Carrie Underwood moved to tears on ‘American Idol’ during audition by contestant who lost sister to overdose

(CNN) — “American Idol” contestant Samantha Ray paid tribute to her late sister with an audition that brought judge Carrie Underwood to tears during Sunday’s new episode.

Ray sang “I Hope you Dance” by Lee Ann Womack and opened up about losing her sister Taylor, who died in February of a drug overdose.

“I was thinking about my sister a lot,” Ray said when country singer and “Idol” judge Luke Bryan asked her what she was thinking about while singing the song. “She had two little boys and knowing they don’t have their mom anymore is really heartbreaking.”

“I’m here for her,” Ray added.

When Bryan tossed it to Underwood to share her feedback, the “Blown Away” singer was visibly choked up and asked fellow judge Lionel Richie to speak first instead while she composed herself.

“I’m teary-eyed,” Underwood said. “We didn’t know what you were thinking about but we knew you were thinking about something and that’s being a storyteller, that pulls people in. That was really special.”

Richie said Ray had the “absolute trigger on emotions” and executed her audition “perfectly,” and Bryan appreciated that she sang a classic song her “own way.”

All three judges gave Ray yeses, sending the 22-year-old stay-at-home-mom to Hollywood.

“My sister used to sing too; this was also her dream,” Ray said after the audition. “Losing my sister felt like I lost a big part of me. She was everything.”

Ray said she wishes her sister was here with her but, she added, “I have her watching over me.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.