Carrie Underwood Shares Sweet Reunion With 'Idol' Finalists — See Photos

Carrie Underwood reunited with American Idol finalists Hannah Harper and Jordan McCullough at the historic Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

Underwood posted photos with the 2026 winner and runner-up, respectively, on Instagram on Wednesday evening (June 3). The 2005 Idol winner and current judge wrote in her caption: “Reunited and it feels so good! 🥰 LOVED seeing [Hannah Harper] and [Jordan McCullough] at the [Opry] last night! These two are the real deal…so sweet and supportive of each other! Don’t forget to catch Jordan at the Opry coming up soon!” Underwood included the hashtag “proud parent” at the end of her caption. McCullough will make his Opry debut on June 18.

Underwood performed with Harper, who made her emotional debut on the legendary stage on Tuesday evening (June 2). The two Idol winners performed Harper’s original ballad, “String Cheese,” which brought Underwood to tears during Harper’s audition for the competition show. Underwood wrote in a separate Instagram post that it was “another beautiful night at the [Opry]… What a joy it was seeing [Hannah Harper] make her [Opry] debut!!! And what an honor it was to get to sing with her!” Harper became the first female country artist to win American Idol since Underwood's victory more than 20 years ago.

“It was one of the first songs I had written,” Harper said of the viral song on the American Idol Official Podcast, “and at the time, I was still a stay-at-home mom. My husband was working in law enforcement. And I didn’t have the opportunity to share my music outside of church. And it was one of those things that I wrote just to minister to myself in that season. And then I shared it with my sister-in-laws and my close friends, and my brother was like, ‘we should record it…and just release it and just see what happens.’ And so, we planned on it in a crunch. I was like, ‘let’s release it on Mother’s Day.’ I think I wrote it in February. And so, we went in the studio and we recorded it and released it on Mother’s Day, and it was insane. The response was amazing, but the response from after my first audition was so overwhelming. Like I said, it was one of those songs I wrote in a vulnerable spot in my life that I never thought I would share it with the world. And then it touched so many other people’s lives, and I hope encouraged them in their hard season.”