Top-Earning American Idols 2014

 

American Idol's Highest-Paid Alums

Though American Idol’s contestants rarely out-earn its celebrity judges, nine of the show's alums broke the million-dollar mark in 2014 year.

1. Carrie Underwood: $10 million 

Idol’s highest paid alum two years in a row, Underwood earned six-figure fees per night on the road—and considerably more for her role in NBC’s The Sound of Music LIVE!

 

2. Kelly Clarkson: $8 million

Idol’s inaugural winner rakes in six figures for every concert; last year’s holiday album, Wrapped In Red, was the fifth platinum solo album of Clarkson’s career.

 

3. Phillip Phillips: $5 million

 

One of Idol’s most successful graduates in recent years, Phillips’ latest release, Behind The Light, debuted at No. 7 on the charts with opening week sales of 41,000.

4. Scotty McCreery: $3.5 million (tie)

 

The Season Ten winner sold a quarter of a million copies of his third album, See You Tonight, and padded his coffers with 77 shows.

4. Taylor Hicks: $3.5 million (tie)

 

Hicks beat some of Idol’s better-known names thanks to a Vegas residency and 114 dates in our scoring period. He also owns a restaurant and plans to release a country album in 2015.

6. Daughtry: $3 million

 

The Idol alum’s eponymous band’s most recent release, Baptized, hit stores in November 2013 and sold over 100,000 copies.

7. Adam Lambert: $2.5 million

 

Solo tour dates and record sales accounted for much of Lambert’s earnings; after touring as the frontman of Queen, he’s set for a much higher payday on next year’s list.

8. Fantasia Barrino: $2 million

 

Barrino’s new album Side Effects Of You debuted in April 2013 and sold over 140,000 copies; she also does reasonably well on the road.

9. Kellie Pickler: $1 million

 

Thanks to 62 gigs during our scoring period, Pickler squeaks onto the list of Idol’s top earners once again.

Methodology

 

Our estimates are calculated with the help of data from Pollstar, the RIAA and Nielsen SoundScan as well as industry veterans, the musicians’ handlers and some of the artists themselves. These numbers reflect pretax earnings from June 2013 through June 2014.