Ruben Studdard

Ruben Studdard is an American pop, gospel, and R&B singer. He was born as Christopher Ruben Studdard on September 12, 1978, in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. His parents were both Americans, and while his father, who was a teacher, was assigned to the U.S. Army, Ruben was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He first sang at the Rising Star Baptist Church in Birmingham when he was only three years old. Since then, he started singing gospel in the church and performed solos, while his mother was part of the local choir. He studied at Huffman High School and had been part of the football team, where he earned a scholarship to AAMU (Alabama A&M University). From there, he joined a music fraternity called Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia of America. He took a music career and majored voice studies at AAMU.

He sang with Birmingham’s R&B and jazz band, Just a Few Cats, together with the local musicians. One of the back-up singers of the band asked him to accompany her for an audition for the 2nd season of the American Idol. During the audition, he sang Ribbon in the Sky by Stevie Wonder. This led him to become one of the finalists. Ruben has impressed the audiences with his renditions of the Superstar and A Whole New World. He earned praises from the music legends such as Bee Gees, Gladys Knight Gladys Knight, whose complete name is Gladys Maria >> Read More... , Lionel Ritchie, Luther Vandross, Robin Gibb, and Neil Sedaka. During the competition, he became popular for wearing a shirt printed with 205, his home town’s area code and people started calling him as Velvet Teddy Bear. Ruben ended up as the winner of the American Idol Season 2 in 2003. March 11, 2003, was declared as Ruben Studdard Day by Bob Riley, the Governor of Alabama. He received a nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards in 2003 for Superstar. After American Idol, he has released a total of six studio albums including his first and second album, Soulful and I Need an Angel. Some of his popular hit songs include Sorry 2004, Flying Without Wings, and Change Me.

Ruben also segued on stage and television works and had toured with stage, TV, and film actress, Robin Givens in I Need a Hug. He also starred in the musical revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’, which released a soundtrack that was nominated at the Grammy Awards. In 2013, Ruben also appeared in the 15th season of the reality show, The Biggest Loser. In 2014, he released the album, Unconditional Love, under Verve Records. He also worked as an actor and was seen in films like Eve, 8 Simple Rules, All of Us, and Life on a Stick. He also made a cameo role in the 2004 horror comedy mystery film, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Ruben also appeared in a television commercial for Kia.