'Our country has f***ing failed us!': Katy Perry emotionally reacts to school shooting survivor's story on 'American Idol'

American Idol has always been known for its wacky moments, from William Hung and Larry “Pants on the Ground” Platt’s viral auditions, to Kara DioGuardi’s finale-night bikini reveal, to any number of the always-extra Katy Perry’s focus-stealing, pants-splitting antics since she became a judge on the show’s ABC reboot five years ago. But at the heart of Idol — along with a nationwide search for undiscovered raw talent, of course — the show has always been about the more serious and vulnerable moments.

Sunday’s episode had two such deeply resonating moments. And while some Idol sob stories can admittedly seem contrived (quick-to-cry judge Lionel Richie is already running out of handkerchiefs, only two weeks into Season 21), these two exchanges seemed genuine. And these two contestants will make a lasting impression, no many how far they go this season.

I pretty much tore through my own handkerchief reserve by the night’s end, when 21-year-old blues-rocker Trey Louis, of Santa Fe, Texas, auditioned with Whiskey Myers’s “Stone.” One of the night’s best belters — he reminded me a bit of mighty-lung’d Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson, while Luke Bryan described him as a “Chris Stapleton disciple” — Trey gave a fantastically gritty performance, and it was clear that there was pain behind his aw-shucks, class-clown demeanor. “Man, you’re singing from just the perfect spot,” Luke told him. That’s when Katy asked Trey what had motivated him to try out for Idol, and we all found out the source of that pain.

“In May 2018, a gunman walked into my school,” Trey told the judges. “I was in Art Room 1; he shot up Art Room 2, before he made his way to Art Room 1. I lost a lot of friends. Eight students were killed. Two teachers were killed. And it’s just really been negative, man. Santa Fe’s had a bad rap since 2018.”

There was stunned silence in the audition room as the judges processed what they’d just heard, although Luke seemed to try to steer the conversation back to his positive critique of Trey’s “perfect voice.” But that’s when Katy broke down. She crumbled, dropping her forehead onto her desk and burying her face in her hands, before letting rip a from-the-heart, expletive-riddled tirade about gun control that was partially censored with an American Idol logo placed over her sobbing, swearing mouth.

“Our country has f***ing failed us!” Katy shouted furiously. (Trey nodded stoically and merely concurred: “Facts.”) “This is not OK! You should be singing here because you love music, not because you had to go through that [long, bleeped-out sentence here]. You didn’t have to lose eight friends! I hope that you remind people that we have to change, because you know what? I’m scared too.”

“We have tolerated this for so long. Too long. It’s become a norm,” Lionel sighed, dabbing his own watery eyes.

“And we’ve gotta change. And I hope you can just lead,” Katy told Trey.

“For myself, for my school, for you — you got it. Yes, ma’am,” Trey replied.

Trey seemed to hope that winning American Idol could help boost Santa Fe residents’ morale and cast his hometown in a better light, and I think he has a chance — he noted that Idol is the premier platform through which small-town, regular folk like himself can get a shot, and even without his sympathetic backstory, his immense talent alone will surely take him far. But Sunday featured another 21-year-old everyman auditioner, from Goshen, Ohio, with his own plot-twist personal tale plus a five-hanky heartbreaker of an original song.

Jon Wayne Hatfield was raised by his loving grandparents due his drug-addict mother being unable to care for him, and three years ago, when his grandmother died, his grandfather, Ray, lapsed into a deep depression and literally did not speak for a year and a half — not even to Jon. “I got mad at myself, because I couldn’t fix it,” Jon recalled. “He wasn’t ready. … I didn’t see what he was actually going through.” When Ray finally did open up, Jon learned that his grandpa had been carrying around a secret — which Jon’s grandmother knew — for years.

When Ray met his late wife at age 16, “I told her about myself, and she said, ‘I love you, and it’s OK,’” Ray revealed. “Jon was the last person I told, because I was scared he would stop loving me.” But when Ray finally sat Jon down and told Jon he was gay, Jon’s first reaction was to say, “Hey, don’t think that’s gonna change a damn thing between me and you, because you’re my best friend, and you’re my dad.”

“It turned out then that [Jon] was there for me more than anybody,” said Ray through happy tears. “It’s a big relief to stand here and be proud and say, ‘I’m gay, and there’s nothing wrong with it.’”

Jon’s second reaction to Ray’s coming-out was to pen the country ballad “Tell Me Ray,” which he performed for the Idol judges Sunday with his weeping grandfather in the room. By the time he was finished, Lionel, who praised Jon’s “great songwriting,” was handing out one of his signature hankies. “I don’t normally do this, but Ray, you need this,” he said. “I don’t give these out except to special people. You’re a helluva inspiration, man.”

“What I love about being a part of this show is people come in and bare their souls in front of us, and people at home that may be dealing with the same stuff get to realize that they’re not alone. … Maybe we’re not on an island, on our own,” mused Luke. “And you guys being able to handle it and sing about it and tell your story is pretty amazing.”

“What you shared with us today was so authentic, so beautiful. You’re a songwriter. You’ve got so many stories inside of you,” Katy said to Jon, then telling is grandfather, “It’s never too late, Ray! Welcome to the club, honey! Not everyone gets to live their authentic life. Good for you.”

Sunday’s two hours brought lots of feels and lots of talent; it truly was a classic Idol episode. These were the other standout singers of the night: