When Harper Grace (then Harper Gruzins) was 11 years old, she sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at a nationally televised soccer game and it was dubbed the “worst version of the National Anthem” ever.
Since then, Harper has gone viral and she admits that it wasn’t her best performance ever. But she’s come a long way over the last six years!
But the 16-year-old is making a new name for herself now!
Now, Harper is on American Idol and she’s writing her own songs! Which might be for the best given her history with covering famous songs,
Harper made it to Hollywood after getting the Golden Ticket and in order to keep moving forward in the competition, she had to put her best foot forward.
For her solo performance, she decided to sing an original song for the judges, something that she dedicated to an ex-boyfriend.
She didn’t name drop him in front of the millions of people watching American Idol, but she did admit that he’d know who he was after watching her performance.
Harper didn’t give any false impression of what the song was about, as it is titled “R.I.P.”
As soon as Harper walked on stage, judge Katy Perry immediately recognized her from her audition, where she also sang an original song.
It looks like singing original songs is making Harper a standout contestant early in the competition!
Harper’s song “R.I.P.” included some heavy lyrics like:
I’ll bury the feeling when we cross to the other side
You gave me good reason to let it go and let it die
Rest in peace
The song spoke volumes about how her breakup impacted her. It is beautiful that Harper is able to channel that negativity into something so powerful!
The judges were all impressed by her writing and her singing. Each of the judges made positive comments to each other as she sang.
After she walked off the stage, Harper felt confident that her performance went well. She was happy because of judge Luke Bryan, who kept smiling at her during her performance.
Katy, Bryan, and judge Lionel Richie all agreed that her song was good. Luke felt that Harper’s decision to sing an original song made her a stand out.
On top of that, Lionel also thought that Harper’s song made her shine! There is honestly no higher praise Harper could have gotten from Lionel.
Please SHARE this incredible performance with your friends and family on Facebook today.
If you’re not caught up on American Idol, take a look back at earlier this season!
When Harper Grace originally auditioned for the show, she sang an original tune as well. You can see her down-home song “Yard Sale” in the video below!
When she first appeared on the show, she talked to host Ryan Seacrest about the embarrassment she faced when she went viral in 2012.
What do you think of Harper’s songwriting style? I think her song “R.I.P.” is a beautiful breakup song, which there aren’t enough of in the music industry!
Harper has such a great voice for someone so young! I can’t believe she is only 16.
