Carrie Underwood Breaks Down In Tears As American Idol Mum Sings About Postpartum Depression

One of the latest American Idol contestants left Carrie Underwood in tears.

Hannah Harper auditioned for the judging panel of Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie on the Monday, Feb. 2 episode of American Idol with an original song called “String Cheese” about a personal struggle with postpartum depression.

“You’re, like, my favorite person,” said Underwood, 42, before Harper, 25, began to sing. “You’re wearing homemade clothes, you’re singing songs called ‘String Cheese.’”

Harper, a stay-at-home mom from Willow Springs, Mo., explained the meaning behind the song. “My youngest is 1, and shortly after he was born I had postpartum depression, and so I was sitting on my couch — I said I wasn’t gonna cry,” she said, getting choked up.

“I was sitting on my couch wallowing, and you have boys, you know. Everybody wants to touch you, and I didn’t want to be touched. And my youngest son, I was just having a pity party, praying that the Lord would calm my spirit, and my son kept coming up to me,” she added. “He said, ‘Mom, open this. Open my cheese.’ I’m like, ‘Leave me alone with the doggone cheese.’”

Harper continued, “And I finally opened his cheese, and when I did I realized God had put me in that place, and that where I was in my house was the biggest ministry that I could ever have in being a mom. So, I gathered myself, and I got up off the couch, and I quit throwing a pity party, and I realized that was exactly what I wanted.”

“And I kind of kicked the postpartum depression in the butt, and I said, ‘I ain’t doing it,’” she concluded, eyes filling with tears.

“Do you need a second?” asked Underwood. “I can’t cry and sing, so I don’t want to put you in that position.”

After the “Blown Away” singer handed Harper some tissues, the Idol hopeful began her performance and sang about trying to care for both herself and her children in the midst of “pure chaos” at home, knowing one day she’ll look back on 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,” sang Harper. “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.”

Underwood began to cry as the performance came to an end. “Do you have more tissues? My turn,” she said with a chuckle. “Well, that’s about the most relatable song I think I’ve ever heard.”

A mom to two sons, Isaiah and Jacob, shared with husband Mike Fisher, Underwood has been open in the past about difficulties in her own motherhood journey. In 2018, the Grammy winner revealed she experienced three miscarriages before getting pregnant with her younger son.

“You might be my favorite person that’s walked through those doors in the past three days,” Underwood told Harper. “You’re gorgeous. Like, you look famous already. I just think you have a beautiful simplicity to your voice. You’re one that I’m going to think about when we leave here, like, ‘I wonder what song she’s gonna sing next.’”

The “Before He Cheats” musician continued, “I feel like I’m gonna be just rooting for you. I love everything about everything you just did. I’ll go first, it’s a yes from me.”

Richie and Bryan also gave Harper the go-ahead to the next round. “You are going to Hollywood Week,” said Underwood.

SOURCE: people.com