Iam Tongi was born in “Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii,” Billboard says, and it was “his late father Rodney, who introduced him to music,” in Rolling Stone’s words. When Iam was 13, Billboard wrote, “his father spent his holiday paycheck on a guitar that he gifted his son.” “My dad had spent his holiday paycheck (crying) to buy me the guitar,” Iam said on the show, as NPR quotes him.
His father died “several months prior to his audition,” Rolling Stone says, “a few months prior,” in American Songwriter’s words. “After he passed away, I thought there was no reason to do music anymore,” Iam told Rolling Stone; “After my dad passed away, I didn’t want to do music anymore,” he told American Songwriter. “Then my mom signed me up out of nowhere,” he told Billboard, and to NPR: “My mom just signed me up.”
“Auditions for season 21 kicked off Sunday night (Feb. 19),” American Songwriter wrote, and “With the guitar his father gave him in hand,” he stood “in front of judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan.” He sang James Blunt’s “Monsters” for his father, as Rolling Stone and American Songwriter report, “reducing judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan to tears.” “It didn’t take long for Bryan to start tearing up, soon followed by Richie,” and “Richie praised, adding ‘your daddy’s very proud.’”
He had made a promise about that guitar: “And I made a promise that I was going to use it at every performance,” he said on the show, as NPR quotes him. Then, he told NPR, in Hollywood Week, “when I went on the stage, my guitar broke,” and “I just started crying.” The guitar “needed to be repaired during the early weeks of this season,” Billboard wrote.
At “the May 21 star-studded finale,” as TV Insider called it, “he came full circle, singing the emotional lyrics about a son bidding farewell to his father alongside Blunt himself,” Rolling Stone wrote, and “after 17 million votes were cast, Tongi was named winner of American Idol.” “He also became the first Pacific Islander to do so,” NPR said. “My dad always told me that I’m gonna make it one day,” he told Rolling Stone, “and that he probably wouldn’t be around to see me be successful.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He didn’t want to sing anymore, but his mom signed him up. NPR (the host): “Your mom has shared that when your dad passed away, you didn’t want to sing anymore”; Iam Tongi: “My mom just signed me up.” Tongi, to American Songwriter: “After my dad passed away, I didn’t want to do music anymore.” Tongi, to Billboard: “Then my mom signed me up out of nowhere.” 245
- His name is Iam Tongi, from Kahuku, Hawaii. Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “Kahuku-born Iam Tongi.” Billboard gives his birthplace as “Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii.” 65
- His dad, Rodney, spent his holiday paycheck on a guitar for him. Billboard: “his father spent his holiday paycheck on a guitar that he gifted his son when Iam was 13.” Tongi, on the show, as NPR quotes him: “My dad had spent his holiday paycheck (crying) to buy me the guitar.” NPR: “your dad, Rodney.” American Songwriter: “his father Rodney.” 523
- Months before the audition, his dad died. Rolling Stone: “his late father Rodney, who introduced him to music and died several months prior to his audition.” American Songwriter: “his father Rodney, who passed away a few months prior.” NPR: “a short time before you auditioned for ‘American Idol’ - a few months before.” 132
- “I thought there was no reason to do music anymore,” he said. Tongi, to Rolling Stone: “After he passed away, I thought there was no reason to do music anymore.” 1
- So he faced the judges with his dad’s guitar. American Songwriter: “as he stood in front of judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan”; “With the guitar his father gave him in hand.” 4
- He sang a song about a son saying goodbye to his father. Rolling Stone, of James Blunt’s “Monsters,” which he sang for his father: “the emotional lyrics about a son bidding farewell to his father.” 1
- Luke Bryan cried. Lionel Richie cried. Rolling Stone: “reducing judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan to tears.” American Songwriter: “It didn’t take long for Bryan to start tearing up, soon followed by Richie.” 13
- “Your daddy’s very proud,” Richie told him. American Songwriter: “Richie praised, adding ‘your daddy’s very proud.’” 3
- In Hollywood Week, that guitar broke, and so did he. Tongi, to NPR: “Probably Hollywood Week”; “And when I went on the stage, my guitar broke”; “I just started crying.” Billboard: the guitar “needed to be repaired during the early weeks of this season.” 25
- He had promised to play it at every performance. Tongi, on the show, as NPR quotes him: “And I made a promise that I was going to use it at every performance.” 2
- In the finale, he sang that song with James Blunt himself. Rolling Stone: “On Sunday, he came full circle, singing the emotional lyrics about a son bidding farewell to his father alongside Blunt himself.” 1
- Then America voted, and he won American Idol. Rolling Stone: “after 17 million votes were cast, Tongi was named winner of American Idol.” TV Insider: “the May 21 star-studded finale.” 17
- “My dad always told me that I’m gonna make it one day,” he said. Tongi, to Rolling Stone: “My dad always told me that I’m gonna make it one day …” 1
- “… and that he probably wouldn’t be around to see me be successful.” Tongi, to Rolling Stone: “… and that he probably wouldn’t be around to see me be successful.” 1
Sources
- ‘American Idol’ Winner Iam Tongi on How He Brought the Judges to Tears (Tomás Mier, May 23, 2023) Rolling Stone
- Iam Tongi, 18, credits his mom and late dad for his ‘American Idol’ win (Juana Summers, All Things Considered, May 25, 2023; transcript) NPR
- Iam Tongi Hits a Nerve with ‘American Idol’ Audition Dedicated to His Late Father (Cillea Houghton, February 20, 2023) American Songwriter
- ‘American Idol’ Winner Iam Tongi Opens Up About His Father’s Impact and Wanting to “Represent My People” in Music (Cillea Houghton, May 2023) American Songwriter
- Meet 2023’s American Idol Top 10 Contestants: Iam Tongi (Fred Bronson, April 30, 2023) Billboard
- Kahuku-born Iam Tongi crowned ‘American Idol’ winner (May 21, 2023) Honolulu Star-Advertiser
- ‘American Idol’ Winner Iam Tongi Speaks Out on His Journey & Honoring His Late Dad (Scott Fishman, May 22, 2023) TV Insider
Notes
When his father died: Rolling Stone, American Songwriter and NPR say several or a few months before the audition; one later article says years, which contradicts all three, so it isn’t used. No date is given here.
The win: NPR says he “became the first Pacific Islander” to win; the Honolulu Star-Advertiser calls him “the first contestant with Hawaii ties,” and other reports word it differently again. This page uses NPR’s words.
His age at the audition is left out, because the taping date isn’t public.
Left out: popular retellings add claims we couldn’t check, and a view count we couldn’t confirm; they aren’t used.
Iam Tongi is alive. His father is named only by his first name, Rodney, as Iam named him in public, and only Iam’s own published words about him are used; his mother is not named or shown, and nothing else about the family is used. Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and James Blunt appear only in their roles on the show, and only Richie’s words from the audition are quoted.
Pictures: no free photo or footage shows the audition, the judges’ table, Hollywood Week or the finale, and no photo of his father or of the guitar his father gave him is used. We found only two free photos of Iam Tongi, both from after his win: rehearsing with his band before a concert in Honolulu on December 9, 2023 (Wxkat), and performing in Nashville on June 4, 2025 (Flagswodum). The judges are in photos from other events, not his audition: Lionel Richie on the red carpet before his Gershwin Prize tribute, and singing at the concert, in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2022 (Elaina Finkelstein and Shawn Miller, Library of Congress); Luke Bryan singing on March 2, 2014 (Joe Bielawa, cropped); and Katy Perry in her Play show on October 23, 2022 (slgckgc). James Blunt is singing in a photo from 2007, not the finale (Dani Dapena; the file name says Vigo 2011, but Commons dates it 2007). The palms are at Kawela Bay Beach Park, Kahuku, on October 26, 2014 (Robert Linsdell). The guitars are stand-ins, and none is his dad’s guitar: an acoustic guitar on patterned blankets, 2016 (Junior Pereira, Unsplash); a guitar with small bouquets on its neck in Sainte-Marie-de-Ré, France, 2017 (Sweet Ice Cream Photography, Unsplash); and a stranger strumming a guitar with a broken string on April 8, 2016, not Iam Tongi (Joshua Wright). The other people in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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