Maddie Poppe

Maddie Poppe first captured widespread attention through her warm voice and sincere stage presence as the champion of American Idol’s sixteenth season. Raised in Iowa, she began harmonizing alongside her guitarist father during childhood and started composing original material as a teenager. She merged elements of introspective pop with touches of country and folk while cultivating a dedicated audience at local festivals across the state. After an unsuccessful 2015 tryout for The Voice, she found time to complete an independent debut album. Her strong showing on American Idol in 2018 included performing one of her own compositions at the finale, and her victory led directly to the release of the coronation single “Going Going Gone.”

Born Madeline Mae Poppe on December 5, 1997, in Clarksville, Iowa, she grew up immersed in music because her father played guitar and appeared with various bands. She acquired guitar skills early and joined his group for initial stage appearances. Each year she and her sister also participated in recording a Christmas album with their father for their grandparents. Over time she added piano and ukulele to her instrumental abilities. Following high school she enrolled at Iowa Central Community College and later at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa, where she focused on digital mass media. She kept writing songs and performing live during her studies. Although she auditioned for The Voice in 2015 without advancing, she proceeded to issue Songs from the Basement, the self-released project she recorded with her father in their basement and made available the next year.

Poppe entered the 2018 season of American Idol and advanced from the initial round after delivering “The Rainbow Connection.” She remained a viewer favorite throughout the contest and presented her original composition “Don’t Ever Let Your Children Grow Up” during the finale broadcast. On May 21, 2018, she was declared the season winner over Caleb Lee Hutchinson and Gabby Barrett. Shortly afterward she issued the coronation single “Going Going Gone,” which reached number 13 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart. Her first full-length studio album, Whirlwind, followed in May 2019 and featured the single “Made You Miss,” which climbed to number 22 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart.