When American Idol returned for season 21 with the same judges for their sixth season in a row, we were also introduced to singer and songwriter William Guy Tongi, also known as Iam Tongi.
So now, in the rest of the writing, we shall discuss him, his American Idol journey, and his life journey in general.
Iam Tongi On American Idol
Iam Tongi took to the American Idol stage, a tearjerker performance during the premiere of the new season. He dedicated the powerful rendition of “Monsters” by James Blunt to his dad Rodney, who he had lost just a few months ago. It was the late Rodney who inspired his son to get into music.
The beautiful performance by Iam left all three judges in tears. It particularly struck a personal chord with Luke Bryan. He said it caused him to reflect on the loss of his sister, Kelly, and her husband, Ben Lee Cheshire, and in turn, his nieces and nephew left with no parents.
So, naturally, they gave Iam the ticket to Hollywood.
One of the many fans, just as impressed, took to Twitter to conclude “If you didn’t cry when Iam Tongi sang #Monsters on #AmericanIdol you have no heart. Wow!”.
Before the audition episodes aired on 19 February 2023, Iam already had auditioned for it by mid-2022, it seems. He talked about it later in December 2022 and asked people to tune into it when it finally airs.
Iam Tongi Job
At the time of this writing, it was only known that Iam Tongi is a singer and songwriter. In-depth details about his job/career were yet to be revealed.
In the meantime, here’s what we know about how Iam got started. In fifth grade, Iam learned to play ukulele from a teacher and later it was his dad who got him into music in general. The patriarch himself was into singing coming from a family of singers. Iam’s dad started to teach him singing when he was much younger. But, Iam understood it only he was a bit older.
For all his life, Iam said, his dad told him that singing is the only thing that was meant for him. In voice-over, while a clip of him and his dad singing played on a screen on American Idol, Iam gushed that the main reason why he does music is because of his dad.
Speaking of Iam’s educational background, we learned that he went to Kahuku High & Intermediate School.
How Old Is Iam Tongi?
Iam Tongi was 18 years old only when he decided to put the stage on fire with his mighty voice late in 2022.
Iam Tongi Family
From what Iam said during his audition on American Idol, his dad passed away a couple of months before on 28 December 2021. Remembering him, Iam teared up before he dedicated his version of Jame Blunt’s Monsters, a tune the singer wrote as a tribute to his father, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Kidney Disease.
Iam’s dad, born on 31 July 1971, was 50 years old when he breathed his last air.
Late Rodney is survived by his beautiful wife, Iam’s mom, Lillie N Rodney Tongi. On IG @lillietongi, Lillie and Rodney would have celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in August 2022 had the latter been still alive. Thinking of him a lot more than the other days around this time, Lillie had taken to her Facebook to heartfelt-ly write how all through the years they were together he had bought her flowers, jewelry, and clothes, learned and sang romantic songs, sent little love notes, and took her out to romantic spots and dinners. According to her, in their 26 years together and 24 years of marriage, they had been married with 5 children.
Lillie, if you need to know, studied at Brigham Young University–Hawaii and Liahona High School. And she was born and brought up in Mu`A, Tongatapu, Tonga.
Also, we have learned that Iam has two sisters named Cassandra Alvina Tongi Mortensen and Jennifer Tongi, and two brothers, Lerod Tongi and Sitaleki Tongi.
What Is Iam Tongi Ethnicity?
Iam Tongi’s ethnicity is a mix of Tongan, Samoan, and Caucasian.
Iam Tongi Girlfriend
As of February 2023, Iam Tongi’s relationship status was not known. If he had been dating anyone, at the time of this writing, he did not reveal.
Iam Tongi Height
Iam Tongi stands below 5 feet and 10 inches in height.
Related FAQs
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Where Does Iam Tongi Reside?
Iam originally comes from Kahuku, which is a census-designated place in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the United States. As of February 2023 though, he had been residing in Seattle, Washington with his family.
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Is Iam Tongi On Instagram And Facebook?
Indeed. Iam Tongi was on Instagram and Facebook as of 21 February 2023. On the IG account @wtongi, there were 72 posts and 58.4K followers. Also, on his ‘Iam Tongi’ Facebook, he managed to get 19K likes and 35K followers. “Just a kid trying to live his dream of sharing his music with the world”, read his Bio on Facebook.
While on his TikTok @wtongi, he entertained 134.9K followers and 594.1K likes.
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When Is Iam Tongi Birthday?
Iam Tongi’s birthday is on September 2nd and that makes him supposedly an unfailing, nit-picking, and honest Virgo.
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