Nikki McKibbin, who completed in third place behind Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini on the primary season of “American Idol,” has died, in response to a Fb put up from her husband. She was 42.

Craig Sadler shared Saturday on social media that McKibbin “suffered an aneurysm on Wednesday” and had been saved on life help earlier than an operation early Sunday morning to provide “her closing reward” as an organ donor.

“Even on the finish she continues to be giving,” he wrote. “She was so cherished that I do know hundreds of you may be grieving with us.”

McKibbin was simply 23 when she auditioned for the primary season of the fact singing competitors, the place she rocked songs like Bonnie Tyler’s “Complete Eclipse of the Coronary heart,” Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Coronary heart” and her idol Stevie Nicks’ “Fringe of Seventeen.”

“Nikki McKibbin was an unimaginable expertise and we’re deeply saddened by the information of her passing,” reads assertion from the present offered to USA TODAY by spokesperson Emma Harvey. “She was a part of our American Idol household and shall be really missed. Our hearts and prayers exit to her household and pals throughout this tough time.”

On this 2002 file picture, Nikki McKibbin competes on “American Idol.”

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Put up-“Idol,” RCA Data signed McKibbin, however wished the rocker and Texas native to pivot to nation music. She walked away and later joined Dallas metallic band Rivethead. In 2007, she launched her first solo album, “Unleashed.”

“Lots of people have a look at me and nonetheless inform me it was a silly resolution,” McKibbin instructed USA TODAY in 2008. “I’d’ve felt like I used to be promoting out. … I might somewhat be broke and glad than wealthy and depressing.”

She went on to make a number of actuality TV present appearances, together with on “Concern Issue,” “Battle of the Community Actuality Stars,” “Celeb Rehab With Dr. Drew” and “Camp Actuality,” in response to her IMDb web page. On “Battle of the Community Actuality Stars,” McKibbin clashed with actuality star and now former White Home aide Omarosa Manigault Newman – at one level, she even threw a punch at Newman off digicam.

“I attempted to kick her (expletive) twice,” McKibbin instructed USA TODAY.

In 2014, she returned to the world of “Idol” when her son, now in his early 20s, auditioned, making them the primary mother-daughter pair of contestants within the present’s historical past. Tristen Langley was despatched residence within the post-audition spherical.

Her fellow competitor Guarini known as McKibbin a “fiery, humorous girl who may sing the Hell out of a rock tune” in a prolonged Instagram tribute Saturday, recalling the younger singer’s “infectious” pleasure when she acquired flowers and a card from Nicks, “her idol.”

⁣”Even in our 20’s after we have been on American Idol collectively I may inform that she’d had a difficult life, and that not that many individuals had been type to her alongside the way in which,” he wrote. “After the type of emotional beating she took by the hands of the plenty, she deserved to be ok with herself, even for a short time.”

On this 2002 file picture, Justin Guarini, Nikki McKibbin (middle) and Kelly Clarkson hug after McKibbin was voted off the present.

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He added: “Thanks for the laughter, cruel teasing, power, vulnerability, love and friendship you confirmed me throughout our time collectively within the highlight.”

A handful of different notable former “Idol” contestants have died in years previous: Michael Johns, a Season 7 fan favourite and Australian heartthrob who completed eighth, died in 2014 at 35 after struggling a blood clot in his ankle; an post-mortem discovered he had an enlarged coronary heart. Months later, his Season 7 competitor Joanne Borgella, who made it to the highest 24, died from a uncommon most cancers at 32. In 2016, Rickey Smith, who completed eighth on Season 2, was killed in a automobile crash in Oklahoma Metropolis at age 36.

This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki McKibbin dies: ‘American Idol’ Season 1 contestant was 42