by Liv Lane – entertainmentnow.com

Clay Aiken has always had a gift for conveying emotions through
music, whether singing in front of millions on the second season of “American
Idol” or performing to packed
theaters across the U.S. two decades later.

So, when the 46-year-old crooner found himself growing emotional watching his
teenage son, Parker,
starting to spread his wings, Aiken decided to capture how he felt — and what
he wanted to say to Parker — by rewriting a
song he’d recorded 22 years earlier, “Measure of
a Man.”

“My son is at an age where he wants a lot of independence,” Aiken told
EntertainmentNow before releasing a Father’s Day version of the song on June
13, 2025. “You know, you miss that childhood where they always want you
around. I guess I’m waxing a little bit nostalgic … for the little boy that is
now a young man and is doing wonderfully on his own. He just doesn’t need me
as much anymore. And I’m a little sentimental over it, I think.”

When Aiken released his first album in 2003, including the original version
of “Measure of a Man,” he had
just skyrocketed to fame on “American Idol” during the most-watched finale in
the show’s history. Nearly 40 million viewers tuned in live as Ruben Studdard
won season two and Aiken took second place.

Aiken didn’t write the original version of “Measure of a Man,” but told
EntertainmentNow that the “ambiguity” of what kind of relationship it was
about made the song perfect to tweak when he got inspired to put his feelings
about fatherhood to music.

“It’s hard to tell an almost-17-year-old young man how you feel,” Aiken
acknowledged. “You know, emotions don’t flow as easily between (dads) and
teenagers, so being able to modify the lyrics a little bit gave me an
opportunity to convey emotion in ways that I think are easier sometimes than
spoken word can be.”

“Coming up with something metaphorical was sort of fun for me,” Aiken
continued, mentioning his new lyrics about giving him a shoulder to ride on or
cry on.

“When he was (little), obviously, I always threw him over my shoulders,” Aiken
said. “Now I would love to think that he would cry on them. I do think that
for many dads, that’s what they can offer. You know, that sort of support
network, that wisdom, that playfulness.”

Aiken’s soaring, heartfelt ballad is sure to bring tears to plenty of parents’
eyes, but he doubts it will pull at Parker’s heartstrings right now. In fact,
Aiken laughed while admitting that he’s not even sure his son will hear the
song.

“I’m sure I can make him listen to it, he does still need money,” Aiken joked.
“I don’t think he’ll naturally gravitate towards it. When we get in the car,
we have to negotiate what we’ll listen to. His stuff, I have no interest in,
and we have to find middle ground somehow.”

Aiken, who shares Parker with his dear friend Jaymes Foster, said he won’t be
with Parker on Father’s Day. The teen, “who’s big into F1 now,” will be in
Canada with Foster’s side of the family for the Montreal Grand Prix.

“I’m sure I will, at some point, cleverly remind him it’s Father’s Day, or his
mom will,” Aiken laughed.

Meanwhile, as Parker continues to exercise his independence — including
already training to be a pilot, he recently told
People — Aiken plans to spread his own wings as an
independent artist, with “Measure of a Man (Father’s Day Version)
as the kickoff of his 2025 projects. When Aiken
released his Christmas album in 2024, it was the first time he’d released
music in years, and it helped him realized how much he missed it.

“Coming back to music is an opportunity for me to say something, to do
something that I love to do, to sing about things that are important to me, to
do them on my terms this time, and not on the terms of a record label,” Aiken
told EntertainmentNow. “So in the coming months, and I think, the end of this
year and beginning of next year, I’ll be doing things that are far more
original.”

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