Phillip Phillips
Jun 18, 2012
Phillip Phillips, the boy so talented his parents named him twice. This 21-year-old American Idol Season 11 contestant grew up in Sasser and Leesburg, Georgia. It was in his Savannah audition, when Phillip performed an animated rendition of Stevie Wonder's hit, "Superstition," that the judges first took notice.
American Idol may have had its lowest rated finale ever, but that didn't stop Idol winner Phillip Philips from debuting at No. 2 on the Hot Digital Songs chart -- and making Idol history.
Phillips' single "Home" sold 278,000 units last week. According to Billboard, it's the second-best digital sales week for any Idol contestant -- topped only by Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You," which debuted with 280,000 downloads in 2009.
After the Top 13 performance night, Phillips was taken to a doctor for possible kidney stones. He had eight surgeries while he was Idol, and had considered quitting the show due to the pain. Soon after the season had finished, he underwent surgery to remove the stones.
Further, "Home" was downloaded more than any previous Idol coronation singer, including David Cook's "This Is the Time of My Life," which sold 236,000 units in the first week after the Season 7 finale. The Georgia native also had two other digital songs in the top 100. "We've Got Tonight" came in at No. 41 with 43,000 downloads and "Volcano" was No. 54 with 35,000 downloads.