American Idol In 2005, McPhee was persuaded by Nick Cokas and her parents to try out for
American Idol. She auditioned in
San Francisco and sang "
God Bless the Child", originally performed by
Billie Holiday, and was selected to be a participant in the fifth season, which aired in 2006. After the first round of Hollywood week, she sang "
I'll Never Love This Way Again" by
Dionne Warwick, which earned favorable comments from the judges. During the second round, she performed in a group, singing "
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by the
Four Tops, forgetting the words, but the judges decided to advance the entire group. During the third round, she sang "
My Funny Valentine"
a cappella and advanced to the top 40. She was angered when fellow group member Crystal Stark did not make the top 24. McPhee's run on
American Idol led to the use of the term "McPheever". The inclusion of producer
David Foster and singer
Andrea Bocelli as guest mentors for Top 6 Week turned out to be a fortuitous introduction for McPhee, as she has worked on various music projects with both men after
Idol. In May 2006, McPhee visited her
alma mater Notre Dame High School for her hometown celebration. Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa visited the school and proclaimed the day Katharine McPhee Day. She finished as the runner-up to
Taylor Hicks.
Performances and results (during voting weeks) • When
Ryan Seacrest announced the results that night, McPhee was placed in the top two. • When Ryan Seacrest announced the results that night, McPhee was in the bottom two but declared safe when
Chris Daughtry was eliminated.
2006–08: Katharine McPhee and feature-film debut On June 6, 2006, McPhee signed to
American Idol series creator
Simon Fuller's 19 Recordings Limited and Sony BMG's
RCA Records. In the same month, she performed at the ''
JCPenney Jam: Concert for America's Kids'', soloing with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and performing a duet with Andrea Bocelli on "Somos Novios". McPhee's
Idol single, "
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny" was released on June 27, 2006, by RCA Records. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" peaked at number 12 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and "My Destiny" peaked at number 60. Thirty-two weeks after its release,
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny had climbed to number four on the
Billboard Hot Singles Sales charts. It was the second-highest best-selling single of 2006 after
Taylor Hicks' "
Do I Make You Proud". "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny" remained on the chart for more than 58 weeks. In July, McPhee missed the first three weeks of the
American Idol Tour due to
laryngitis and
bronchitis. She joined the tour beginning with the July 28 show in
Washington, D.C., singing only two songs "Over the Rainbow" and "
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", instead of the usual four, on doctor's orders to conserve her voice. At the August 1 concert in
Charlotte, North Carolina, she suffered a hairline fracture of her foot when she tripped backstage and was fitted with a walking-boot cast. Once she recovered from the foot injury, she added "
Think" to her concert set. McPhee recorded a duet with
Andrea Bocelli on "
Can't Help Falling in Love" for his
Under the Desert Sky album, which was released as a CD/DVD package on November 7, 2006. McPhee signed a two-year endorsement deal in 2006 with Sexy Hair Concepts to become their first celebrity spokesperson for their hair-care product line. Also in 2006, she founded a charity called McPhee Outreach. The purpose of the charity is to team up with other foundations or organizations and help in any way possible. The foundation teamed up with the Lollipop Theater Network to provide music outreach (called "Rhythm of Hope") to sick children in Southern California hospitals. McPhee Outreach teamed up with Global Compassion Services to build a preschool in the West African nation of
Burkina Faso to help combat that nation's high illiteracy rate. Her self-titled debut album,
Katharine McPhee was released on January 30, 2007, and sold 116,000 copies its first week, debuting at number two on the
Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The first single from the album was "
Over It" peaked at number 29 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "
Love Story" failed to crack the
Billboard Hot 100. In early 2007, McPhee guest-starred in the
web series,
lonelygirl15 as an unnamed character in the episode "Truth or Dare". She made a cameo appearance as herself on
Ugly Betty in the episode "
I'm Coming Out". The episode was broadcast February 1, 2007. During the 2007 Christmas holiday season, she re-released her Christmas single "
O Come All Ye Faithful". On January 11, 2008, Billboard.com reported that McPhee had been released from her contract with RCA Records. A spokesperson for the label announced, "She is going to record her next album on her own." McPhee signed a two-year endorsement deal with
Neutrogena to become the new spokesperson for their anti-acne skin-care product line. In March 2008, she filmed her first commercial, which began airing on television in May 2008 and on Neutrogena's skinid.com website. She appeared on
American Idol judge Randy Jackson's album ''
Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1, which was released on March 11, 2008. She recorded a duet of "Real Love" with fellow American Idol 5
contestant Elliott Yamin. On March 12, 2008, McPhee returned to the American Idol'' stage during the Top 12 results night of the
seventh season of the competition. She performed
The Beatles song "
Something", with producer David Foster, on piano. After the performance, Foster indicated that McPhee and he were collaborating on her second studio album (though it ended up he was not part of the finished product). She took part in the David Foster tribute concert Hit Man: David Foster & Friends, which was filmed by PBS, in May 2008. She soloed on "Somewhere" and performed a duet of "The Prayer" with Bocelli. A CD/DVD was released in November 2008. Foster recorded "
I Will Be There With You" for Japan Airlines (JAL), with McPhee on vocals. Beginning in June 2008, it was used to promote the introduction of new aircraft to JAL's US flights. In August 2008, McPhee made her debut in
The House Bunny as a member of a misfit sorority. McPhee released a cover of the song "
I Know What Boys Like", featuring other cast members. In September 2008, she took part in
Chris Botti's concert. She sang "I've Got You Under My Skin" accompanied by Botti on trumpet. The concert was aired on
PBS in January 2009 and the live album,
Chris Botti in Boston, was released March 31, 2009.
2009–10: Unbroken, TV shows, and movie projects On January 27, 2009, McPhee signed a record deal with
Verve Forecast Records (part of the Verve Music Group under
Universal Music Group). In September 2009, McPhee took part in the
United Negro College Fund's "An Evening of Stars" concert that was a tribute to singer-songwriter
Lionel Richie. McPhee sang
You Are. The concert was broadcast in syndication and on
BET the weekend of January 23–24, 2010. A two-disc DVD of the concert was available for a time through a donation to the United Negro College Fund. McPhee joined actresses
Alyson Hannigan,
Jaime King,
Minka Kelly, and
Emily Deschanel in a video slumber party made available in October 2009 and featured on
FunnyorDie.com and other Internet platforms in a comedic take to promote regular breast-cancer screenings for the organization
Stand Up to Cancer. A
Christmas single "
I'll Be Home for Christmas" was released November 17, 2009. McPhee's second album
Unbroken was released January 5, 2010, and debuted at number 27 on the
Billboard 200 chart, selling 15,000 copies its first week. For her second effort, she worked with producer
John Alagía. The first single from the album, "
Had It All", was released to McPhee's MySpace page on August 25, 2009. McPhee appeared on the Jan 19, 2010, episode of
The Biggest Loser, McPhee was shown volunteering at a Los Angeles food bank and meeting with children at a Boys and Girls Club and talking about the importance of helping to fight hunger in America. On February 1, 2010, McPhee joined over 75 other musicians, including fellow
American Idol alumni
Jennifer Hudson and
Jordin Sparks and
American Idol judge Randy Jackson, for a remake of "
We Are the World", retitled "
We Are the World 25 for Haiti", which marked the 25th anniversary of the iconic song and for which proceeds will go to Haitian earthquake relief. During the week of February 8, 2010, in the taped Hollywood Week portion of the
ninth season of
American Idol, contestant Didi Benami was shown singing "Terrified", a song on the
Unbroken album and written by Idol judge
Kara DioGuardi. As a result of the exposure, digital downloads of the song (the album version featuring
Jason Reeves) rose nearly 10 times from the week before, selling about 20,000 copies for the week, for a total of 22,000 sold at that point. On February 22, 2010, McPhee appeared in the production of
110 Stories, directed by
Mark Freiburger at the
Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. She co-starred alongside
Ed Asner,
Diane Venora,
Gail O'Grady,
John Hawkes,
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and many others. The play was a benefit to help the victims of the recent Haiti earthquake. Proceeds went to the Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. On March 9, 2010, McPhee performed "Surrender" at the White House, in front of President Obama and the First Lady as part of International Women's Day. McPhee guest-starred on
Community in the episode "
Basic Genealogy" as
Chevy Chase's character's ex-stepdaughter and potential love interest for
Joel McHale's character. The episode was broadcast March 11, 2010. In April 2010, McPhee made a TV pilot for
The Pink House playing Emily, a down-to-earth
Midwestern girl new to
Manhattan Beach, California. The pilot was shot as a possible pickup for the Fall 2010 season and was produced by
Conan O'Brien's production company, with O'Brien as executive producer. Shooting took place April 9, 2010.
NBC did not pick up the pilot. On May 4, 2010, a new version of the
Unbroken song "Terrified" featuring actor
Zachary Levi premiered on
Entertainment Weekly's website and was made available for purchase on iTunes. The accompanying music video premiered on May 7, 2010, on the music video website
Vevo. In the summer of 2010, McPhee partnered with
Feeding America and
ConAgra Foods Foundation to help launch the Hunger-Free Summer Initiative, which aimed to help children at risk of hunger during the summer months. Throughout the month of July, McPhee traveled around the country to various Feeding America food banks to raise awareness. McPhee released a Christmas album titled
Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You on October 12, 2010. The album debuted at number 11 on the
Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart and sold 1,000 copies in its first week. One of the Christmas album's songs "
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was released to radio in November 2010 and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. Country singer Chelsea Field's song "Love's Never Leavin'", a song that McPhee co-wrote with singer-songwriter
Richard Marx and producer
Trey Bruce, was made available for purchase on iTunes on November 9, 2010, with 100% of the proceeds to benefit the Tammany Humane Society in Covington, LA. On December 15, 2010, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital released a video on their website for their Thanks and Giving Campaign that featured McPhee interacting with sick children at the hospital with her song "Lifetime" playing over the soundtrack.
2011–2013: Smash series and new record deal In February 2011, McPhee landed a starring role in the TV pilot
Smash, also starring
Debra Messing,
Megan Hilty,
Jack Davenport,
Anjelica Huston,
Christian Borle, and
Brian d'Arcy James. In May 2011, NBC picked up
Smash as a series. The series, set as a musical drama, follows a group of characters who come together to put on a Broadway musical inspired by
Marilyn Monroe. On June 9, 2011, McPhee signed a record deal with
Columbia Records, in conjunction with Columbia teaming with NBC to distribute the music for
Smash. McPhee co-starred in
Shark Night 3D, which was released September 2, 2011. In December 2011, she became a spokesperson for the
Malaria No More organization to help raise awareness about the campaign to eradicate malaria. NBC debuted
Smash in midseason 2011–12 on February 6, 2012, to generally favorable reviews, scoring a 79 out of 100 on
Metacritic. On March 26, 2012,
Smash was renewed for a second season. she recorded a voice-over for
Family Guy, for the episode "You Can't Do That on Television, Peter", playing the voice of Mother Maggie. The episode was broadcast April 1, 2012. McPhee had a cameo role as a singer performing at a festival in
Peace, Love & Misunderstanding. McPhee filmed her cameo in September 2010. The film was out as a limited release on June 8, 2012. In early 2009, McPhee was cast in a lead role in the independent $6 million romantic-comedy
You May Not Kiss the Bride, which was almost entirely filmed in
Hawaii. She played the role of Masha alongside
Dave Annable. The film debuted at the 14th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival that was held April 6–10, 2011 The film was released theatrically in the U.S. in late 2012, premiering August 29, 2012 in Hawaii and September 21, 2012 in several mainland markets including Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. It was also released on Video On Demand, iTunes, and Amazon. One of the songs included in the movie was co-written by McPhee. In January 2013,
Forbes reported that McPhee again made their list of the 10 top-earning
American Idol performers (she was tied with
Kellie Pickler at number seven), earning $1.1 million (pretax estimates before subtracting manager and agent fees) for music and acting endeavors for the period May 2011 to May 2012. On March 28, 2013, McPhee returned to the
American Idol stage to perform on the
12th season top-eight results show with
OneRepublic, where she lent guest vocals to the group's latest single, "
If I Lose Myself". By April 2013, McPhee had begun recording her fourth studio album, then scheduled for release in late 2013 and featuring songwriting collaborations with
Ryan Tedder,
Linda Perry, and
Sia.
Smash was canceled in the same year, after two seasons. In August 2013, McPhee indicated in an interview for an upcoming concert that she hoped to see the album released in 2014.
2014–2017: Scorpion and Hysteria In January 2014,
Forbes reported that McPhee continued to make their list of the 10 top-earners (tied with Jennifer Hudson at number 10), this time for 2013, earning $1 million (pretax estimates before subtracting manager and agent fees) for music and acting endeavors for the period May 2012 to May 2013. In November and December 2013, McPhee filmed a
Hallmark Hall of Fame movie in
Vancouver, called
In My Dreams. Directed by Kenny Leon, it stars McPhee and
Mike Vogel as two people searching for love and meeting in their dreams. The movie was broadcast on April 20, 2014. McPhee starred as Paige Dineen in
Scorpion.
CBS picked up the show on May 9, 2014, and it premiered September 22. She guest-starred with fellow
Smash actor Megan Hilty on the
Wesley Taylor web series
It Could Be Worse. McPhee and Hilty filmed the roles in January 2014 and the episode premiered with the second season on Hulu in July 2014. McPhee said in interviews for
Scorpion, including one with the
Los Angeles Times in September 2014, that her fourth album had been put on hold due to
Scorpion being picked up and that some realigning would occur as far as where the music fits. CBS debuted
Scorpion on September 22, 2014, as part of the 2014–15 fall TV season. The pilot received generally mixed reviews from critics. On
Metacritic, it received a score of 48/100 from 19 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. The pilot earned 13.83 million viewers and a 3.2 in the 18–49 demographic. McPhee covered the
Frankie Valli song "
Can't Take My Eyes Off You" in the episode "Risky Business". On November 5, 2014, McPhee was a presenter for the 2015 People's Choice Awards nominations announcement. she performed on the 16th annual
A Home For the Holidays adoption special that was broadcast on December 19, 2014. It was her second appearance on the annual special. On January 7, 2015, she was a presenter at the 2015 People's Choice Awards, where she introduced a performance by Lady Antebellum. On January 18, McPhee sang the
national anthem before the
NFC Championship Game in
Seattle. On January 26, she co-hosted with sports analyst
Boomer Esiason the
2015 Greatest Super Bowl Commercials special. On February 8, McPhee was a presenter at the 2015
Grammy Awards on CBS, where she introduced a performance of
Tony Bennett and
Lady Gaga. On April 9, 2015, McPhee posted a photo on
Instagram, teasing about the upcoming music video of the first single from her fourth album. "Lick My Lips", written by
Florence and the Machine member
Isabella Summers, was released on May 26. The track list of
Hysteria has been revealed with one song written by
Ryan Tedder and another song written by Sia Furler. On August 14, "Stranger than Fiction", a song co-written by Ryan Tedder and McPhee, was released. On August 28, "Love Strikes" was released on iTunes.
Hysteria, McPhee's fourth studio album was released as scheduled on September 18, 2015. On December 6, she performed "
You Make Me Feel So Young" and with
John Legend on "You and Me (We Wanted It All)" on the Sinatra 100: An All-Star Grammy Concert. McPhee returned to
American Idol on March 24, 2016, and performed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". She returned for the
fifteenth season finale on April 7, where she performed a short version of "
Need You Now" with Casey James as part of an acoustic medley. McPhee appeared on
Lip Sync Battle on April 7, 2016, where she performed against
Jason Derulo and won. On September 18, 2015, she independently released her fourth album,
Hysteria, composed of pop originals. On February 12, 2017, McPhee was a presenter with
The Chainsmokers at the
59th Annual Grammy Awards. On April 16, 2017, CBS broadcast the concert ''Stayin' Alive: A Grammy's Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees
, where McPhee performed "Emotion". In June 2017, McPhee began filming the independent film Louisiana Cavier'' in
New Orleans.
2017–2021: I Fall in Love Too Easily and Waitress On November 4, 2017, McPhee starred in the
Lifetime TV movie
The Lost Wife of Robert Durst in the role of Robert Durst's first wife Kathie.
I Fall in Love Too Easily, a collection of romantic standards, was released on November 17, 2017, via
BMG. The first single, "
Night and Day", was made available for free via streaming. She took over the lead female role of Jenna in
Waitress as her Broadway debut. She began performances on April 10, 2018, and played the role through August 19, 2018. On May 11, 2018, the song "Living in the Moment" was released.
Carole Bayer Sager shared in a Twitter post that it was written by her, Jay Landers, and Walter Afanasieff as the theme for the movie
Book Club. McPhee played the lead role Jenna again in
Waitress at the
Adelphi Theatre in London's
West End in March through June 2019. She returned to the Broadway production on November 25, 2019, and remained with the show until its final performance on January 5, 2020. In 2021, she played the role of Bailey in
Country Comfort. Also in 2021, she and her husband
David Foster competed in the
sixth season of
The Masked Singer as "Banana Split" in which McPhee dressed up as the ice cream half who did all the singing and Foster dressed up as the banana half who did the instrument playing and conducting. They were eliminated in the Group B Finale.
2022–present: Christmas Songs and jewelry line McPhee and Foster recorded a Christmas EP,
Christmas Songs, composed of seven songs. The first single, "
Jingle Bell Rock", was released digitally on October 28, 2022. The EP was released on November 25, 2022. She released a jewelry line, KMF Jewelry, in early November 2022. She made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry on October 12, 2024. ==Personal life==