"American Idol" contestant's song for dad Davis McClendon, murdered in hit-and-run, brings judges to tears

CBS News

24-03-2025

Freddie McClendon brought "American Idol" judges to tears in Sunday night's episode when he performed a moving original song about his late father,
Davis McClendon
, who was killed in May 2023.
"Everyone was kind of focusing on his death and I wanted to tell the story of his life," McClendon, 19, told judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie about the inspiration behind his song, "You Never Loved Him."
In the
"American Idol" segment
on his audition, McClendon shared more details about the day he found out his father had died, recalling waking up to the devastating news from his mom.
Davis McClendon, 46, was found dead in a reported car collision in Greenwood, South Carolina, early on May 7, 2023. Ronny Powell, an investigator from the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office,
told "48 Hours"
that first responders assumed he had been hit by a car. Authorities followed an oil trail from the crash that led them to the house lived in by
Bud Ackerman
, the estranged husband of Davis McClendon's then-girlfriend Meredith Haynie. Ackerman was later arrested and charged with Davis McClendon's murder.
A jury
convicted Ackerman
of killing Davis McClendon following a 7-day trial last fall. A judge sentenced Ackerman to 45 years in prison. He is not eligible for parole and is expected to be released in 2068. Ackerman is appealing his conviction.
"He was an absolutely wonderful person. He would do anything for anybody. We used to just talk about kind of everything, and he really understood me," McClendon said of his dad.
McClendon told the panel of judges that he started taking music writing seriously about a year ago, hoping that he can help tell the story of his dad's life.
"Freddie lost his best friend. How do you get those feelings out? He turned to writing songs," his mom said in the episode.
McClendon's song drew a round of applause from the judges who thanked him for sharing his heart and bravery through the moving music, with Bryan calling him a "modern-day Paul Simon." All three judges then agreed to send McClendon to the next round in Hollywood.