Only one episode of American Idol has aired this year, and it is already tugging our heartstrings.
In the Season 22 premiere, we met 25-year-old McKenna Breinholt, an aspiring musician from Gilbert, Arizona.
She told the Idol judges that she was adopted as a baby and no one from her adoptive family is musical.
Because of her love for music, she felt a pull to figure out where that came from. When she was 21 years old, she finally asked her parents about her birth mom. She found out her birth mom’s name was a musician named Amy Ross Lopez, but sadly, she had passed away.
On the bright side, her biological grandmother, aunts, and uncle were still around and she developed a relationship with them over FaceTime, but had never met them in person.
Little did she know, her adoptive parents brought her birth family to the audition!
RELATED: Adopted “Idol” Contestant Surprised With Birth Family During Audition
After McKenna performed the Zach Williams and Dolly Parton’s song “There Was Jesus,” judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan asked if she wanted to bring her family in for the final judgement.
When McKenna opened the door to invite her adoptive family in, she locked eyes with the people closest to the door, which was her birth aunts, uncle, and grandmother.
She was in shock and started crying right there on the spot.
McKenna then brought her now large family into the audition room, where the Perry asked her if she knew any of her birth mom’s songs, to which she said yes.
“No!” said her grandmother with tears in her eyes. She could not believe that McKenna had memorized her late daughter’s song.
“It’s called ‘Tumbleweed’,” McKenna said sweetly into the microphone as she began playing the piano intro.
The birth family was embracing and crying, as her grandmother was singing every single word along with her.
“It’s like a ghost,” her grandmother said, comparing McKenna to her late daughter, Amy.
Perry called the moment “healing” for McKenna’s birth family, who not only lost touch with McKenna for 21 years, but lost their own sister and daughter as well.
The segment ended with video of Amy Ross Lopez singing while playing the keyboard, followed by the family embracing. Watch it below.