GILBERT, AZ — Music is a great way to connect with others, but for one Gilbert woman, it turned out to be more than she ever expected.
McKenna Breinholt got the chance of a lifetime to audition in front of American Idol’s Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan.
She told the judges her story: she was adopted at a young age, but only recently learned about her birth mother, who had a music career of her own in Bisbee before she died.
“I instantly knew where I got my ear from and where I got my voice from. It just all clicked,” she said on the show.
Breinholt said she was set to meet members of her biological family for the first time, but she got the surprise of a lifetime: they showed up to her American Idol audition.
Upon meeting, Breinholt sang one of her mother’s songs — and made it to the next round of the competition!
Watch the heartwarming story in the video player above.