‘American Idol’ Season 24 winner Hannah Harper reveals major collaboration with former contestant
After winning 'American Idol' Season 24 earlier this month, Hannah Harper has already started filling out her calendar for the rest of the year. The Missouri native announced her String Cheese tour last week, and now she is ready to spread her wings further. Hannah auditioned for the singing competition series with an original song titled 'String Cheese,' which she wrote while battling post-partum depression after the birth of her third child. She wowed judges and audiences alike with her vocals and songwriting prowess, becoming the winner of Season 24. With her victory, the 26-year-old musician became the second female country artist to win the show after Season 24 judge Carrie Underwood, who won the title in 2005.
On Tuesday, Hannah shared that she will serve as the opening act for some shows on Lauren Alaina‘s Stages tour, which will kick off in October and carry on until mid-November. Alaina is no stranger to 'American Idol' fans as the 31-year-old singer was the Season 10 runner-up way back in 2011. Their collaboration marks a special moment for Idol fans and a full-circle moment for the two women. The duo will be seen together for five shows, starting with Springfield, Missouri, on October 15, Little Rock, Arkansas, on October 16, Columbia, Missouri, on October 17, Lexington, Kentucky, on October 22, and Cleveland, Ohio, on October 25. Alaina also gave a shout-out to Harper and other opening artists like Shane Profitt and Ashley Kutcher. "I get to share the stage with some incredible artists and friends who are in such exciting stages of their own careers. See y’all out there," she wrote on her Instagram post.
After a whirlwind season of 'American Idol,' which saw her win the title on May 11, Hannah will be unwinding with her family for a few weeks before making her Grand Ole Opry debut on June 2. The next day, she will join Season 24 runner-up, Jordan McCullough, and second runner-up, Keyla Richardson, and others in Nashville to kick off the CMA Fest weekend on June 3. Her own 'String Cheese' tour will start on June 5 and will last until mid-November. But Hannah doesn't plan to stay away from her family during the tour as she will be accompanied by her husband, Devon Mendenhall, and their three sons on the road.
Hannah's journey on Season 24 of ABC's 'American Idol' was nothing short of spectacular as she went viral with her heartfelt rendition of 'String Cheese.' She shared the inspiration behind that song with the judges during her audition round. "My youngest is 1, and shortly after he was born, I had postpartum depression. I was sitting on my couch, wallowing. Everybody wants to touch you. I didn’t want to be touched. I was just having a pity party, praying that the Lord would calm my spirit. And my son kept coming up to me saying, 'Mama, open this. Open my cheese.' And I finally opened his cheese, and when I did that, God had put me in that place, and where I was in my house was the biggest ministry I could have, and being a mom, so I gathered myself, and I got up off the couch, and I quit throwing a pity party and realized that was exactly what I wanted. I kind of kicked the postpartum depression in the butt, I said, 'I ain’t doing it.' And I wrote this song called 'String Cheese,' she said.
