Taylor Hicks won Idol. Fourth-place Chris Daughtry outsold him nine to one.

Chris signed with RCA and recorded a sequence of band albums

A July 2006 announcement said Chris had signed with 19 Entertainment and RCA, with plans to form a band. RCA and 19 Recordings released the band’s Leave This Town in July 2009 and Break the Spell in November 2011. They released Baptized in November 2013 and Cage to Rattle in July 2018, and Chris sang lead on all of them.

Hicks played Teen Angel on Broadway and the Grease tour

Hicks played Teen Angel in Broadway’s Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre from June to September 2008. He also played Teen Angel on the Grease tour, which ran from December 2008 to May 2010.

Hicks performed in Las Vegas and hosted State Plate

Hicks began a residency at Bally’s Las Vegas in June 2012 and described performing at Bally’s as a dream. That September, the residency was extended through 2013, and he moved to Paris Las Vegas in January 2013.

Hicks hosted the culinary travel show State Plate, which covered foods associated with each state, from 2016 to 2018. In 2016 he was also an owner of Saw’s Juke Joint in Birmingham.

Hicks recorded independently and released music on Modern Whomp

In 1997, Hicks independently recorded In Your Time, an album that included studio and live tracks, and he independently recorded, produced and released Under the Radar in May 2005, before Idol. Random House released Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way in July 2007.

In January 2008, Hicks confirmed a mutual split from Arista, and that year the compilation Early Works was released on Modern Whomp. The Distance followed on his own Modern Whomp Records in March 2009. In February 2023, he released Porch Swing, and he made his Grand Ole Opry debut that June.

Chris took television roles and competed on The Masked Singer

In 2008, Chris made his acting debut in an episode of the crime drama CSI: NY, and in March 2016 he played Judas in Fox’s live musical television special The Passion. In December 2019, he finished as runner-up on the second season of The Masked Singer, competing in a Rottweiler costume.

Daughtry left RCA and released new music through 2026

The band and RCA parted ways in September 2019 after the contract was fulfilled, and Dearly Beloved came out in September 2021 through Dogtree Records. In August 2023, the band Daughtry was announced as signed to Big Machine Records, together with the new single Artificial.

The band released the two-part project Shock to the System as EPs on Dogtree and Big Machine Rock: Part One in September 2024 and Part Two in September 2025. Chris featured on Nothing More’s single Freefall in 2025. In July 2026, the band released There And Back Again, a compilation of 11 re-recorded songs from its catalog, for its 20th anniversary.