by People staff – People
When Clay Aiken decided to step back
from music over a decade ago, he did it for his now-16-year-old son
Parker —
and he has no regrets.
Looking back on those 16 years, the American Idol alum reveals why he thinks
raising a son is “happy and heartbreaking at the same time.”
“I’d say the most wonderful part has been watching him grow into a young man.
He is an incredibly respectful and smart and responsible young man, and that
is something that I’m incredibly proud of,” Aiken, 46, tells PEOPLE
exclusively while discussing his newly released holiday album _Christmas
Bells Are Ringing. _
He continues, “But it’s heartbreaking because they grow into little, mini
adults and they change.”
Now the singer-songwriter grows emotional thinking about how much his son —
whom he shares with his friend Jaymes Foster — has grown. He keeps pictures
of his son through the years as his screensaver for a reminder.
Clay Aiken performs onstage during the “Ruben & Clay: Twenty Years-One Night”
tour on January 24, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the little kid change into a young man, almost
adult who doesn’t need me as much. But at the same time, you’re very proud of
the fact that he doesn’t need you as much, right? It means you must’ve done
something halfway decent,” he says.
When asked what fatherhood has taught him, Aiken says it’s “that having a kid
is like wearing your heart on the outside of your body — which is [why]
you’re constantly worried.”
“I’m much more worried than I thought I was. I was not a horribly anxious
person. I was not a person who worries. But now I check my phone when I see
that he’s in the car to see where he is and that kind of stuff. I mean, it’s
brought out some anxieties that I did not realize I had,” he continues.
He also acknowledges that fatherhood means adapting to “change” for their
“every life cycle.”
Clay Aiken attends the Broadway Preview Photo Call for “Ruben & Clay’s First
Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant” n November 15, 2018 in New York
City.
“When he was a toddler, you have to learn how to be more patient. You have to
learn how to be more selfless. And as they become teenagers, you have to learn
how to let go in ways that you didn’t,” he says. “I’m very type A, I like to
have control of what’s going on around me. I’ve had to learn as he’s gotten
older that you have to be willing to let… I know that I have to let him
become an adult and let him start to do more things on his own.”
Aiken adds, “It has taught me that I am more malleable maybe than I ever
thought I could be.”
In November, Aiken opened up about keeping Parker out of the spotlight in an
interview with E! News.
“We did a very good job, I think, for 16 years, keeping him completely out of
the public eye,” he said at the time. “I wanted him to be able to grow up as
normally as he could.”
He did, however, make one exception for Parker to step into the spotlight when
he appeared on Celebrity Family Feud in August. In the episode, played
against his uncle David Foster, 75, and his wife, fellow American Idol
runner-up Katharine McPhee Foster.
“That was his first time. I appreciate that he’s been able to have a normal —
or as close to a normal — childhood, as he could,” he told the outlet of his
son’s appearance.
He also said he believes that Parker, unlike his musical family, will steer
away from music as a career.
“He’s had too much music in his life,” the singer told E! News. “He knows
what he wants to do. He’s going to go a very different way. I’m proud of him.
I’m thrilled for him. He can sing, though, he just doesn’t want to.”
Access the full story at its original location at People.