Three years after Hawaii native Iam Tongi won Season 22 of American Idol, the singer is a married man. Days after turning 22, the first Pacific Islander to win the ABC talent show wed his longtime girlfriend, Leah Solis, on Friday, September 4.
Tongi was 18 when he auditioned for American Idol, just months after losing his dad, Rodney, to kidney failure. Tongi went viral with his tear-jerking rendition of James Blunt‘s “Monsters,” about a son reflecting on his father’s life and impact. Just after winning the show in May 2023, he quickly earned his first Billboard No. 1 with an equally heartstring-tugging tune, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
Often cited for his soothing vocal tones, Tongi travels the world performing and has become a treasured part of the Disney family. In 2025, his new version of “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride,” for the Lilo & Stitch soundtrack, went viral, and he has collaborated numerous times with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on music connected to Disney’s 2026 live-action version of Moana.
In December, Tongi revealed via social media that he’d proposed to his girlfriend of two years. The couple exchanged vows at an outdoor ceremony held in Hawaii, per photos and videos shared by friends and family, including his mom, Lillie.
View this post on InstagramFootage in one video shared by a wedding attendee showed the couple—with Tongi wearing his signature flip-flops and a tupenu, a traditional skirt-like garment worn by Tongan men—standing hand-in-hand as they listened to an off-camera speaker talk about their relationship.
The speaker said that “Leah first caught Iam’s eye on a morning ride to seminary,” an educational program for teens in the Mormon church, and noted that their friendship eventually “grew into something deeper” and that Leah became “a constant source of strength in Iam’s life.” When the speaker introduced him as the “youngest son of Lily and Rodney Tongi,” the singer got visibly choked up.
The couple’s wedding reception was held under an expansive white tent, complete with traditional Tongan dance performances by the bride and groom’s friends and family, and the couple dancing to the Nat King Cole classic “When I Fall in Love.”
Iam Tongi & His Wife Leah Created Custom Wedding Rings to Reflect Their Cultures
On the morning after the Tongis’ wedding, Maui Divers Jewelry shared a close-up look at their custom, gold-and-diamond wedding bands and all the special design touches they feature.
View this post on InstagramThe company and Polynesian cultural artist Sam Mangakahia worked closely with the couple to come up with intricate design elements inspired by Leah’s Mayan culture and Tongi’s Tongan heritage.
A blog post about the rings explained, “For Leah, the Maya temple motif symbolized a connection to a higher power—echoing the role of temples in Mayan culture as sacred spaces linking people to the heavens, the earth, and their ancestors. The upward steps serve as a reminder to keep growing and to stay connected to something greater.”
“For Iam, the Tokelau Feletoa—a traditional Tongan kupesi pattern from Feletoa in Vavaʻu—represented chiefly status and courage,” the post continued. “This design, depicting the cross-section of a tuna, is a powerful reminder to lead with bravery while honoring one’s heritage.”
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