Chris Medina

In 2011 Chris Medina drew widespread notice during his short stint on American Idol, where his powerful tenor stood out alongside a deeply affecting personal history. Several months before his audition, his fiancée had sustained a traumatic brain injury along with extensive skull and facial fractures in a car crash, prompting him to assume a primary caregiving role and place their engagement on indefinite hold so she could focus on recovery. At her urging, he auditioned for the show, and she attended the tryout in a wheelchair.

After clearing his initial audition and advancing to the semifinals, Medina was eliminated by a visibly emotional Jennifer Lopez. Shortly afterward, Rodney Jerkins—the Grammy-winning songwriter responsible for Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" and Lady Gaga's "Telephone"—reached out to the contestant. Moved by Medina's commitment to his fiancée, Jerkins composed a new track for him. Released in March 2011, the resulting single "What Are Words" gained rapid traction on YouTube and the Billboard charts, marking Medina as the first contestant from American Idol's tenth season to issue any post-show material.