Chris Tungseth, a 27-year-old construction worker and roofer from Fergus Falls, Minnesota, moved American Idol judges to tears with an emotional original song honoring his late father and his family’s journey through illness and loss.
Tungseth introduced himself to the Idol judges as a roofer who uses music as an outlet to escape the tough situations he and his family have faced, including his father’s passing after a battle with leukemia and his mom’s diagnosis of a “pretty aggressive” form of multiple sclerosis. He shared that he had a great childhood growing up in a very musical household in Minnesota. However, his life changed at age 10 when his mom received her diagnosis.
“I just feel so fortunate. I’m so blessed. I’ve been given the greatest family in the world,” he began. “Growing in Minnesota is the best like childhood was so fun and so simple. My dad, he studied opera and he was an opera singer and then became a pastor and a worship leader and my mom was a pianist. My siblings, we’d sing every holiday at church. Everything that we did was… together, but it started to take a turn when I was 10 years old my mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.”
Twelve years later, his dad was diagnosed with leukemia. “Right away my mom was in and out of the hospital. She was four hours away. My dad would be traveling back and forth trying to take care of our family,” he explained. “He was gravity to us. He’s the strongest person I’ve ever met. He was my best friend. He was my kind of my foundation, the person I turned to for advice.”
Since is father passed away, he hopes to carry on his legacy and keep the musical dream alive within the family. “That was the worst thing I’ve ever had in my life. Like Superman is no longer Superman. My siblings moved home to help me take care of them. I mean, all of us put life on hold, but there was nothing else that we would’ve done. That was honestly the biggest gift for us to be close to them.”
In a clip weaved into the show, Tungseth visited his late father’s grave, and said, “Pops, I wish you were part of this. I wish you were here to see this thing go through, but I’m just going to be me and I hope they see you through me.”
Chris Tungseth then went on to audition with an emotional original song, titled “Lonely Road,” while strumming his acoustic guitar.
“I still have a million questions/ only you got answers to/ I don’t really think that I will care for them/ when I’m up in Heaven with you/ pray… were gonna make it through/ I’m holding onto you,” Tungseth sang on the heart-wrenching track.
The Idol hopeful’s performance was met with an applause and praise from Idol judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.
Carrie Underwood began by gushing over his voice and overall stage presence.
“I love everything about you. I love your presence. I love how open you are in the way you talk, communicate and the way you sing, communicate. You have an incredible voice. It’s powerful and it’s beautiful. It’s masculine and it’s soft at the same time,” Underwood said of Tungseth. “You kind of have all the things… just very impressive. The gift that you have to work with and the way that you work with it.”
Lionel Richie was so touched by his original song and shared a story on how he resonated with its lyrics.
“You have a ministry, a real strong connection to people. I was so touched by the fact that you said, ‘I’m blessed. I’m grateful.’ There was a point in my life where I thought my dad’s dying and my life’s falling apart. There was a little aid over in the corner of the hospital and I was talking to my dad. He was in and out of a coma. He said, ‘you’re very lucky.’ And I looked at him and said, ‘what are you talking about?’ I said, ‘he is in a coma.’ And he said, ‘I was just thinking, I wish I had a dad to love as much as you have.’”
Luke Bryan compared Tungseth to country music superstar and powerhouse vocalist Chris Stapleton.
“I had setbacks in my life that put my music career on hold and I matured and grew up during those years. It’s really perfect to me what you’re doing,” he shared. “I’ve been in the room with Chris Stapleton a lot of times. You’ve got those little vibes going on. You’ve got that ability to whisper with soul and turn it up. You just got a lot of stuff going on and don’t be afraid to turn ’em loose because we’re going to be there every step of the way encouraging you. I think you’re going to go really high in this competition.”
Ultimately, Chris Tungseth scored three ‘yes’ votes, advancing to Hollywood Week, taking place in Nashville this year.
“I know my dad would be so happy and I know he’d be the first person cheering me on as soon as I walked out that door,” Yungseth said holding his golden ticket before calling his mom on video chat to share the exciting news with her.
“I did this for you and I did this for Pops. I love you so much mama,” Tungseth concluded.
New episodes of American Idol air every Monday night at 8/7c on ABC and are available to stream the next day on Hulu.
