WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Two of the original American Idol celebrities are reuniting next year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their rise to fame.
Season Two winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken will launch their Twenty Years, One Night tour next spring with a planned stop in Wausau at the Grand Theater on May 16th at 7:30 PM.
Combined they have recorded twelve albums, sold more than eight million albums worldwide, toured the country 14 times, starred together on Broadway, won four Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, and have been nominated for two Grammys. Despite being the runner-up, Aiken became the top 40 radio darling of the two with his first album bringing two Billboard Hot 100 singles including “Invisible” and “This is the Night.”
Studdard’s cover of “Flying Without Wings,” which he performed after he was announced as the winner, peaked at #2 on the charts. His subsequent releases trended away from the Top 40 and into the Soul and R&B categories.
The second season of American Idol helped catapult the show into a national obsession largely due to the emergence of Ruben and Clay as frontrunners. The season finale remains one of the highest-rated TV events of the last 20 years outside of a live sporting event.
That season also launched the careers of Kimberly Locke and Josh Gracin, who finished third and fourth.
A total of 124 million votes were cast in the final round.
Tickets for the show are on sale at the Grand Theater website and range in price from $45-$78.
