This one is a tearjerker! Iam Tongi, an 18-year-old singer with a great voice and an even more dramatic tale, gave one of the most moving American Idol auditions in history. His emotional performance of James Blunt’s “Monsters” drew judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan to tears, as he dedicated the song to his late father, Rodney.

I had lost his father just a few months before his audition, and the anguish was still raw when he stood on stage. He struggled to fight back tears as he said that he could still hear his father harmonizing with him whenever he sang. Rodney has always been his biggest fan, teaching him music at an early age and urging him to compete for American Idol. Determined to fulfill his father’s dream, Iam accepted the emotional challenge, and despite his initial difficulty in beginning the song, he created a performance that moved millions.

The judges were obviously impressed, with Lionel Richie calling the performance “magic” and Luke Bryan applauding Iam’s ability to connect profoundly with the crowd. Katy Perry moved with passion, and wiped away tears while listening to his beautiful interpretation. The moment reverberated well beyond the audition room, as the video of Iam’s performance immediately garnered tens of millions of views online, eliciting an outpouring of support from people all around the world.

Iam Tongi’s audition was more than simply a song; it was a moving homage to a father’s love and a memorable event in American Idol history.