- ‘American Idol’ aired a special Songs of Faith night on March 30.
- This is the second time the competition show has highlighted worship music.
- All three judges took the stage to perform.
American Idol brought back its Songs of Faith night, and the special broadcast once again made a strong impact on viewers. The competition show first hosted the episode celebrating songs of worship in 2025, timed with the Easter holiday.
This year, the broadcast aired ahead of Easter weekend, and it was once again a memorable event. Carrie Underwood took the stage to perform “How Great Thou Art” with last season’s Platinum Ticket winners. She wore an ethereal white gown to perform the hymn from her Grammy-winning gospel album, My Savior.
Fellow country star Luke Bryan joined Lionel Richie to sing “Jesus is Love” with the top 20 contestants. Lionel wrote the song when he was a member of The Commodores, and it appeared on their 1980 album, Heroes. The powerful song earned the Motown group a Grammy nomination for Best Inspirational Performance.
American Idol shared a video of the performance on Instagram, and fans were quick to share their praise for the song and the special programming:
- “🥹One of my favorite songs… and this was SO heartwarming..✨🌟✨♥️♥️♥️🎶🎶🎶”
- “SOOO BEAUTIFUL 💜”
- “I love this!!! JESUS all over American Idol! What a blessing 🙏❤️💯”
- “Wow! I had no idea they did faith night! Keep it up! 🔥”
- “Love the theme tonight. SO refreshing to see Faith on mainstream network 🩷”
According to the U.S. Sun, Carrie was instrumental in bringing the Songs of Faith episode to American Idol for the first time last season. The singer was a “big advocate for it,” an insider explained, and “pushed to make this night happen.”
“It was really important for her for the show to go through with it. Lionel and Luke were on board, but Carrie was the most vocal about wanting to make sure it happened.”
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
