By Michaela Gordoni
Christian Brown got a ticket to Hollywood Week on AMERICAN IDOL, but now, he’s not going to use it.
He will stay back home in Franklin, Kentucky, to be there for his newborn son, Isaiah, who just had a life-saving heart surgery, ABC reported.
Brown’s dad, Marty Brown, was wrote songs for famous artists like Hank Williams. Brown’s son was born just four days before his audition.
Isaiah has coarctation of the aorta, a congenital narrowing of the main artery that carries blood from the heart. It increases blood pressure in the upper body while restricting flow to the lower body.
“Coarctation of the aorta can be a life-threatening condition if it becomes severe,” Dr. Melissa Perrotta, a pediatric and adult congenital cardiologist at Norton Children’s Hospital, said.
Related: Country Star Tears Up During Son’s IDOL Audition: ‘Singing for My Dad’
“He has to have this fix, or down the road he could have a heart attack or something happen to him,” Brenda Brown, Brown’s wife, said.
Brown’s brother was also treated for a congenital heart defect at the same facility — Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.
“I remember being at the Ronald McDonald House in Louisville,” Brown said. “Now we’re here with our son, and it’s this full circle moment.”
It was hardly a choice for Brown to stay out of the competition. He knew what he had to do.
“If I had a record deal sitting in front of my face and my son in the other hand, I’d choose my son any time over anything,” he said.
“It’s love,” Brown said of his relationship with his son. “He makes me want to write again. He’s bringing the words back to the music. I know how my dad felt back then. I do now.”
The 22-year-old sang his father’s song that he wrote about his love for his children, “Wildest Dreams,” at his audition.
“I’m going to be singing for my dad. It’s my way of telling him that I love him,” Brown said. “I would not be where I am today without him.”
At the time, he said Isaiah was the reason why he auditioned.
“He is my rock, he is the reason why. He’s my inspiration to want to keep going with AMERICAN IDOL,” he said. Now, Isaiah is (meaningfully) the reason he stopped, too.
Though his chance to continue on in this season has expired, he still has a bright future in music ahead of him.
Brown says he has another opportunity in Nashville soon, which he’s leaving a surprise for fans. Maybe a record deal? We’ll eagerly await the reveal.
Read Next: AMERICAN IDOL Showrunner Talks ‘Big’ Changes for Season 24
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