What Is Chris Daughtry's Net Worth?
Chris Daughtry is an American singer, songwriter, and actor who has a net worth of $8 million. Chris Daughtry is best known for appearing on the fifth season of the singing competition show "American Idol" and making it into the final four. He went on to record a self-titled solo album and then four albums with his band Daughtry.
Chris Daughtry was (rather shockingly) eliminated from Season 5 during Top 4 week, but went on to enjoy a very successful recording career, selling the third most albums of any "American Idol" participant behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. He went from being a "Rocker Dad", living in relative obscurity in North Carolina with his family, and performing with various bands, to being a headlining artist, and successful touring musician, in a head-spinningly short amount of time.
Early Life and Career
Chris Daughtry was born Christopher Adam Daughtry on December 26, 1979, in McLeansville, North Carolina. He grew up in Lasker, North Carolina until moving to Palmyra, Virginia, at age 14. He has one brother. When Chris was 16, he began to seriously consider pursuing a career as a musician. He started to take guitar lessons from blues rock musician Matt Jagger at Stacy's Music Store located in Charlottesville, and he further sought to enhance his guitar skills with lessons from Mark Ebert, located in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
While attending high school at Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra, he performed as an opening act for local bands. In high school, he participated in the school's production of the play "The Wiz" and "Peter Pan." Daughtry also formed his own band in high school called Cadence and sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar. The group produced one album, "All Eyes on You," which was released in 1999. While a member of Cadence, he would sometimes play guitar and perform vocals for the band Absent Element.
He later joined Absent Element full-time, and they enjoyed moderate success performing around North Carolina and Virginia. The group self-released their first EP, "Uprooted," in 2005. The songs "Conviction" and "Breakdown" from that album were combined, re-recorded, and featured on Daughtry's first self-titled album. In 2005, Chris auditioned for the CBS singing competition show "Rock Star: INXS," but he was cut prior to the live performance stage of the contest.
"American Idol"
Daughtry auditioned for the fifth season of the singing competition show "American Idol" in Denver, Colorado. He performed a rendition of the rock band The Box Tops' hit song "The Letter." Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson voted for him to continue on in the competition, but Simon Cowell found his performance to be overly robotic. Nevertheless, he was given a Golden Ticket to Hollywood, and he continued to advance in the competition. The first song Chris performed after advancing to Hollywood was a rendition of "The First Cut Is the Deepest." When he was in the top 24, he gave a performance of the Fuel song "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)," and all three judges gave his rendition high praise. Daughtry made it into the top four but found himself in the bottom two with Katherine McPhee. Although Cowell expressed that he believed McPhee ought to be eliminated, it was Daughtry who was cut. He was surprised to not advance to the next round and attributed it to fans believing he was safe and not voting for him. He left the show on May 10, 2006.
Post "Idol" Career
As was common for high-placing contestants on "American Idol," Daughtry spent the year after his departure making the rounds on talk shows, including "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Live with Regis and Kelly," and "The Today Show." His performance of Fuel's "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" on the show was so striking that the band asked him to audition, but he declined as he had ambitions to start his own band. In mid-2006, he announced that he had signed with RCA Records and was to release an album later in the year. He formed a band under the name Daughtry, and the group released an album of the same name in November 2006. It was incredibly successful, and according to the music sales data company Soundscan, it remains the fastest-selling rock album. The album's first single, "It's Not Over," peaked at #4 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and the album's next single, "Home," reached #5 on the "Billboard" charts. Five other singles were released from the album, and each performed well commercially. The album received mixed reviews among critics, but it won an American Music Award in 2007 for favorite pop-rock album and received four Grammy Award nominations in 2008. It was commercially successful, with over 300,000 copies sold in the first week, and it debuted at #2 on the "Billboard" album charts.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Daughtry released their second album, "Leave This Town," in July 2009. It was the first album that they recorded as a group because the debut album was recorded prior to their formation. "No Surprises" was the album's lead single and debuted at #15 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The album topped the "Billboard" album chart and the Top Rock Album chart. The record was commercially successful internationally and sold over 250,000 copies in its first week. It has been certified Platinum in Canada and the U.S. and Silver in the United Kingdom. They released their third album, "Break the Spell," in November 2011, and it debuted at #8 on the "Billboard" album chart. While not as big of a hit as their previous album, it was certified Gold in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The group's fourth album, "Baptized," was released in 2013 and was similarly lackluster in commercial sales with only 55,000 copies being sold in the first week. While critics have praised Daughtry's vocal range, he never saw the same success with his band that he did as a solo artist.
Personal Life
Chris has been married to Deanna Daughtry since November 2000, and they have four children together. Two are his stepchildren from his wife's first marriage, and in 2010, she gave birth to twins. Sadly, Daughtry's stepdaughter, Hannah, died by suicide in 2021. Chris has stated that he is a Christian. He is a comic book enthusiast, and in 2016, he drew a variant cover for "Batman" (Volume 2) #50.
Real Estate
In June 2006, a month after being voted off "American Idol," Chris paid $690,000 for a 1.17-acre property in Oak Ridge, North Carolina. He listed this property for sale in 2010 for $720,000 but did not get any takers. He re-listed in September 2011 for $699,000. Daughtry ultimately sold it in September 2012 for $585,000.
In 2008, Chris paid $1 million for a different home in Oak Ridge. An impressive estate that spans 44 acres and has 10,000 square feet of living space across multiple structures. The estate has a pool, gym, guest house, recording studio, natural stream, horse trail, and one-acre fully-stocked pond. He sold this property in October 2014 for $2.3 million.
In May 2014, Chris paid $1.9 million for a 3,400-square-foot condo in a popular building in Charlotte called The Trust. Fellow residents of The Trust include Cam Newton and Michael Jordan.
