All of them had so much to offer us as far as, you know, knowledge in the music industry, and especially Randy and Paula because, you know, they've been artists.
And I just pray that god gives me longevity in the music industry.
And I want - my dream in life was to become a recording artist and I'm about to do that right now.
And to be able to do it, to be able to accomplish the goal you've always set for yourself is always a blessing.
Because I gave myself - I left school after the second semester of my junior year to pursue a career in music. and I gave myself five years to make it and I made it in three.
But I also live to perform and I've been performing my whole life, whether it's been in sports or you know in band or with my singing.
He's still my dad, I only get one dad and I make sure I keep a relationship with him.
I don't want to be a one-hit wonder.
I just never let anything bother me, man. I know myself really well. Nobody's opinion of me can shake my opinion of myself.
I just want to make good music that, you know, appeals to all people, man. I want to branch out and you know just have a lot of multiplatinum albums.
I like doing theaters. I like being up close and personal with the fans. It's really cool.
I mean I've always been a big dude.
I never knew that the things I wanted to do would come this fast, but this is the route that God took me, and so I'm excited.
I really love, you know, doing this job. I mean I've always wanted to do this. I never wanted to do anything else with my life.
I think I look good. I think I look real good.
I think the best part for me is just being able to perform for people every week.
I'm in the process of brainstorming with my marketing team and all that stuff, trying to come up with a concept for a late-night restaurant for people in Birmingham.
I've never had any health problems and I'm Ruben, man, all the way through.
It has been wonderful, man. I've enjoyed every minute of it, and God has truly blessed me, so I can't do anything but be grateful.
My mother always taught me, even my dad, just never let other people's opinions of you shape your opinion of yourself. And I never have and I never will.
People just take your kindness for weakness sometimes, and that's just the bottom line.
Simon is cool. You know, it's different if you ever see him around his mom. He acts totally different.
So I want to make sure that I used my success to show Birmingham in a positive light.
So I've never in my whole life really been teased about my weight.
Sometimes I just don't - I can't imagine that people actually like me.
The schedule is really crazy and the fans are sometimes kind of crazy, but other than that it's been - it's been cool.
We became somewhat household names really quickly, within a matter of - what? - three, four months. So it's hard to get used to, and it's really sometimes hard to understand.
Yeah, I'd go sleep and I'd have my headphones on in my sleep. I would just always dream about being on stage and people cheering and screaming.
You know, I played football, I was offensive tackle in college.
You know, Simon he's an artist representative, but Randy and Paula actually were in the industry as artists so they had, you know, the information that they offered to us from their aspect.
he appeared in a TV commercial for Serra KIA, a local dealership.
he appeared in a TV commercial for Serra KIA, a local dealership.
Alabama, his home state, declared March 11, 2003 as Ruben Studdard Day.
After he graduated in 2000 with his major in voice studies, Ruben gave himself 5 years to make it as a singer.
He signed with J Records after he won the 2nd installment of American Idol.
His first single Flying Without Wings debuted at #2 on the BIllboard single chart.
In March 2004, he won the NAACP Best New Artist Award.
He attended Huffman High School which he earned a college scholarship for playing football.
Shortly after he won the American Idol title, he appeared in the TV Guide and Rolling Stone covers.
He Beat Clay Aiken for the title of American Idol 2 by only 130,000 votes out of the 24 million votes recorded, the smallest margin in the show's history.
He played football when he attended A&M University.
Ruben is 6' 4".
He sang "'God Bless America" in the 2004 MLB All-Star Game.
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