{"id":22595,"date":"2026-05-01T13:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=22595"},"modified":"2026-05-01T13:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:33:10","slug":"after-years-out-of-the-spotlight-kellie-pickler-is-stepping-back-onto-the-american-idol-stage-in-a-comeback-that-no-one-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=22595","title":{"rendered":"After years out of the spotlight, Kellie Pickler is stepping back onto the American Idol stage in a comeback that no one expected"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kellie Pickler\u00a0is returning to the stage in a big way with an appearance on\u00a0American Idol<\/em>\u00a0on Monday, May 4, as part of a special episode celebrating the Class of 2006 reunion.<\/p>\n

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Danielle Fishel revealed the news on the official\u00a0American Idol<\/em>\u00a0podcast, sharing that Pickler will be joined by fellow Idol alums Taylor Hicks, Paris Bennett, Bucky Covington, and Elliott Yamin. The group is set to return to the show to duet with this season\u2019s Top 5 contestants: Chris Tungseth, Hannah Harper, Braden Rumfelt, Keyla Richardson, and Jordan McCullough.<\/p>\n

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The upcoming May 4 episode will also feature original judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, appearing as guest judge and guest mentor, respectively.<\/p>\n

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In addition to the Class of 2006 reunion, the episode will include performances with\u00a0Dancing with the Stars<\/em>\u00a0pros, bringing ballroom flair to the celebration, while America votes live to determine the Top 3.<\/p>\n

Pickler has largely stayed out of the spotlight in recent years, only stepping back on stage in April 2024 for a performance honoring the late Patsy Cline. The appearance marked her first performance since the passing of her husband, songwriter Kyle Jacobs, who\u00a0died\u00a0at the couple\u2019s home on February 17, 2023.<\/p>\n

Pickler auditioned for American Idol when she was just 19 years old, impressing the judges with a performance of Kelly Clarkson\u2019s \u201cSince U Been Gone\u201d and Martina McBride\u2019s \u201cA Broken Wing.\u201d She advanced far in the competition and finished in sixth place. She previously returned to\u00a0American Idol<\/em>\u00a0in 2016, where she served as both a mentor and performer during the show\u2019s final season on Fox.<\/p>\n

Following her stint on\u00a0Idol<\/em>, Pickler rose to fame with her 2006 debut album,\u00a0Small Town Girl<\/em>, which was certified Gold by the RIAA and produced three Top 20 hits: \u201cRed High Heels,\u201d \u201cI Wonder,\u201d and \u201cThings That Never Cross a Man\u2019s Mind.\u201d She also scored a major success with her Platinum-certified single, \u201cBest Days of Your Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2013, Pickler and her partner Derek Hough took home the mirrorball trophy, winning Season 16 of\u00a0Dancing With the Stars<\/em>. She was later inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

From 2017 to 2019, Pickler served as co-host of\u00a0Pickler & Ben<\/em>, a nationally syndicated talk show that earned five Emmy nominations.She has also built a career in acting, appearing in several films and TV shows, including\u00a0Christmas at Graceland<\/em>,\u00a0The Mistletoe Secret<\/em>,\u00a090210<\/em>,\u00a0Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/em>,\u00a0Wedding at Graceland<\/em>, and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kellie Pickler; Photo by Robby Klein Kellie Pickler\u00a0is returning to the stage in a big way with an appearance on\u00a0American Idol\u00a0on Monday, May 4, as part of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22597,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22595\/revisions\/22597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}