“American Idol” has a new girl now, and she’s the daughter of a Honeymoon Suite guitarist.
On last week’s episode of the long-running series, 20-year-old singer/guitarist Leah Marlene made it to the show’s hallowed ‘Final 24.’ Joining her for the news was her dad Derry Grehan, the St. Catharines-born guitarist for the Niagara Falls band who had several huge hits in the ’80s.
Though born in Toronto, Marlene said she makes several visits to Niagara with her dad.
“I come to Niagara a lot and have a bunch of family there,” she said during a phone call Friday.
Though pressed for time — it was a busy day of preparations as she gets ready to hit the “American Idol” main stage for the first time — the infectious singer recalls days as a kid in her dad’s basement, marvelling at his guitars. She was raised in a “rock environment,” watching old music videos of her dad in Honeymoon Suite’s heyday.
“It just makes me feel so warm inside to watch them,” she says.
Honeymoon Suite broke out in 1984 with the single “New Girl Now” (which Grehan wrote) and its Niagara Falls-themed video. A string of Canadian hits followed, including “Wave Babies,” “Feel It Again” and “What Does it Take.”
On the April 4 ‘Showstoppers’ episode, Grehan waited outside as Marlene learned her fate on the show from judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. Earlier, she had performed a rousing version of Larkin Poe’s “She’s a Self Made Man.”
After making her sweat a bit, Perry gave her the news she had made the cut.
“Can we hug, is that allowed?,” said an ecstatic Marlene.
When contacted Friday, proud dad Grehan said he never pushed his daughter to pursue music but had a feeling she would.
“You never really know which way your kids are going to go,” he said. “They can change their minds. So, we just supported her passion and let her make her own decisions.
“Fortunately, she loves making music and here we are today. I think I always knew that she would choose this path and we are incredibly proud of her. She has been working at this for years.”
Marlene, who grew up in Toronto and now lives in Normal, Illinois, says she pondered pursuing hockey but in the end couldn’t resist a guitar in her hands. She says she was surprisingly not nervous during the “American Idol” early rounds, but being in the Final 24, “now it’s real.”
A lifelong fan of the show — and of Katy Perry — she says it feels “surreal and so normal at the same time.”
She adds that her near future is a “mystery,” depending how far she goes on the show, but plans to “write my tushy off” for an upcoming album.
“American Idol” airs Sundays and Mondays on ABC.
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