Two decades is a long time. For Taylor Hicks, it went by fast.
The Alabama native and Season 5 American Idol champion returned to the show on May 4, 2026, as part of the special Class of 2006 reunion episode - marking exactly twenty years since his record-setting win captured the country.
He did not come empty-handed. Hicks dropped a brand new single called "The Mirror" on the same day as his return to the show, describing it as a revenge love song.
Back on the Stage
Hicks performed a duet with Season 24 finalist Keyla Richardson, the two taking on Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" for the live studio audience and judges. The crowd that once chanted "Soul Patrol" responded in kind.
Hicks was candid about what the reunion meant to him personally. "I'm very happy that they called because, obviously, that helps us and is a nice shot in the arm for me," he said ahead of the appearance. "I'm really excited to be around the contestants," he added.
What Twenty Years Looks Like
Hicks won Season 5 in May 2006 and went on to become the first Idol winner to secure a Las Vegas residency. He has since released four studio albums and continued touring, most recently putting out the single "Call Paul" in 2024 before "The Mirror" this week.
He has also kept a clear perspective on what the show gave him. "I went from playing to 50 people in my little bar in Birmingham to touring Southeast Asia in seven months," he reflected. "That's the kind of impact that Idol made for me."
That kind of gratitude - twenty years on, still counting the blessing - is its own kind of testimony.
The Soul Patrol never really disbanded. They just waited for him to come home.
