Sometimes the third time really is the charm.

John Foster didn’t just walk into American Idol and blow the judges away. He earned his spot the hard way. Not once, but twice, he auditioned and didn’t make it past the gate. First on Zoom during the C*VID days, then in person. Both times, he left without a golden ticket, but with something better: fire in his gut. Because while some folks would pack it in after two rejections, Foster turned failure into fuel. And when producers finally called him back in 2024, he didn’t just show up. He arrived.

New details from his mother, Amanda Benoit, paint a deeper picture of the road that got him there. Back home in tiny Addis, Louisiana, Foster was already catching buzz. He started selling out local shows. He found his voice and began writing songs that came from somewhere real. But what changed everything was tragedy.

In one of the most talked-about moments of Season 23, Foster performed his original song “Tell That Angel I Love Her,” written for his late best friend Maggie Dunn, who was killed in a car crash on New Year’s Eve 2022. The emotion in his voice and the raw honesty in his lyrics stopped everyone cold.

Amanda said watching him perform that song on national television was both heartbreaking and beautiful. “He carried Maggie with him. Every word of that song, she was there.”

It turns out Maggie left John a note before she died, telling him not to give up on his dream. “Never give up on your singing dreams. Your voice is too good to go unheard,” she wrote. That note became his mission.

John Foster didn’t just bring great vocals to American Idol. He brought authenticity. Amanda shared how proud she is that he never changed for the cameras or the crowd. “He never stopped being John Foster,” she said. “And I was scared they wouldn’t see that—see him for who he really is. But they did. America saw the John I know.”

Even Idol judge Carrie Underwood noticed. Throughout the season, Foster delivered standout performances with country classics by Brooks & Dunn, Randy Travis, George Strait, and Toby Keith. Carrie called him a throwback to the glory days of ’90s country, and fans agreed. He made second place feel like a win.

Following the show, Foster announced that he would be making his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. It happened on June 7, 2025, a milestone he described as his biggest dream coming true. “The first time I went to the Opry, I fought back tears because I was so overwhelmed with joy,” he wrote online. “This has been my number one dream ever since I started music.”

His Opry debut was only the beginning. With two more shows already booked, Foster is quickly making a name for himself not just as an Idol runner-up, but as a serious new voice in country music.

Back in Louisiana, his family is still in disbelief. Amanda, who watched her son clean chicken houses and play church fairs, says she sometimes looks at him and wonders, “Why me? Why did I get chosen to be his mom?” When she saw him step into the Opry circle, she cried. “He did this. He earned every bit of it.”

Foster’s journey is just getting started. His voice, his heart, and the story behind it all have already touched fans across the country. And now, with momentum behind him and country music legends backing him, John Foster is proving he was always meant for that stage.