Benson Boone, Tori Kelly, Kane Brown and More Singers You May Have Forgotten Auditioned forAmerican Idol

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Christopher Willard via Getty; FOX; FOX Image Collection via Getty

Christopher Willard via Getty; FOX; FOX Image Collection via Getty

Hitting it big in Hollywood can come with some surprises along the way.

For these 11 singers,American Idolseemed like a golden ticket to their dreams, except they were rejected. While the show shockingly sent home the likes ofKatharine McPhee,Adam LambertandJennifer Hudsonin the competition rounds — all of whom have had major careers since — other stars such asBenson Boone,Amber Riley,Kane BrownandTori Kellyalso tried their hand at the singing on the competition show and didn’t make it for various reasons.

Below, check out 12 stars who you may have forgotten auditioned forAmerican Idol.

01of 12Benson BooneBenson Boone.Jon Kopaloff/WireImageLong before he had the internet buzzing abouthis Grammys jumpsuit,Benson Boonetried his hand atAmerican Idol.However, the “Beautiful Things” singer quit after making it onto season 19 of the singing competition.“The reason I quitAmerican Idolis because Iwantedto do music,” he said on theZach Sang Showback in 2022. “I don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, Benson Boone,American Idolblew him up. Like, that’s where he comes from. No. I want to be Benson Boone ‘cause I write smash hits and they love my music … I just didn’t want that label on me.“His wishes came true, as the Washington native scored his very first Grammy nomination for best new artist this year.

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Benson Boone

Benson Boone.Jon Kopaloff/WireImage

Jon Kopaloff/WireImage

Long before he had the internet buzzing abouthis Grammys jumpsuit,Benson Boonetried his hand atAmerican Idol.However, the “Beautiful Things” singer quit after making it onto season 19 of the singing competition.

“The reason I quitAmerican Idolis because Iwantedto do music,” he said on theZach Sang Showback in 2022. “I don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, Benson Boone,American Idolblew him up. Like, that’s where he comes from. No. I want to be Benson Boone ‘cause I write smash hits and they love my music … I just didn’t want that label on me.”

His wishes came true, as the Washington native scored his very first Grammy nomination for best new artist this year.

02of 12Kane BrownKane Brown.Jason Kempin/GettyOne of the biggest country stars out today,Kane Brownauditioned forAmerican Idolmore than a decade ago but was rejected. The singer was following in Lauren Alaina’s footsteps, a friend of his from school choir who had found success after coming in second in season 10.However, Brown toldBillboardthe show rejected him, saying “they didn’t need another Scotty McCreery,” he recalled.He went on to audition forX Factorbut exited after they tried to put him in a boy band.

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Kane Brown

Kane Brown.Jason Kempin/Getty

Jason Kempin/Getty

One of the biggest country stars out today,Kane Brownauditioned forAmerican Idolmore than a decade ago but was rejected. The singer was following in Lauren Alaina’s footsteps, a friend of his from school choir who had found success after coming in second in season 10.

However, Brown toldBillboardthe show rejected him, saying “they didn’t need another Scotty McCreery,” he recalled.

He went on to audition forX Factorbut exited after they tried to put him in a boy band.

03of 12Lauren DaigleLauren Daigle.Gilbert Flores/Billboard via GettyLauren Daigle’s road to the Super Bowl LIX was no easy feat.The famed Christian music singer auditioned for the singing competition not once, not twice, but three times before she made it big.She first tried out for season 9 in 2010 but got cut before the top 24 were selected. She tried again for season 10 in 2011, but didn’t make it to Hollywood. Her last attempt came in 2012 when she was eliminated in the Las Vegas round of season 11.And while rejection would be discouraging to most, Daigle said it helped motivate her to keep going. “I remember thinking, ‘My whole plan has just flipped upside down…'” she said of the first time she got a “No.““I knew right then, sitting in that moment, I’m going to have to decide whether I’m going to get back up and start trying or if I’m gonna let that just determine the course of my life,” she toldCosmopolitan.Luckily, she chose to keep going and will now be one of the performers at the 2025 Super Bowl on Feb. 9. The Louisiana native will be singing “America the Beautiful” ahead of the big game.

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Lauren Daigle

Lauren Daigle.Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

Lauren Daigle’s road to the Super Bowl LIX was no easy feat.

The famed Christian music singer auditioned for the singing competition not once, not twice, but three times before she made it big.

She first tried out for season 9 in 2010 but got cut before the top 24 were selected. She tried again for season 10 in 2011, but didn’t make it to Hollywood. Her last attempt came in 2012 when she was eliminated in the Las Vegas round of season 11.

And while rejection would be discouraging to most, Daigle said it helped motivate her to keep going. “I remember thinking, ‘My whole plan has just flipped upside down…'” she said of the first time she got a “No.”

“I knew right then, sitting in that moment, I’m going to have to decide whether I’m going to get back up and start trying or if I’m gonna let that just determine the course of my life,” she toldCosmopolitan.

Luckily, she chose to keep going and will now be one of the performers at the 2025 Super Bowl on Feb. 9. The Louisiana native will be singing “America the Beautiful” ahead of the big game.

04of 12MIckey GuytonJim Poorten/NBAE via GettyUnder the name Mycale Guyton, the country star auditioned for season 7 ofAmerican Idolbut didn’t advance.“I did [audition], and they threw me away,“she said on an episode ofWatch What Happens Live.But since her career blew up, she said she’s heard from judge Randy Jackson, and “he’s been very lovely to me.”

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MIckey Guyton

Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty

Under the name Mycale Guyton, the country star auditioned for season 7 ofAmerican Idolbut didn’t advance.

“I did [audition], and they threw me away,“she said on an episode ofWatch What Happens Live.But since her career blew up, she said she’s heard from judge Randy Jackson, and “he’s been very lovely to me.”

05of 12Tori KellyTori Kelly.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagicNowadays,Tori Kellyis selling out venues across the globe, but long before she was a chart-topping superstar, she too, auditioned forAmerican Idol. The singer auditioned in Denver, Colorado and though she made it to Hollywood Week for season 9, she wasn’t selected to go further.Five years following her time onIdol,she released her debut albumUnbreakable Smilein 2015. The rest is history.

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Tori Kelly

Tori Kelly.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Nowadays,Tori Kellyis selling out venues across the globe, but long before she was a chart-topping superstar, she too, auditioned forAmerican Idol. The singer auditioned in Denver, Colorado and though she made it to Hollywood Week for season 9, she wasn’t selected to go further.

Five years following her time onIdol,she released her debut albumUnbreakable Smilein 2015. The rest is history.

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Jax

Jax.Cindy Ord/Getty

Cindy Ord/Getty

The following year, the then-20-year-old New Jersey native was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

“We were at the grocery store when I first felt something wrong in my throat,” shetold PEOPLEback in 2016. “But I’m always getting sick, so we thought it was a sinus infection.”

Though doctors initially thought the same, precautionary x-rays revealed she had 18 tumors in her throat, 12 of which were determined to be cancerous. Despite worries that she would lose her voice, Jax underwent surgery and had her entire thyroid removed, along with the cancerous tumors and several lymph nodes.

She hasn’t let it slow her down; in fact, her career has only blown up since. In June 2024, she released her albumDearJoe,which featured the viral hit “Victoria’s Secret.”

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Bebe Rexha

Bebe Rexha.Jerritt Clark/Getty

Jerritt Clark/Getty

Bebe Rexhaalso revealed she had auditioned before and was sent home before she even made it to the judges.

“I was with my mom, we waited 12 hours,” she later told idol judge Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest on an episode ofLive with Kelly and Ryan.

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Amber Riley

Amber Riley.Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

There are many greatAmber RileyGleemoments to list, but hardcore fans never fail to mention her renditions of “I Will Always Love You,” “And I Am Telling You,” and “Bust Your Windows,” as her top moments.

But before she had us all awe-inspired on the Ryan Murphy-created show, Riley auditioned forIdolwhen she was just 17 years old.

“[It felt] like my world had ended,” she toldJason Lee while on his show. “We had driven all the way to San Francisco — my mom, my dad and my sister. It was freezing cold. We waited hours and hours and hours just to be seen, and it was an immediate ‘no,'” she recalled.

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Naya Rivera

Naya Rivera.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Another McKinley High alum, the lateNaya Rivera, also auditioned forAmerican Idolbefore she played Santana Lopez onGleeas her dad was certain that would be her big break.

“For years he would always say, ‘You should audition for the show,’ and I never wanted to,” she told theladies ofThe Talk.“The one year we drove up to San Fran and I didn’t make it past the first round,” she said, laughing.

Riveradied from an accidental drowningin July 2020. She had rented a boat while at California’s Lake Piru with her son, Josey, who was 4 at the time. When the boat was not returned on time, staff found it on the north side of the lake with Josey sleeping in his life jacket on board, but Rivera was missing.

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Colbie Caillat

Colbie Caillat.Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Take time to realize …Colbie Caillatcould have been onAmerican Idol.

The singer, who featured on the show as a mentor in season 16, revealed she tried out twice and was rejected both times. Even more shocking is the fact that she auditioned with her now-classic folksy song, “Bubbly.”

11of 12Hillary ScottHillary Scott.Francis Specker/CBS via GettyLady A’sHillary Scottauditioned for the show twice, though her heartbreak wasn’t necessarily about not being picked as much as it was about the fact that she wasn’t happy with how the audition went.“I think I remember shedding a few tears just knowing that I hadn’t performed at my best because I was so nervous,” she toldHLN’s A.J. Hammer.“I had never done any kind of audition like that before and so — if anyone has ever gone and auditioned — it’s a lot of pressure and there’s thousands and thousands of people in line [trying] to make it down to what will be a final 12.”

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Hillary Scott

Hillary Scott.Francis Specker/CBS via Getty

Lady A’sHillary Scottauditioned for the show twice, though her heartbreak wasn’t necessarily about not being picked as much as it was about the fact that she wasn’t happy with how the audition went.

“I think I remember shedding a few tears just knowing that I hadn’t performed at my best because I was so nervous,” she toldHLN’s A.J. Hammer.

“I had never done any kind of audition like that before and so — if anyone has ever gone and auditioned — it’s a lot of pressure and there’s thousands and thousands of people in line [trying] to make it down to what will be a final 12.”

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Jimmie Allen

Jimmie Allen.Terry Wyatt/ACMA2021/Getty Images

Jimmie Allenalso went throughAmerican Idolbefore he made a name for himself in country music. The Nashville native auditioned for season 10 of the show but was eliminated before the live voting rounds began.

He would go on to top the country music charts with hits such as “Best Shot,” “Down Home,” and “Make Me Want To.”

In May 2023, Allen’s former manager, listed as Jane Doe,sued himfor assault and sexual abuse, alleging that he raped her during a March 2021 work trip to Los Angeles when filming an episode ofAmerican Idol.

In March 2024, his former manager dropped her lawsuit. “Jane Doe entered into a settlement agreement with Jimmie Allen to avoid the trauma of reliving her abuse over the course of a painful trial,” herattorney said in a statement.

Theyfinalized their divorcethe last year.

source: people.com