American Idol winner Ruben Studdard has reportedly been dropped from J. Records after disappointing record sales of his most current release, 2006′s The Return.

Studdard’s first J. Record release, Soulful, released in 2003, is RIAA certified platinum. His 2004 gospel follow up, I Need An Angel also fared well – reaching gold status. However, sales from The Return have been unable to match his previous success, moving barely 235,000 copies.

Here is an email that was sent to us earlier this week:

“My brother tours as a background singer for Ruben Studdard and he was just informed today that Ruben was dropped by J Records. The sales were just too bad from his last album. He has only sold 234,000 copies.”

Most recently, in November, he spent time touring alongside Robin Givens in a play called “Heaven I Need a Hug” and according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he is currently preparing to play jazz great Fats Waller in a national theatre tour of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Studdard is also scheduled to make a holiday appearance in his hometown Birmingham, Alabama this weekend, performing with his old band Just a Few Cats at the WorkPlay soundstage.

Wow, tough break. I wonder if Ruben will shop himself around for another deal and put out another album? That’s a shame. He was America’s Teddy Bear!

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