Rocker Chris Daughtry has managed to accomplish what no other American Idol contestant has.

The fourth place finalist on the show's fifth season has succeeded in having two consecutive No. 1 albums in the U.S., including his recently released sophomore album, Leave This Town.

"It's kind of a crap shoot -- you never know what's going to happen," said the 29-year-old Roanoke Rapids, N.C. native, in Toronto recently for a promotional stop with Charlottesville, Va.-based guitarist Brian Craddock at his side.

"We're fortunate that we have fans that actually want to see us succeed and they do actually go buy the record. There's some downloading going on, of course, but for the most part they're buying our album two and three times, just to have extra copies. One for them to wear out, one for them to play when that one is done."

Leave This Town, whose final 12 songs were culled from a possible 70, features songwriting collaborations with the likes of Canadian Chad Kroeger of Nickelback on two songs -- the first single, No Surprise, and Life After You -- at Kroeger's Vancouver studio.

The two acts had toured together and became friends.

"I went to his house and spent about three days there," said Daughtry. "It's a lot of hanging out and laughing when me and Chad get together. And in the midst of all that we were able to complete a couple of songs."

Daughtry also hooked up with Richard Marx during that time thanks to a phone call from Kroeger.

"I'm a huge Richard Marx fan and that's kind of what instigated that. And he flew in the next day and we wrote another song (On the Inside) that ended up being a bonus track on our deluxe edition on iTunes."

Daughtry's staggering success -- his 2006 self-titled first album was the best-selling album in the U.S. in 2007 and was the fastest-selling rock album in Soundscan history -- indicates there's still room for rock music in an increasingly fragmented record industry.

"Yeah, and without the drugs," said Daughtry, a married father of two who still lives in North Carolina.

"We have very strong families and we surround ourselves with people on the road that are only going to benefit us, not put us in situations that could be compromising, and we all respect that. We all respect each other. And we kind of keep each other accountable on the road because we do have our wives and kids at home. And that's what's most important to us."

Daughtry said there hasn't been much of a transition from small-town boy to mainstream celebrity mainly due to his North Carolina roots.

"My hometown is used to seeing me around," he said. "It's kind of why I stay there because there are no camera people or anything like that. I get to relax and enjoy being home."

'Huge variety' of talent in last season

Chris Daughtry said he watched the latest and eighth season of American Idol, which was won by soft-rocker Kris Allen over glam-rocker Adam Lambert, plus his band played on the all-star two-hour finale.

"We all watched this year," said Daughtry of he and his bandmates. "It was just one of those seasons, it kind of got our attention. I think in general the contestants this year were very interesting, visually, and talent-wise, there was a huge variety. Allison (Iraheta), your rocker chick; Kris, who was kind of like The Fray-kind of rock; and then you got Adam. I think he's extremely talented and I don't think I've ever heard anybody sing like that guy that wasn't a female. His range is through the roof. He hits notes that every singer wishes they could hit."