American Idol Season One’s 3rd Place winner Nikki McKibbin has died at the age of 42 following complications from a ‘brain aneurysm.’
McKibbin was reportedly in the hospital and was pronounced dead at 3 a.m on Sunday morning.
She was part of the first season of American Idol where Kelly Clarkson won in 2002.
She had reached the finals after wowing judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson and performed songs by Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morissette, Bonnie Tyler, Janis Joplin, and finally Alannah Myles with her rendition of “Black Velvet.”
She later discussed her cocaine and alcohol addictions on the spin-off, Sober House.
McKibbin came back to Idol in 2014 when her then 15-year old son, Tristan Langley, auditioned for the show and performed to judges Harry Connick Jr., Keith Urban, and Jennifer Lopez. The boy had presented his mom with a rose on the Idol stage when he was only four years old.
