Hannah Harper won this year’s American Idol contest Monday night, and one of her original songs – a tribute to the challenge and beauty of motherhood – is exploding in popularity. 

Harper, a 25-year-old mother of three boys from Willow Springs, Missouri, auditioned for the 24th season of the show in February with her original song called String Cheese. 

The song was inspired by her battle with postpartum depression after having her third child, who is now 1. Harper told the show’s judges – Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie – she was sitting on the couch one day and wished her children would leave her alone.  

“I was just having a pity party, praying that the Lord would calm my spirit and my son kept coming up to me,” she said.  

One of her sons kept asking her to open his string cheese, but that just added to her stress.  

“I finally opened his cheese and when I did, I realized that God had put me in that place, and that where I was in my house was the biggest ministry I could ever have – being a mom.” 

Harper started her music journey when she was 9. Her family, The Harper Family, lived out of a bus for years, traveling and performing bluegrass gospel music.  

When she was 15 she suddenly understood the purpose of the worship she was singing with her family, Harper writes in an Instagram post.  

“From that point on I craved intimate times of worship. Those encounters became my heart’s desire and my desire for others to experience. 

“If you could just feel [God’s] presence, as if you were sitting at His feet, you would never want to be the same.” 

Harper later became the worship leader for First Baptist Church of Birch Tree, which is roughly 100 miles east of Springfield, Missouri. She met her husband Devon Mendenhall at the church, and they got married in 2018 when Harper was 18. They started building their family shortly after. 

Harper said on Live with Kelly and Mark that growing up to be a stay-at-home mom was her dream.  

“I never knew this is what my twenties would look like, but they saved me before I had the chance to waste my life,” her String Cheese lyrics say. 

“And I smile because I know meeting their needs fills my soul, and being their mama is who I’m meant to be.” 

Harper’s audition performance of String Cheese had Underwood, who is also a mom, in tears. 

“Well that’s about the most relatable song I think I’ve ever heard,” she cried.  

The song quickly went viral and Harper’s audition has become one of the most-viewed videos in American Idol history, according to the show’s YouTube channel. Mothers from across the nation have responded to the song with hope, thanking Harper for giving them encouragement in the moments motherhood feels difficult.  

“It was so encouraging to me so thank you Hannah, because I really needed it,” one mom responded in a tearful video. 

American Idol hosted a “Songs of Faith” episode this season where the top 14 contestants performed. They weren’t required to choose Christian worship songs, but many brought Christian worship to the Hollywood stage. 

Jordan McCullough and Keyla Richardson, the season’s second and third place winners, also have Christian backgrounds. 

McCullough is the worship director for Nashville’s Zeal Church and sang a powerful rendition of Goodness of God for his audition. He performed I Can Only Imagine for the Songs of Faith episode. 

Richardson performed Jireh and told Christian Post that her faith in God is the only thing sustaining her. 

“God has been everything I need Him to be.” 

In the season finale, Harper was announced as the winner of American Idol and immediately performed the worship song At the Cross (Love Ran Red). 

 After just 30 seconds, she broke down in tears and was unable to finish the song. Friends, family and fellow contestants flooded the stage in celebration and worshipped alongside her as the music continued playing.  

“All the sacrifices have been made [by my family] to make this happen,” Harper told USA Today. “Had it not been for my husband … that poor man has sacrificed his entire life. 

“Every part of normalcy he had – to uproot life and bring our whole family here and live out of a hotel for two months – just so I could do this meant everything to me. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay him for that.” 

Harper also credits her win to her fellow Missourians who voted for her every week. 

 

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“This is my ministry,” Harper wrote on Instagram when she released String Cheese on Mother’s Day last year.  

“My calling is to lead and guide them in the ways of the Lord through my words and actions in everyday life.” 

(Photo credit: screenshot/YouTube/American Idol)