Hannah Harper spoke about her vulnerable song, “String Cheese,” after her American Idol win earlier this week.

Harper, 26, a stay-at-home mother of three from Willow Springs, Missouri, brought judge Carrie Underwood to tears when she auditioned for the show with her original ballad. Harper opened up about her experience with overcoming postpartum depression, and “String Cheese” resonated with many other mothers and country artists. She said she was “overwhelmed by all the emotions,” when she caught up with Danielle Fishel on the American Idol Official Podcast after the finale. The 2026 Idol champion — the first female country artist to win since Underwood’s 2005 victory — said she never expected the response to “String Cheese.”

“It was one of the first songs I had written,” she explained, “and at the time, I was still a stay-at-home mom. My husband was working in law enforcement. And I didn’t have the opportunity to share my music outside of church. And it was one of those things that I wrote just to minister to myself in that season. And then I shared it with my sister-in-laws and my close friends, and my brother was like, ‘we should record it…and just release it and just see what happens.’ And so, we planned on it in a crunch. I was like, ‘let’s release it on Mother’s Day.’ I think I wrote it in February. And so, we went in the studio and we recorded it and released it on Mother’s Day, and it was insane. The response was amazing, but the response from after my first audition was so overwhelming. Like I said, it was one of those songs I wrote in a vulnerable spot in my life that I never thought I would share it with the world. And then it touched so many other people’s lives, and I hope encouraged them in their hard season.”

Harper admitted she had “no idea” how viral her audition was, and said she took a break from social media while competing on the show. Throughout her conversation with Fishel, Harper reflected on her recent trip home to Missouri, her patchwork dress she wore to her audition, her duet with Lee Ann Womack (which she said was like a “Mother’s Day present”), her dream collaboration (Dolly Parton), her hopes for her family, her reaction to a sweet message from her husband and more. Fishel also brought up Underwood’s unwavering support of the rising country artist since her first audition.

“Since the beginning, her believing in me was incredible,” Harper said. “I appreciated it so much. Like, had she not said ‘yes,’ I wouldn’t be here, you know? But it also gives me hope for the future because this was her, which is insane. But to just see how her career has just blown up and she has blossomed, it gives me so much hope. And knowing there’s a future for me, and she’s like, ‘I’ll let you know any tips and tricks I have for doing it with babies.’ I said, ‘yeah, I need all of them!’”

Harper said a lesson she’s taking away from her American Idol experience is, “self-awareness of just knowing exactly who God made me to be, and being confident in my abilities. That’s the most important part. Walking away with that, knowing that no matter what people say at the end of the day, it’s not my purpose to hear all the junk. It wasn’t intended for me. So, to just stay focused in my career is important.”

Listen to the full American Idol Official Podcast here.

Bill Ellis