Lauren Alaina

United States 🎤 Singers

Lauren Alaina lost American Idol Season 10 to Scotty McCreery and then proceeded to have the kind of career that makes you question what winning would have even gotten her. The Georgia native was just 16 when she stepped onto that Idol stage and knocked the country out of the room, and in the decade-plus since, she's built a genuine country music career on the strength of real talent rather than reality TV momentum. Her debut single Like My Mother Does was the kind of song that sets a bar, and she's spent her career doing her best to clear it — with albums, tours, and a fanbase that shows up because she shows up for them. She's also been refreshingly open about her personal struggles, including her journey with body image and eating disorders, which has made her one of country music's more authentically relatable figures. Lauren Alaina is proof that second place is just the longer route to the same destination.