The lead single, "Waves", was released to digital retailers on February 19, 2016 alongside pre-orders of the album. Fox and AT&T have stated that they "stand by the outcome" and are "absolutely certain" that "Kris Allen is the American Idol". Grand Musique Management. [104][105] Also this month, he announced he had formed a new band called The Dames. [124], Allen has also been a supporter of TOMS Shoes and participated in the company's first shoe drop in Rwanda in March 2010.

[118], Allen is a strong proponent of music education, and since winning Idol, he has become heavily involved with several charitable organizations that promote music education, including the Music Empowers Foundation and Little Kids Rock. On May 29, 2011 Kris sang "God Bless the USA" at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, DC; aired live by PBS. ", "Kris Allen's high school music teacher is proud of Kris", "Kris Allen Biography | The Official Kris Allen Site". He has stated, "To me, music education is vital to every kid's development, and it can change their lives. [57] Allen's first-week album sales were the weakest that had yet been seen by an Idol champion's post-show debut, although observers attributed this partly to weak album sales throughout the industry at the time. [7] Additionally, he taught himself to play the guitar at age 13, and also plays the piano. [40] "No Boundaries" also topped the iTunes singles chart following the Idol season finale. [60], The second single released from the album was "The Truth" featuring Pat Monahan, the lead singer of the Grammy award-winning rock band Train, who co-wrote the song. [109][110], On May 6, 2018, Allen announced on Twitter that he would be joining the American Idol Live! His performance of "To Make You Feel My Love" as part of the Top 11 earned praise from the judges, with Simon Cowell commenting, "I am genuinely beginning to think you have a shot of doing well in this competition. Although Allen was considered to be a better singer than anyone else who had tried out for the role up to that point, he had never auditioned for a film before and has said that he did not feel confident in his acting abilities.

", "KRIS ALLEN DOMINATES THE BILLBOARD HOT 100", "Kris Allen – 19 Recordings Has Signed the American Idol Season 8 Winner and Has Licensed to Jive Records", "Adam Lambert, Kris Allen Team With Top Hitmakers For Debut Albums", "Kris Allen and Chris Daughtry Together in the Studio", "Kris Allen Hits Nashville to Co-write with Mat Kearney", "Kris Allen's New Single – Live Like We're Dying | Kris Allen", "Kris Allen's rumored single, 'Live Like We're Dying,' leaks! Sales from this performance raised over $250,000 for the UN Foundation. [126], In February 2010, Allen traveled to Haiti with the United Nations Foundation to help with relief efforts following the Haiti earthquake. [citation needed] The tour consisted of 40 dates with bandmates, Cale Mills and Chris Torres, and newcomer Andrew St. Marie on the piano. [113], Prior to appearing on American Idol, Allen participated in missionary work in several countries around the world, including Burma, Thailand, Mozambique, Morocco, and South Africa with the University of Central Arkansas' Chi Alpha campus ministry. [137], "Clouds on the horizon for American Idol juggernaut?