Top 24 'American Idols' Of All-Time

Since her win, it's been a roller coaster ride for the third season victor, who scored one No. 1 single on the Hot 100 with "I Believe." Weeks before the release of her third album in August 2010 (which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200), Fantasia was hospitalized after overdosing on aspirin, and later revealed the overdose to be a suicide attempt. But the soulful lady found redemption and purpose in music, claiming afterward that "music saved me." She will appear as the titular character in the Mahalia Jackson biopic "Mahalia!" later this year.

Clay Aiken may have lost to Ruben Studdard in 2003, but he's still the season two favorite in the minds of many longtime "Idol" fans -- and he has the sales and a No. 1 single to prove it. With a stint on Broadway's "Spamalot" and five Top-10 albums under his belt (plus one reportedly on the way), Aiken has had his time to shine. His Claymates will be the first to tell you that.

The daughter of former NFL footballer Phillippi Sparks was just 17 when she was voted America's favorite back in 2007, beating out beatboxer Blake Lewis. Sparks has since racked up radio hits like "Battlefield" and "No Air," a duet with Chris Brown that peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100. The pop/R&B crooner is set to release her third record this year, and will make her acting debut in the remake of the 1976 film "Sparkle," alongside the recently deceased Whitney Houston.

Chris Daughtry's fourth-place "Idol" finish in 2006 really hurt his career, didn't it? Yeah, no. With 6.5 million albums and 11.9 million digital downloads to his name, the gruff rocker ranks ahead of all but two former "Idol" winners on this list. His self-titled debut album with his namesake band is still the fastest-selling debut rock record in Soundscan history, its hit singles -- from "It's Not Over" to "Home" -- downright inescapable from 2006-2008. His band's newest record, "Break the Spell," debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 last November.

As the first country singer to win "American Idol," Carrie Underwood leads the show's graduates with U.S. album sales of 12.4 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Her third release, 2009's "Play On," showed off a more mature side to the 27-year-old and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In 2011, Underwood hit No. 1 on the Country charts for the eleventh time with "Remind Me," a duet with Brad Paisley, and made her silver screen debut in the film "Soul Surfer." Just last week, Underwood released "Good Girl," the first single off her upcoming fourth album, due May 1.

"Idol's" original queen is still its biggest star. Since winning the title in 2002, Kelly Clarkson has notched 10 Billboard Hot 100 top 10s -- including three No. 1s -- from five albums. Miss Independent's reach is enormous, possessing the largest tallies of radio spins, single sales and YouTube views of any former "Idol" -- and the singer first rose to prominence before the latter two distinctions even existed on a large scale. Her fifth album, "Stronger," debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 last fall, continuing Clarkson's streak in which each of her albums have debuted in the chart's top three; earlier this month, the single of the same name topped the Hot 100.