All About Clay Aiken's Son Parker Foster Aiken

'American Idol' alum Clay Aiken welcomed his first and only child, Parker, in 2008

Clay Aiken keeps his son, Parker Foster Aiken, out of the spotlight.

The American Idol runner-up and his best friend, music producer Jaymes Foster, welcomed Parker in August 2008. Though Clay and Jaymes were not romantically linked, they made plans to raise their son together, and she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

Over the years, Clay has seldom publicly commented about his son and doesn't often discuss him in interviews nor share photos of him on social media. Still, on the rare occasion when he does, Clay shares anecdotes about Parker and his personality behind the scenes.

Related: American Idol Winners: Who Won Each Season and Where Are They Now?

After welcoming his son, the “Invisible” singer publicly came out as gay in a cover story for PEOPLE in September 2008. “It was the first decision I made as a father," he explained. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.”

Clay said that he and Jaymes would raise their son in an environment that was “accepting and allowing him to be happy.” He added, "No matter what the situation you’re in, if you’re raised in a loving environment, that’s the most important thing.”

Here’s everything to know about Clay Aiken’s son, Parker Foster Aiken.

He has a family name

Clay and Jaymes welcomed son Parker Foster Aiken on Aug. 8, 2008, at 8:08 a.m. in North Carolina.

At the time, Clay’s mom, Faye Parker, told the local television station WRAL that her son was “smiling from ear-to-ear” about the birth of his child, who had “dark hair.”

His parents are best friends

Clay and Jaymes were close friends when they decided to have a child together. They met when Clay competed on American Idol, and Jaymes later produced a few of his albums, including A Thousand Different Ways.

The duo opened up to PEOPLE in September 2008 about their choice to co-parent Parker, with the singer noting that Jaymes had “always known that she wanted children.” Clay also had the same wish, saying, "I had always dreamed of it, but never really saw it as a possibility until this happened.”

He shared that he didn’t “really remember whose idea it was” to have a kid together, adding, “It was one of those things where we were both thinking of it at the back of our heads.”

Jaymes described Clay as “an incredible caregiver” who was “a natural” at changing diapers and helping lull Parker to sleep.

“On a larger scale, he's the perfect person,” she said. “He’s been a school teacher, we have the same morals, family is very important to him and Parker means everything to us.

His birth changed his dad’s life

When asked during a June 2011 appearance on Innerviews about how the birth of his son transformed his life, Clay replied candidly, “I’m obviously used to only thinking about myself, and now I can’t do that.”

“I have to make sure that I’m well aware of how my actions affect not just myself but my son and even beyond that,” the "Suspicious Mind" artist explained. “I went and bought a clean diesel after I had a child because I thought I needed to protect the earth now all of a sudden. I didn’t care about that before.”

Clay noted that Parker's arrival changed “most of” his decisions and “everything” he did. “I actually find myself being a little less selfish than I have been in the past because of it," he added.

He has a famous uncle and aunt

In addition to his parents, Parker has other musically talented relatives. His mother’s brother is fellow producer David Foster, who wed American Idol alum Katharine McPhee in June 2019, making Parker her nephew.

David spoke to AP Radio in April 2009 about his sister co-parenting a child with Clay. “She's very close with Clay, they're best friends," he said (via The Register Citizen). "It made perfect sense to me that he'd want to have a child with his best friend."

At the time, the "Best of Me" vocalist referred to Clay as a “spectacular father" and Jaymes as “a natural mother.”

He was not impressed by his dad’s singing as a child

Unlike fans across America, Parker wasn't an instant fan of his dad's singing.

“For some reason, I’m nervous to sing for him,” Clay told Popeater in June 2010. “My son doesn’t like to listen to me sing, but he enjoys listening to other people sing.”

Parker has gotten more opportunities to see his father perform as he’s grown older: Clay reflected on the moments of his career his son has gotten to witness during an April 2023 interview with The Kokomo Post.

Clay joked that Parker “could not be less impressed” by him but said that he was able to attend several performances of his Broadway production Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show in 2018 and “did actually love it.”

“But the last time I was in concert, he was 4, so he’s actually never seen me in concert that he would remember,” Clay noted, referring to the decade-long break he took from touring. “So he’ll be at this one, and it’ll pretty much be his first time.”

However, there was no guarantee he’d pay attention, with Clay joking, “He’ll be on his phone on TikTok during the whole show.”

He’s not pursuing music

While Clay told E! News in May 2024 that Parker used to sing "all the time,” it wasn’t something that he was looking to pursue as a career.

Clay explained to the outlet, "He's chosen a different path. He has something else he wants to do with his life. And I'm excited for him.”

However, if Parker were to change his mind, he would have plenty of musicians to turn to for advice.

"My son's got a lot of not only music, but Idol in his veins," Clay added, noting that his uncle David, aunt Katharine and fellow American Idol alum Ruben Studdard were there for him.

Clay would still support him if he wanted to sign up for the reality singing competition today. He explained, “I mean, I think that's what you're supposed to do is support whatever they want to do."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.