Where is Abi Carter? Exciting Updates From the 2024 ‘American Idol’ Winner (EXCLUSIVE)

It’s hard for singer-songwriter Abi Carter to believe that only one year ago, she was watching the early rounds of “American Idol” play out on TV, anxiously waiting to see if viewers would vote her into the Top 20 once the live shows began.

Not only would they wind up sending her through, but within two months, the California native would be crowned the winner of season 22, a moment that would change the course of her life.

In between shows on her first-ever U.S. tour, Carter, 22, told EntertainmentNOW, “It’s such an out of body experience to not only be on a show like that, but to win a show like that. It still hasn’t sunk in for me. I don’t know if it ever really will.”

Abi Carter Put Her ‘American Idol’ Winnings Toward Releasing Her 1st Album

After winning “Idol,” Carter made the bold choice not to pursue a record deal and to use the money she won to set herself up as an independent artist.

“I just kind of realized that I wanted to figure out who I was and what I wanted to be,” she told EntertainmentNOW. “It was a good decision to kind of take a step back and give myself that chance to figure it out on my own and see, you know, who I am at my core.”

In the 10 months since her big win, Carter has moved into her own apartment in Los Angeles, begun honing her craft as a songwriter, built a support team to help her pursue her music goals, and released her first album, “ghosts in the backyard,” full of vulnerable and poignant songs, including the emotionally raw “some people need drugs.”

“Idol” does not disclose the amount winners receive, but Carter told EntertainmentNOW it “was enough to kind of get me through an album.”

“You know, paying for producers and masters and mixers and just paying for everything around that is very expensive,” she noted, adding that while she isn’t opposed to one day signing with a label, she’s seen enough artists complain about not owning their masters — noting Taylor Swift’s fight to own her music as an example — that she wanted “to see what it was like to own my own music.”

“I wanted to feel like my first steps into the music industry weren’t missteps,” Carter said. “Honestly, it’s just hectic and chaotic all of the time. Since I’m an independent artist, all of these decisions are on me. So at the end of the day, it’s a lot of work, and it’s a lot of thought and it’s a lot of effort that goes into it, but I’m lucky to have people around me that do support me in it and that can help me reach my goals.”

Abi Carter Says She’s ‘Walking on Cloud 9’ While on Tour

Carter launched her first headlining tour in February, with upcoming dates in Nashville, Atlanta and Charleston, and said she’s cherishing every chance she gets to perform live.

“It’s been amazing,” she told EntertainmentNOW. “Honestly, it’s been a lifelong goal of mine to be able to sing one of my own songs that I’ve written into a crowd and have them sing the lyrics back to me. It’s happening, and so I’m just walking on cloud nine at this point.”

She also landed a coveted spot in the April 25 lineup at Stagecoach, the biggest country musical festival of the year, alongside major acts including Carly Pearce, Lana Del Rey and Zach Bryan. When she shared the news with her social media followers, she wrote, “I’m officially dreaming.”

Meanwhile, Carter has not heard yet from producers about returning to “Idol” to perform as many past winners have done, but said, “If they asked me to, I’d be so happy to. Absolutely.”