Jordin Sparks

After winning the sixth season of American Idol in 2007, Jordin Sparks went on to become a Platinum-selling pop star and a celebrated Broadway and film actor. ∙ Sparks’ 2007 self-titled debut reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and sold more than two million records worldwide. ∙ In early 2008, she sang the National Anthem to open Super Bowl XLII for a then-record TV audience of 97.5 million viewers. ∙ Her sophomore single, 2008’s “No Air”—a duet with R&B singer Chris Brown—was certified Platinum in the US, and it became a No. 1 hit in Australia and New Zealand. ∙ Alongside such artists as Janet Jackson, Justin Bieber, and Kanye West, she sang on the 2010 charity single “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” to raise money for earthquake relief. ∙ She starred in the 2012 film Sparkle and duetted with Whitney Houston on the soundtrack single “Celebrate,” which won Best Gospel Inspiration Performance at the Soul Train Awards. ∙ After making her 2010 stage debut in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, she returned to Broadway in 2019 to star in the award-winning musical Waitress.