Phillips started playing music, particularly the guitar, when he was 14. He was mentored by his long-time friend and brother-in-law, Benjamin Neil, whom he credits for piquing his interest in music. In 2009, he formed the Phillip Phillips Band with Neil and another brother-in-law, Todd Urick, and performed in various local venues and events. He won a local singing competition, “Albany Star,” in 2010.

On February 23, 2012, Phillips was chosen as one of the Top 25 semi-finalists, and was voted into the Top 13.

After winning American Idol, Phillips went on the American Idol LIVE Tour from July to September with the rest of the top ten finalists. He performed the National Anthem at the opening game of the 2012 World Series on October 24, 2012. On November 15, he joined forces with the PS22 chorus of Staten Island for a concert to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. He also performed at the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 6, 2012.

Phillips’ coronation song, “Home,” was a great success with sales of over 5 million copies in the US. It has been used in NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, L.A. Marathon, various commercials, film trailers, and TV shows. He performed “Home” on the PBS Independence Day celebration TV special, A Capitol 4th. He appeared at the 83rd MLB All-Star Game held at Kansas City on July 10 and sang his coronation song. On October 9, 2012, he joined other musicians in the One World concert held in Syracuse University to honor the Dalai Lama. He also performed “Home” on the CNN Heroes special aired on December 2, 2012, and the CBS’s A Home for the Holidays on December 19, 2012.

Phillips released his debut album, The World from the Side of the Moon, on November 19, 2012. The album was produced by Gregg Wattenberg, with Phillips writing or co-writing the majority of the disc. On November 6, 2012, “Where We Came From” was released for sale in advance of the album, and was a free download on pre-orders. The album debuted at No. 4 in the Billboard 200 with sales of 169,000 copies, and was certified Platinum by RIAA in August 2013. The World From The Side Of The Moon was on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for 61 weeks. That puts in number two of all the debut albums by American Idol winners.

In January 2013, Phillip Phillips appeared on the cover of Billboard magazine with Interscope Records founder and CEO and American Idol mentor, Jimmy Iovine.

On January 29, 2013, Phillips began a tour in North America as the opening act for Matchbox Twenty. He also headlined ten college dates in January with a four-piece acoustic band, and a further college tour with an electric band from March through May after his tour with Matchbox Twenty. Nine of his college tour dates were postponed due to a continuing health issue. From July 6 to October 5, 2013, he toured as the opening act for John Mayer’s Born and Raised World Tour, followed by his own college tour and then further dates with John Mayer until December 17. He also performed at the international music festival Rock in Rio, in Rio de Janeiro on September 21, the same day as John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen. In 2014, a solo tour of Canada was also scheduled, as well as other dates in the US.

“Gone, Gone, Gone” from the album was released as a single on February 11, 2013. Phillips performed the song live on the March 14, 2013 edition of American Idol. “Gone, Gone, Gone” was also used as the twelfth season’s “send-off” song, played as the backing track for the montages that highlight each week’s eliminated finalist. The song was also used in the film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

In March 2013, Phillips stated that he was “always writing” and that his second studio album would be released sometime in 2014. The album, Behind the Light, was released on May 19, 2014. The debut single, “Raging Fire”, from his second album was released digitally on March 3, 2014. The song was featured in the National Hockey League’s Playoffs. Phillips received his first BMI pop music song writing award for “Raging Fire”. A promotional single, “Fly”, was released alongside the album’s pre-order on April 22, 2014.

Phillip Phillips made the Forbes Highest Earning American Idol list for each of the three years he was qualified. For the list published in January 2014 and January 2015, he ranked number three. For the list published January 2016, he ranked number four.

On December 26, 2014, Phillips announced his engagement to girlfriend Hannah Blackwell. The two were married at the Resora Plantation in Albany, Georgia on October 24, 2015.

In January 2015, Phillips filed a lawsuit against his label 19 Recordings, calling the producers manipulative and “oppressive”. In June 2017, Phillips settled the dispute with the show’s producers.

On April 7, 2016 Phillips returned to the American Idol stage for the series finale and performed a tribute to David Bowie with four other winners; David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee Dewyze, and Nick Fradiani. Former Idol judge Simon Cowell said Phillip Phillips was the only contestant he liked after he left the show. Jennifer Lopez, who was a judge on the eleventh season, revealed that Phillips is her favorite American Idol winner.

He performed at the 2016 Invictus Games closing ceremony in Orlando, Florida on May 12, 2016.

On June 17, 2016, Phillips started a co-headlining tour with Matt Nathanson at the San Diego County Fair and ending on August 13 at the Wisconsin State Fair.

During summer 2017, Phillips was the opening act on the Live Nation Goo Goo Dolls’ Long Way Home tour.

On October 18, 2017, Phillips performed at the CMT Artists of the Year awards, where he did a cover of Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road”, which won Song of the Year.

Phillips released the single “Miles” to radio on August 11, 2017, through 19R/Interscope. It was the lead single to the new album.

In January 2018, Phillips appeared in an episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing a diamond smuggler.

On July 3, 2019, Phillips and Blackwell announced that they were expecting their first child, a son, in the fall. Patch Shepherd Phillips was born November 10, 2019.

On May 3, 2020, Phillips returned to American Idol and opened the Top 10 by perfoming “Home.” The episode “On with the Show: Homeward Bound” featured the theme of songs about home. The show was broadcast from homes of the participants due to the pandemic health crisis.

Phillips performed on the Idol alumni ensemble (including Alejandro Aranda, Fantasia, Gabby Barrett, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Laine Hardy, Lauren Alaina, Ruben Studdard and Scotty McCreery) for “We Are the World” with Lionel Ritchie on the season finale on May 17, 2020.