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American Idol winner Just Sam singing on stage in a silver shimmering dress.
Category:
Movies & TV

What Happened to Just Sam After American Idol? Explained

Image of Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen
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Published: May 21, 2024 07:51 am

Singer Just Sam beat eighteen other American Idol competitors to walk away as the talent competition’s champion. But where did they go after that? Here’s an explanation of what happened to Just Sam after American Idol.

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What Happened to Just Sam After American Idol? Explained

Despite winning American Idol in 2020, in a largely remote edition of the show, Just Sam did not become an overnight success. In fact, they started off busking on subways, and a couple of years after their win, they were back doing the same thing.

This wasn’t some gimmick, either. In May 2023, Just Sam posted footage of themselves busking in a New York subway, later telling Today that “I literally could not afford to pay my rent. I couldn’t afford to eat.”

Just Sam did sign a record deal after winning American Idol in 2020, but it fell apart without them releasing an album (they have released six singles to date). Just Sam said they ultimately ended up paying to get their music back, which left them all but broke.

Related: Who Beat Adam Lambert on American Idol? Answered

Posting on Instagram (via Chicago Defender) they explained everything. “I thought it was gonna be easy,” they said. “Just go to the studio, record, put out music, and that’s not how the world works. That’s not how the industry works. It takes time, it takes money that I don’t have. It takes patience.”

“I’m not even going to tell you guys the amount of money that I had to pay after leaving the label to claim songs that I already recorded,” they added. “And I invested in myself and ended up broke. That’s the truth.”

When it came out that they were busking in 2023, offers of help came in from various quarters, including Lil Durk and producer/rapper Timbaland. They ended up signing with a new management company, CrowdMGMT, and in April 2024, they appeared on American Idol as a guest singer. 

They knocked out of the park, giving a powerful performance showing why they came out on top in 2020. Hopefully, things go a little better, and Just Sam’s new management delivers. And that’s what happened to Just Sam after American Idol.

American Idol airs on ABC.

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American Idol
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Author
Image of Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen
Contributing Writer
Chris McMullen is a freelance contributor at The Escapist and has been with the site since 2020. He returned to writing about games following several career changes, with his most recent stint lasting five-plus years. He hopes that, through his writing work, he settles the karmic debt he incurred by persuading his parents to buy a Mega CD. Outside of The Escapist, Chris covers news and more for GameSpew. He's also been published at such sites as VG247, Space, and more. His tastes run to horror, the post-apocalyptic, and beyond, though he'll tackle most things that aren't exclusively sports-based. At Escapist, he's covered such games as Infinite Craft, Lies of P, Starfield, and numerous other major titles.
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