Katharine McPhee

• 1. Introduction

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  Katharine McPhee blanked on the lyrics during a group song at Hollywood Week on American Idol, and the judges advanced the entire group anyway. The song was "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by the Four Tops. That forgiving decision kept in the race a singer born on the 25th of March 1984. She would finish as runner-up on the show's fifth season in May 2006.

  Second place is usually where a reality-television story fades. For McPhee it was where the working part began. In the years that followed she moved between record labels, network television, concert stages and the Broadway theater, with a few cancelled projects along the way.

  Several questions run through her story. How does a young woman end up trained for the spotlight by her own mother? What does a runner-up do when a major label lets her go? And how does a singer decide what to make next, when the charts, the television set and the stage all keep calling?

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• 2. Trained at Home

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  Peisha McPhee heard something in her daughter's voice and decided to train it herself. Katharine was born in Los Angeles. Her father, Daniel McPhee, worked as a television producer. When she was 12 years old, the family moved to the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of the city. Coaching ran in the family. Peisha, whose maiden name was Burch, has been a vocal coach on American Idol since 2011. McPhee's older sister Adriana took the same job on the show in 2012. The family background is English, Irish, Scottish and German.

  Boston Conservatory was her next stop, where she studied musical theatre for three semesters. Her manager then advised her to leave before graduating, and she went back to Los Angeles to audition for television pilots. One of them was You Are Here, a mall-based MTV soap opera in which she played the older sister of a more popular younger one. MTV never aired the pilot and never ordered the series.

  In March 2005 McPhee played Annie Oakley in the Cabrillo Music Theater production of Annie Get Your Gun. The performance earned her a Los Angeles Stage Ovation Award nomination for Lead Actress in a Musical. She also filmed a small part as Paramount Girl in Crazy, a musical film based on the life of Hank Garland. It reached audiences in 2007. She had shot her scenes in early 2005, before she ever auditioned for American Idol.

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• 3. The Idol Ladder

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  Nick Cokas and her parents pushed McPhee to try out for American Idol in 2005. In San Francisco she sang "God Bless the Child," a song originally performed by Billie Holiday, and earned a place in the fifth season. In the first round of Hollywood Week she performed Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Again" and won favorable comments from the judges. In the third round she sang "My Funny Valentine" a cappella and reached the top 40. She was angry when Crystal Stark, a fellow member of her group, missed the top 24.

  At age 13, McPhee later told People, she began starving herself and exercising compulsively. At 17 she became bulimic. After seven years of illness she entered a three-month rehabilitation program, once her Idol audition had succeeded. The program ended just before the semifinals began in February 2006. On the 18th of September 2006 she and her sister appeared on the debut of The Dr. Keith Ablow Show. There she discussed her bulimia and her childhood fear of her father. In May 2007 she told Teen Vogue that she eats what she craves and watches her portions.

  Once the live shows began, her song choices mapped her range. She opened with Ella Johnson's "Since I Fell for You," moved to Stevie Wonder's "All in Love Is Fair," and then took on Aretha Franklin's "Think." Stevie Wonder night brought "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)." Christina Aguilera's "The Voice Within" for the songs-of-the-21st-century theme sent her to the bottom two. Elvis Presley night put her there again. On one of those nights she was declared safe when Chris Daughtry was eliminated.

  Fans soon had a word of their own, "McPheever." In May 2006 she visited her old school, Notre Dame High School, for a hometown celebration. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came and proclaimed the day Katharine McPhee Day. In the finale she sang "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall and Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Her coronation song was "My Destiny," although Taylor Hicks took the title. Those last two songs were about to be sold together as her first single.

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• 4. The RCA Years

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  On the 6th of June 2006, McPhee signed with Simon Fuller's 19 Recordings Limited and with RCA Records, part of Sony BMG. Fuller was the creator of American Idol. Her first single paired "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with "My Destiny" and came out on the 27th of June 2006. On the Billboard Hot 100 the first song peaked at number 12 and the second at number 60. Thirty-two weeks after release it stood at number four on the Hot Singles Sales chart. It was the second-best-selling single of 2006, behind Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud." It stayed on the chart for more than 58 weeks.

  The American Idol Tour in July 2006 started without her. Laryngitis and bronchitis kept her out for the first three weeks. She joined the show on the 28th of July in Washington, D.C. On doctor's orders she sang only two songs, "Over the Rainbow" and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," instead of the usual four. At the Charlotte, North Carolina, concert on the 1st of August she tripped backstage and suffered a hairline fracture of her foot. She wore a walking-boot cast. After she recovered, she added "Think" to her set.

  Her self-titled debut album arrived on the 30th of January 2007. It sold 116,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. The first single, "Over It," reached number 29 on the Hot 100 and was certified gold in 2008. The follow-up, "Love Story," failed to crack the Hot 100. By December 2010 the album had sold 381,000 copies.

  On the 11th of January 2008, Billboard.com reported that RCA had released her from her contract. A label spokesperson said, "She is going to record her next album on her own."

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• 5. Albums After RCA

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  On the 27th of January 2009, McPhee signed with Verve Forecast Records, part of the Verve Music Group under Universal Music Group. Her second album, Unbroken, was released on the 5th of January 2010. It debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 with 15,000 copies sold in its first week. John Alagía produced it. The lead single, "Had It All," had gone to her MySpace page on the 25th of August 2009. It later peaked at number 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart. By January 2011 the album had sold 45,000 copies.

  Didi Benami gave another Unbroken song an unexpected boost in the week of the 8th of February 2010. In the taped Hollywood Week episode of American Idol's ninth season she sang "Terrified," written by judge Kara DioGuardi. Downloads of the album version, which featured Jason Reeves, rose nearly tenfold from the week before. About 20,000 copies sold that week, for a total of 22,000. On the 4th of May 2010 a new version with actor Zachary Levi premiered on Entertainment Weekly's website and on iTunes. Its video premiered on Vevo on the 7th of May.

  Christmas music had been a habit before it became an album. "A Gift to You / O Come All Ye Faithful" came out on the 1st of December 2006, co-produced by Al Gomes of Big Noise and Walter Afanasieff. She re-released "O Come All Ye Faithful" in 2007, and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" followed on the 17th of November 2009. The holiday album Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You arrived on the 12th of October 2010. It sold 1,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," released to radio in November 2010, peaked at number 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

  On the 9th of June 2011, McPhee signed with Columbia Records, which was teaming with NBC to distribute music from the show Smash. Her fourth album took far longer. By April 2013 she was recording it with songwriting help from Ryan Tedder, Linda Perry and Sia. In September 2014 she told the Los Angeles Times that Scorpion had put the album on hold.

  The teaser finally came on the 9th of April 2015, when she posted an Instagram photo hinting at the first single's music video. "Lick My Lips," written by Isabella Summers of Florence and the Machine, was released on the 26th of May. "Stranger than Fiction," co-written with Ryan Tedder, followed on the 14th of August, and "Love Strikes" reached iTunes on the 28th. Hysteria, a collection of pop originals, came out independently on the 18th of September 2015. Its songs included work by Tedder and by Sia Furler.

  I Fall in Love Too Easily, a set of romantic standards, followed through BMG on the 17th of November 2017. Its first single, "Night and Day," was offered as a free stream. With producer David Foster she then recorded Christmas Songs, a seven-song EP. Its first single, "Jingle Bell Rock," appeared digitally on the 28th of October 2022, and the EP followed on the 25th of November. In early November 2022 she also launched a jewelry line called KMF Jewelry.

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• 6. Smash, Scorpion, Waitress

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  In February 2011 McPhee landed a starring role in the pilot of Smash, alongside Debra Messing, Megan Hilty, Jack Davenport, Anjelica Huston, Christian Borle and Brian d'Arcy James. NBC ordered it as a series in May 2011. The musical drama followed a group of people staging a Broadway musical inspired by Marilyn Monroe, and McPhee played Karen Cartwright. Smash debuted in midseason on the 6th of February 2012 and scored 79 out of 100 on Metacritic. NBC renewed it for a second season on the 26th of March 2012. The network canceled it in 2013 after two seasons.

  Forbes put numbers on that stretch. In July 2011 it ranked McPhee tenth among top-earning American Idol performers, tied with David Archuleta and David Cook. The estimate was $1 million, before manager and agent fees, for May 2010-May 2011. In January 2013 she was tied with Kellie Pickler at number seven, at $1.1 million. A year later she was tied with Jennifer Hudson at number 10, again at $1 million.

  CBS picked up Scorpion on the 9th of May 2014, with McPhee as Paige Dineen. The show premiered on the 22nd of September 2014 to 13.83 million viewers and a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Critics were lukewarm. Metacritic scored the pilot 48 out of 100 from 19 critics. The series still kept her busy through 2018. In the episode "Risky Business," she sang Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."

  Waitress gave McPhee her Broadway debut. She took over the lead role of Jenna and performed from the 10th of April 2018 through the 19th of August 2018. In March 2019 she originated the role in the West End production at the Adelphi Theatre, and stayed through June. On the 25th of November 2019 she returned to the Broadway production. She remained until its final performance on the 5th of January 2020. In 2021 she added the role of Bailey Hart in the series Country Comfort.

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• 7. Guest Spots and Films

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  On the 1st of February 2007, McPhee played herself on Ugly Betty in the episode "I'm Coming Out." Earlier that year she appeared in the web series lonelygirl15 as an unnamed character in the episode "Truth or Dare." In August 2008 she appeared in The House Bunny as a member of a misfit sorority. She released a cover of "I Know What Boys Like" featuring other cast members.

  CSI: NY brought her a darker part on the 8th of April 2009. In the episode "Prey" she played a singer and stalker victim who murdered her stalker. On the 11th of March 2010 she appeared on Community in "Basic Genealogy" as the ex-stepdaughter of Chevy Chase's character and a possible love interest for Joel McHale's. In 2012 she voiced Mother Maggie on Family Guy, in an episode broadcast on the 1st of April.

  Shooting for The Pink House took place on the 9th of April 2010. McPhee played Emily, a down-to-earth Midwestern girl new to Manhattan Beach, California. Conan O'Brien's production company made the pilot as a possible fall 2010 pickup, with O'Brien as executive producer. NBC did not pick it up.

  In early 2009 she was cast as Masha opposite Dave Annable in You May Not Kiss the Bride, a $6 million independent romantic comedy filmed almost entirely in Hawaii. It debuted at the Sonoma International Film Festival, held the 6th to the 10th of April 2011. Theaters only got it in late 2012, starting on the 29th of August in Hawaii and the 21st of September in markets including Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. She co-wrote one of its songs. Shark Night 3D, in which she played Beth, opened on the 2nd of September 2011. Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, a limited release on the 8th of June 2012, featured her in a cameo as a festival singer, filmed in September 2010.

  Kenny Leon directed the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie In My Dreams, shot in Vancouver in November and December 2013. McPhee and Mike Vogel played two people searching for love who meet in their dreams. It aired on the 20th of April 2014. On the 7th of April 2016 she beat Jason Derulo on Lip Sync Battle. In June 2017 she began filming an independent film in New Orleans. On the 4th of November 2017 she starred as Kathie, Robert Durst's first wife, in the Lifetime movie The Lost Wife of Robert Durst.

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• 8. Causes and Collaborators

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  McPhee Outreach, the charity she founded in 2006, works by teaming up with other organizations. With the Lollipop Theater Network it ran a music program called Rhythm of Hope for sick children in hospitals across Southern California. With Global Compassion Services it built a preschool in Burkina Faso, to help fight the country's high illiteracy rate.

  On the 1st of February 2010, McPhee joined more than 75 musicians on "We Are the World 25 for Haiti." The remake marked the song's 25th anniversary, and its proceeds went to earthquake relief. On the 22nd of February 2010 she appeared in 110 Stories at the Geffen Playhouse, a benefit for the same disaster with proceeds going to the Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. On the 9th of March 2010 she sang "Surrender" at the White House, for President Obama and the First Lady, as part of International Women's Day.

  Hunger drew her attention too. On the 19th of January 2010, The Biggest Loser showed her volunteering at a Los Angeles food bank. That summer she joined Feeding America and ConAgra Foods Foundation to launch the Hunger-Free Summer Initiative for children at risk. Through July she visited Feeding America food banks around the country. On the 9th of November 2010, "Love's Never Leavin'," which she co-wrote with Richard Marx and Trey Bruce, went on sale on iTunes. Chelsea Field sang it, and every dollar went to the Tammany Humane Society in Covington, Louisiana. In December 2011 she became a spokesperson for Malaria No More.

  Commercial deals ran alongside the causes. In 2006 she became the first celebrity spokesperson for Sexy Hair Concepts, under a two-year endorsement. Neutrogena signed her to another two-year deal for its anti-acne line. She filmed her first commercial for it in March 2008, and it began airing in May.

  Two guest mentors from Top 6 Week, producer David Foster and singer Andrea Bocelli, became lasting partners. In June 2006 she duetted with Bocelli on "Somos Novios" at the JCPenney Jam. Their version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" appeared on his album Under the Desert Sky, released on the 7th of November 2006. On the 12th of March 2008 she played "Something" with Foster on piano on the Idol stage. He said they were working on her second album, though he did not end up on the finished record. In May 2008 PBS filmed Hit Man: David Foster & Friends, where she sang "The Prayer" with Bocelli. From June 2008 her vocals on Foster's "I Will Be There With You" promoted new aircraft on Japan Airlines flights to the United States. In December 2016 she opened several dates on Bocelli's tour.

  On the 2nd of February 2008, after three years of dating, McPhee married Nick Cokas at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church. On the 22nd of May 2014 she filed for divorce, citing separation for the past year. It was finalized on the 8th of February 2016. She and Foster were engaged in June 2018. They married on the 28th of June 2019 at St. Yeghiche Armenian Apostolic Church in Kensington, London. Their son was born on the 22nd of February 2021. That year the couple competed on the sixth season of The Masked Singer as "Banana Split." She was the ice cream half who did all the singing, and he was the banana half who played the instruments and conducted. They were eliminated in the Group B Finale. In February 2022 she said she was struggling with her mental health after gaining weight during her pregnancy. On the 12th of October 2024 she made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.

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