Breanna Nix Reveals Many People Warned Her NOT to Audition for ‘American Idol’

In the summer of 2024, Breanna Nix was a stay-at-home mom, dreaming of a music career. Her decision to audition for “American Idol” that fall was a brave one, going against the warnings of important people in her life who told her not to, insisting that “it would ruin so many things,” she revealed in a series of Instagram Stories on June 13, 2025.

But she ignored their guidance, and listened instead to God’s guidance, she said in her videos. Nix, 25, charmed the judges and millions of viewers with her pure voice and deep faith, landing in third place on the season 23 finale in May. Her rise on the show jumpstarted her music career, including her chart-topping first single, “Higher,” and her Grand Ole Opry debut on June 5, where she received two standing ovations.

Breanna Nix Says ‘God Told Me’ to Audition for ‘American Idol’

Nix’s audition went viral as soon as it aired in early March, when she introduced herself as “just a stay-at-home mom” and judge Carrie Underwood reminded her it’s the “most important job.”

Nix, who shares four-year-old son Emerson with her husband Austin, took time on June 13 to answer multiple questions from fans in her Instagram Stories, including from one who asked, “What is something that, during this stage of life you’re in, you want to pass down to your son?”

In a video response, Nix said, “Specifically in this season that I have been in, I have had to walk almost, like, blinded if that makes any sense. Just a hundred percent in faith. There was a lot of people in my life that I looked up to over the years that told me to not go on ‘American Idol,’ that it would ruin so many things that I had going for me, and that that could not be from God, yada yada yada.”

“But I knew that God spoke to me, and I knew that God told me to go on ‘American Idol,” Nix continued. “And I’m so thankful and so happy that I obeyed his voice and I went.”

“God has been with me through every part of the journey,” Nix explained, “even after ‘American Idol,’ before, the whole season in itself. And I think that’s the biggest thing I want (Emerson) to take away, or to pass down (to him), is just to obey the voice of God, and to trust him. To trust him fully, with his whole heart, even if he might be scared of the outcome that could be.”

Nix has teased that she’s working on new music, but said in her Instagram Stories on June 13 that she hasn’t been given clearance to share it yet. When one fan asked whether she plans to focus on country or contemporary Christian music, the singer said that she’s aiming to work in “both genres,” while always aiming to create “something that inspires somebody.”

Motherhood & Music Go ‘Hand-in-Hand’ for Breanna Nix

Nix is getting used to juggling motherhood and her blossoming music career, including a recent week in Nashville at CMA Fest.

When one of her fans asked on June 13 if she’s finding it “hard to balance all the music stuff and motherhood,” Nix answered, “I feel as a mother, it fuels me in my music. I don’t know how to explain that, but when I think about my son and the best mom I can be, I’m inspired to do my music. It’s what keeps me going, so they kind of go hand-in-hand.”

Nix told another fan that her “favorite part of being a mama is being able to teach him things.” Emerson could be heard playing in the background as his mom recorded her video, and as she smiled at him, she called him her “miniature best friend.”

“Like, today we were at the farmer’s market, just going around shopping, trying different things, hanging out, laughing, having a good time, right, Bubba?” she said, and his little voice adorably answered, “Yeah!”

“I don’t know, I just love everything about motherhood,” she added, telling another fan she definitely would like to have more children. “I love being a mama.”