Clay Aiken 'Left Music' 10 Years Ago. How Recording a New Christmas Album 'Opened' His 'Eyes' Again (Exclusive)

Clay Aiken.Photo:Curtis Brown Photography Curtis Brown Photography After more than a decade away from music,Clay Aikenis back with a gift for fans this holiday season. On Nov. 22, theAmerican Idolalum marked his return to music with a holiday album titledChristmas Bells Are Ringing. Speaking with PEOPLE about the album, Aiken opens up about how his passion for music was reignited. When Ruben Studdard — hisIdolseason 2 co-star — reached out about doing something to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Aiken’sMerry Christmas with Love, they decided to go on tour — and had “so much fun with it.

Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard Announce 20th Anniversary Tour During Christmas Duet on 'The View'

Clay AikenandRuben Studdardare hitting the road together again. TheAmerican Idolalums announcedTwenty, a 20th anniversary commemorating their 2003 run on the singing competition show’s sophomore season, after they performed Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” on Monday’s episode ofThe View. “We’re getting old, Ruben. We are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary from the year we were onIdol,” Aiken, 44, said. “And so, Ruben and I are hitting the road together with a 20th-anniversary tour, all across the country throughout the year.

Clay Aiken on the 'Impactful' Lesson He Learned on Christmas Morning as a Boy — and Never Forgot (Exclusive)

Clay Aiken in Hollywood on Dec. 1, 2024.Photo:Victoria Sirakova/Getty Victoria Sirakova/Getty Christmas holds a special place inClay Aiken’s heart. Speaking to PEOPLE in light of his first album release in over a decade,Christmas Bells Are Ringing, theAmerican Idolalum opened up about an “impactful” lesson his mom taught him as a young boy on Christmas morning. “When I was about 11 or 12, my mom gave me a model space shuttle. I opened it up and I said, ‘Wait a second, mom, you gave me the same thing last year.

Clay Aiken Reveals Why He's 'Perfectly Fine' Being Single at 46: 'I Don't Have the Energy' to Date (Exclusive)

Clay Aiken.Photo:Victoria Sirakova/Getty Victoria Sirakova/Getty Clay Aikenis protecting his peace.TheAmerican Idolalum — who recently marked his return to music with the new albumChristmas Bells Are Ringing— opened up to PEOPLE about his dating life and detailed why he refuses to change his “ways” for a potential partner.“I just turned 46, and I have discovered I’m too old to change my ways for anybody. Unless I can find somebody who’s happy to sit on the other end of the couch and not talk for hours at a time, then I’m perfectly fine not having to deal with that,” Aiken tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Clay Aiken Says He Lost '50 Percent' of His Fans When He Came Out in 2008: 'It Was Very Different Time' (Exclusive)

Clay Aiken.Photo:Roy Rochlin/Getty Roy Rochlin/Getty WhenClay Aikencame out to the world in 2008, the public didn’t react how they likely would today. Shortly after the birth of his son, Parker, in August 2008, theAmerican Idolalum came out as gay on thecover of PEOPLE. At the time, Aiken said he wanted to follow through with a promise he made to himself as a new dad. “It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken, then 29, said at the time.