Grammy-nominated ‘American Idol’ alum Jordin Sparks joins WTOP en route to DC’s Atlantis
She’s sold over 10 million digital tracks in the U.S. since winning “American Idol” back in 2007.
On Thursday, Jordin Sparks brings her “No Restrictions: Live & Intimate” Tour to The Atlantis in D.C. The tour is named after her new “No Restrictions” album that drops next month.
“There’s something for everybody on this album,” Sparks told WTOP.
“We’ve got my southern gospel roots, my choir roots. We’ve got country, acoustic, piano ballads, a power ballad, we have pop, we have R&B. So ‘No Restrictions’ makes sense because I was like, ‘I’m gonna give everybody everything because I love all types of music’ and people met me that way on ‘Idol.'”
Born in Phoenix in 1989, Sparks grew up watching the previous seasons of “American Idol.”
“I definitely watched ‘Idol,'” Sparks said.
“I watched every single season. I watched Kelly (Clarkson), Ruben (Studdard), Fantasia (Barrino), Carrie (Underwood), Taylor (Hicks) and then I got to audition. I was a really big fan so when I got to audition I was really excited to be there, but at the same time I believed in what I could do, so I was like, ‘If all the things line up, there are so many variables, I think I can actually do this,’ then it happened!”
Indeed, Sparks won Season 6 to become the youngest “American Idol” champ ever at age 17. She said she’ll never forget Ryan Seacrest announcing her name with confetti falling after 74 million votes were cast in the finale.
“It was literally the moment that changed my life,” Sparks said.
“When Ryan called my name, I put my hands over my face like, ‘Oh my gosh, this really just happened!’ Everyone was clapping, confetti pyrotechnics were going off, but I couldn’t hear anything. It was like a movie, all I could hear was my heartbeat. I was looking at my family then Ryan hands me the microphone, ‘Here to sing her single.’ … I sang the song, but I don’t remember singing it.”
Her coronation song “This Is My Now” immediately ranked No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“It was a great song,” Sparks said.
“It was just so beautiful. That was the first time on ‘Idol’ that we put stuff up for iTunes, so we had to prerecord the songs before we actually had to perform them and that made it a little more challenging because you could only perform two minutes on the show but the songs were three, four, five minutes, so that would make us more nervous. … I definitely love that song. It really holds a special place in my heart.”
Her self-titled album “Jordin Sparks” (2007) earned a Grammy nomination for her Chris Brown collaboration “No Air,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “One Step at a Time” hit No. 17 and “Tattoo” hit No 8.
“It’s funny because, now all these years later, I listen to that song (‘Tattoo’) and I don’t think I even really understand the weight of what I was saying at the time,” Sparks said.
“I interpreted it as best I could being 17 years old. … I remember hearing it and I was like, ‘This song is so much fun, I love singing it.’ It was so catchy, I was like, ‘This is a fun song, I really, really like this,’ then we decided that it would be my first official single and it blew up.”
Her second album “Battlefield” (2009) proved that there was no sophomore slump thanks to a smash title track that reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the catchy “S.O.S. (Let the Music Play).”
“Look, I thought there was pressure on the first album, but when we started the second one I was like, ‘How do I follow that up?’ I had my own shoes to fill,” Sparks said.
“I missed the days when pop-rock power ballads were the thing, so I was like, ‘I can definitely do that.’ … As soon as I heard (‘Battlefield’), I was like, ‘This is where I am in my lifetime, I relate to this.’ … I wanted to lean more into my rock influences and let my voice just soar and fly.”
After her third album “Right Here Right Now” (2015), Sparks expanded into acting, playing Whitney Houston’s daughter in the film “Sparkle” (2012), plus the Hallmark movie “A Christmas Treasure” (2021).
On Broadway, she starred in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” (2010) and Sara Bareilles’ “Waitress” (2019).
“I’ve always loved live performance,” Sparks said.
“Broadway was where I really saw live stage performance and everything came together: acting, singing, dancing in a live performance every night. I loved that. Being able to showcase those things and get to experience them in real life, it’s just been incredible. Broadway is a huge commitment, it’s a lot … After doing ‘Idol’ and Broadway, everything else is a cake walk. I can handle anything.’
Along the way, she cowrote the Ariana Grande hit “The Way” (2014), released the Christmas album “Cider & Hennessy” (2020) and earned a Grammy nomination for collaborating with the Christian duo For King & Country on the song “Love Me Like I Am” (2023).
Next, her fifth studio album “No Restrictions” will be released on Sept. 13.
“At this point in my life as a mom, wife, friend, artist, songwriter, human, I feel like I’m letting go of things that, not held me back, but just didn’t serve me anymore,” Sparks said.
“We grow, elevate and evolve, so there are different pieces of me that I’m like, ‘I appreciate you, but I can’t bring you with me in this next chapter,’ as well as I don’t want to be restricted in a box for my music or by other people’s opinions. I feel like I’m in a really good place.”
Listen to our full conversation on the podcast below: