While country singers like Morgan Wallen and Ella Langley continue to dominate mainstream music charts, the win further shows the genre’s dominance.
WASHINGTON — Meet this season’s “American Idol” winner.
Hannah Harper, a 25-year-old mom of three from southeast Missouri, was crowned the winner of the ABC singing competition’s 24th season, belting out the gospel ballad “At The Cross (Love Ran Red)” while confetti covered the stage.
A skilled songwriter, Harper auditioned for judges in Nashville with “String Cheese,” an original song about her experience with postpartum depression.
The YouTube video of her singing in front of the season judges, Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, and season four “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood, has since garnered 1 million views.
“Everybody just wants to touch you, and I didn’t want to be touched. I was just having a pity party, praying that the Lord would calm my spirit,” Harper told judges, explaining it took opening a packet of string cheese for one of her children to bring things into perspective.
After singing the emotional ballad, which included lyrics like, “I smile because I know meeting their needs fills my soul / Being their mama is, who I’m meant to be,” the judges were in tears.
“Well that’s about the most relatable song I’ve ever heard,” Underwood, herself a mom of two, told Harper while wiping away tears.
Harper has since released “String Cheese” as a single with her three children adorning the single’s cover art.
The judges have compared Harper’s bluegrass style to Kacey Musgraves, Alison Krauss, and even Dolly Parton.
It was a final competition filled with Christian and country music influence, with 27-year-old church leader Jordan McCullough from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the season runner-up.
As country singers like Morgan Wallen and Ella Langley continue to dominate mainstream music charts, and pop stars like Beyonce and Post Malone cross over into the genre, Harper’s win and McCullough’s success, overseen by country music legends Underwood and Bryan, further show the genre’s dominance in contemporary American music.
“What a wild, beautiful journey this has been,” Harper wrote on Instagram late Monday night. “And somehow we’re just getting started.”