Country music singer Janelle Arthur first gained recognition when she performed during season 10 of American Idol and made it through to the Hollywood round of the competition before being cut. She went on to return for the popular competition’s season 11 and 12.
Janelle Arthur’s Pursuit of a Musical Career after American Idol
The singer also made it through one additional round of season 12 of American Idol. The “Hand Me Downs” singer climbed to the top 5, before being voted out of the competition.
After moving on from American Idol, Janelle continued to pursue her dreams of making it as a country singer. After a while of working her way through the very competitive industry, she finally landed her very first record label contract.
She shared the happy news with her fans on her social media channels, writing: “I am grateful for this new journey with an incredible team,” she wrote. “I can’t thank my family and my hard working, dedicated manager Stephanie Maynard Gastley enough for their unwavering belief in me. Their encouragement as well as the love/support I have felt from my fans over the years are truly what has kept me going.”
She further explained her reason for signing with the label. “I have always said I would only sign a deal that was the RIGHT deal. Whatever I do in this industry, I’m either going to do it the right and honest way or no way at all. Black Sheep Label Group has that same mission and high standards.”
But that was not the only blessing happening for the singer this year. In September 2021, she announced that she is pregnant. The joyful news is coming after Janelle Arthur shared that she suffered a miscarriage in 2020.
“It’s hard to put into words what you go through because you have so many different emotions,” Arthur told PEOPLE. “It was as if my brain wasn’t prepared for the loss and sadness of it all. I let myself cry and grieve. And then I just had to trust Him. I just had to trust God’s timing.”
With the news of the pregnancy, Arthur also shared the baby’s due date, January 19, 2022, which mysteriously happens to be Dolly Parton’s birthday. It’s a big deal for the star who sees Parton as her musical hero.
She also worked with Dolly Parton on her song “Hand Me Downs”.
Arthur wrote “Hand Me Downs” after her time on American Idol.
The music video for the song premiered on September 28. The director of the video, Natalie Micah, was someone Dolly Parton and Janelle Arthur both loved. Arthur thanked the director for “capturing a moment in time that I will cherish forever.”
“There were scenes in the video where I didn’t want people to notice I was expecting,” Janelle Arthur explained. For the big reveal, she wore a dress from Flutter Dress. “And then there were scenes [where] I really had to relax my stomach, because just in the last three days have I really started popping. You just want people to feel something as a songwriter, and this music video brings it that much more to life. And to have Dolly involved on top of everything, I just feel like it’s a career thing that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to top as far as just everything being so special.”
American Idol will be returning for its big season 20 in early 2022.
Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Janelle Arthur right now. Come back here often for all Janelle Arthur spoilers, news, and updates