 9American Idol Top 8 - Season 11American Idol Top 7 – Season 11American Idol Top 7 Now (New Millennium) - Season 11American Idol Top 7 Then (Old Soul) - Season 11American Idol Top 6: Music of Queen - Season 11American Idol Top 6: Contestant's Choice - Season 11American Idol - Songs of the Top 5 - Season 11American Idol - Top 4 - Season 11American Idol - Top 3 - Season 11American Idol - Season Finale - Season 11 21 (Billboard 200) 18,000Jessica Sanchez: Journey to the Finale 126 (Billboard 200) 6,000Phillip Phillips: Journey to the Finale11 (Billboard 200)45,000American Idol Season 11 Duets and Trios Highlights 161 (Top Current Album)Top Current Albums, Issue Date: 2012-07-213,000American Idol Season 11 Top 10 Highlights127 (Billboard 200)The Billboard 200 Issue Date: 2012-07-21 4,000American Idol Season 11 Highlights: Skylar Laine64 (Billboard 200)33,000American Idol Season 11 Highlights: Hollie Cavanagh176 (Billboard 200)13,000American Idol Season 11 Highlights: Joshua Ledet57 (Billboard 200)30,000American Idol Season 11 Highlights: Jessica Sanchez77 (Billboard 200)15,000American Idol Season 11 Highlights: Phillip PhillipsAmerican Idol Season 11 Highlights25 (Billboard 200)82,000
Season 12 In this season compilation albums of studio recordings of all contestants' songs were released digitally to iTunes after the performances every week.
YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2013American Idol - Top 10 Season 12American Idol: Top 9 Season 12American Idol - Top 8 Season 12American Idol - Top 7 Season 12American Idol - Top 6 Season 12American Idol - Top 5 Season 12American Idol - Top 4 Season 12American Idol - Top 4 (Redux) Season 12American Idol - Top 3 Season 12American Idol - Top 2 Season 12America Idol: Idols Singing Idols
Other Releases YearAlbum titleChart positionsSales2011American Idol 10th Anniversary – The Hits: Volume 1 136 (Billboard 200) 7,000Idol Chatter 03-30-2011
Individual solo albums After Idol, several finalists and winners released their own solo albums and singles. For a list of major-label studio albums by Idol recording artists, see American Idol contestants discography.
References
External links Season 5 album review from Houston Chronicle'' (accessed May 25, 2007).