Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
“I think I’m just going to be cheering you on. I love absolutely everything you just did,” Underwood said to stay-at-home mom Hannah Harper.
One of the newest American Idol contestants moved Carrie Underwood to tears.
Hannah Harper auditioned for the judges—Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie—on the February 2 episode with an original song titled “String Cheese”, which reflected her personal experience with postpartum depression.
“You might just be my favorite person,” said Underwood, 42, as Harper, 25, prepared to sing. “You’re in homemade clothes, performing a song called ‘String Cheese.’”
Harper, a stay-at-home mom from Willow Springs, Missouri, shared the story behind her song. She explained, “My youngest is 1, and shortly after he was born, I experienced postpartum depression. I remember sitting on the couch, telling myself I wouldn’t cry.”
She continued, “I was wallowing, and with little boys, everyone wants to touch you. I didn’t want any contact. My youngest kept coming up to me, saying, ‘Mom, open this. Open my cheese.’ And I was thinking, ‘Leave me alone with the cheese.’”
Harper described a moment of clarity when she finally opened it. “I realized God had put me exactly where I needed to be, and that my home was my biggest ministry as a mom. I gathered myself, got up off the couch, and decided to stop the pity party. That’s when I really felt like I could beat postpartum depression.”
Underwood, visibly emotional, asked, “Do you need a second? I can’t cry and sing, so I don’t want to put you in that spot.” She handed Harper some tissues before the performance began.
Harper’s song described balancing self-care with caring for her children amidst the “pure chaos” of daily life, recognizing that one day she would cherish these moments.
“I thought finding peace in the quiet’s what I wanted / But I’d do anything to go back to being needed / To those days I want to cry, run away and cry / But I’d worry about their every need,” Harper sang.
“When I’m overwhelmed and touched out, they come climbing up on the couch / Saying ‘Mama, can you open my string cheese?’ / I smile because I know meeting their needs fills my soul / Being their mama is who I’m meant to be.”
By the end of the performance, Underwood was in tears. “Do you have more tissues? My turn,” she joked, adding, “That’s probably the most relatable song I’ve ever heard.”
Underwood, a mother to sons Isaiah and Jacob with husband Mike Fisher, has spoken openly about challenges in her own motherhood journey, including three miscarriages before her younger son was born.
“You might be my favorite person to walk through these doors in the past few days,” Underwood told Harper. “You’re gorgeous, you already look famous. There’s a beautiful simplicity to your voice. I’ll be thinking about what song you’ll sing next long after we leave here.”
