In September 2008, shortly after the birth of his son Parker and during the wildly successful Broadway run of Spamalot that he was involved in, famed American Idol alumnus Clay Aiken came out as gay. Spamalot‘s audience drop-off afterward was no coincidence, according to Aiken himself.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Aiken remarked on the impact that coming out had on his career, pointing to the halving of Spamalot ticket sales — and the show’s eventual closure — as a ripple effect of his decision.
I lost maybe 50 percent of the fan base… The first four months that I was in [Spamalot], the show was selling out, standing room only. You can actually look at the ticket sales the week after that cover came out. It went from selling very well to the week after the cover came out, the ticket sales dropped. Spamalot ended up closing a few months after that.”
He would go on to note how much has changed for queer people in the 16 years since he first came out, and how coming out today tends to be a boon for an artist’s career rather than the hindrance he experienced from it; a shift that Aiken welcomes wholeheartedly.
Back then it was a big deal. We are in a very different time. A lot of people who come out now end up having boosts in popularity because of it… That’s mind-blowing to me because it’s the opposite of what happened when I came out. But it means that there’s progress and it means that as a country, we’re headed in the right direction.
Aiken’s musical career — his primary claim to fame — took off in 2003 after being named the runner-up on the second season of American Idol, after which the artist would go on to steadily release albums up until 2012’s Steadfast. He would not release another until Nov. 22 of this year, titled Christmas Bells Are Ringing.
Aiken became more politically involved after coming out, going as far as running in the Democratic Party primary for North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district in 2014, a race he ended up winning. He would go on to lose the general election to Republican Renee Ellmers. Aiken was particularly critical of the state’s banning of gay marriage and civil unions in 2012 but also clarified that he wanted to campaign on a variety of issues that were important to the people of the district he sought to represent.
He would run for Congress again in North Carolina’s 4th congressional district in 2022, also for the Democrats, and finished third out of eight candidates.
Outside of music, politics, and Broadway, Aiken teamed up with writer Allison Glock to publish his memoir Learning to Sing in 2004, and he also competed in the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice in 2012. Shortly after his run on American Idol, he co-founded what’s known today as the National Inclusion Project — a non-profit organization that seeks to destigmatize disability and promote inclusive environments for children with disabilities — with Diane Bubel. Prior to his first run for Congress, he also served as a UNICEF ambassador from 2004.
Published: Dec 16, 2024 12:45 pm