What Happened To William Hung After His Viral American Idol Audition

In the early days of "American Idol," the show was a reliable way to find superstars. The first season gave us Kelly Clarkson, and the second season had the country gripped by the rivalry between Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard ... okay, we didn't say everyone stayed famous. When the third season kicked off in January 2004, the world met a college student by the name of William Hung who thought he might be the next American Idol.

Despite his unusual dance moves, a singing voice that we'll charitably call "bad," and some brutal remarks from Simon Cowell, Hung had a sunny disposition that people found infectious. Suddenly, season 3 of "American Idol" had its first superstar ... and he didn't even get a ticket to Hollywood. As his performance of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" went viral on an internet that hadn't yet invented YouTube, Hung found himself the toast of Hollywood. He appeared on just about every talk show you can think of, performed that song at sports games, and even began to pump out music of his own. Through it all, he maintained the positive personality that first won him some non-ironic fans.

As the years went by, however, and social media exploded with people going viral for all sorts of reasons, interest in Hung's story waned. In the decades since he first appeared on television, his personal life has gone through significant upheaval. He's had numerous professional changes, several steps back into the spotlight, and he's embarked on a mission to inspire. Here's what happened to William Hung after his viral "American Idol" audition.

When William Hung sang "She Bangs" for the "American Idol" judges, he was met with some of the harshest criticism in the show's history. "Everything about it was grotesque," Simon Cowell told him (via YouTube). The day after it aired, Hung went back to college, and his professor showed the video to the class. Hung later told Feisworld that he had a decision to make about the intense media interest. As the interview opportunities poured in, Hung asked friends for advice. "Some of my friends at the time were very supportive," he said. "They told me: 'You're only going to get that opportunity once in a lifetime, so you might as well go for it.'"

Soon, at a UC Berkeley volleyball game, Hung was approached with a life-changing offer. "One of the staff members from Koch Records briskly walked up to me and gave me a $25,000 check for the record contract," he recalled. If he pursued music, it meant he'd have to drop out of school to record and travel full-time. "I really had two choices, the way I look at it. One is that I embrace being the 'She Bangs' guy, and the other one is to just hide in fear and hope people will forget about me," he said. He took the deal.

Hung's debut album "Inspiration" was released in April, mere months after his "Idol" episode. Though it received terrible reviews, it went to #1 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart, and it ultimately sold 200,000 copies. We imagine many "American Idol" contestants who quit the competition would love those sales numbers.

Shortly after "Inspiration" proved to be far more of a success than anyone in William Hung's camp anticipated, they had him back in the studio working on his next album. In the summer of 2004, he released a cover of the Queen song "We Are The Champions," sparking a fresh round of backlash and hatred online. Things got so intense, in fact, that Queen guitarist Brian May came out to defend Hung. He wrote on BrianMay.com (via WilliamHung.net), "if people are honestly interpreting the song, then how could you possibly tell them you didn't want them to do that? As they say, it's the greatest compliment, so thank you, Mr. Hung."

The cover wound up as a bonus track on "Hung for the Holidays," an EP of largely Christmas songs released in time for that year's festivities. Despite the obvious play on words in the title, it's unclear whether the singer himself was aware of the joke. If he was, he didn't let on. "I had vocal lessons recently, and 'Hung for the Holidays' is a much more serious album," he told TV Guide (via WilliamHung.net). "I sing a lot of my favorite Christmas songs ... I just think it's a good name for people to remember that it's my Christmas album instead of another Christmas album."

This one, too, got bad reviews. In a pan for AllMusic.com, one reviewer wrote, "It sounds as if it was recorded in less time that it takes to play." Ouch.

Simon Cowell usually knew if a contestant would be a star, but he never anticipated William Hung, whose surprising viral popularity didn't just get him invitations to make music. He also got several opportunities to be an actor, including a cameo on "Arrested Development." In an episode that included a reality show trial, Hung performed the show's theme song as the lead singer of William Hung & His Hung Jury, the house band. "I met so many celebrities," Hung later marveled to Feisworld. "The coolest thing is that I got to travel around the world. I've been to places that I would never think myself I would go: Iceland, Malaysia, Singapore. I even shot a movie in Hong Kong!"

That one was called "Where Is Mama's Boy?" and was also released under the title "My Crazy Mother." It was such a box-office bomb that there isn't even a single review for it on Rotten Tomatoes as of this publication.

Much like his music career, Hung's acting career also petered out. Part of that might've been his refusal to do anything that would've involved cursing. "There was a movie deal where I would have had to use a lot of profanity, or say bad things to other people," he revealed years later to The Slant. "I mean, I would [have gotten] paid a substantial amount of money, but that's not right. That's not me. So I refused."

At a certain point, William Hung realized that the eyes of the country were probably moving on. "I knew that I was getting fewer opportunities as I went along," he told Feisworld. "I never gave up, but I knew that I couldn't sustain myself if I were to just keep going in that direction."

Instead, Hung decided to go back to college to finish that degree he'd given up on when he first accepted his record contract. He'd been attending UC Berkeley before his American Idol fame, but instead he went to Cal State Northridge to finish things out, pursuing a degree in mathematics with the goal of becoming a math teacher. Speaking with The Daily Sundial, the school's newspaper, Hung said, "I think teaching is more exciting ... "I get to learn and teach something new everyday. I enjoy helping young children succeed. I enjoy tutoring. I just really enjoy the experience of teaching."

Hung told the paper that he would get recognized around campus and would have to admit that, yes, he was the guy who sang "She Bangs" on "American Idol." Still, he tried to redirect questions to that positive attitude that won him fans in the first place. "Whatever you believe in, and if you keep trying," he told the paper, "you can eventually succeed."

While William Hung had initially planned to use his mathematics degree to teach, he found a different day job instead. Hung began working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as a crime analyst, delighting fans who were looking for updates about what he'd been up to since the "American Idol" frenzy faded. In 2012, LA Weekly named him "The Greatest Musician Of All Time, In Any Genre" — which we might suggest was probably a joke intended to drive rage-clicks — but as with most things, Hung took the interview seriously. "It is an honor and proves that an Average Joe can make it in the music world, no matter what the odds are," he told the magazine. After all, Hung had indeed made music; that is a true statement.

Then he dropped the news about his career change. "My passion has always been math," he said. "It just took a while to end up as my career." He spent his time calculating statistical likelihoods of crime occurring in certain places, he said. Speaking with RumorFix, Hung mused, "I enjoy what I do ... I feel like working for a police department has a lot of value."

Though the general public was intensely interested in William Hung for a few years in the 2000s, he tended to keep his personal life pretty private. In 2014, however, he revealed to People that he had gotten married to a woman named Jian Teng. "She's a fantastic wife and I'm glad to have somebody to support me," he said, dropping a lot of information at once. She was a nurse, he said, and moreover, he'd left his gig with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and was instead working as an administrative assistant in the Department of Public Health.

Unfortunately, it seems that their marriage was not long for this world. In 2019, Hung was interviewed by a dating counselor named Ruby Love (via YouTube), and he revealed that he and Teng had already gotten divorced. Moreover, Hung dropped the news that it was his second divorce; he'd actually had an entire other marriage that the public was unaware of. "It was very painful, both financially and emotionally," he confessed.

To recover, Hung tried to embrace the things about himself that he was afraid others wouldn't like. "I didn't see how people could possibly love me for who I am," he said.

In 2016, more than a decade after William Hung's infamous "She Bangs" performance first aired on "American Idol," the show was preparing to go dark. FOX had finally cancelled it; though it would be revived several years later on ABC, the original run of the show aired a super-sized "series finale" that year. To celebrate the show's legacy, they brought back many of their most famous contestants, including Hung. After all, his debut album sold better than many "American Idol" winners who didn't get the success they expected.

He came back again in 2022, when the revamped version of the show hosted a 20th anniversary reunion special. "It really is great to look back and celebrate all that's gone on in this very studio over the past 20 years," host Ryan Seacrest told the audience (via CountryNow), joking that it seemed like someone was missing. "Someone who helped put this show on the map, dare I say, the legend, whose very name is synonymous with 'American Idol.'" Out came Hung, those all-too-familiar dance moves, and that earnest, off-key voice. Reboot judge Katy Perry, it seems, was delighted.

The song that William Hung made extra-famous on "American Idol" was by Ricky Martin, the singer behind hits like "Livin' La Vida Loca" and "Shake Your Bon-Bon." Though Hung toured and recorded on the basis of that song for years, it took more than a decade before he came face-to-face with the original artist. In 2018, Hung joined Martin onstage at his Vegas residency for a "She Bangs" duet, which delighted "RuPaul's Drag Race" judge (and "Days of our Lives" star) Ross Matthews. He wrote on X that he was in the audience, gushing, "He just welcomed William Hung during 'She Bang'! Dying!"

A few years later, Hung told Variety that the experience had been a positive one. "He said, 'Thank you, and it was great meeting you.' I don't know. It sounds so surreal. He's a really nice guy. My friend and I, we were very impressed."

In typical modest William Hung fashion, he didn't share it to his own social media feed until 2022. "I went from being laughed off American Idol to performing live with @ricky_martin," he wrote on Instagram alongside a video of their performance. In the selfie that he chose as the cover art for the video, his own face was only halfway visible; it was all about honoring the singer who made him famous.

Over the years, William Hung has reinvented himself several times over. At this point, his name still carries a certain level of brand recognition, but a lot of people may not know how he's been able to make a life for himself in the decades since he became somewhat of a national punchline — as evidenced by this very article! To that end, Hung has taken his unique story and turned it into a career in motivational speaking, hoping to inspire others to keep going even when people doubt you. He's given numerous TEDx talks, speaking about how he reframed his life in light of the fact that some might consider his short-lived entertainment career to be Hung's biggest failure in life. One such talk, after all, was titled "Turning Failure Into Success."

"I want to have a message to inspire people to keep chasing their dreams. And now more than ever, we need that inspiration," he told Variety in 2020, noting the COVID-19 pandemic as one reason why people could use a little inspiration. Then, as he tends to do, Hung pivoted again immediately. "I'm also very interested in gaming because that's my passion right now," he said. "I am looking to teach people how to play Japanese Mahjong for the English audiences."

William Hung had been a longtime fan of poker, and after several years spent working for the Los Angeles city government, he decided he wanted yet another career change. Speaking with Stride Health, he explained, "To put myself in a position where I wouldn't have to be behind a cubicle forever, I started studying and playing poker professionally." At first, he kept his job, studying the game in his off-hours. "It was a difficult journey. There were times when I thought I was going to give up, especially when I was losing," he recalled. "I didn't give up. I understood that there were ups and downs in a game like poker that combines skill and luck ... eventually, I made more money than I did in my day job, so I quit."

Eventually, Hung's poker-playing became quite lucrative, and he took in over $100K in his first year playing professionally. "I'm grateful that I can play the game that I love as a source of income," he told Red Chip Poker. "It's a significant source of income, and still, it's something to not take for granted." Hung isn't the only celeb to turn to poker; that's what happened to Shannon Elizabeth, too.

When William Hung told dating expert Ruby Love that he'd accepted all of the things about himself that other people might not like, he gave an interesting example of one of his quirks. "Like, unusual mobile games, there's nothing wrong with playing those games," he said, "but it can be unusual." The poker-playing, too, eventually became "unusual," and Hung also began betting on sports games, finding himself panicking about each score.

In 2022, Hung confessed publicly that he'd been dealing with a gambling addiction, and that's what had caused both of his marriages to end in divorce. He opened up in a lengthy post on LinkedIn, which took the form of an open letter to his addiction. In it, he revealed that he'd gambled away their savings, which is why his second wife had left him. "When I was younger, my mom warned me about addictions like you. You lure people in with your sweetness and then trick them into being your pawn," he said. "I can hardly believe that I let you take control over my life. It doesn't matter now — we're done. My friend told me I need to go to Gambling Anonymous."

William Hung's professional life has had many ups and downs over the years, and his personal life has, too. By the time he was in his forties, Hung had been divorced twice, but that didn't stop him from getting married a third time. In 2024, he shared wedding photos on Instagram, revealing in the caption that he'd gotten married to a woman named Hannah a year earlier. "I can't believe today is my 1st wedding anniversary with Hannah!" he wrote alongside a carousel of photos of the two together. "What an amazing first year we had together. I am so grateful to find her. We went through our ups and downs, but I am now ready to thrive together."

Hung chatted with People about his third go at married life, revealing in the process that he had kicked his gambling addiction and was once again working as a statistical analyst with the LA County Sheriff's Department. "The best way to make happy memories," the motivational speaker mused, "is to create them with the people you love."