American Idol’s Kris Allen reflects on what defines success to him 15 years after the release of his Idol-winning album. Sentimentally, he shared he counts success via the opinions of his fanbase, not the numbers of his streams.
Kris Allen is an American singer and songwriter famed for winning the eighth season of the pop-reality show American Idol. Over a decade since his Idol coronation song, No Boundaries, made the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, Allen is still touring and performing his music. The musician recently revealed what success means to him, all these years after his win.
Allen defines ‘success’ through meaning
Two T’s in a Pod is the title of the podcast hosted by The Real Housewives franchise stars Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp.
She also has another podcast, Talking A Big Game. On the September 2 episode, Tamra pairs up with Big Brother’s Dan Gheesling to interview Kris Allen about all things success and reality TV.
Gheesling noted the Idol’s extensive career and how he has made his “own way in music” before he dug in deep about Allen’s definition of success.
Taking into account everything he’s “been through” Gheesling asked Allen to explain how he would “define success” in his career and who he is “as an individual.”
The singer says his success is not defined through “streams and charts” as “playing the numbers game” is something that has always “failed” him.
According to Allen, these numbers are not something that “you can chase”, sometimes leading to disappointment, in combination with the successes.
What really makes the 39-year-old feel “the best” and “the most successful” is interacting with fans who hold a special place for his music.
The Arkansas native shared that when he gets “to talk to a fan after the show” and they tell him: “Hey, this song means a lot to me” is truly definitive of his personal take on success.
Additionally, Kris garners a lot of validation from his friends and peers. For example, when they reach out to say things like: “Dude, that new song you put out is amazing.”
Allen urges aspiring musicians
When asked to provide advice for other aspiring musicians out there, who may also be considering auditioning for American Idol, Allen described the work it takes behind the scenes.
In reference to the ABC show that made him famous, Allen said: “There are still a lot of people doing that that are really successful.”
However, he doesn’t think this is the only route to success, as he added: “I feel like everyone has their own things that make them successful or that they need to hear.”
In his own words of wisdom the Heartless singer shared: “The only thing that I would tell people is that they are [good enough], and like, just keep going with what you’re doing and, like, it’s a lot of work.”
He spoke of his naive view of the industry he held growing up. At a time when he thought being a musician was “a pretty easy job.” Back then Allen believed if he just wrote his songs and played his shows that everything would work out.
Now he values the amount of dedication it takes to progress in a music career.
“If you’re not working at it all the time, whether it’s like singing or playing or writing recording, if you’re not working at it, you’re not getting better,” he shared.
“And if you’re not getting better, no one’s gonna listen to your stuff,” Allen concluded.
Related Topics
