American Idol’s Alex Miller performs at Big Blue Madness

Kentucky didn’t bring out Drake or Kanye or Lil Wayne at Big Blue Madness 2022. There was no musical guest appearance for the live show.

Instead, the focus was on basketball, with former Wildcat standouts including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Ulis, Brandon Knight, Kevin Knox and Nick Richards making their returns to Rupp Arena. They were introduced individually on stage, sat courtside — immediately in front of recruits, mind you — for the entirety of the event, and even served as judges during the dunk contest.

Before the live event, though, was one musical act. And it’s a familiar face for those around the state, particularly in Lancaster — just short of an hour south of Lexington. American Idol contestant Alex Miller was a special guest at Before The Madness, a pre-event party that included games, food, inflatables and a petting zoo inside Rupp Arena.

With Big Blue Nation anxious to get basketball season started Friday evening, Miller served as the event warm-up.

A participant during season 19 of American Idol in 2022, Miller made it to the Showstopper round before getting cut just before the top 24.

Despite coming up short, country music star and Idol judge Luke Bryan invited Miller to perform with him at the Grand Ole Opry.

"𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶…"@LukeBryanOnline is a man of his word! ☎️@AlexMillerMusi1 is going to the Grand Ole @Opry!#Showstoppers #AmericanIdol pic.twitter.com/xju2NPNJVs

— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) March 29, 2021

Now, the Lancaster native is looking to make a name for himself in the country music world, performing shows across the country and releasing new songs.