ArtsQuest\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cClay Aiken has a special history with our audiences, so we\u2019re thrilled to welcome him back to Bethlehem,\u201d said Patrick Brogan, Chief Programming Officer at ArtsQuest.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom those unforgettable Musikfest appearances more than 20 years ago to his performances at the Musikfest Caf\u00e9, Clay has built a lasting connection with fans here in the Lehigh Valley. To have him return as he begins this exciting new chapter in his music career makes this show particularly special.\u201d<\/p>\n
He headlined Musikfest in 2004 and 2005.<\/p>\n
ArtsQuest said nearly 40 million viewers watched the American Idol season finale.<\/p>\n
Aiken\u2019s debut single, \u201cThis Is the Night,\u201d entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1, while his debut album, Measure of a Man, debuted atop the Billboard 200 and went multi-platinum, ArtsQuest said.<\/p>\n
ArtsQuest said \u201cInvisible\u201d became another signature hit, and his chart-topping Merry Christmas with Love established Aiken as a major presence in holiday music.<\/p>\n
He sold more than six million albums worldwide in the first seven years of his recording career, ArtsQuest said in the news release.<\/p>\n
ArtsQuest said Aiken appeared in Monty Python\u2019s Spamalot and reunited with fellow American Idol finalist Ruben Studdard in 2018 for the Broadway production Ruben & Clay\u2019s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show.<\/p>\n
They reunited again in 2023 for a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their American Idol season and competed together as The Beets on Fox\u2019s The Masked Singer in 2024, ArtsQuest said.<\/p>\n
ArtsQuest said Aiken has devoted much of his career to advocating for children with disabilities. He co-founded the National Inclusion Project in 2003 to help children with disabilities participate in camps, after-school programs, and community activities, according to the news release.<\/p>\n
He also served for a decade as a UNICEF ambassador, advocating internationally for children\u2019s education and protection, according to ArtsQuest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. – American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken will take the stage at the Musikfest Caf\u00e9 in Bethlehem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[102525,225,153,155,154,119860,35856,119861],"class_list":["post-288343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-american-idol","tag-artsquest","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-clay-aiken","tag-musikfest-cafe","tag-unicef"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}