American Idol Winner Iam Tongi Reaches Impressive Milestones In His Career & Life – Including A #1 Charting Song
18-year-old Iam Tongi was named the winner of the 21st season of American Idol on May 21. He made history as the first Pacific Islander to ever win the show.
Tongi captivated viewers from the start of the competition. He opened up about the death of his beloved father, and channeled his emotions into music.
Those emotions were placed on full display when Tongi sang “Monsters” with James Blunt during the finale. “Monsters” was the song Tongi performed during his Idol audition, and he did so in honor of his father.
There wasn’t a dry eye in sight when Tongi brought things full circle by singing “Monsters” with Blunt on the finale.
RELATED: “IDOL” JUDGES & CROWD CRY OVER IAM TONGI’S “MONSTERS” DUET
Tongi has already celebrated a huge career milestone since winning Idol. His original song, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” reached the #1 spot on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart. The song also claimed the #2 spot on the all-format Digital Song Sales chart.
To top it off, “I’ll Be Seeing You” reached the 19th spot on the Hot Rock Songs chart and the 23rd position on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. It also generated over 900,000 streams in the U.S.
RELATED: “AMERICAN IDOL” CHAMP IAM TONGI ACHIEVES IMPRESSIVE CAREER MILESTONE
Now, Tongi has another big reason to celebrate…he just graduated from high school!
American Idol Champion Iam Tongi Sings “Don’t Let Go” For Fellow Graduates At Decatur High School In Washington
Tongi celebrated with his fellow graduates from Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington. He performed during the ceremony, and opted to sing a tune his Idol fans will recognize.
The song Tongi chose to sing at his graduation was “Don’t Let Go” by Spawnbreezie. Tongi covered “Don’t Let Go” when he performed in his native Hawaii as a member of Idol‘s Top 26. Additionally, Tongi sang “Don’t Let Go” moments after he was named the winner of Idol.
Tongi felt like “Don’t Let Go” was the perfect song to sing during his high school graduation ceremony. As he told his classmates, “we’re all winners here.”
Hawaii-based news anchor Mika Miyashima shared a video on Instagram of Tongi performing “Don’t Let Go” at his graduation. She captioned it, “Congratulations on yet another milestone for @wtongi – graduating from Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington today!”
Look below to watch the video of Tongi singing during his high school graduation ceremony. Congratulations to him and all of the other graduates in his class!