Ruben Thinks Ellen's Opinion 'Most Definitely Matters'

You have a new single out, 'Don't Make 'Em Like U No More,' can you tell me a little bit about this song?
I was actually in rehearsal for a Broadway tour I did 'Ain't Misbehavin'' and they sent me the song and I just ... fell in love with it. I thought it would be perfect. It's always good to tell a woman that there's nothing else in the world like you. You know what I mean? And I thought, ladies love compliments, and I thought it would be a perfect record. The image that I like – the velvet teddy bear image – I thought girls would love it. When I ... was going over the list of songs, because I had about 20 or 30 records for the album, my initial feeling was to leave the song off the album ... My wife was just like no ..."This is a hit" ... and I was like, "OK." She's usually pretty dead on with her music choices.

Does she have a lot of say in your albums?
She kind of like gives me advice in the background when I'm listening to songs that I've done, she'll say "Well, I don't know how much I like it." Shetries to let me feel like I've made the decision, when of course she's influenced it.

And one of the songs was written for your wife?
Yeah, 'Song for Her.'

Did she like that?
She loved it ... she fell in love with it the first time she heard it.


What's it like having your fourth album out?
It's awesome. It's awesome to even be blessed enough to be on a fourth album. A lot of artists come and go so fast these days, they don't get a chance to make it past their first. So I'm just really thankful that people [still want] to hear me sing. I'm really thankful that I still have the opportunity to do a job that I love every day. And I hope this won't be my last. I hope that God will continue to let me live my dream and I'll be talking to you next year about my fifth album.

And you're going on tour again in the fall?
I am. I'm supposed to going out with David Foster [and Friends], I think, in the next couple of weeks ... That's awesome, David Foster is the best of the best, it doesn't get any better than "The Hit Man" himself. I'm just blessed and honored that he would think enough of me to ask me to come out with him. So I'm looking forward to that.

Do you like the touring life?
I love it. This is what I've always wanted to do with my life. You know going on the road gives me the opportunity to get the immediate response that I like from the fans. Making albums you don't get the chance to actually know exactly what the fans feel. But when you're on stage, you can feel the emotion as soon as your ... mouth opens [and] you can tell if the fans are going to enjoy it or not.

Is there a city you like playing the most?
I love cities like Philadelphia, D.C., Boston – those are always just great venues ... they are always just so into the music. But I love going everywhere.

When you're done with the tour, do you have any plans?
I am planning on starting a Christmas album for next year after this tour. I actually recorded a single I think to be released during this Holiday season. But I kind of want to go ahead and get it out of the way and what better time to do it than the Holiday season so it won't be fake ... I've been wanting to do a recording to benefit the Boys and Girls Club and also my foundation [The Ruben Studdard Foundation for the Advancement of Children in the Music Arts] and the sickle cell disease foundation that I work closely with. So this year I want to record an inspirational album to benefit those three foundations. Those are my dreams for the upcoming months of my life after the [tour.] Hopefully, I can get those things accomplished, have them ready to be released and then work on putting out a fifth solo project.

Is there anyone you're dying to work with?
Now that Whitney Houston is back in the game, I'd love to do a song with Whitney. I've always wanted to record a song with Fantasia. And you know, we'll see? I'm just happy to still be doing my thing.

Are you still watching 'Idol'?
I watched very little last season because I was on tour ... I heard ... Ellen DeGeneres is taking Paula Abdul's place. I'm looking forward to how that's going to work with Simon [Cowell.] ... It's going to be an interesting season. I'm a huge Ellen fan and of course a huge Paula Abdul fan.

Do you think the show will miss Paula?
I think America will miss Paula. She's decided to move on with her career and do something different and I'm sure what she's going to be doing in the future is going to be amazing. I think everybody will miss her being on the show. As they say ... "The show must go on."

Is it fair to the contestants that Ellen doesn't have any musical background?
Ellen has been in the industry for so long, I think her opinion most definitely matters. She's been around great talent for a long time. So I'm sure they wouldn't have asked her to be on the show if she doesn't have the ability to discern what's great talent and what's not. And also, she's just flat out funny. And it is television. I think people are going to watch just to see what kind of things she would even say to the contestants ... she'll probably bring a light-heartedness to the show that people were accustomed to with Paula.

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