Hannah Harper
#
300
Ranking
Rising Artist
BIRTHDATE
BIRTHPLACE
Willow Springs
,
MO
,
USA
26
5
'
7
"
Hannah Harper is a bluegrass gospel singer and stay-at-home mom of three, who won American Idol Season 24 in May 2026 after her deeply personal audition song "String Cheese," written during her struggle with postpartum depression, went viral with over 120 million views and captivated the nation with its raw, faith-rooted honesty.
Current Tour & Setlist
Hannah Harper won American Idol on May 11, 2026, and no post-show tour has been officially announced as of this writing. As the Season 24 winner, she will almost certainly participate in the American Idol Live tour, which has traditionally sent the top finalists on a summer run across the U.S., and fans can expect her signature original songs "String Cheese" and "Married Into This Town" to anchor the set.
Early Life
Growing up in Southeast Missouri in a deeply faith-rooted family, Harper began performing bluegrass gospel music at age nine as part of her family's traveling band, The Harper Family, singing in churches and at festivals across rural Missouri through age 16. She credits Shania Twain as a major early influence, recalling her mom's Twain tape as one of the few she was allowed to listen to growing up, along with artists from what she calls "the more wholesome side of '90s country," including Jo Dee Messina.
Career Highlights
Before American Idol, Harper worked as a church worship leader for seven years while raising her children, initially pursuing a path in physical therapy before deciding to stay home. Her wider audience began to find her only after fans on TikTok encouraged her to pursue music professionally. She wrote "String Cheese," a bluegrass gospel song about postpartum depression, and first posted it on her Facebook page last Mother's Day simply as a personal reflection, never imagining it would reach beyond her small circle. The audition clip became a viral phenomenon with more than 120 million views across digital platforms, and the song hit number 14 on Billboard's Country Digital Song Sales chart, one of the rare instances of an active Idol contestant charting. Judge Carrie Underwood was moved to tears and compared her storytelling to Dolly Parton, and Harper went on to win American Idol Season 24 on May 11, 2026.
Family & Personal Life
Harper married Devon Mendenhall in April 2018, having met him at a small church in Southeast Missouri where she was a worship leader and the two were high school sweethearts. Shortly after their marriage, in February 2019, Devon was involved in a near-fatal car accident when his truck slid on ice, overturned, and left him with a collapsed lung, a fractured back, and a broken ankle, requiring airlift to a hospital in St. Louis while Hannah was pregnant with their first child. Devon, a former law enforcement officer, quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad during her time on the show, and the couple has three sons together. Harper publicly thanked him at the finale, saying he had "sacrificed his entire life" to make her run on Idol possible.
